On his personal blog, Bill Gates recently posted the top 10 books he recommends to everyone who reads. The list includes some perennial favourites, but also a few lesser-known books that you might not have heard of yet. Each of these books will give you something new and thought-provoking to think about, and hopefully inspire you to broaden your reading horizons beyond what you’ve already read.
1) The End of Poverty
Why Poverty? Why Not. In his book, Jeffrey Sachs gives several suggestions on how to solve poverty. He is certain that with international aid, extreme poverty can be solved in our lifetime, even stating that it is possible to eradicate extreme poverty by 2025. Also a professor at Columbia University and special advisor to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he has been one of the key architects of last year’s Millennium Development Goals and reports directly to governments on economic development strategies for their countries. With all these credentials under his belt, we should listen when he talks about what needs to be done to end global poverty once and for all. The book is a great read too!
2) Conscious Capitalism
This book is about putting an end to corporatism and putting humanity before profits. There are so many different business concepts discussed here, from purpose-driven leadership to profit-sharing with employees. It’s a great book for business owners looking to implement a more humanized management style.
3) The 100-Year Life
This eye-opening look at our future (and present) can help ensure that you’re thinking about your financial well-being beyond what’s in your 401(k). The author, Lynda Gratton, is a professor of management practice at London Business School and has spent her career studying human behaviour. Her findings are based on data from thousands of workers and retirees. She argues that we should plan for long careers with multiple jobs; age 50 isn’t even middle age anymore;and retirement is out of reach for most people. This book will definitely make you think differently about saving for retirement.
4) Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook
I had been a financial advisor for twenty years, but I realized that for most people, myself included, investing is about as easy as learning a new language. The best way to learn a new language is immersion - move to another country where that's primarily what they speak. So I did just that and went to Asia. This book distills what I learned into 10 simple rules - specific, actionable steps you can take right now to secure your financial future.
5) The Undoing Project
A Friendship That Changed Our Minds, Michael Lewis: Is there a brain scientist alive who doesn’t love Daniel Kahneman? In The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis’s new book about him and his fellow pioneer Amos Tversky, we get a full dose of it. It turns out that some of our most complex behaviour is rooted in a simple mathematical equation: loss aversion. When faced with two choices—an item for $1 or one for $2—we will nearly always choose the latter. A smart car salesman can see that immediately, and overcharge accordingly. Since Kahneman developed his prospect theory with Tversky in 1979, economists have recognized its power to explain seemingly irrational decision-making.
6) Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari takes readers on a grand tour through prehistory—when humans were just beginning to distinguish themselves from their primate cousins—to today's hyper-connected world that has in many ways become less human. Sapiens hits at major global events like World War II and Industrial Revolution and ties them back to pivotal events in history that have shaped what we've become. When you read Sapiens, you'll be able to see why it made Gates' list.
7) Homo Deus
A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari: A stunning exploration of humankind’s future and our possible selves, rooted in today’s ever-unfolding present. It poses a simple question: What will we do with new tools that allow us to re-engineer what it means to be human? One day, maybe not so far from now, doctors may be able to write genetic code like computer code; people may upload their minds into computers or upgrade them with technology; nanorobots may patrol our bloodstreams, destroying cancer cells; and intelligent machines may outsmart us at every turn. The world is on the verge of major changes—changes that will touch every aspect of life on Earth—and we don’t know where these changes will lead. This book helps readers understand how they can best take advantage of these coming changes so they can live better lives.
8) The Culture Code
Why Some Cultures Succeed and Others Fail, by Daniel Coyle: Author and entrepreneur Daniel Coyle take an exhaustive look at success in a culture to find what makes some communities thrive and others. His findings are compelling (and useful): It all comes down to a dynamic of trust and transparency between leaders and their teams. Leaders who don't embrace transparency poison their organization's trust culture. But leaders who do create such a culture can turn around almost any business challenge, from sales performance to employee retention to company longevity.
9) My Years with General Motors" by Alfred Sloan
My Years with General Motors is about Sloan’s time as head of GM, but it’s really about much more than that. It chronicles his life and career in business, and offers priceless insight into how one of America’s greatest corporate leaders thought about management, leadership, and just about everything else. Reading it will teach you how to succeed in almost any career — or an entrepreneurial venture — you undertake. It also happens to be a ripping good read. If you can only pick one book off my list to read over your summer vacation, I would recommend My Years with General Motors.
10) Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street" by John Brooks
Brooks covers 12 business stories of famous companies who've found success and failure over several decades. He digs deep into not only what happened, but why it happened. Although I don't agree with all of his opinions, Brooks is a very eloquent writer with a vast background in business topics. His clear analysis and thoughtful conversations have made these tales even more interesting and educational. You'll find some stories you know well--like Colgate's struggles in Europe or Johnson & Johnson's infamous Tylenol crisis--as well as many that are lesser-known. It will be worth your time to read them all, particularly if you're looking for inspiration or advice on leadership principles to apply in your own business one day.
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