4 business books to sharpen your success strategy

c.2025
Several publishers
$28-$32

You’re deep in planning mode.

The next quarter has to be better than the last two, and you have to figure out how to make it happen. So why not start with these four great books to help you work and succeed?

Taylor Swift has been in the news lately, and you can’t deny that she’s a great businesswoman. You can capture some of her success by utilizing her 10 best ideas, found in “Good Ideas and Power Moves: Ten Lessons for Success from Taylor Swift” by Sinéad O’Sullivan (Viking, $32).

Here, you’ll see how Swift builds a fiercely loyal community and how she keeps fans engaged. She’s not afraid of controversy or making a wrong decision. She’s broken rules and written her own, and you can learn how to do it, too, in this casual, but seriously informational, book by an author who also happens to be a Swiftie.

If you are the spokesperson, founder or front person for your business, you’ll be interested to read “Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away” by David Gelles (Simon & Schuster, $30). It’s the story of an outsider in a world of outdoorspeople who used his rebel chops to create one of the world’s best-known businesses catering to people like its founder. Don’t just read this book for the business story; though that’s in here, you’ll also be inspired by the rest of Chouinard’s life.

Of course, success often rests on building the best staff and the most cohesive teams, and in “The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups” by Colin M. Fisher (Avery, $32), you’ll learn about a new kind of science that explains how we’re surrounded by a very wide variety of “groups” that our natural human tendencies have used to create the world we live in. 

Absorb the science, then harness those groups’ energies for your business and your life with this eye-opening look at societal building, motivation, myth-busting, conflict-solving and belonging. Bonus: It’s fun to read, too.

And finally, if you’ve been taking in any sort of media lately, whether paper or electronic, you know there are a lot of products out there, and a lot of brands. In “The Strategic Enemy: How to Build and Position a Brand Worth Fighting For” by Laura Ries (Wiley, $28), you’ll find advice on making your brand stand out in a whole new way.

You know that old joke about outrunning the bear? This book helps you get ahead of your competition by knowing how to pick your battles, how to understand what and who you’re fighting for, and how to win.

And if you need more books to help you in your business planning, head to your favorite library or bookstore. There, you’ll find friendly faces that are ready to help you locate the book you need, the one that untangles irritations, the one that will unlock your brain or solves your problems. They’ll also help you get these four great books. You can plan on it.

Editor’s Note: News is my Business earns a small commission if you click the link in this post and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.