Five Books Every Business Owner Should Ready [Part 2]

By Melissa A Vitale

If you’re a business owner, you should absolutely be reading as often as your rest-work schedule allows. You don’t always have to read what I would call “business books”, but you should always have one of these in your rotation. With all the books I’ve read so far, I find myself thinking differently, often more competitively, than folks with similar professional backgrounds or education to myself.
 
Make sure to check out Part 1 here! 
 
These are five books I highly recommend business owners reading: 

So You Want to Talk About Race

by Ijeoma Oluo;

As business owners, we are leaders in our industry. We set the tone and often must speak up even when things are uncomfortable. Following Summer 2020, absolutely no business owner should be afraid or unwilling to talk about race relations and racial injustice. Almost all white folks are raised racist. You may not want to be racist, and you may be actively unlearning through social media and news sources. But books are 250+ pages of lived experience, of resources, of expertise. Even if you feel confident speaking about race, if you’re a white business owner, you should read this book.

Purchase Options here
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We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide To Earning More, Building Wealth, And Gaining Economic Power

by Rachel Rodgers;
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One of my favorite sex educators and BIPOC Entrepreneurs, Taylor Sparks of Organic Loven essentially required me to read this book – she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I’m so glad she did and in turn, I’ve sent this book as far as Amsterdam to a fellow boss babe who felt stuck. Popular yet outdated financial experts encourage folks to scrimp and save to build wealth, which being a conscious spender is one thing. Telling someone to deny themselves certain foods and experiences because they have debt while sitting on a yacht is, well to put it kindly, incredibly out-of-touch. Rachel Rodgers sets a different course. Rodgers argues that rather than yelling at someone that they don’t belong in a restaurant, we should teach marginalized folks how to make more money so they can buy the things they want and save like they should.

Purchase Options here

Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life

By Gillian Tett;
 
One of the smartest people I know recommended this book to me and it changed how I looked at business. Most entrepreneurs sit at the top and look down to a Birdseye view. Anthro-Vision encourages business owners to be anthropologists and look at problems from a worm-eyed view – aka right there in the center of the concern. Former editor of the Financial Times, Gillian Tett encourages curiosity, and preaches that one person won’t always have the exact answer at the top of their head. Especially if you love problem-solving, this book will help you approach issues with a whole new perspective.
 
Purchase Options here

Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business: Third Edition

by Pat Heim and Tammy Hughes with Susan K. Golant;

As women, we’re often raised differently than men. Unless you’re a sociopath, if you’re a woman, you were nurtured to think of everyone else before yourself, and this is what is holding you back in the boardroom. Hardball for Women lays out the framework to unlearn these niceties for the sake of your business acumen.

Purchase Options Here

Teamwork: How to Build a High-Performance Team

by Natalie Dawson;

If you’re like me and never planned or wanted to be an employer, but the chips landed that way regardless, you need to purchase this book, like yesterday! Teamwork gives business owners a roadmap and tons of resources to build a quality team. Maybe you’re not a good interviewer (guilty) or maybe you don’t know how to pick the best candidate from the bunch (also guilty). Natalie will walk you through these steps. Once you have a hired employee, Teamwork will walk you through and provide the worksheets to onboard them, grow them up and if needed, let them go.

Purchase Options here

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