Suggested by Marc Obregon

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Millions of copies sold.

New York Times Bestseller.

Named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century.

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for 25 years. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—in short, millions of people of all ages and occupations across the world. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Stephen Covey’s cherished classic commemorates his timeless wisdom, and encourages us to live a life of great and enduring purpose.

One Personal Takeaway: This book really helped me focus on the right steps to organize my business life, my time, and my attitude. It’s probably the go-to book most C-level business people mention when they talk about their success!

Suggested by Dawn Hackett

Girl, Wash Your Face – by Rachel Hollis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don’t have a clue? If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that’s a lie.

As the founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis developed an immense online community by sharing tips for better living while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own life. Now, in this challenging and inspiring new book, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and misconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively, lies we’ve told ourselves so often we don’t even hear them anymore.

With unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity, Girl, Wash Your Face shows you how to live with passion and hustle–and how to give yourself grace without giving up.

One Personal Takeaway: This book gives some practical advice about moving beyond some of life’s little hiccups. It’s time to take responsibility for yourself and your life and get moving! Especially in these difficult times, it would be easy to hide out, make excuses, and procrastinate. Stop bemoaning what happened in the past and take control of what happens next. I think this is good advice for all, both in our personal and professional lives.

Suggested by Diane Wingerter

The Motivation Manifesto, 9 Declarations to Claim Your Personal Power – by Brendon Burchard

Overview:  THE MOTIVATION MANIFESTO is a poetic and powerful call to reclaim our lives and find our own personal freedom.  It’s a triumphant work that transcends the title, lifting the reader from mere motivation to a purposeful and meaningful life. 

Lesson Learned:  I am meant to be independent and free, and my heart is to be filled with a passion for meaning and purpose in all that I do. 

Suggested by Diane Wingerter

Leadership From The Inside Out – by: Kevin Cashman

Overview:  Leadership From The Inside Out is a wake-up call to remind us that our ability to grow as a leader is based on our ability to grow as a person.  We will not analyze the external act of leadership, rather, we will take a reflective journey to enhance our leadership effectiveness. 

Lesson Learned:  In order for me to live a LONG, HEALTHY and PRODUCTIVE life, I need to: 

Embrace Optimism…NOT being dominated by worry or negativity; 

Engagement…ACTIVELY involved in life; 

Mobility…STAYING physically and mentally active; 

Adaptability…ACCEPTING and adapting to change and loss.

Suggested by Adele Busch

Fanatical Prospecting – by: Jeb Blount

Ditch the failed sales tactics, fill your pipeline, and crush your number

Fanatical Prospecting gives salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development—prospecting.

The brutal fact is the number one reason for failure in sales is an empty pipe and the root cause of an empty pipeline is the failure to consistently prospect. By ignoring the muscle of prospecting, many otherwise competent salespeople and sales organizations consistently underperform.

Step by step, Jeb Blount outlines his innovative approach to prospecting that works for real people, in the real world, with real prospects.

Learn how to keep the pipeline full of qualified opportunities and avoid debilitating sales slumps by leveraging a balanced prospecting methodology across multiple prospecting channels.

Suggested by Deb Augst

The Power of Now: A Guide of Spiritual Enlightenment – by: Eckhart Tolle

It’s no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.

In the first chapter, Tolle introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind. He awakens readers to their role as a creator of pain and shows them how to have a pain-free identity by living fully in the present. The journey is thrilling, and along the way, the author shows how to connect to the indestructible essence of our Being, “the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.”

Featuring a new preface by the author, this paperback shows that only after regaining awareness of Being, liberated from Mind and intensely in the Now, is there Enlightenment.

Suggested by Dana Vogelmeier

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know – by: Malcolm Gladwell

A Best Book of the Year: The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, and Detroit Free Pres
Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers — and why they often go wrong.

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn’t true?

While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed–scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There’s even a theme song – Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout.”

Suggested by Adele Busch

Fortune The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made radical choices that changed the course of business – by: Verne Harnish

Decisions equal success–nothing happens until one is made. Businesses make millions of decisions every day. But once in a great while a leader makes a truly game-changing decision that shifts not only the strategy of a single company but how everyone does business. These big decisions are counterintuitive-they go against the conventional wisdom. In hindsight, taking a different direction may seem easy, but these bet-the-company moves involve drama, doubt, and high tension. What made Apple’s board bring back Steve Jobs to the company? How did Johnson & Johnson decide to recall every bottle of Tylenol after a poisoning scare that involved only a small batch of the drug? What made Henry Ford decide to double the wages of his autoworkers, and how did that change the American economy for the next century?

Here management consultant Verne Harnish, the CEO of Gazelles, and Fortune‘s editors provide the background stories behind the greatest business decisions of all time. In this fully original book, you’ll get a glimpse into the thought processes leading up to these groundbreaking moments and will learn how the decisions have shaped the thinking of today’s top leaders. The book also contains an insightful foreword by management guru Jim Collins, the author of Built To Last and Good To Great, which explains the importance of decision making in creating a successful company.

Suggested by Deb Augst

Hunting2Hired: Resolving The Career-Search Quandary – by: Diane Wingerter

This Career Guide encompasses all aspects of confidence, communication, strategy, tactics, beliefs, and faith–while simultaneously sharing how each of these elements are inter-twined throughout the Career Transition journey. Those who become victims of corporate downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, layoffs, or any other cause of career transition, need practical, and yes, spiritual guidance, in order to emerge from this unfortunate situation, as quickly as possible.

Hunting2Hired is intended to equip those in Career Transition with alternative strategic concepts and specific tactical implementation to move forward with confidence and clear direction. In turn, the new mindset will prove to separate you from others in the candidate pool who are vying for the same position. You will be taught how to ‘sell yourself’ as the perfect candidate and to effectively convey your aspirations, talents, and value to the organization. Throughout the process, you will maintain control of your career journey and will set expectations to minimize the time required to secure your dream position, not just any position.