About six months ago, I put a question out to my LinkedIn network. The question that I asked was:

What is the number one book that you suggest to friends, associates and business partners or that you refer to in times of question? I’m specifically looking for books related to business, management, career building, knowledge enhancement and personal development.

The following is the list that was suggested to me, in alphabetical order. It is fairly length and I may have missed a handful from the 50+ responses, but here you go! I will be working my way through this list over time and posting a review/comment about the books, how they impact a contact center environment, what impact they might have on management, and my general thoughts. I’ll come back to edit this post each time I add a new review. Those books with a (#) behind them were suggested multiple times.

1. The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream - Paulo Coelho
2. The Art of War by Sun Tzu - Special Edition - Sun Tzu (3)
3. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything - Guy Kawasaki
4. Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach - Gerald Weinberg
5. Corporate DNA: Learning from Life - Ken Baskin
6. Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless: How to Make Them Love You, Keep You Coming Back, and Tell Everyone They Know - Jeffery Gitomer
7. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It - Michael E. Gearber
8. Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done - Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy
9. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently - Marcus Buckingham (2) (Reviewed 1/7/2008 - 4.5/5)
10. Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity - Lawrence Lessig
11. Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days - Jessica Livingston
12. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - Richard Allen
13. Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance - Marcus Buckingham (2)
14. The Goal - Eliahu M. Goldratt (3)
15. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t - Jim Collins (3)
16. How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie (4) (Reviewed 1/17/08 - 4.5 / 5)
17. Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know - John Maxwell
18. Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed - Brian Tracy
19. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game - Michael Lewis
20. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time - Keith Ferrazzi (2)
21. Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams - Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister.
22. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition - Al Ries and Jack Trout
23. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment - Eckart Tolle
24. The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life) - Rick Warren
25. The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works - Ricardo Semler
26. Six Disciplines for Excellence: Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last - Gary Harpst
27. Speed Lead: Faster, Simpler Ways to Manage People, Projects and Teams in Complex Companies - Kevan Hall
28. Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised - Napoleon Hill (2)
29. What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart Executive - Mark McCormack
30. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century - Thomas Friedman

Please feel free to suggest other books as well. I’ll keep this thread updated!

Reviews will shortly be forth coming on the following that I’ve already read, but haven’t written anything on yet:

1. How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie (4)
2. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently - Marcus Buckingham (2), Audio Version (Reviewed 1/7/2008 - 4.5/5)