Skip the Consultant – Read These Books Instead

As a management consultant with Afdonex and an entrepreneur mentor with VMSA, I help CEOs grow their companies and be at their best as leaders. I often suggest books to my clients and mentees to help them better understand the business concepts they struggle with and enable them to thrive without me. Below are eleven favourites that I recommend a lot.

I like to share this selection of books because they effectively communicate essential messages on key business topics. Plus, they are enjoyable reads — generally written in a concise, accessible style.

So, save yourself some money, skip the consultant and read these books instead. Organized by topic, these are some helpful books that any leader, manager, or entrepreneur can refer back to often:

Read these books:

Business Systemization | Scaling

• The Pumpkin Plan – by Mike Michalowicz
  • A simple strategy to grow a remarkable business in any field.

The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz is a humorous business book that draws a parallel between growing giant pumpkins and building successful businesses. The focus is on nurturing a company’s best, most promising aspects to achieve substantial growth. Michalowicz emphasizes identifying and cultivating your best customers, rather than spreading resources thinly across all areas of your business. The goal is to achieve exponential growth by focusing on the most valuable opportunities and cultivating them effectively.

• Built to Sell – by John Warrillow
  • Creating a business that can thrive without you.

Built to Sell is a guide for entrepreneurs seeking to create a valuable and sellable business. The author, John Warrillow, emphasizes the importance of building a company that can operate without dependence on its owner, focusing on systems and processes that increase scalability and attractiveness to potential buyers. Written in a page turning format – it follows the journey of a fictional entrepreneur and provides practical insights on how to transform a business into a valuable asset that is structured to be acquired.

• Systemology – by David Jenyns
  • Create time, reduce errors and scale your profits with proven business systems.

Anyone who has experienced the chaos of starting and growing a new business will appreciate Systemology. Author David Jenyns shares his guide for systemizing enterprizes for scalability and efficiency. Through practical strategies and step-by-step instructions, this book equips entrepreneurs with the tools to implement effective systems that facilitate smooth operations and sustainable growth.

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.

Harry Truman

Management and Leadership

• Radical Candor – by Kim Scott
  • Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity.

Managing people is often the most challenging part of a growing business. Radical Candor is a guide to effective leadership and communication in the workplace. Kim Scott introduces her concept of radical candor, which emphasizes both caring personally and challenging directly. The book teaches managers how to create a culture of open feedback and foster stronger relationships with their teams. It also includes excellent advice on the topics of meetings and accountability.

• The Advantage – by Patrick Lencioni
  • Why organizational health trumps everything else in business.

The Advantage delves into the essential elements of organizational health and its critical impact on business competitiveness and success. Structured around Patrick Lencioni’s “Four Disciplines Model,” the author articulates his view of the components of a great business and team. This book attacks the root causes of dysfunction, politics, and confusion – and provides a simple roadmap for leaders to build and sustain organizational health and a high-performance culture.

Think before you speak. Read before you think.

Fran Liebowitz

Marketing | Positioning and Frameworks

• Crossing the Chasm – by Geoffrey Moore
  • Marketing and selling disruptive products to mainstream customers.

A must read for anyone launching a new, disruptive product or trying to take an existing one into new markets. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore explores the challenges of transitioning new innovations from early adopters to mainstream markets. Moore identifies the “chasm” between these stages and provides strategies for bridging it successfully. While the tech company examples provided are somewhat dated, I like that this book offers a still valid framework of actionable strategies for innovative companies who want to grow their customer base and revenue.

• The 1-Page Marketing Plan – by Allan Dib
  • Get new customers, make more money and stand out from the crowd.

There are thousands of books opining on the topic of marketing and many company leaders are overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic and struggle to execute effectively. The 1-Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib because does an excellent job of simplifying the complexities of marketing into a concise, actionable framework. The author presents a step-by-step guide to developing a marketing strategy on just one page, making it accessible for any business. if there’s a struggling entrepreneur or marketer in your life, this might be the clarity tonic they need.

• Purple Cow – by Seth Godin
  • Transform your business by being remarkable.

Purple Cow is required reading for any business leader who’s competing in a crowded market. Seth Godin challenges companies to stand out in a world inundated with me-too products and services. Godin advocates creating remarkable offerings and messages so unique and compelling that they are impossible to ignore. This compact book will inspire entrepreneurs and marketers to embrace creativity and innovation to be different (and brave) enough to capture their audience’s attention.

Product Innovation | Product Management

• Getting Real – by 37 Signals
  • The smarter, faster, easier way to build a web application.

Originally published as a series of blog posts by the founders of the Basecamp application, Getting Real emphasizes simplicity, agility, and customer-centricity in building great products. With practical advice and a focus on their own real-world examples, this is a fun-to-read, no-nonsense book that helps entrepreneurs and developers create impactful digital products efficiently.

Sales Framework

• Gap Selling – by Keenan
  • Getting the customer to yes: how problem-centric™ selling increases sales by changing everything you know about relationships, overcoming objections, closing and price.

Gap Selling by Keenan offers a refreshing perspective on sales by focusing on identifying and addressing the gap between a customer’s current situation and their desired outcome. With an honest, in-your-face style, Keenan introduces a simple framework for sales professionals to uncover these gaps and position their products or services as the solution. Recommended to me by a trusted B2B sales expert, this book breaks down the buying and selling process and equips salespeople with the tools to effectively communicate value and drive successful outcomes.

• The Sales Acceleration Formula – by Mark Roberge
  • Using data, technology, and inbound selling to go from $0 to $100 million.

In The Sales Acceleration Formula, Mark Roberge outlines how to build and grow a successful sales team. Drawing from his experience as HubSpot’s former CRO, Roberge gives practical advice on using data, hiring and training the best people, and streamlining sales methods to boost your business quickly. It’s a handy resource for entrepreneurs and sales managers aiming to ramp up their sales strategy and revenue.

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Many great business books have been published over the past fifty years. Including everything that a leader should read would require a much longer blog than this!

The book recommendations on this page give readers some essential tools in an easy-to-read format so you can skip the consultant and thrive independently in your business. I hope you find this list helpful for growing and operating your company at a high level.

Feel free to let me know what books you think should be added to this list.

Final comment: Companies and marketplaces are complex. If you do need a trusted consultant to collaborate on your business growth and management issues – let’s chat!

You can email me anytime at don@afdonex.com. I’d be delighted to help you!