Fall 2012 Reading List: Books The Professionals Recommend

One of the benefits of working in an innovative and diverse corporate office is the opportunity to grab great reading recommendations from my co-workers. I’m always on the prowl for great new material that can broaden my scope in business, strategy and self-discovery. I’m currently pouring through the Steve Jobs bio written by Walter Isaacson – a book I won’t think twice about recommending. There’s so much I hadn’t known about Jobs (right down to his surprising drug abuse), and find his self-made man story to be absolutely fascinating.

Knowing that I’ll soon be done the Jobs bio, I wanted to make sure I had a few other reads lined up. Lucky for me, after sending out an email to some of my closest colleagues, I now have a huge list of books I intend to read this fall/winter. Here’s a few that came my way:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

In this stunning investigation of success, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a journey through the world of “outliers”-the best, brightest, and most famous-asking the question: what makes high-achievers different? Gladwell argues that in order to solve this riddle we must focus on the contributing elements around the successful-their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way, he explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates share in common, the reason you’ve never heard of the smartest man in the world, why almost no star hockey players are born in the fall, and why Columbian and South Korean airplane pilots are more likely to crash.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? by William Poundstone

This book guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions. The book covers the importance of creative thinking, ways to get a leg up on the competition, what your Facebook page says about you, and much more. ARE YOU SMART ENOUGH TO WORK AT GOOGLE? is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s job market.

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity — principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.

Descriptions courtesy of Amazon.ca. Special thanks to Bhumika Kapadia, Seema Lakhani, Jonathan Naymark, and Katie Hinks for the recommendations.

How about you? Are there any books you’ll be reading over the fall/winter season? Share them in the comments!

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