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The most important business booksever written

Ed Stych, National Special Sections Editor

Jan 12, 2015, 11:27am CST

Image provided by Getty Images (PinkBadger)

What business book has had the greatest impact on your

career?

As a business owner for 17 years, the most valuable book for me

has been " The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses

Don't Work and What to Do About It," by Michael Gerber.

It taught me that I needed to set up systems so the company

could run without me, and so it could run consistently every

day whether I was there or not. That was a great lesson that

allowed me to coach my kids' sports teams, volunteer at church

during the week, and take my family on our fair share of

vacations — all without having to worry (too much) about what

was happening in the business.

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1/13/2015 The most important business books ever written - Austin Business Journal

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month I asked our contributing writers to answer this question:

"What's the most important business book you've ever read?"

Below are half of the answers that I received (the other half will

be published tomorrow, all in alphabetical order based on the

title of the books).

Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an

Enduring Great Company, by Jim Collins

It's like "Built to Last" (another Collins book), but this one is for

early-stage businesses. The most powerful part of the book is

Chapter 2 on setting the vision for your company. ( Clate Mask,

CEO and Co-Founder of Infusionsoft)

Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes, by

Tom Rath

Learn exactly how what you eat, how much you exercise, and

how long you sleep impacts your work performance and life.

Rath demystifies these elements in an easy-to-read format,

backed with years of scientific research and his own

experiences, as he handles personal health problems. Let

Rath's words inspire you to eat healthier (eliminate bread),

sleep more (at least 8 hours) and keep active throughout the

day. This book has changed my habits and has enabled me to

be more productive and lead a more energetic life. ( Dan

Schawbel , author of Promote Yourself)

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers

Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

This book may not have introduced the concept of strengths-

based management, but it certainly provided the most research

to back up the concept. I find that managing to people's

strengths rather than trying to fix perceived weaknesses

provides a fresh and important look at business. This single

concept can save companies money and hassle by improving

performance, increasing employee engagement, and lowering

turn-over. It also keeps managers from wasting time on

behaviors that lead nowhere. ( Stevie Ray, executive director of

training company Stevie Ray Improv Co.)

Geeks and Geezers, by Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas

Geeks and Geezers is a book about leadership. An exhaustive

study was performed on what makes a good leader a good

leader, addressing "How does Era, Values and Defining

Moments Shape Leaders." The gold nugget in this book is about

"crucibles." Every great leader in some point of their life and

career goes through a crucible moment that changes them —

hopefully for the good. Have you heard the phrase "you learn

more from you mistakes than your successes"? This book proves

that and has some great insights. What was your crucible

moment that lead you to be the leader you are today? ( Patrick

Stroh, principal at Mercury Business Advisors)

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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini

This book is all about how to get people to say "yes." Cialdini

outlines six "weapons of influence," including: Reciprocation,

Commitment and Consistency, Social Proof, Authority, Liking

and Scarcity. Whether you're working in marketing, sales,

consulting or just need to improve your persuasiveness overall

(or know when someone else is trying to influence you!), you

will benefit from reading this book. ( Sarah Faulkner, principal

at Faulkner Strategic Consulting)

Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, by

Henry Cloud

Cloud vividly brings home the point that business leaders must

pay attention, not only to getting tasks done and reaching

goals, but to taking care of relationships along the way

(customers, employees, vendors, friendships), because over the

long-term it is relationships that will grow or undermine the

success of your business. ( Paul White, psychologist, speaker

and trainer)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop

Talking, by Susan Cain

I feel validated! After a lifetime of thinking that something was

wrong with me when I wanted to work alone and did not want

to be part of a team, Susan Cain has written a beautiful book

promoting the value introverts bring to the workplace. The

basic premise of "Quiet" is that we dramatically undervalue

introverts and the contribution they make in the workplace. I

believe that " Quiet" is one of the most important books to hit

the business press in a long time. Many leadership tomes I read

applaud the extrovert ideal showing leadership as an act of

utmost decisiveness and assertiveness. " Quiet" shows us that

the thoughtful, reflective leaders can be just as effective and

need to be embraced, not marginalized as being without merit.

( Alice Waagen, president of Workforce Learning)

Rembrandts in the Attic: Unlocking the Hidden Value of

Patents, by Kevin Rivette and David Klein

This book launched the Intellectual Asset Management (IAM)

movement in the late 1990s, as it's the first book dealing with

the value of patents not only as legal assets, but as strategic

corporate business assets. Written by an experienced IP lawyer

and a war correspondent, this seminal book was written for

senior management who are looking to create valuable

intellectual property portfolios for their companies and extract

value from innovation in meaningful ways. The book

highlights not only success stories, but also serious strategic IP

mistakes made by the likes of Kodak and Xerox PARC. ( Efrat

Kasznik, president of Foresight Valuation Group)

Selling The Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, by

Harry Beckwith

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The chapters are short, the recommendations punchy and

thought-provoking. Harry's book will be especially interesting

to those who sell services. The big point is "The core of service

marketing is the service itself." ( Joe Scott, vice president of

Scott & Associates)

Ed Stych assembles a daily stream of best-in-class

information for entrepreneurs and top managers that

appears in The Business Journals' national How-To blog.

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