Boost Your Business Today with Proven Principles from 16 Classic Books

Read Time: 3 minutes.

This will come as no surprise, but I read a healthy amount of non-fiction.

What might be surprising is that I had developed this mental block against popular books. If it was too popular, how much alpha could there be in my reading it? And how uniquely insightful could it be if the masses had deemed this book a bestseller?

But over dinner one night with a founder I respect, he reminded me that "the path to alpha (uncommon insight) is often through understanding beta (common wisdom)."

Or, as musicians and artists have taught us for millennia, imitating the masters is the first step in stimulating our growth.

And with that, I spent the last year picking up the books I resisted.

They weren't all noteworthy, but several were.

I always get asked for book recommendations, so I am sharing some of my notes with you. I prioritized the books sharing timeless wisdom and practical application for the challenges managers face today.

FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM (Patrick Lencioni)

Best for leaders who: Need to transform a group of talented individuals into a high-performing team.

Timeless Principle: Teams fail or succeed based on the quality of their conflicts, not the absence of them.

Apply Now: Use structured conflict to make better team decisions. Schedule "devil’s advocate time" or assign a “red team” in meetings.

7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE (Stephen Covey)

Best for leaders who: Feel reactive rather than proactive in their leadership.

Timeless Principle: Private victories precede public victories - fix yourself before trying to fix others.

Apply Now: Create "deep work" blocks on your calendar to focus on important but not urgent activities in our distraction-filled world.

GRIT (Angela Duckworth)

Best for leaders who: Need to build resilience in themselves or their teams.

Timeless Principle: Talent × Effort = Skill; Skill × Effort = Achievement (TedTalk)

Apply Now: Build a clear skill ladder so your team can see (and feel) progress in their roles.

UNLEASH THE POWER WITHIN (Tony Robbins)

Best for leaders who: Feel stuck or are struggling with self-doubt.

Timeless Principle: Your physical state directly impacts your mental state and decision-making.

Apply Now: Create an energy management ritual (outside walks, 25 pushups, barbaric yawps) to combat zoom fatigue.

WINNING (Tim Grover)

Best for leaders who: Want to develop mental toughness and elite performance mindset.

Timeless Principle: Excellence is what you do when no one is watching.

Apply Now: Build personal accountability systems in a world of remote work and autonomous teams.

THINK AND GROW RICH (Napoleon Hill)

Best for leaders who: Need to develop stronger goal-setting and visualization practices.

Timeless Principle: Success starts with a burning desire paired with written goals.

Apply Now: Consider my “called shots” template to translate your desires into daily accountably.

THINKING IN BETS (Annie Duke)

Best for leaders who: Need to make better decisions under uncertainty.

Timeless Principle: Separate the quality of the decision from the quality of the outcome.

Apply Now: Create a “decision journal” for an honest review of strategic decisions over time.

7 POWERS (Hamilton Helmer)

Best for leaders who: Need to build sustainable competitive advantage.

Timeless Principle: Power (sustainable economic profit) comes from capturing value, not just creating it.

Apply Now: Use the framework to evaluate moats in your business model. Pay special attention to network effects if your business is digital.

TRACTION (Gino Wickman)

Best for leaders who: Want to implement a comprehensive business operating system.

Timeless Principle: You can't grow beyond your ability to execute consistently.

Apply Now: Follow the process for creating “rocks,” your prioritized must-do’s. Mar and I adopted it when we had 17 priorities that weren’t getting done. The value comes from what you say “No” to.

12 RULES FOR LIFE (Jordan Peterson)

Best for leaders who: Want to develop better personal discipline and clearer thinking.

Timeless Principle: Take responsibility for your life before trying to change the world.

Apply Now: Use these principles to maintain personal boundaries in an always-connected workplace.

SCALING PEOPLE (Claire Hughes Johnson)

Best for leaders who: Need to build systems for managing rapid team growth.

Timeless Principle: Scale comes from systems, not individual heroics

Apply Now: Prioritize scalable, asynchronous processes that work across distributed teams and time zones.

MEASURE WHAT MATTERS (John Doerr)

Best for leaders who: Need to align teams around clear objectives and execution.

Timeless Principle: Goals are only as good as their ability to be tracked and adjusted.

Apply Now: Establish a “north star metric” for your team that guides more autonomous decision-making.

WOODEN ON LEADERSHIP (John Wooden)

Best for leaders who: Want to build a culture of excellence and character.

Timeless Principle: Success is about the small things done consistently well.

Apply Now: Identify the foundational habits that support excellence and train everyone on their way in the door. Don’t be shy - he taught Kareem Abdul-Jabbar how to tie his shoes.

CAN'T HURT ME (David Goggins)

Best for leaders who: Need to push past their perceived limitations.

Timeless Principle: Your mind gives up long before your body does.

Apply Now: Create a "cookie jar" for storing away wins you can pull from when you hit hard times.

SEE YOU AT THE TOP (Zig Ziglar)

Best for leaders who: Want to develop both personal success and help others succeed through positive attitude and action.

Timeless Principle: "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

Apply Now: Build reciprocity by delivering value to others before seeking anything in return.

What You Missed

Did you miss this week’s Monday MGMT Minute? 

📌 I share the 3 people I seek advice from when making a big decision.

What you missed from Dave on LinkedIn:

•  👀 7 Signs You’re In A Toxic Team Culture (wow this took off)

• 10 Harsh Truths That Your Boss Is Too Afraid To Tell You

• Critical Questions To Ask Before Taking Any Job

What you missed from Dave on X/Twitter:

• ⚡ 6 Predictable Manager Mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• Manage Up Like A Boss (even if you’re a new manager)

• How To Get Your Team To Commit (and Deliver)

What you missed from Marsden on LinkedIn:

• 🔥 11 Common Lies Killing Your Career

• Crack The Code on Managing Up To Your Boss

• 9 Magnetic Leadership Skills To Master

Our goal is to build a community of 1 million thoughtful, curious leaders.

Your ♻️ reposts and comments are always appreciated.  

Lead on,
Dave & Mar