5 unconventional books for leaders to inspire success

A well-equipped bookshelf with an array of books on different subjects is something that many leaders have in common.  Being at the forefront of knowledge, a voracious reading habit is a critical component of a business leader’s think-tank. Books are a great way to garner new perspectives and espouse a holistic world-view.

Reading is also a powerful tool to make one empathetic and helps us understand character motivations better. In a similar vein, a voracious reader is also able to perceive a situation more objectively to arrive at better decisions.  These books can help you with key moments of epiphany and even help incorporate certain principles of design thinking.  After all, change often begins with a mindset shift.

Based on insights, let’s take a quick look at some unconventional books that will help inspire success.

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield is best known for his inspiring Chicken Soup for the Soul series, but it is The Success Principles that reflects his true goals.  After all, he is a world renown leadership coach. If you are a pedantic then the 67 strategies  for highly successful people are conscientiously laid out in this book. Irrespective of your goals, you can implement these strategies for your life. The book helps you perceive what you know differently.  The book has been laid out into digestible, short, and actionable chapters. It helps cultivate the right mindset to foster a life of success.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

This book has been on the must-read list of many with good reason: The habits described are fundamental and focussed core values that many will be able to relate to. Today, Covey’s ideas have had a profound impact on our business conversations. Covey describes in lucid detail how habits can lead you from dependence to independence.  The book focusses extensively on having a heightened awareness of how perceptions and assumptions can prevent you from succeeding.  It is a simple book with powerful principles about widening your horizons, attracting opportunities, and solving problems effectively.

The Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard

For many, it is the idea of personal freedom that drives us.  Conversely, keeping the fuel of motivation going is difficult for most. This is a book that requires self-introspection as the author asks deep seated questions for the reader to ponder upon.  Unlike most self help books, rhetoric is used to excite and inspire.  However, not everything penned in the book may be applicable to your life. Choose the lessons that resonate with you the most.

The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte

This books helps you build a roadmap that you can execute to live the life you seek. Your innate desires act as a compass towards success. It is an interactive book that helps you acquire clarity about the life you want to lead. It motivates you take the plunge towards success.  LaPorte helps you approach the process of settings goals from perspective of your feelings.

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius

Maintaining unsteady and unwavering focus in an era of constant uncertainty and disruption can be exceedingly difficult. This is an important book, where the underlying principles of stoicism still hold up today. It has life-changing anecdotes that help leaders pivot their business in a period of crisis. It is a blueprint for building mental resilience and character.