Book Recommendations

Guests on the Speed Mentorship Podcast often have recommended reads that helped them to achieve success. You can read these for yourself by checking them out below.

Kim Davis

Recommended by Kim Davis | Be 2.0
BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0): Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company | By Jim Collins and Bill Lazier

From Jim Collins, the most influential business thinker of our era, comes an ambitious upgrade of his classic, Beyond Entrepreneurship, that includes all-new findings and world-changing insights.

Re-Imagine by Tom Peters
Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age | By Tom Peters

The business management guru and author of In Search of Excellence presents a thought-provoking, inspirational look at the changing world of twenty-first-century business that introduces innovative strategies for overcoming outdated company values and procesures to create an aggressive environment that empowers talented individuals.

Traction by Gino Wickman
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business | By Gino Wickman

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you. All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations—personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But there is a solution. It's not complicated or theoretical.The Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. More than 80,000 companies have discovered what EOS can do.

Jeff meredith

Measure WHAT MATTERS | By John Doerr

Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth - and how it can help any organization thrive.

Chris Anderson

Recommended Reading | A Rumor of War
A Rumor of War: The Classic Vietnam Memoir | By Philip Caputo

A Rumor of War is far more than one soldier’s story. Upon its publication in 1977, it shattered America’s indifference to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in the literature of wars throughout history and, as the author writes, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to them."

Recommended Reading | As a Man Thinketh
As A Man Thinketh | James Allen

In As A Man Thinketh, New Thought teacher James Allen reveals the fundamental truth of human nature: “A man is literally what he thinks.” Allen’s deceptively simple principle has changed the lives of millions of readers, making As A Man Thinketh a classic bestseller for decades.

Recommended Reading | First Things First
First Things First | By Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill & Rebecca R,. Merrill

In First Things First, Stephen M. R. Covey advocates categorizing tasks by urgency and importance so that you can focus on what actually needs to be done in the limited amount of time that you have. Using personal examples and insight from years of business experience, he argues for a new way of looking at your “to-do” list. Rather than offering you another clock, First Things First provides you with a compass, because where you're headed is more important than how fast you're going.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Recommended Reading
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen R. Covey

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for nearly three decades. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—millions of people of all ages and occupations. Now, this 30th anniversary edition of the timeless classic commemorates the wisdom of the 7 Habits with modern additions from Sean Covey.

Ryan Wright

4 Disciplines of Execution
4 Disciplines of Execution | Sean Covey

For fans of Good to Great and The First 90 Days, The Four Disciplines of Execution is the book “every leader should read” (Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma) for creating lasting organizational change. A #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller with more than 500,000 copies sold, The Four Disciplines of Execution will radically change your business.

The Advantage
the Advantage | Patrick Lencioni

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides.

Good to Great
Good to Great | Jim Collins

How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? Over five years, Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don't.

Traction
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business | Gino Wickman

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? In Traction, you'll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. You'll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment. Successful companies are applying Traction every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses—and you can too.

Dr. Calvin Sweeney

Recommended Reading from Dr. Calvin Sweeney | The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge
The Fifth Discipline | Peter Senge

Peter Senge's classic, The Fifth Discipline describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning "disabilities" that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create results they truly desire.

Recommended Reading from Calvin Sweeney - Start with Why, Simon Sinek
Start With Why | Simon Sinek

Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever.

Doug Lange

Pillars of the Earth | Ken Follet

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

Dr. Dione Dorsey Somerville

The Great Upheaval book recommendation
The Great Upheaval | Arthur Levine

In The Great Upheaval, Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt examine higher and postsecondary education to see how it has changed to become what it is today—and how it might be refitted for an uncertain future. Taking a unique historical, cross-industry perspective, Levine and Van Pelt perform a 360-degree survey of American higher education. Combining historical, trend, and comparative analysis of other business sectors, they ask

Reframing Organizations - Book recommendation for Dione Sommerville
Reframing Organizations | Lee G. Bolman & Terrence E. Deal

Bolman and Deal’s four-frame model has been transforming business leadership for over 40 years. Using a multidisciplinary approach to management, this deceptively simple model offers a powerful set of tools for navigating complexity and turbulence; as the political and economic climate continues to evolve, this model has never been more relevant than today.

Sheriff Mark wasylyshyn

How to Win Friends & Influence People
How to Win Friends & Influence People | Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you: six ways to make people like you, twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, nine ways to change people without arousing resentment, and much more! Achieve your maximum potential—a must-read for the twenty-first century with more than 15 million copies sold!

The Power of Now
The Power of Now | Eckhart Tolle

It's no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.

The Speed of Trust
The Speed of Trust | Stephen M. R. Covey

Why trust? The simple, often overlooked fact is this: work gets done with and through people. The Speed of Trust offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in every transaction and every relationship—from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction. It specifically demonstrates how to establish trust intentionally so that you and your organization can forego the time-killing, bureaucratic check-and-balance processes that is so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.

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