Here are 100 books that The Growth Leader fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve built my career around the belief that sales is a noble profession and that selling is about uncovering needs, filling needs, and creating value for customers. Things like purpose, ethics and values should be at the center of why someone sells. And those that do will be far more successful. I love these books because they all support these ideas of sales as a career to be proud of, that is necessary and that good salespeople truly put the best interests of their customers first.
Lisa clearly makes the case that sales is one of the only professions where we allow it to be defined by the people who do it badly. And yet, you will come away from this book understanding that the top salespeople are ones who earnestly want to improve life for their customers.
When purpose-driven sales become part of the culture and bigger than the transaction - and your "true north" is improving life for customers - you’ll actually wind up making more money.
Don't let anyone tell you that you have to choose between making money and making a difference.
Selling With Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud, 2nd Edition is an update of the acclaimed book that changed the game in sales. Using real-world data, compelling stories and psychological research, Selling With Noble Purpose explains why salespeople who genuinely understand how they can make a difference to customers outsell those who only focus on internal targets and quotas.
Sales leadership experts McLeod and Lotardo reveal how a Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) can drive a team…
I’ve built my career around the belief that sales is a noble profession and that selling is about uncovering needs, filling needs, and creating value for customers. Things like purpose, ethics and values should be at the center of why someone sells. And those that do will be far more successful. I love these books because they all support these ideas of sales as a career to be proud of, that is necessary and that good salespeople truly put the best interests of their customers first.
Too many salespeople are burning out. Often, it’s not because they lack basic selling skills and product knowledge but because they haven’t developed a success mindset and a sense of purpose, passion, and accountability that drive the habits required to achieve breakthrough levels of sales performance. Mark clearly lays out the daily habits needed to maximize sales productivity and potential.
For salespeople feeling stressed and disappointed that their customers don't want to hear from them, this guide is the key to developing the mindset and habits required to reach a new level of sales success.
The world of sales can be tough, so it's easy to get discouraged when the rejections start piling up and your customers stop answering the phone. This allows the wrong thought patterns to start developing, soon you aren't making quotas and then you begin looking at job listings waiting for your next downfall.
Sales expert Mark Hunter can relate as his start to sales was…
I’ve built my career around the belief that sales is a noble profession and that selling is about uncovering needs, filling needs, and creating value for customers. Things like purpose, ethics and values should be at the center of why someone sells. And those that do will be far more successful. I love these books because they all support these ideas of sales as a career to be proud of, that is necessary and that good salespeople truly put the best interests of their customers first.
The concept behind Integrity Selling for the 21st Century is simple: Only by getting to know your customers and their needs—and believing that you can meet those needs—will you enjoy relationships with customers built on trust. Only then, when you bring more value to your customers than you receive, will salespeople reap the rewards of high sales.
Ron’s book is the standard for putting to rest the idea that manipulative, self-focused selling techniques that demean and coerce the customer are what selling is all about.
"I have observed several hundred salespeople who were taught to use deceptive practices like 'bait and switch' and encouraged to play negotiation games with customers... In the same industry, I have observed countless people who had been taught to sell with high integrity. Ironically, their customer satisfaction, profit margins, and salesperson retention were significantly higher." - Ron Willingham
If you've tried manipulative, self-focused selling techniques that demean you and your customer, if you've ever wondered if selling could be more than just talking people into buying, then Integrity Selling for the 21st Century is the book for you. Its concept…
I’ve built my career around the belief that sales is a noble profession and that selling is about uncovering needs, filling needs, and creating value for customers. Things like purpose, ethics and values should be at the center of why someone sells. And those that do will be far more successful. I love these books because they all support these ideas of sales as a career to be proud of, that is necessary and that good salespeople truly put the best interests of their customers first.
This book is a great mix of anecdotal evidence from some of the best salespeople, summarized into clear takeaways about the importance of authenticity, purpose, and relationship building.
Scott’s book articulates well why success in sales is so much more about who you are and what you believe than it is about what you do. He shows how the salespeople who are at the very top of their games have figured out their own "superpower" and that sales leaders have to go beyond managing numbers and instead manage the individuals on their teams.
Want to learn the insider secrets of the top 1% sales achievers? Discover the inspiring techniques of 20 sales VIPs so you can climb the ranks and bring in the biggest commissions of your career.
Fed up with the same old sales results? Tired of advice from so-called sales gurus who don't actually sell for a living? Want to learn closing techniques from real-world doers? Account director, podcast host, and top 1% achiever Scott Ingram has spent his whole life obsessed with sales. With nearly two decades of sales experience under his belt, he's ready to share 60 inspiring stories…
Ever since touching my first computer (the Apple IIC) in 1985, broadcasting a radio show in 1988, logging onto the world wide web in 1991, launching my first podcast in 2004 or producing the highly viewed YouTube show The Download in 2020 I've been interested in what Marshall McLuhan has dubbed, "The Medium is the Message." Not only how media and technology are used but how it intersects with humanity, education, entertainment, marketing and popular culture to drive word of mouth. To me, marketing isn't just about the technology or the quantified metrics but about how it shapes long lasting impressions on people and leads to sustained behavioral change.
If the Conceptual Age of marketing is here where imagination reigns supreme, will the same types of personalities in business from the Information Age be the ones to dominate? Nope. Authors Ashley and Sunny urge people to treat each one of our quirks as helpful virtues rather than harmful vices. Less logical and more emotional, things like fringe interests, strong personalities, and bold antics have their place in a creative and disruptive world. Applying your unique characteristics strategically could help you stand out, forge your path, and connect with others in ways that following rules just does not deliver. If you read this from the lens of a marketer, there are some great takeaways to apply to the personality of what brand it is you are trying to sell. Oh, and what profile am I of the 7 vices? A rebel of course.
An unconventional business book for the rebels and misfits--the Rare Breeds--who don't fit the traditional mold, offering an approach that's anything but business as usual. What if your biggest weaknesses are actually your greatest strengths?
Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger, award-winning brand consultants and founders of Motto, bring their wisdom and insights to this radical "outside the box" business guide written specifically for the mavericks, oddballs, and visionaries they call Rare Breeds. While most advice guides encourage you to change your inherent characteristics to get the job, get the promotion, get the client, Bonnell and Hansberger identify a different approach:…
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…
Everything in nature evolves by trial, error, and success—from fundamental physics, through evolution in biology, to how people learn, think, and decide.
This book presents a way of thinking and realistic knowledge that our formal education shuns. Stepping beyond this ignorance, the book shows how to deal with and even…
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,…
As a journalist covering the Future of Work and Silicon Valley in the 2010s, I encountered pioneering social entrepreneurs and newly minted tech billionaires whose ideologies attracted millions and have since shaped our culture, economy, and society. I've curated some of the most impactful books that informed my understanding of their ambitions and how work is evolving, as well as the thought leaders who inspired them. Engaging with this content and integrating it over the last decade has transformed my worldview, leading me to a more fulfilling, peaceful, and creative life—but it’s been quite the journey!
Meeting Tony Hsieh and encountering his pioneering business and life philosophy was so transformative that I upended my entire life and lived out of a suitcase for years to document his fascinating social experiment in Las Vegas and beyond.
Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos, was a trailblazer in the business world, known for balancing profits, passion, and purpose. He was an early advocate for stakeholder capitalism, a concept that puts employees, customers, and communities on par with shareholders. In his #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, Hsieh shares the mental models and visionary, relational leadership that helped him become a multi-millionaire in his early 20s and near billionaire after Amazon acquired Zappos. His unique take on human systems design draws inspiration from unlikely sources, including rave culture and Zen principles.
Hsieh’s insights offer a blueprint for creating a company culture that empowers employees, satisfies customers, and benefits external stakeholders.…
- Pay brand-new employees $2,000 to quit - Make customer service the responsibility of the entire company-not just a department - Focus on company culture as the #1 priority - Apply research from the science of happiness to running a business - Help employees grow-both personally and professionally - Seek to change the world - Oh, and make money too . . .
Sound crazy? It's all standard operating procedure at Zappos, the online retailer that's doing over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually. After debuting as the highest-ranking newcomer in Fortune magazine's annual "Best Companies to Work For"…
Although I’ve worked in many professions and industries, a common theme in all my jobs is that I love helping people succeed in their careers. I’ve started or sponsored employee networks that focused on professional development, I’m a certified coach that focuses on propelling a client’s career, and I am a conference keynote speaker on the topics of careers and leadership. Everyone deserves to have a great career that makes them want to jump out of bed on Monday morning and that provides a good living and lifestyle. I love to make that happen!
If you’re early- or mid-career and seeking to climb the ladder, this book offers great advice on how to advance and how to position yourself as high potential within your organization.
The authors look at five key differentiators, which they call the “X factors,” that set people apart from average performers.
I’ve worked in large and small companies throughout my career and can attest that these “X factors” really are what we look for when we are deciding who is a key player within our organization.
Do You Know What It Takes to Be a High Potential in Your Organization?
Being seen as a high-potential leader is essential to getting promoted and reaching your organization's upper echelons, but most companies keep their top-talent list a closely guarded secret. And the assessment process they use to decide who is and isn't a future leader is an even greater mystery.
The High Potential's Advantage takes you behind the scenes and shows how you can get on, and stay on, your company's fast track. Leadership development experts Jay Conger and Allan Church draw upon decades of research and experience--designing…
As a consultant, author, and researcher, for several years I have been very passionate about the study of companies that are very successful in the marketplace, but that are also human-oriented. In other words, I am very interested in companies that are profitable, but at the same time, are kind, compassionate, and caring with their main stakeholders. I like that these companies continually aim to foster robust long-term relationships with these stakeholders, and look for win-win agreements with them. What I love about these companies is that they focus on the quantitative aspects of business (e.g., profitability, growth, etc.) but also in its qualitative aspects (empathy, support, gratitude, generosity, etc.).
I really like that this book discusses, in detail, the relationship between acting well in business and being successful. It grabbed my attention that this book thoroughly explores the main reasons that underpin the need for more human-focused organisations, such as: the value of humanised management, the upsurge of disruptive technologies, demographic changes, and others. It is very valuable that this text also provides the reader with very actionable ways to develop more humanised organisations. I found it interesting that various meaningful examples from the public, private, and non-profit sectors are dissected in a thorough manner, accompanied by a myriad of strategies to bring about significant shifts in these sectors.
Featuring a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Despite decades of research and evidence, there is still extreme scepticism that businesses can combine a more humane style of management with superior shareholder returns, or that busy managers can be guided effectively by both their heads and their hearts. Vlatka Hlupic has spent 20 years investigating this paradox, developing an insightful critique of why such strong evidence has had limited impact and providing an alternative, practical approach that any employer can implement in order to overcome the unique challenges faced by their organizations.
A clear correlation exists between companies that…
