Suggested Reading

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• Good to Great

  Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t

  by Jim Collins

  In what Collins calls a prequel to the bestseller Built to Last he wrote with Jerry Porras, “Good to Great” explores how good or even mediocre companies can be turned into ones that achieve long-term superior performance. To find the keys to greatness, Collins and his team identified 11 companies that made the leap from Good To Great and discovered the characteristics of greatness—why some companies make the leap and their industry counterparts don’t. Collins introduces concepts such as Level 5 Leaders, The Hedgehog Concept, A Culture of Discipline, Technology Accelerators, and The Flywheel and the Doom Loop. The findings provide valuable insight to anyone building a company with the potential to become great and enduring. While some of the findings may be counterintuitive, most are simple and common sense. “Good to Great” doesn’t hold all the secrets to success but it is smart, thought-provoking, compelling and tackles big questions.
  

• Influence

  The Psychology of Persuasion

  by Robert Cialdini,

  Persuasion is at the heart of business, where leaders must reach customers, clients, employees, and suppliers. Influence is a classic book on the core principals of persuasion and is a great example of how psychological principles apply to the business world. You’ll learn the six universal principles of ethical persuasion: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Cialdini shows how to use the principles to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Based on research and interviews — with a wide range of top persuaders—Cialdini explains the psychology behind what moves people to say “yes” and how to translatethis information into the real world.