The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan.
1. The Money Class: Learn to Create Your New American Dream
by Suze Orman. The financial planner asserts that the New American Dream is not the things we accumulate but the confidence that comes from knowing that which we’ve worked so hard for cannot be taken away from us.
2. The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business
by Carol Roth. Advises would-be entrepreneurs to “do the math” before investing their life savings.
3. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths
by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets things done and someone who offers penetrating analysis? Well, you can discover whether you are truly an “achiever” or an “analytical” by completing the online quiz. Then, the book will give you “ideas for action” and tips for how best you can work with others. More of a patiencetester than Strengthsfinder, the quiz/book is probably best for those who have lots of time on their hands.
4. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
by Dave Ramsey. Debt reduction and fiscal fitness for families, by the radio talk-show host.
5. Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary
by Frank I. Luntz. An examination of communication excellence and how top performers win in all areas of human endeavor by utilizing superb communication skills.
6. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni. The author targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of corporate fables. When the instructional tale is over, Lencioni discusses the “five dysfunctions” (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results) and provides a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings.
7. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. The Heath brothers (coauthors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
) address motivating employees, family members, and ourselves in their analysis of why we too often fear change.
8. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
by Timothy Ferriss. Reconstructing your life so that it’s not all about work.
9. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
by Jim Collins. The author of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
examines the question “How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?”
10. Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard. This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. Change occurs whether a person is ready or not, but the author affirms that it can be positive. His principles are to anticipate change, let go of the old, and do what you would do if you were not afraid.
