My Top 5 Favorite Books to Inspire 2019

I love the feeling of a fresh new year. I was able to use this holiday season to pause and reflect on the past 365 days for inspiration as we headed into 2019. One of my favorite ways to do that is to catch up on some business reading.

Here are some of the best business books I read or re-read over the holidays, as well as earlier in the year. What were some of your favorite reads in 2018? What is on your bookshelf bucket list for this year?

1. "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton: These authors are huge advocates of building strengths as opposed to focusing on your weaknesses. That said, they wrote this book with the goal of helping readers best understand themselves, their strengths, their teams/coworkers and their interpersonal communication styles. Included is access to an online survey that provides immediate, actionable feedback.

2. "The First 90 Days" by Michael Watkins: Starting a new job in the new year? Getting a good start to any job is very important, and this is a great book for anyone at any level who is looking to start off on the right foot. If I learned one thing from this book, it’s this: plan the work, then work the plan…then do it again. Essentially, be strategic and actually execute that strategy—and prove your value by doing it again and again. 

3. “The Digital Helix” by Michael Gale and Chris Aarons: Digital transformation is touching every industry today and this book truly boils it down to a science. This is a must-read if you’re looking to kick-start your company’s digitization from the ground up—and thrive with it at the same time. 

4. “Zone to Win: Organizing to Compete in an Age of Disruption” by Geoffrey Moore: This book is a great read that truly makes you think about how you can incubate a disruptive business from within while still remaining focused on running your main operations.

5. "Execution, The Discipline of Getting Things Done" by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan: With New Year’s resolutions upon us, consider this book if any of your resolutions include productivity or efficiency. It is a simple and powerful read on getting things done and turning ideas into action.