Free Guide: Calvin’s Suggested Reading List

CALVIN'S TOP-10 LIST

1. Launch: An internet millionaire’s secret formula to sell almost anything online, build a business you love, and live the life of your dreams, by Jeff Walker
2. The E-Myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it, by Michael E. Gerber – This is the book that started it all for me: franchise prototype, working on the business not in the business, systemization.  Truly life changing.
3. Becoming a Strategic Business Owner: A proven process to enhance your strategic mindset, by Daniel M. Murphy – This is the next book that cemented the paradigm shift from technician to strategic business owner.
4. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the rich teach their kids about money – that the poor and middle class do not!, by Robert T. Kiyosaki – The best book on money ever written.
5. Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom, by Robert T. Kiyosaki – The sequel.
6. Build A Business Not A Job: Grow your business & get your life back, by David Finkel and Stephanie Harkness – A really great book by the founder of Maui Mastermind Business Coaching.
7. SCALING UP (Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0): How a few companies make it…and why the rest don’t, by Verne Harnish and the team at Gazelles – Sequel to Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. You need to be $5MM in REVS to leverage all that is in this book, in my opinion.
8. Work The System: The simple mechanics of making more and working less, by Sam Carpenter – One of the best books ever on the philosophy and paradigm of systems, in life, in your business. 
9. Built To Sell: Creating a business that can thrive without you, by John Warrillow – Founder of the Value Builder System (“VBS”), this is a great book on key value drivers of enterprise value.
10. Start With Why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action, by Simon Sinek – What did Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk have in common?  Vision!

BUSINESS SYSTEMIZATION, SCALING & GROWTH

• Build A Business Not A Job: Grow your business & get your life back, by David Finkel and Stephanie Harkness
• Clock Work: Design your business to run itself, by Mike Michalowicz
• Conquer The Chaos: How to grow a successful small business without going crazy, by Clate Mask and Scott Martineau
• From 6 To 7 Figures: Simplify your business, gain your time back, scale faster than ever, by Austin Netzley, founder of 2X   
• Get Your Business To Work!: 7 steps to earning more, working less and living the life you want, by George Hedley
• How To Make Your Business Run Without You!: Streamline your business operations to pave the way for: More business, bigger profits and a business that virtually runs itself!, by Susan M. Carter
• Instant Systems: Get more out of your business in less time and with less effort, increase efficiency and save money, stop running your business and start growing it, by Bradley J. Sugars
• Making the Vehicle to Reach Your Dreams: The story of Phil Fournier and his small business, by Ken Stark, MA, and Phil Fournier, AS, AAM
• SCALE: Seven proven principles to grow your business and get your life back, by Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel
• SCALING UP (Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0): How a few companies make it…and why the rest don’t, by Verne Harnish and the team at Gazelles
• Standard Procedure: How to systemize your business, reduce your workload, increase your productivity and become more profitable, by Tony Brown
• System Buster: The mystery of the circle revealed, by Philip Paul Beyer
• Systemize, Automate, Delegate: How to grow a business while traveling, on vacation and taking time off, by Tom Corson-Knowles
• Turnkeying Your Business: How to systemize your business for scalability and salability, Quantum Growth Consulting, LLC
• The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right, by Atul Gawande
• The Perfect Business: Master the 9 systems to get control, work less, and double your profit, by John Sheridan
• The System Is The Secret: Proven ways to implement the systems that will transform & grow your business, by James K. Butler
• Work The System: The simple mechanics of making more and working less, by Sam Carpenter

CAREER

• Do What You Are: Discover the perfect career for you through the secrets of personality type, by Paul D. Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger
• Life Keys: Discovering who you are, why you’re here, what you do best, by Jane A.G. Kise, David Stark, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh
• Unique Ability: Creating the life you want, by Catherine Nomura and Julia Waller, based on a concept by Dan Sullivan
• What Color Is Your Parachute?: A practical guide for job-hunters and career-changers, by Richard N. Bolles

CREATOR ECONOMY

• Blog: Understanding the information reformation that’s changing your world, by Hugh Hewitt
• Content Inc.: Start a content-first business, build a massive audience, and become radically successful (with little to no money), by Joe Pulizzi
• Crush It!: Why now is the time to cash in on your passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
• From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make money with books, ebooks, and information products, by Stephanie Chandler
• Launch: An internet millionaire’s secret formula to sell almost anything online, build a business you love, and live the life of your dreams, by Jeff Walker
• LinkedIn For Dummies by Joel Elad, MBA
• Million Dollar Micro Business: How to turn your expertise into a digital online course, by Tina Tower
• Platform: Get noticed in a noisy world, by Michael Hyatt
• ProBlogger: Secrets for blogging your way to a six-figure income, by Darren Rowse & Chris Garrett
• Start Your Own Information Marketing Business: Your step-by-step guide to success, by Entrepreneur Press and Robert Skrob
• The Creative Act: A way of being, by Rick Rubin
• The Official Get Rich Guide To Information Marketing: Build a million dollar business within 12 months, by Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer & Robert Skrob

EXIT/SUCCESSION/TRANSITION PLANNING

• Built To Sell: Creating a business that can thrive without you, by John Warrillow
• Exiting Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth: A strategic guide for owners and their advisors, by John M. Leonetti
• Exit Planning: The Definitive Guide: Sell your business when you want, for the money you need, to the person you choose, by John H. Brown, CEO of BEI
• Finish Big: How great entrepreneurs exit their companies on top, by Bo Burlingham
• How To Run Your Business So You Can Leave It In Style, by John H. Brown
• The Exit Strategy Handbook: The best guide for a business transition, by B2B CFO
• Walking To Destiny: 11 Actions an owner must take to rapidly grow value & unlock wealth, by Christopher M. Snider

LEADERSHIP

• Becoming A Coaching Leader: The proven strategy for building your own team of champions, by Daniel Harkavy
• Death by Meeting: A leadership fable,  by Patrick Lencioni
• Developing the Leader Within You, by John C. Maxwell
• EntreLeadership: 20 years of practical business wisdom from the trenches, by Dave Ramsey
• How Successful People Lead: Taking your influence to the next level, by John C. Maxwell
• How To Be A Great Boss, by Gino Wickman and Rene Boer
• Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the box, by The Arbinger Institute
• Leading At A Higher Level, by Ken Blanchard
• Leading With Purpose: How to engage, empower & encourage your people to reach their full potential, by Marc Koehler
• Lincoln On Leadership: Executive strategies for tough times, by Donald T. Phillips
• Manager’s Handbook: The 17 skills leaders need to stand out, by Harvard Business Review
• Measure of a Leader: The legendary formula for producing exceptional performers and outstanding results, by Aubrey C. Daniels and James E. Daniels
• Start With Why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action, by Simon Sinek
• Strategic Business Leadership: The proven formula for greater company success!, by Allen E. Fishman (re: The Alternative Board)
• The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day: Revitalize your spirit and empower your leadership, by John C. Maxwell
• The Energy Bus: 10 rules to fuel your life, work, and team with positive energy, by Jon Gordon
• The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership fable, by Patrick Lencioni
• The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A leadership fable, by Patrick Lencioni
• The Why Engine: Inspire your team, inspire your customer, inspire your company, by Ridgely Goldsborough, Esq. 

MONEY, WEALTH & FREEDOM

• 5Day Weekend: Freedom to make your life and work rich with purpose, by Nik Halik
• Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom, by Robert T. Kiyosaki
• Master Your Money: A step-by-step plan for financial freedom, by Ron Blue
• Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the rich teach their kids about money – that the poor and middle class do not!, by Robert T. Kiyosaki
• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the inner game of wealth, by T. Harv Eker
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape the 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich, by Timothy Ferriss
• The Millionaire Course: A visionary plan for creating the life of your dreams, by Marc Allen
• The Millionaire Maker: Act, think, and make money the way the wealthy do, by Loral Langmeier
• The Millionaire Maker’s Guide to Creating a Cash Machine For Life, by Loral Langemeier
• The Richest Man In Babylon: The success secrets of the ancients – the most inspiring book on wealth every written!, by George S. Clason
• The Total Money Makeover: A proven plan for financial fitness, by Dave Ramsey

PARTNERSHIP

• The Partnership Charter: How to start out right with your new business partnership {or fix the one you’re in}, by David Gage

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Bringing Out the Best in People: How to apply the astonishing power of positive reinforcement, by Aubrey C. Daniels
• Oops!: 13 management practices that waste time and money (and what to do instead), by Aubrey C. Daniels
• Performance Management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness, by Aubrey C. Daniels and Jon S. Bailey

PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

• Becoming a Strategic Business Owner: A proven process to enhance your strategic mindset, by Daniel M. Murphy
• Beyond the E-Myth | The Evolution of an Enterprise: From a company of one to a company of 1,000!, by Michael E. Gerber
• Built To Last: Successful habits of visionary company, by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
• Dream No Little Dreams, by Clayton Mathile and Echo M. Garrett
• E-Myth Mastery: The seven essential disciplines for building a world class company, by Michael E. Gerber
• Get A Grip: How to get everything you want from your entrepreneurial business, by Gino Wickman & Mike Paton
• Good To Great: Why some companies make the leap… and others don’t, by Jim Collins
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship, by Peter F. Drucker
• Kill Bad Meetings: Cut 50% of your meetings, transform your culture, improve collaboration, & accelerate decisions, by Kevan Hall & Alan Hall
• Leading The Malcolm Baldridge Way: How world-class leaders align their organizations to delivery exceptional results, by Kay Kendall and Glenn Bodinson, FACHE (re: Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award)
• Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What you must do to increase the value of your growing firm, by Verne Harnish
• Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation rock the world with OKRs, by John Doerr
• Rocket Fuel: The one essential combination that will get you more of what you want from your business, by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
• Run Your Business, Don’t Let It Run You: Aileron’s practical guide for helping businesses grow, by Clay Mathile
• The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving your wildly important goals, by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
• The E-Myth Manager: Why most managers don’t work and what to do about it, by Michael E. Gerber
• The E-Myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it, by Michael E. Gerber
• The Great Game of Business: Unlocking the power and profitability of open-book management, by Jack Stack with Bo Burlingham
• The Liberated CEO: The 9-step program to running a better business so it doesn’t run you, by Scott A. Leonard, CFP
• The Most Successful Small Business In The World: The ten principles, by Michael E. Gerber
• Traction: Get a grip on your business, by Gino Wickman

REAL ESTATE INVESTING

• Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to find and profit from up-and-coming areas, by David Lindahl
• How I Turned $1,000 into Three Million in Real Estate – in My Spare Time, by William Nickerson 
• How To Take an Apartment Building from Money Pit to Money Maker: 5-stage apartment recovery system tool kit, by Craig Haskell
• It’s a Whole New Business: The how-to bible of syndicated investment in real estate, by Gene Trowbridge
• Multi-Family Millions: How anyone can reposition apartments for big profits, by David Lindahl
• Multifamily Millionaire: How to get wealthy buying and selling apartment buildings, by Stephen G. Steadele
• Multiple Streams of Income: How to generate a lifetime of unlimited wealth, by Robert G. Allen
• The Inside Game to Real Estate Value Investing: Winning Strategies and opportunities for value oriented real estate investors!, by Craig Haskell

RECRUITMENT & HIRING

• Hire, Train, Retain: How to get the right people, in the right roles, doing the right things, by Michael Matalone
• Topgrading: How leading companies win by hiring, coaching, and keeping the best people, by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.
• Who: The A method for hiring, by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

SUCCESS & ACHIEVEMENT

• How To Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
• Law Of Success, by Napoleon Hill
• Maximum Achievement: Strategies and skills that will unlock your hidden powers to succeed, by Brian Tracy
• Mind Is the Master: Achieve your destiny with this lifetime of wisdom from the greatest inspirational writer of the twentieth century, the complete James Allen treasury
• On-Purpose… On-Target: How to balance your business and personal life to get everything you want, by George Hedley
• Principles For Success, by Ray Dalio
• Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful lessons in personal change, by Stephen R. Covey
• The Freedom Formula: How to succeed in business without sacrificing your family, health, or life, by David Finkel
• The Greatest Miracle in the World, by Og Mandino
• The Power of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale
• The Success Principles: How to get from where you are to where you want to be, by Jack Canfield
• Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
• Visionary Business: An entrepreneur’s guide to success, by Marc Allen

TIME MANAGEMENT

• Do It Tomorrow: and other secrets of time management, by Mark Forster
• The 5 Choices: The path to extraordinary productivity, by Kory Kogon, Adam Merrill, and Leena Rinne
• The 80/20 Principle: The secret of achieving more with less, by Richard Koch
• The Now Habit: A strategic program for overcoming procrastination and enjoying guilt-free play, by Neil Fiore, Ph.D.
• The Power of Focus: How to hit your business, personal and financial targets with absolute certainty, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt
• The Time Trap: The classic book on time management, by Alec Mackenzie & Pat Nickerson

TURNAROUND

• From Red to Black: A business turnaround, The matter of ABC Shutters, by Robert S. Curry
• Growth Or Bust!: Game-changing secrets from a leading corporate strategist, by Mark Faust
• High-Growth Levers: How the turnaround mindset propels your company, by Mark Faust and Rob Vickery
• Profit First: Transform your business from a cash-eating monster to a money-making machine, by Mike Michalowicz
• Revitalizing Your Business: 5 steps for successfully turning around your company, by Edmond P. Freiermuth
• The Small Business Turnaround Guide: Take your business from troubled to triumphant, by Sandy Steinman
• The Turnaround Manager’s Handbook, by Richard S. Sloma
• Turnaround: Avoid bankruptcy and revitalize your company, by Edmond P. Freiermuth

VISUALIZATION

• Creative Visualization, by Shakti Gawain