Recommended Reading
Grow your ideas
Tomorrow’s challenges will demand new ideas and fresh thinking to tackle. One way to help keep recharged with new ideas and energize creativity is to pick up a book. Carefully chose your books based on current business needs to add the most value.
Learn about more Enterprise Facilitation and its key principles
Ernesto Sirolli, PhD, the found of Enterprise Facilitation has authored two books that share the history and illuminate the practice of Enterprise Facilitation.
Ripples from the Zambezi: Passion, Entrepreneurship, and the Rebirth of Local Economies
In this first book, Ernesto shares the influences and experiences that has cultivated Enterprise Facilitation into what it is today. The Southeast Enterprise Facilitation Project as well as two of its facilitators are mentioned in the book!
How to Start a Business & Ignite Your Life: A Simple Guide to Combining Business Wisdom with Passion
In his second book, Ernesto delves into the three key principles one needs to keep their passion and find success in their business.
Other Recommendations
Other Recommendations
Title | Author | Why we like it |
Know Can Do | Ken Blanchard | A new way of thinking about how learning and leadership intersect |
Everyone’s A Coach | Ken Blanchard & Don Schula | The fundamentals of coaching including the C.O.A.C.H. technique |
21 Irrefutable Qualities of a Leader | John Maxwell | Easy to read and an absolute ESSENTIAL for all leaders |
5 Dysfunctions of a Team | Patrick Lencioni | Easy to read and apply – a great book to read together as a team |
Leadership 101 | John Maxwell | Excellent leadership fundamentals |
Good to Great | Jim Collins | How to drive your team past settling for “good” and to striving for “great!” |
Turn the Ship Around | David Marquet | A revolutionary new way of thinking about leadership and creating team member ownership |
QBQ! – The Question Behind the Question | Dr. John Miller | A revolutionary way to think about questions that transforms one from “victim thinking” to “leadership thinking” |
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen Covey | A must for all leaders – 7 Habits is one of the most impactful and well-known leadership books of all time. |
Who Stopped the Sale? | Richard F. Libin | Great client-centric approach to selling anything |
Radical Candor | Kim Scott | A new way of thinking about how to deliver honest feedback |
The Energy Bus | Jon Gordon | 10 Rules to fuel your life, work, and team with positive energy |
The Power of Positive Leadership | Jon Gordon | Great leaders understand that people drive the numbers, not the other way around; to win you must win with people. |
Extreme Ownership | Jocko Willink & Leif Babin | Two Navy Seals share that Leadership at every level is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails. |
Leadership and Self Deception | The Arbinger Institute | Understanding how self-deception negatively impacts your everyday interactions, diminishing your ability to connect & lead. |
The Making of a Manager | Julie Zhuo | Provides a practical approach for new managers to leading people. |
The Coaching Habit | Michael Bungay Stanier | Reviews the 7 essential questions to effective coaching |
Title |
Author | Why we like it |
Mindset (The New Psychology of Success) | Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D. | Great information on how we learn to fulfill our potential – focus on how we think. |
Success Mindsets | Ryan Gottfredson | Critical thinking for success – very comprehensive dive into mindsets and includes a free online mindset assessment |
Mindset Matters Most | Brian J. Grasso | This book talks about creating success & happiness by letting go of fear, limitations, and doubt. |
It Takes What It Takes | Trevor Moawad | Shares how top performers hone their competitive edge by managing their thinking. |
Thinking For a Change | John Maxwell | Shows how changing your thinking can indeed change your life. Covers Thinking Styles: Big-Picture, Shared, Focused, & Creative |
Leave YOUR Legacy: The Power to Unleash Your Greatness | Ben Newman | This book takes you on a journey to follow the ups & downs of a protagonist. You’ll be inspired to uncover your passion and find your purpose. |
Row the Boat | Jon Gordon & P.J. Fleck | Oar = Energy, Boat = Sacrifice, & Compass = Direction. Minnesota’s Head Coach shows you how to choose enthusiasm & optimism to guide your team. |
Radical Honesty | Brad Blanton, PhD | A shocking, entertaining and profound look at how radical honesty impacts us and society |
Title | Author | Why we like it |
Emotional Intelligence | Daniel Goleman | #1 Bestseller – Foundational book that redefines what “smart” is |
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 | Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves | A fast read packed with strategies to improve self-awareness, self-management, social awareness & relationship management. Includes free link for an online Emotional Intelligence Appraisal |
Permission to Feel | Dr. Marc Brackett | Provides the language to identify how we’re feeling and why. |
Dare to Lead | Dr. Brené Brown | Courage requires us to fully embrace vulnerability. |
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Title | Author | Why we like it |
Influencing With Integrity | Dr. Gene Laborde | The definitive work on NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). This is “EXPERT LEVEL” material that may years to fully assimilate. Absolutely worth the investment. |
Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion | Dr. Robert Cialdini | Breaks influence down to seven fundamentals – easy to read and apply. |
How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie | This 1936 classic is still a “must read” for anyone who influences others |
Instant Rapport | Michael Brooks | The name says it all! |
The Definitive Book of Body Language | Barbara and Allan Pease | Simple, easy to understand, well-illustrated and easy to apply |
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High | Kerry Patterson, Joe Grenny, Ron McMillan & Al Switzler | Elevating your communication skills and impact with solid principle-based thinking |
The 5 Levels of Leadership | John Maxwell | Position or title does not automatically result in influence. Learn how to develop your leadership skills to influence. |
Multipliers | Liz Wiseman | Reviews the skills to develop that will make your team flourish |
Title | Author | Why we like it |
First Things First | Stephen Covey | The best book we’ve ever read on managing your time and priorities |
Failing Forward | John Maxwell | Learning how to learn from failures and mistakes |
Think and Grow Rich | Napoleon Hill | 15 MILLION copies sold since 1937 for a reason…you’ll have to read it to find out why! |
The Art of War | Sun Tzu | A best seller since 512 BC, with 13 fundamentals that tie strategy and tactics together that will forever change the way you think… |
The 8th Habit | Stephen Covey | Learn how to find your voice to inspire others to grow |
How Full is Your Bucket | Tom Rath & Dr. Donald Clifton | How personal interactions affect you and others, and how to turn those into positive interactions |
Quiet Strength | Tony Dungy & Nathan Whitaker | Great book about personal leadership |
Believe It | Jamie Kern Lima | Every one of us can go from underestimated to unstoppable even if the person underestimating you is you. |
Today Matters | John Maxwell | This book will help you make and manage the right decisions daily. |
Title | Author | Why we like it |
Who Moved My Cheese | Spencer Johnson & Ken Blanchard | Simple, super-easy read – a great first step |
Our Iceberg is Melting | John Kotter, Holger Rathgerber, Peter Mueller & Spencer Johnson | A follow-up to Who Moved My Cheese that focuses on urgency and leveraging social proof |
Change is Good…You Go First | Mac Anderson | Easy to read and apply these 21 ways to inspire change |
Leading Change | John Kotter | Very strong work – breaks change into 8 simple steps |
The Coffee Bean | Jon Gordon & Damon West | You have the power inside you to transform your environment. Simple lesson to create positive change. |
Think Again | Adam Grant | Examines the science behind changing your mind, and persuading others to change theirs. |
Title | Author | Why we like it |
The Purple Cow | Seth Godin | How to transform your business from ordinary to REMARKABLE! |
The Little Red Book of Selling | Jeffrey Gitomer | Short and simple easy read for your sales team |
Customers for Life | Carl Sewell & Paul Brown | Classic book on customer service – includes the 10 Commandments of Customer Service |
Up Your Business | Dave Anderson & John Maxwell | A 7-Step Blueprint for growing your business to the next level |
Start with Why | Simon Sinek | How to inspire your team to take action. A bit of a long read, but solid fundamentals |
Tribal Leadership | Dave Logan, John King & Halee Fischer-Wright | A fantastic book on leveraging group dynamics for leadership and growth |
Sticking Points | Hayden Shaw | How to get 5 generations working together, including Millennials & Gen Z. |
Thinking, Fast and Slow | Daniel Kahneman | Provides an understanding of how decisions are made, how we solve problems and why errors in judgement are so prevalent. |
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There | Marshall Goldsmith | 20 workplace habits that need to be broken & eliminating dysfunction |
Never Split the Difference | Chris Voss | Negotiating as if your life depended on it! |