What Are Business Executives Reading in 2019

December 12, 2019, 12:00 PM

Lettering by Braulio Amado

Past Julie Verhage

Dec 12, 2019

Every year, during the weeks spent compiling this list of business leaders' favorite reads, books on direction invariably ingather upwardly. That's hardly a surprise, given the obviously hyper-focused group of main executive officers, entrepreneurs, and celebrities we survey. Merely sometimes people offer books that only loosely touch how to obliterate corporate opponents and appease the public markets. This year,The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek tied for the title of most recommended.

The book's contention—that working toward victory looks different than working toward fulfillment—is meant as a treatise for everyday living that also happens to utilise to business. "With infinite games, the players can change, the rules are in a land of flux, and there is no winning," writes Uber Eats boss Janelle Sallenave. "This resonates deeply with me, every bit there's no winning in wedlock, friendships, careers, politics, or fifty-fifty life itself."

The other most-recommended book wasLoonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries, which delves into the quirks of human being beliefs. OnlyLoonshots andInfinite Game were each picked just twice, significant there was broad-ranging diverseness in the rest of the listing, which spans topics from climate change (Everlane'due south CEO pickedDrawdown: The Virtually Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming) to coming of age in N Carolina (Bank of America'south chief operations and technology officer chose Where the Crawdads Sing). The sprawl of genres is proof: Many of the best lessons in business aren't business concern-related.

• 

  Cathy Bessant

  Chief operations and technology officer, Bank of America Corp.

  Wonderfully written, without the words getting in the fashion of the story. The characters and plot are so compelling that I couldn't put it down, and missed it when I got to the end. Minor towns, poverty, prejudice, rural living, and self-evolution are themes that become evident naturally and are important and truly thought-provoking.

  Published on Aug. 14, 2018

• 

  Neil Blumenthal

  Co-founder and co-CEO, Warby Parker Retail Inc.

  I recommend this book to anyone looking to start a new business organization or interruption through to the side by side level of their career. Information technology's full of inspiration and tools needed to be fearless and push frontwards when y'all're ready to brand a big change. I wish I had it past my side when starting Warby Parker.

  Published on Jan. 8, 2019

• 

  Ana Botin

  Executive chairman, Banco Santander SA

  This book forces the reader to recollect most the challenges of our current internet information model and focus on how the data we leave behind online is used to sell to us and predict and influence our behaviour. Everyone should read it, but specially business leaders who, like me, are committed to models that use personal information to empower people and to ensure real competition and transparency that truly allows consumer choice.

  Published on Jan. 15, 2019

• 

  Stephanie Cohen

  Chief strategy officer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

  I inhaled Loonshots, by physicist-turned-entrepreneur Safi Bahcall. The book considers the factors that allow good ideas—and especially, good, crazy ideas—to get off the basis. Bahcall borrows from physics, writing that most organizations exist in discrete phases. Some are good at the new; some are amend at refining what'due south worked already. What I especially liked was his analysis of those occasions when an arrangement straddled the line between the 2, managing to create the future while keeping pace with the here and at present.

  Published on March 19, 2019

• 

  Dave Gilboa

  Co-founder and co-CEO, Warby Parker Retail Inc.

  In a earth that seems to take no shortage of bleak news, this volume shifted my perspective by using data to reveal under-reported truths of human progress. It'south a swell reminder of the incredible positive advancement happening around the earth.

  Published on Apr 3, 2018

• 

  Donald Gogel

  Chairman and CEO, Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC

  This is a compelling historical fiction based on a remarkable individual, Varian Fry, who bravely worked to smuggle artists out of France during World State of war Two. Orringer evokes a vivid sense of Marseilles, the Vichy functionaries, and the remarkable people committed to relieve the lives and the cultural legacy of notable artists (Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, among them). The clever schemes to organize escape routes across the Pyrenees and the Atlantic conduct the gripping narrative, but the insightful exploration of the inner lives of the characters lifts this novel to a different level. Highly recommended as an escape to a unlike time and place when principles and lives were on the line every day, and personal choices really mattered.

  Published on May 7, 2019

• 

  Kirsten Green

  Founding partner, Precursor Ventures

  Jerry's book is show, don't tell in its finest form. His journeying is one of courage, and the volume resonates so well because he is existent, open, and inspiring when writing nigh the winding path to leadership. This honest portrayal of personal and professional growth says something new, rather than rinsing and reusing the helpful, but oftentimes generic, definition of success.

  Published on June 18, 2019

• 

  Lydia Jett

  Partner, SoftBank Group Corp.

  At a fourth dimension when immigration is sparking headlines across the developed world, I loved the humanity in this deep profile of one family's story. Information technology's mixed with equal parts of history, economics, foreign policy, gritty reality, and hope.

  Published on Aug. xx, 2019

• 

  Claire Hughes Johnson

  Chief operating officer, Stripe Inc.

  Great leadership is an practice in empathy, which requires you to inhabit others' worlds. The title character is inspired by an inventor whom he follows to escape from enslavement, crossing from his world in Barbados to colonial America, the Arctic, and somewhen England, where he becomes an artist for a scientific exhibit. The novel's language is evocative, plunging you lot into an entirely new reality.

  Published on Sept. 18, 2018

• 

  Amit Jhawar

  General managing director, Venmo

  Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell is a book that immediately had relevance in my personal and professional life. Illuminating the fact that nosotros are all strangers in dissimilar settings and the perceptions, feelings, and misconceptions about those interactions from both sides is fascinating. In an increasingly polarized earth, where the middle ground seems to be disappearing, understanding how we judge, perceive, and evaluate strangers changed the mode I will deed going forward.

  Published on Sept. x, 2019

• 

  Cristina Junqueira

  Co-founder, Nubank

  This book captivated me by bringing real examples about Gates's feel and projects around the globe to empower women. The volume shows the importance of valuing and investing in women, non only for the lives of women themselves, simply also for their families, the economy, and even club as a whole.

  Published on April 23, 2019

• 

  Jason Kelly

  CEO, Ginkgo Bioworks

  IBM from 1935 to 1965 is one of my biggest inspirations, that company is amazing! One thing that really resonated with me is the flake about Peter Drucker, who was a reporter in Germany way before he was the famous direction theorist. Drucker interviewed Tom Watson Sr.—substantially IBM's founding CEO—about this affair chosen "data processing." And he took it dorsum to his editor, who said, "Watson's a nut," and threw information technology out. Watson was using the language of his time, the 1930s, saying, "We will procedure information the fashion we process ore or steel." It completely confused people. I chronicle to that story because that's how we've described ourselves here at Ginkgo. We're going to program cells like you program computers.

  Published on March v, 2019

• 

  Mike Krieger

  Co-founder, Instagram

  I became a U.Southward. citizen this year and, not coincidentally, my favorite book of 2019 was George Packer's Our Human. Information technology'due south his biography of Richard Holbrooke, a diplomat whose career spanned U.Due south. conflicts in Vietnam, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. Only more than that, it'southward an intensely evocative portrait of America—and its leaders—at their all-time and worst. At its centre is a question relevant to anyone who's managed a team: Are the elements that make someone swell separable from their flaws?

  Published on May 7, 2019

• 

  Aaron Levie

  Co-founder and CEO, Box Inc.

  While running Cisco for two decades, John Chambers successfully navigated market shifts like mobile and digital, landing his company on the right side of disruption every time and creating new markets in the procedure. In this volume, he shares his playbook for building ane of the almost resilient and innovative companies in the world. Connecting the Dots is a must-read for any entrepreneur or leader looking to stave off disruption and ride the next engineering wave.

  Published on Sept. 25, 2018

• 

  Shan-Lyn Ma

  CEO and co-founder, Zola

  Super Pumped is the long-lost lovechild of Bonfire of the Vanities and Wolf of Wall Street, set in Silicon Valley. Business organisation schools and business leaders akin teach and preach ethics, morals, and "doing the right affair," and yet here is an organization that gave the centre finger to all of that, while creating farthermost riches for its early employees and investors.

  Published on Sept. 3, 2019

• 

  Justin McLeod

  CEO and founder, Swivel Inc.

  While we are more connected than ever through our digital devices, we are as well feeling lonelier than ever. Belong is a timely phone call, with practical guidance, for us all to detect dearest, connection, and purpose through existent community beyond our digital social networks. Her arroyo has been revolutionary in my own life, and I believe it has the potential to be revolutionary in helping us solve the larger loneliness epidemic in guild.

  Published on Sept. 4, 2018

• 

  Mike Mayo

  Wall Street analyst, Wells Fargo & Co.

  The book, written by a digital sociologist, details how the transition from an analog to digital world is causing society to become untethered from the American Dream, leading to a range of social, economic, and political repercussions. More than choice, which can enable more nomadic lifestyles, has come with less time spent on jobs, relationships, and homes. It raises concern about the disconnect between this extra freedom and our own happiness.

  Published on Apr 16, 2019

• 

  Cheryl Miller

  President and CEO, AutoNation Inc.

  Simon Sinek's volume rallies those who are ready to claiming the status quo and contribute to something bigger than themselves. In today's fast-paced earth, Sinek lays the framework for leading with an infinite mindset and creating atmospheric condition to thrive on the other side of disruption. Everyone has an opportunity to contribute to a company's success, well across their own individual tenure.

  Published on October. fifteen, 2019

• 

  Richard Parsons

  Senior adviser, Providence Equity Partners LLC

  A must-read for anyone who thinks Western Europeans were the source of all knowledge that has shaped the modern world.

  Published on May 14, 2019

• 

  Christina Paxson

  President, Brownish University

  Turkish author and journalist Ahmet Altan was arrested during a media purge after a 2016 coup endeavour and is now serving a judgement of life imprisonment. His memoir, handwritten in prison house, is notable in highlighting the perils that writers and journalists face in a world that seems increasingly less tolerant of freedom of expression. It as well demonstrates how Altan is ultimately saved past his rich author'southward imagination, which keeps his mind gratis, fifty-fifty equally he is confined to a cell.

  Published on Oct. 1, 2019

• 

  Michael Preysman

  Founder and CEO, Everlane Inc.

  Everybody is scrambling to understand climatic change and what tin can be washed. In Drawdown, Paul—one of the almost important environmentalists today—put together the top 100 deportment we can take right now as a society to ho-hum downwardly carbon emissions. Not all of the solutions are in the easily of individuals, simply many are—for example, eating less ruddy meat and reducing our food waste.

  Published on April 18, 2017

• 

  Paul Rabil

  Co-founder, chief strategy officer, and role player, Premier Lacrosse League

  By and large, entrepreneurship, working 80-hour weeks, and sleep deprivation are glamorized, associated with success and condition. But after reading Ryan Vacation'due south latest volume, Stillness Is the Key, I've come to appreciate the history and benefits of stoicism and stillness. Nosotros reside in a modernistic tech- and mobile-driven society that's constantly fighting for our attending, and Holiday does a wonderful task recommending stillness equally a source of inspiration, artistic genius, happiness, and fulfilment. In other words, at-home downwards the busy in your life, block out your calendar daily, and you'll find better productivity and happiness.

  Published on Oct. one, 2019

• 

  Janelle Sallenave

  Head of Uber Eats U.S. & Canada, Uber Technologies Inc.

  Sinek argues that the games of our childhood—finite games with specific players, ready rules, and a defined endpoint—are hugely dissimilar from the infinite games nosotros encounter as adults. With space games, the players can change, the rules are in a state of flux, and in that location is no winning. This resonates deeply with me, as in that location's no winning in marriage, friendships, careers, politics, or fifty-fifty life itself. The volume offers an interesting blueprint for making the world a better place.

  Published on October. 15, 2019

• 

  Sheryl Sandberg

  Primary operating officer, Facebook Inc.

  Samantha Power writes that "regardless of our different backgrounds and perspectives, stories take the power to bind u.s.." In her memoir, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, announcer, and quondam diplomat expertly takes us through the most important stories of her life, from immigrating to the U.S. as a child and experiencing devastating loss in high school to reporting on war atrocities in Bosnia and serving as the U.South. ambassador to the United Nations. She is not just an idealist but an optimist—believing that despite the many challenges facing the human being race, expert will prevail.

  Published on Sept. 10, 2019

• 

  Jonathan Scott

  TV host, HGTV'due south The Property Brothers

  Information technology reads similar something straight out of a Hollywood thriller. But the patterns of harassment described in the volume have been a agonizing reality for then many. The book describes abuse, encompass-ups, intimidation, and threats. Nothing seems off the table for these powerful men who experience they are untouchable—who experience they're above the police force.

  Published on Oct. 15, 2019

• 

  Maria Sharapova

  Founder and tennis star, Sugarpova Inc.

  I'm lucky to have worked with many incredible coaches and mentors in both my tennis career and entrepreneurial work, which is why Trillion Dollar Coach, about Bill Campbell, was ane of my favorite reads of the year. As someone who brings a competitive mentality to all my projects, including my business, I establish Bill's ability to interpret the qualities of a great sports coach into coaching some of the world's top business leaders truly remarkable.

  Published on April 16, 2019

• 

  Ian Siegel

  CEO and co-founder, ZipRecruiter Inc.

  This book was written past an entrepreneur who hires a Navy SEAL to live with him and become him out of his comfort zone. Information technology really captures what being an entrepreneur is. Nobody understands why y'all're taking the jump to outset your own business when you lot're living a comfortable life working for somebody else. To become an entrepreneur, yous really take to be willing to push yourself past the limits of what you lot thought you could practise.

  Published on Nov. ane, 2016

• 

  Ken Tanji

  Chief financial officer, Prudential Financial Inc.

  Harari'south book consists of 21 chapters covering today'southward most pressing problems, including piece of work, war, nationalism, religion, immigration, education, and technology. Throughout the book, Harari takes stock of where we accept come up from as a society and where nosotros are going. Rather than offer the reader simple solutions, the author forces u.s. to think through hard and sometimes uncomfortable questions similar what will the world await like in 2050 and what should schools be teaching students.

  Published on Sept. 4, 2018

• 

  Holly Thaggard

  CEO and founder, Supergoop!

  The Ride of a Lifetime is about how proficient leaders should always remain optimistic. Even when faced with difficult decisions, true leaders know their squad won't be motivated past pessimists, so they remain positive. Iger also emphasizes the importance of courage, focus, and thoughtfulness. Something he wrote that resonated with me was that if you believe something can be meliorate (like SPF!), then put the effort in to change it.

  Published on Sept. 23, 2019

• 

  Henry Ward

  CEO, Carta Inc.

  For nigh, company-building is almost designing the culture and system to support the business. For us at Carta, company-edifice is an expression of who we are and, maybe more than importantly, who we aspire to be. Loonshots identifies factors and incentives that affect both. It's an interesting read almost creating the structure to allow great ideas and great teams to flourish.

  Published on March nineteen, 2019

Assists from Processed Cheng, Anne Vandermay, Craig Trudell, Gerrit De Vynck, Erik Schatzker, Jason Kelly, Lananh Nguyen, Kate Krader, Sarah McBride, Max Abelson, Janet Lorin, Kurt Wagner, Joel Weber.

Lettering by Braulio Amado.

(Corrects Bank of America executive title in third paragraph.)

More than On Bloomberg

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Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-best-books/

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