The Freedom Team had a very difficult time narrowing down all of the books that were submitted for the Best Business Book Contest.  There were so many great ones to pick from AND a ton of great recommendations I know our team will be reading this summer.

I complied all of the entries so you can have an easy to reference ”to-read” list. One aspect of this list I found interested was that not all of the books submitted would be found in the business section of a book store, but the information in the books can be directly applied to your professional life.

The Best Business Books as Voted by our Blog Readers

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (2 votes) by Brian Tracy
Effort-Less Marketing by Steve Moeller
Endless Referrals by Bob Burg
Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin
Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals by Brian Tracy
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins (2 votes)
How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life by Tom Rath
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie (2 votes)
If I Knew Then What I Know Now – Ceos and Other Smart Executives Share Wisdom They Wish They’d Been Told 25 Years Ago by Richard Edler
Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders
Managing Management Time by William Oncken
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm by Verne Harnish
Naked Marketing: The Bare Essentials by Robert Grede
No Excuses: A Business Process Approach to Managing Operational Risk by Dennis I. Dickstein (2 votes)
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham (2 votes)
Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service by Ken Blanchard (3 votes)
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
Winning Every Day: The Game Plan for Success by Lou Holtz
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
The Power of Intention by Wayne W. Dyer
The Power of Your Sub-Conscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life by Jeff Olson
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business by Kirk Cheyfitz
Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

Now for the Winners!

First Place and winner of an “Expect Success” Book is comment #24 by Lori Sherman whose favorite book was Good to Great 

Here are 2 ideas that seem like common sense – but for some reason got forgotten along the way. 1. A great leader makes decisions based on the future good and longevity of the company vs giving the stockholder a dividend today. This leader’s legacy will also outlive them and doesn’t depend on their presence. Yes Yes Yes – too many people are getting paid big bucks to go and dismantle or move a company in desperation that with good leadership could have been saved. 2. When someone isn’t a good fit for a job – do everyone a favor and give them the respect of kindly helping them realize this and find a better fit for both parties. When someones strengths do not fit the job description, they won’t live up to their full potential and will not be happy as well as everyone around them will have problems also. This book is full of down to earth principles that I think everyone is meant to relearn and could greatly profit from in the current economic upheaval that we created for ourselves today. There were quite a few ‘human’ values that we used to have and profit and greed clouded our vision. This book gets us back on track while remembering that we’re dealing with fellow human beings in the process. BRAVO!

Lori got 2 really specific principles out of the book, explored the applications and the effects that true leadership can have on an organization. The second concept in this post is tough to apply, yet very important. And OUR company is experiencing the benefits of making those tough decisions.  Bravo to Lori!

Second Place and winner of a Freedom Personal Development Water Bottle is comment #14 by Chris Melton whose business book pick was The Black Swan

Fantastic book that makes the case that our modern world is susceptible to events known as Black Swans. The key components of a Black Swan are 1)they are unpredictable 2)they have a huge impact 3)people engage in a form of Monday morning quarterbacking to try to explain why we should have seen it coming (to make it seem somewhat predictable). I learned from this book that history leaps forward (or backward it seems) and doesn’t move incrementally. We have been taught from various business and statistics courses that certain events are unlikely to happen (very remote odds) but after reading The Black Swan you will come away with the realization that much of what we thought we knew about statistics/probability are deeply flawed leading us to underestimate the risks that we take.

Sounds like a very deep, interesting book. Chris came away with a whole new insight on how or why things happen in the world. A good one to really get the wheels turning! Statistical data is so prevalent in our lives, and I think it is taken for granted. I think it is always a good “system refresh” to gain a larger perspective.

Third Place and winner of a Freedom Personal Development Calculator is comment #27 by Tom Wiers whose book was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 

In my opinion, the greatest habit is Habit 5: Seek first to Understand, Then to Be Understood. Whatever your responsibilities in life, this habit should be a cornerstone of your thinking. Think about your various roles in life … parent, sibling, salesperson, manager, coach, friend … I challenge you to tell me where this habit would not be beneficial in any situation.

All the “habits” are extremely helpful but Habit 5 is essential!

Tom’s excitement for principle #5 of The 7 Habits is inspiring. Any one of the habits can be life changing when applied, number 5 is no exception.

Thank you to everyone who entered.  I hope anyone reading this post reads at least one book on the list.  Remember, the best investment you can make is in yourself.

Be Free!

Tom Weber
VP of Sales