Here are 100 books that Delivering Happiness fans have personally recommended if you like
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I am a New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 10 customer experience and leadership books. When I am not reading and writing, I help leaders and entrepreneurs drive employee engagement, customer loyalty, and referrals.
Economists Gilmore and Pine, trace economic value through the agrarian, industrial and service age and pioneer thinking on the importance of “staging” experiences. This book created a tectonic shift from transactional “customer service” to emotionally engaging “customer experiences.” In a world where customer satisfaction is table stakes, The Experience Economy shows readers how to drive emotional engagement and repeat business.
Time is limited. Attention is scarce. Are you engaging your customers?
Apple Stores, Disney, LEGO, Starbucks. Do these names conjure up images of mere goods and services, or do they evoke something more--something visceral?
Welcome to the Experience Economy, where businesses must form unique connections in order to secure their customers' affections--and ensure their own economic vitality.
This seminal book on experience innovation by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore explores how savvy companies excel by offering compelling experiences for their customers, resulting not only in increased customer allegiance but also in a more profitable bottom line. Translated into thirteen languages,…
I am a New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 10 customer experience and leadership books. When I am not reading and writing, I help leaders and entrepreneurs drive employee engagement, customer loyalty, and referrals.
If only my mail carrier were like Fred… but that’s the point. All of us can “up our game” when it comes to caring for and about others. Mark Sanborn crafted a highly accessible and engaging book that shows how everyone can “be a Fred.” The line between ordinary and extraordinary is less about resources and more about focus and effort.
Mark Sanborn met his postman, Fred, just after he moved to Denver. Fred knocked on his door, introduced himself, and welcomed him to the neighborhood. He also asked Sanborn about himself and how he wanted his mail handled while he was away. Needless to say, Sanborn was shocked. He asked Fred more about his job and how he approached it. Fred's answers inspired him to develop motivational seminars promoting Fred's attitude and approach to life.
To embody the Fred philosophy is to realise and practise that:--Everyone can make a difference--Success is built on good relationships--You must continually create value for…
I'm Professor Emeritus at UCLA and have also been on the faculty of Columbia University and The University of Michigan, where I received my PhD degree. I founded Management Systems Consulting, which works with entrepreneurial firms in the US and globally to scale up, in 1978. I've served on the board of a firm (99 Cents Only Stores) that scaled up and was a NYSE listed firm. I've advised CEOs who have created global champion firms and been recognized as leaders in their space. I've authored or co-authored several books including Creating Family Business Champions; Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Advantage; Changing the Game; and Leading Strategic Change.
This book is by the founder of a company that has successfully navigated the stages of growth from a start-up to a sustainably successful organization and become a global champion or recognized leader in its space. Accordingly, the book is from the “horse’s mouth.” Schultz and his coauthor take the reader on the journey of the development of one of the classic entrepreneurial successes of our time. He details the challenges, his thinking, and the responses that were made to create the Starbucks of today. The book provided s the reader with a rare opportunity to participate in the Starbucks journey from a vision to the reality of building a great company.
In Pour Your Heart Into It, former CEO and now chairman emeritus Howard Schultz illustrates the principles that have shaped the Starbucks phenomenon, sharing the wisdom he has gained from his quest to make great coffee part of the American experience.
The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most amazing business stories in decades. What started as a single store on Seattle's waterfront has grown into the largest coffee chain on the planet. Just as remarkable as this incredible growth is the fact that Starbucks has managed to maintain its renowned commitment to product excellence and employee…
I am a New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 10 customer experience and leadership books. When I am not reading and writing, I help leaders and entrepreneurs drive employee engagement, customer loyalty, and referrals.
I wish I had written this book. Chip Conley takes Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and applies it to employees and customers. Sharing lessons from hotel leadership, Chip demonstrates how managers and frontline workers should prioritize primary needs of those they serve while stretching to address higher level belonging and self-expression needs. With precision and clarity, Chip Conley offers a template for assessing the wants, needs, and desires of others
Proven principles for sustainable success, with new leadership insight
PEAK is the popular, transformative guide to doing business better, written by a seasoned entrepreneur/CEO who has disrupted his favorite industry not once, but twice. Author Chip Conley, founder and former CEO of one of the world's largest boutique hotel companies, turned to psychologist Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs at a time when his company was in dire need. And years later, when the young founders of Airbnb asked him to help turn their start-up home sharing company into a world-class hospitality giant, Conley once again used the principles he'd developed…
I have spent most of my adult life using entrepreneurial business practices and principles to redesign and transform nonprofits. From my very first nonprofit organizational acceleration, I was hooked. The wealth one receives from helping other people is so much richer and more satisfying than money–altruism is truly life's greatest pleasure. You know the movie The Sixth Sense where the little kid sees dead people everywhere? I am the same way, except everywhere I look, I see uncaptured opportunities for social impact. I live and breathe social impact strategy, governance, financing, evaluation, and change management. Because by fixing problems in those areas, organizations are able to do more to make the world a better place.
Carefully read (and read again, and then read at least a third and fourth time) both books by Jim Collins. He's rightly famous for his masterful distillation of the core qualities and strategies of the world's most successful organizations.
Once you understand key concepts like "Getting the Right People on the Bus" and what your "20-mile March" really is, and you have the grit to keep trying to apply the concepts and work through mistakes and sticking points, you will be able to lead your organization to new heights of growth and impact, when so many other organizations struggle just to keep the lights on.
Note that his “Good to Great for the Social Sector'' misapplies his concepts to the non-profit and is best ignored. The texts above apply perfectly well to the nonprofit sector, and this attempt at re-interpreting his principles fails badly.
________________________________ Can a good company become a great one? If so, how?
After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind.
Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel. It is widely regarded…
I am a Creative Director turned Brand Strategist who loves creating clarity for brand transformations. I do so for small companies and Fortune 500s alike, but the thrill is the same. At the end of the day that hands-on (actually more of a ‘brain on’) work coupled with my books on branding and my podcast Hitting The Mark (where I talk with some of today’s most mesmerizing founders about the intersection of brand clarity and startup success) is doing my part in creating more admired brands in this world. I hope the books on this list will inspire and enable you to do the same for your own company.
From brand strategy to design, from validation to cultivation, Marty’s delightful read will make you not only understand what branding is, but you will turn into a design advocate along the way. And, more importantly, it will make you understand what’s at the heart of any great brand: Customer experience. Marty further has a captivating style of storytelling. I promise you won’t be putting this book down once you started. Large typography and fun design make it a quick ‘airplane read,’ which is a format that definitely inspired me as an author.
THE BRAND GAP is the first book to present a unified theory of brand-building. Whereas most books on branding are weighted toward either a strategic or creative approach, this book shows how both ways of thinking can unite to produce a "charismatic brand"-a brand that customers feel is essential to their lives. In an entertaining two-hour read you'll learn:
* the new definition of brand * the five essential disciplines of brand-building * how branding is changing the dynamics of competition * the three most powerful questions to ask about any brand * why collaboration is the key to brand-building…
When I first started traveling at 16, I struggled. It's not always easy to learn a new language, adapt to a different culture, and build connections. But as I got more comfortable and confident navigating through my new environment, things started to improve. I know what it’s like to start from scratch, to move to a new country, to develop and use my communication skills to move up the business ladder. This is why I now use my experience to speak, train, and coach people from a variety of countries and cultures on how to become impactful communicators, and have written a book on the importance of global communication skills.
This book by Donald Miller has improved how I communicate with customers. By applying the seven universal storytelling elements Miller outlines, I've learned to convey my brand's message with unprecedented clarity and impact. This book has not only simplified my marketing approach but also made it infinitely more effective, helping me to truly connect with my audience and stand out in a crowded market.
Miller's framework is a game-changer, offering practical steps to transform any brand's messaging into something genuinely compelling. It is an indispensable resource for anyone aiming to improve their marketing and connect more deeply with their customers.
More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times bestselling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.
If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.
In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares…
I am a Creative Director turned Brand Strategist who loves creating clarity for brand transformations. I do so for small companies and Fortune 500s alike, but the thrill is the same. At the end of the day that hands-on (actually more of a ‘brain on’) work coupled with my books on branding and my podcast Hitting The Mark (where I talk with some of today’s most mesmerizing founders about the intersection of brand clarity and startup success) is doing my part in creating more admired brands in this world. I hope the books on this list will inspire and enable you to do the same for your own company.
Admired brands usually look great. And they do so on purpose, and consistently. If I may tempt you to dig a bit deeper into the wonderful visual journey that is brand identity you may just get hooked. Alina’s book was a big inspiration for my first book and it will show you the power of great branding and design. If anything, you will turn into an educated client the next time you hire a designer. Those savings alone will be worth the money you spend on this book pick.
The bestselling guide to branding, updated with emerging trends and technologies Designing Brand Identity provides in-depth guidance for the entire branding team, with a universal five-stage process for brand development and implementation. From research and analysis through launch and governance, this book provides expert insight on all aspects of the process, and describes the best practices that build better brands. This updated fifth edition includes new and expanded coverage of social media cross channel synergy, crowdsourcing, SEO, experience branding, mobile devices, wayfinding, and placemaking, with 30 all-new case studies of top brands from various industries around the world. Fuel recognition,…
Throughout my career, I’ve always been passionate about leveling the playing field for women. I do this through my writing, speaking, and investing. Much of my current work is informed by the 20 years I spent in corporate as both an executive and a mentor to hundreds of women. The books I’ve chosen for this list are written by women I admire and who espouse similar approaches to the way I lead and show up at work. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!
The glass ledge is a metaphor that represents women’s tendencies to get in their own way. As a mentor, I have witnessed this time and time again. Oubou’s book explores the ten themes that are most likely to derail us when we least expect it. By sharing her own personal struggles, along with the strategies and tools that she has used to overcome them, Oubou provides a playbook for women to stop the self-sabotage and own their power.
An Empowering Guide for Curing Self-Sabotage and Finding Success by Showing Up as Your Authentic, Vulnerable, and Powerful Self
We’ve all heard of the “glass ceiling”—referencing the external oppression women still experience in the workplace. Yet even for those of us who break through the societal barriers to success, there’s another, bigger danger: internalized oppression or, metaphorically speaking, the glass ledge. “When the very qualities that help us achieve greatness turn into self-defeating behaviors, that’s when we trip over the glass ledge,” teaches Iman Oubou. “Yet we don’t need to lose ourselves to become an ideal image of a hardworking,…
We have studied effective leadership for years, and could not be more passionate about developing our nation’s future leaders. As the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point and as a professor in West Point’s leadership department, we both understand the importance to our Nation to produce the most competent and trustworthy leaders, who will lead our Nation’s future sons and daughters in the most challenging of circumstances. Character plays a huge role in building the best leaders, and The Character Edge: Leading and Winning with Integrity, does a masterful job showing how that occurs.
As the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin E. Dempsey was named one of the most influential leaders in the world by Timemagazine in 2015. Ori Brafman has multiple New York Timesbestsellers and his work specializes in building organizational cultures and leadership. As the author of the great book Starfish and Spider, Brafman is also the founder and president of Starfish Leadership and co-founder of the Fully Charged Institute.
This is a book about leadership, and no one does it better than Marty Dempsey and no one can capture it better than Ori Brafman. Dempsey has led American troops in harms-way over many of our Iraq and Afghanistan war years, and has advised our executive branch of government during these tough and challenging times. If you want to see what outstanding leadership looks like, both at the tactical level in the crucible…
NAMED BY THE WASHINGTON POST AS ONE OF THE 11 LEADERSHIP BOOKS TO READ IN 2018
Radical Inclusion: What the Post-9/11 World Should Have Taught Us About Leadership examines today's leadership landscape and describes the change it demands of leaders. Dempsey and Brafman persuasively explain that today's leaders are in competition for the trust and confidence of those they lead more than ever before. They assert that the nature of power is changing and should not be measured by degree of control alone. They offer principles for adaptation and bring them to life with…
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