5 Must-Read Books For Successful People

Whether you're on your way up or you're already there, you need to stay sharp. One way to maintain your edge and continue growing is through the wisdom of others. When you read and learn from quality books, you can employ their lessons to elevate your personal and professional roles.

Here are some must-read books for any aspiring professional. And though it's entirely possible that you've already read some of these titles, each is worth rereading and adding to your personal library.
1- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't
By Jim Collins

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't - Credit: Collins PublishingWhat it teaches us: "Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?" Collins and his researchers undertook a five-year project to answer this question, putting over 1,400 companies and their executives under the microscope. The obvious answer to the first part is yes. The second part ( the "how") takes a bit longer to explain, but it's worth your time.

That isn't to say the solution has to be elusive -- though it is to too many companies. We learn there is no overnight, good-to-great transition for a company. But a disciplined company with a disciplined team can make it happen. Here, you'll discover (in whichever professional role you play) your part in the mix and the steps you need to take.

Clever quote: "When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results."
2- How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition
By Harvey Mackay

How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition - CredWhat it teaches us: If you cloned Garrison Keillor with Tony Robbins, you'd get Harvey Mackay. Mackay, a Minnesotan, offers examples of life lessons rather than hollow advice. And like any Midwesterner worth his salt, he tells the anecdotes from a humble, occasionally self-deprecating perspective. We realize people respond differently to various styles of motivation and examples of success stories. To die-hard followers of more traditional success and motivational stories, Mackay may confound a bit, but the lessons are valuable.

Among those lessons: Planning, calculated execution and persistence are among the keys to professional survival. Throughout the book, Mackay relies on his own experience with an early company he owned to stress that working hard is just as important as working smart.

Clever quote: "It doesn't matter how many pails of milk you spill, just so you don't lose the cow."

3- Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
By Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. & Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life - Credit: Putnam AdultWhat it teaches us: Like Harvey Mackay's How to Swim with the Sharks, Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard took the road less traveled in developing their work and created a much lighter read than conventional deep thinkers. This is the story of two mice, two mouse-sized people and the cheese they treasure.

Actually, the cheese here is a metaphor of life's tangible and intangible achievement goals. We're taught that as we pursue the cheese through life's maze, we have to expect the cheese will randomly disappear and reappear elsewhere. Likewise, we must learn to roll with personal and professional challenges while remaining focused on our goals.

Clever quote: "When you come to see 'The Handwriting on the Wall,' you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success (however you define it) in your work and in your life."
4- One Minute Manager
By Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. & Spencer Johnson, M.D.

One Minute Manager - Credit: Berkley Trade PublishingWhat it teaches us: One-minute goals, one-minute praisings and one-minute reprimands are core lessons of this Blanchard & Johnson classic, but it also stresses the importance of valuing employees. It may be 25 years old, but the information is still relevant and useful. It's a shame, then, that so many managers have forgotten these lessons and stopped treating their employees as the book suggests.

If you're feeling a little self-conscious right about now, a reread is in order. Once you reacquaint yourself with this book, you'll again realize how a job well done by your employees begins with inspirational and responsible management by you.

Clever quote: "People who feel good about themselves produce good results."
5- Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
By Jim Collins & Jerry I. Porras

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies - Credit: Collins PublishingWhat it teaches us: Several years before Good to Great, Collins and his crew presented their findings of another multi-year study focusing on how great companies maintain their staying power.

When comparing the 18 "visionary" companies featured in the book with lesser competitors, Collins & Porras found that these successful businesses all contained intelligent leaders who were unafraid to take risks and build upon success. These visionaries hold firm during setbacks and feed off the momentum of their successes, maintaining focus on a centralized tenet.

Clever quote: "Indeed, all of the visionary companies in our study faced setbacks and made mistakes at some point during their lives, and some are experiencing difficulty as we write this book. Yet -- and this is a key point -- visionary companies display remarkable resiliency, an ability to bounce back from adversity."
learn your lesson
Whether you've reached the top or are on your way, you can benefit from the wisdom of others. Quality teachings, including the titles featured here, inspire us to perform the best we can and realize our full potential.

Resources:
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.jimcollins.com