Entrepreneurship

Jim Collins
Book: Good to Great, Built to Last
Comments: Jim and his team have done the research to prove what makes companies thrive for the long term. Better yet, he presents his findings in simple, actionable ways. Good to Great is a must-read for any business leader.

Michael Gerber
Book: The E Myth
Comments: This is the best book I have found to help entrepreneurs understand why they come to hate their businesses over time. Gerber drives the point home that systematizing your business is the only way, unless you want to be a slave to your business.

Verne Harnish
Book: Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
Comments: Verne is a leader in helping entrepreneurs to better run and quickly grow their businesses - and he is a great guy too. Amongst other accomplishments, he is Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (now EO) and brings together some of the best minds in Entrepreneurial success and creates "Benchmarking" events to see inside and learn from the top executives of organizations like Dell.

Teams

Bradford D. Smart
Book: Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People
Comments: Brad is an expert on what it takes to essentially guarantee that you hire "A" quality team members.

Leigh Branham
Book: THE 7 HIDDEN REASONS EMPLOYEES LEAVE: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late
Comments: Leigh knows why employees leave and how to prevent loosing top talent. His book is based on a database of 19,700 exit and current employee surveys that had been conducted for organizations in 17 different industries from 1999 through 2003.

Coaching

Thomas Leonard
Book: The Portable Coach: 28 Sure Fire Strategies for Business and Personal Success
Comments: Thomas was the founder of Coach University and the force behind the coaching industry. He has created incredible volumes of valuable content and tangible principles to help people be happier and more effective in work and life.I have personally learned more about how to be a better business person, individual and coach than any of the other people listed here.

Dale Carnagie
Book: How To Win Friends and Influence People
Comments: This classic of people-skills books was published in 1937 and is still as valuable today as it was then. Dale Carnegie teaches you how to get people to make things happen in a way that they feel important and appreciated. Full of great stories and strategies for influencing people ethically, this book is a tremendous resource for anyone that needs to lead teams of people.

Marketing

Seth Godin
Book: Purple Cow, Free Prize Inside
Comments: Seth is a marketing guru.

Dan Kennedy
Book: Magnetic Marketing and many more books and products.
Comments: Dan is crazy, unconventional kind of guy and an absolute master of Direct Marketing - his information is direct, but, it works and creates incredible results when done right.

Success & Achievement

Napoleon Hill
Book: Think and Grow Rich
Comments: This is one of the all time most suggested success books. Written almost 80 years ago, based on interviews with the nation's most successful men to find a success formula that would work for the common man. Over a 20 year period, Hill interviewed 504 people, including Ford, Wrigley, Wanamaker, Eastman, Rockefeller, Edison, Woolworth, Darrow, Burbank, Morgan, Firestone, and three United States Presidents. Hill distilled his findings into a 13 step formula, which was published in Think And Grow Rich - the main point being that the starting place for wealth and achievement is in a person's thoughts.The principles are proven and work just as well today as they did in the past.

John Kehoe
Book: Mind Power into the 21st Century: Techniques to Harness the Astounding Powers of Thought
Comments: This book shares some similar strategies as does Think and Grow, but is a simpler read for busy people.

Steve Levinson, Pete Greider
Book: Following Through: a Revolutionary New Model For Finishing Whatever You Start
Comments: Just finished reading this book and loved the simple, proven and actionable strategies the authors share. I've used a number of the strategies with clients and they work. One major point they make is that are a product of our environment - if our current environment is not helping us to get the things done that we want to, a powerful solution is to change or upgrade our environment.

Health

Louise Hay
Book: Heal Your Body A-Z
Comments: This is alternative health book that will help you get an understanding of the mental causes of and cures for specific ailments. Just look up your specific health challenge and you will find the probable cause for this health issue, as well as the information you need to overcome it by creating a new thought pattern. I use this as a guide with my coaching clients and it is amazingly accurate. If you believe that your mind and thought patterns can impact your health, you will love this book.

Bill Phillips
Book: Body For Life: 12 weeks to mental and physical strength.
Comments: This book makes the most sense of any book or program I have found for helping people get into better physical shape and lose weight. It was one of the main tools I used to drop 30 pounds in 2005 and I have clients that have also used this book and program to lose and keep off notable weight...In addition to liking it because it works, I also like it because it is not a gimmicky diet or unreasonable commitment. Most of all, I learned that I can get more out of a intense 20 minute cardio workout than I could from a 60 minute workout - I love getting more results in less time.

Relationships

Dr. Gary Chapman
Books: The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Wealth

Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko
Books: The Millionaire Next Door & The Millionaire Mind
Comments: I love books based on facts: The authors are professors of sociology and have conducted extensive research to uncover the truth about what they consider to be the truly wealthy Americans: who they are, how they generated their wealth, what their lives look like, how they handle money, and what makes them tick. The key point of their book is that if someone looks wealthy, they likely are not.

Robert T. Kiyosaki
Book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Comments: Not only is this book based on a true and interesting story, it is an excellent how-to book for building wealth. I have heard this book referenced more times that any other by people I meet that have been successfully investing in real estate - this book gets people into action.

The Prosperity Game
On-line abundance-creating course: www.choosingprosperity.com/game/
Comments: Having worked with many wealthy people that did not feel abundant, this resource caught my attention. Essentially, this is an automated game where you practice receiving and spending money freely - the results is that it opens people up to having money flow more freely into and through their lives. In the end, I have found that it allows people to relax more about money, attract more money and opportunities as well as get in touch with and create what they really want more of in their life (often not money related!). Try it for yourself and see.