When we noticed that we had collected quite a few books in our library, we created a reading list that is updated periodically. Our library includes books in different genres, such as leadership development, business strategy planning, sales and management. We’ve categorized them as we saw fit below, but many of these books can fall into multiple categories. We also included a John C. Maxwell category since we found quite a few of his titles on our shelves.
Here are the books in our library:
Business Strategy Planning:
Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David
The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
Think Faster, Talk Smarter by Matt Abrahams
The Art of Game Theory by Wisdom University
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. by Colin C. Campbell
The 4 Disciplines of Execution by McChesney, Covey, Huling
7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
Management & Leadership Development:
Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Wired That Way by Marita Littauer
How to Read People Like a Book by James W. Williams
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willing & Leif Babin
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
The 5 Levels of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell
Everyone Communicates Few Connect by John C. Maxwell
Sales:
Gap Selling by Keenan
Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount
Sell It Like A Mango by Donald C. Kelly
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
Reach the Top 1% by Cynthia Barnes
The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone
Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone
Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar
The Art of Persuasion by Bob Burg
Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor
What’s in the CARDS? by Cheerily Cattleman
Beat the Bots by Anita Nielson
Habit Building & Personal Growth:
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Rich Habits by Thomas C. Corley
Million Dollar Habits by Stellan Moreira
The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley/Danko
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nyugen
The Dream Manager by Matthew W. Kelly
Goals by Zig Ziglar
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Cashflow Quadrants by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Relentless by Tim Grover
FAQs
Q: If we could start anywhere, where would we start?
A: We’ve put together a list of our Top 5 here for you.
Q: Why do you have so many John C. Maxwell books?
A: We didn’t always put such a large emphasis on leadership development. Our scholarship was more so focused on business strategy development, developing and designing visuals, management strategy and sales. However, we found it difficult to succeed long term. It seemed as though we would gather momentum in our efforts to build a successful business, only to have to start over again within a few months time. Although we were resilient in the process, we knew we had to change our learning strategy. When we began to add leadership development into our educational content, we noticed that we slowly began to grow over time. Our growth was slow at first, then became exponential over time. We readily recommend adding leadership development to any company’s reading list that is looking to experience similar growth.
Q: What about Habit Building & Personal Growth? Why so many?
A: At Fortexx, we’re really big on active leadership, meaning we look to our leaders to set the first and best example. If we expect our new hires to invest into their own development, we know it starts at the top. When one is busy reading, learning, applying and growing, it makes it easier to request the same from anyone else on the team. This investment into personal growth quickly became a part of our company culture.
Q: Do you only recommend reading traditional books? What is your take on audio books?
A: Audio books are amazing for learning and growing. We always recommend taking notes on whatever book you’re reading/listening to. In our physical books, you’ll find all kinds of notes and annotations in the margins. We also listen to audio books when we’re on the go and still able to take quick notes in a Note app on our phone. For the dedicated scholar, we even recommend to listen to the audio book before or after reading the physical book, so you are able to retain more information. E.g., the first time we hear/read/learn something new, our brain only retains 50% of the information. Passing the information through our brains twice includes the likelihood of retention and the amount of information retained.
Q: Any suggestions on how to take notes when reading a book?
A: The best note takers develop their own form of shorthand that they can look back to and understand fluently. “Fluently” is a pivotal term here. This means that they can look back and understand exactly what they were thinking at the time they wrote the note. Have you ever scribbled something down and when you looked back at it later, had no idea what it meant? Don’t assume that your future-self will understand just anything that you put down. Your mental state is currently in the middle of a thought process that you won’t be in when you read your note in that future moment. To make it easy on yourself, stay consistent with your short hand and be clear about your thoughts. A second tip is to add an extra thought or connection to the reading material. By doing this, you’re actively engaging with the content of the book and more likely to learn or retain its information. Thirdly, we recommend including drawings or diagrams. You can do this by drawing arrows in the margins, along with asterisks, underlining important information, or even boxing an entire section. If you are taking notes in a separate notebook or app, give your hand a try at drawing the diagram. You’ll be able to remember much more by providing yourself a visual.
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