From entrepreneurship to networking to outstanding customer service, the following books for small business owners and larger companies alike are highly rated by critics and readers. Erie Insurance Corporate Librarian Adam Groves curated this list–which is restricted to books published in 2013–based on the recommendations of his ERIE colleagues.
Here’s what tops his list when it comes to putting the power of hardbacks, paperbacks and ebooks to work for you and your business.
1. Success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant reveals how effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation and leadership skills can affect your–and by definition, your business’–success.
2. The Unstoppables: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial Power by Bill Schley is a New York Times bestseller that analyzes the “emotional mechanics” that set entrepreneurs in motion. It gives you six rule sets to help you take your business to the next level.
3. Is your business equipped to change with your customers? What’s the Future of Business? Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences by Brian Solis aligns customer experience with innovation and leadership in an effort to support business performance for a new generation of consumerism.
4. Creating a place where people want to work and succeed is important for every business. No Excuses: How You Can Turn Any Workplace into a Great One by Jennifer Robin and Michael Burchell proves that any business can change for the better when you have the right tools and mindset.
5. SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together by Christine Comaford shows how you can revive and engage your team by replacing old, limiting mentalities with new practices that foster optimal performance.
6. Crafting the Customer Experience for People Not Like You: How to Delight and Engage the Customers Your Competitors Don’t Understand by Kelly McDonald explains how businesses can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service.
The ability to innovate and adapt is essential to your business’ success. With these reads, you’ll gain new tools to move your team and your business forward.
