5 Must-Read Business Books To Up Your Game

Never stop learning and expanding your knowledge, mindset and approach to business. Learn from experts and always stay inspired. 

Here are Gravity's favourite business books to up your game this month:

Books to influence

Key Person of Influence, by Daniel Priestley.

Every industry revolves around Key People of Influence. Their names come up in conversation. They attract opportunity. They earn more money. Many people think it takes decades of hard work, academic qualifications and a generous measure of good luck to become a Key Person of Influence. This book shows a strategy for fast-tracking your way to the inner circle of the industry you love. Your ability to succeed depends on your ability to influence. Start now by reading this book. This book is your invitation to the inner circle of your industry.

Books to be more efficient 

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande.

Today we find ourselves in possession of stupendous know-how, which we willingly place in the hands of the most highly skilled people. But avoidable failures are common, and the reason is simple: the volume and complexity of our knowledge has exceeded our ability to consistently deliver it - correctly, safely or efficiently.

In this groundbreaking book, Atul Gawande makes a compelling argument for the checklist, which he believes to be the most promising method available in surmounting failure. Whether you're following a recipe, investing millions of dollars in a company or building a skyscraper, the checklist is an essential tool in virtually every area of our lives, and Gawande explains how breaking down complex, high pressure tasks into small steps can radically improve everything from airline safety to heart surgery survival rates. Fascinating and enlightening, The Checklist Manifesto shows how the simplest of ideas could transform how we operate in almost any field.

Books for doing great work

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, by Cal Newport.

Cal Newport's clearly-written manifesto flies in the face of conventional wisdom by suggesting that it should be a person's talent and skill, not necessarily their passion, that determines their career path. Newport, who graduated from Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa) and recently earned a PhD. from MIT, contends that trying to find what drives us, instead of focusing on areas in which we naturally excel, is ultimately harmful and frustrating to job seekers.

The title is a direct quote from comedian Steve Martin who, when once asked why he was successful in his career, immediately replied: "Be so good they can't ignore you", and that's the primary basis for Newport's book. Skill and ability trump passion.

Books for start-up innovation 

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses, by Eric Ries.

The Lean Startup is the approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built, and new products are launched. The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It's about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late. 

Books for challenging mindsets 

The Courage To Be Disliked: How to free yourself, change your life and achieve real happiness, by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga.

The Courage to be Disliked shows you how to unlock the power within yourself to become your best and most authentic self, change your future and find lasting happiness. Using Alfred Adler's theories, one of the three giants of 19th-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, the authors explain how we are all free to determine our future free of the shackles of past experiences, doubts and the expectations of others. It's a profoundly liberating philosophy, allowing us to develop the courage to change and ignore the limitations that we and those around us can place on ourselves.