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This book has 25 recommendations

Daylon Soh (Product, Growth & Design Architect)

Self-help classics like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and How to Win Friends and Influence People teach principles I still apply today at work. Books didn't change my career path, people whom I knew and interacted with did.

Ovidiu Drugan (Owner/Set Sail Nautic School)

Ovidiu listed this book among the ones that had the biggest impact on him.

Andra Zaharia (Freelance Content Marketer/The Content Habit)

I am currently reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and I’ve already experienced subtle changes in mindset that can help me do more with the resources I have, so I’m closely following my goal. This book is a revelation! I’ve seen it be recommended so many times that I was almost sure it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. Contrary to my expectations, it did and quite brilliantly.

Cristina Riesen (Founder/We Are Play Lab)

First, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me here: [...] Stephen R. Covey "7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

Raluca Radu (Owner/MTH Digital)

Also Stephen Covey had a strong influence on me in terms of management and business some years ago and the advice in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are still the principles I turn to in my life always.

Ola Olusoga (Co-founder/Populum)

There was a moment where I was on a quest for self-discovery. I felt lost and wasn't sure if I was who I was because I made the decision to be me, or if my identity was programmed by culture, society and setting. Because of that, I started reading self-help books to reconstruct identity and mold who I wanted to be. This book helped me.

Kris Reid (Founder/Ardor SEO)

This revolutionized my work day!

A classic, 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. It had been recommended to me before and I wish I had of read it earlier. I use the techniques in this book to organise my day, be far more effective, have more impact, less stress and more free time

Mike Benkovich (Founder/Anatomonics)

The Best! This book blew me away when I first read it. It was written in 1989 so the ideas won't seem new or groundbreaking. The author has a particular way of putting things that just makes sense to me. I loved this book so much that I read it again as soon as I finished it. I go back and reread it every couple of years. It's that good!

Noah Kagan (Founder/Sumo)

A few months ago, I was drinking a Noah’s Mill whiskey (cute) with my good buddy Brian Balfour and talking about life... During the conversation, we got on the topic of books that changed our lives. I want to share them with you. I judge a book's success if a year later I'm still using at least 1 thing from the book.

James Murphy (Marketing Manager/Live Nation)

Habit 2 of Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” states “Begin with the end in mind.” This helped me immensely and immediately on a macro level in terms of motivating me to clarify exactly where I want to be and what I want to be doing in 10-20-30 years. However, it also helped me on a micro level when starting a new project or venture. Starting anything, be it a hobby, business, sport, etc. can be daunting and I believe we often hide by getting caught up in minutiae which takes our eyes off the big “scary” goal (ex. what font should I use on the website?, what putter should I buy?, what programming language should I learn first?). By beginning with the end in mind, I force myself to clearly spell out what success looks like for a particular undertaking and anything trivial that disrupts me from arriving at said goal is tabled.

Darren Chua (Co-Founder & CEO/Markedshot)

The other books that contributed to my learnings are “How to win friends and influence people”, “The Lean Startup” & “ The 7 habits of highly effective people” I’m sure you have gotten much responses regarding those books and how much they have helped managers/CEOs/entrepreneurs. The lessons from these books were very critical in providing me a direction. They don’t often provide clear answers on how to create a successful business, but what they teach are the principles and techniques to run one.

Nadia Al Sheikh (Founder/Deal’n)

At a young age it wasn’t the academical books as the material presented at school wasn’t that interesting but I was lucky that both my parents loved reading and I was brought up to read and it became a habit. Later at life the first book that had an impact on me was “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that made me question certain things about my life and my perspective towards it. As for my career I would say it’s “Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader” “Working Identity” & “Coach & Couch".

Alan Pierce (CEO/Ansuz Balder Magni Investments)

This book is very helpful and insightful book that I like to refer back to when my schedule or commitments get too rushed or chaotic. Sometimes we have to step back, re-prioritize and refocus to stay effective and proactive rather than falling into the trap of becoming just reactive. This is a great book for that purpose.

Dr. Monali Y. Desai (Cardiologist & Founder/If We Were Family)

Also, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey) and How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie) had a big impact on how I interact with other people at work and in my personal life.

Theresa Evanoff (Founder/Gift-it-Forward)

Here are some of my favourites around purpose, positive habits, positive thinking, and business goals. I’m a firm believer that subject expertise can be learned, but character-building traits, like perseverance and purposefulness, must be honed.

  • “Purpose Driven Life”, Rick Warren
  • “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek
  • “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey
  • "The Magic of Thinking Big", David J. Schwartz
  • "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale
  • "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz
  • “Good to Great”, Jim Collins
  • “Doing Good Well”, Willie Cheng

Jose He (Chief Performance Officer/Bountie.io)

I believe it takes tonnes of understanding, motivation, wisdom & competence to become an extremely successful entrepreneur. To reach that high level is tough, to remain at that level is even tougher. I reckon that these books should be able to provide a basic fundamental to young peeps on what to expect before deciding to hop on to join us as a tech startup.

Boban Dedovic (Serial Entrepreneur)

Question: What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why?

Answer: Here are the main five I would recommend (in chronological order):

  • Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
  • No More Mr Nice Guy by Robert Glover

Bryan Choo (Founding Director/The Smart Local)

Question: What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why?

Answer:

  • Anthony Robbins Unlimited Power
  • Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers / The Tipping Point
  • Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  • Simon Sinek's Start With Why
  • Robert Cialdini's Influence: Science and Practice

Faisal Amin (Co-Founder/Fruitbowl Digital)

I believe reading is a habit that must be inculcated irrespective of the career paths. Below mentioned are a few of my favourites that can hopefully bring wisdom to aspiring entrepreneurs.

  • Lateral thinking by Edward de Bono
  • 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey
  • The lean startup by Eric Ries
  • Rich Dad Poor Dad by ‎Robert Kiyosaki
  • Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt

Thom Singer (Podcaster/Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do)

When I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People I was hungry to set a direction for my life and to start making things happen. I was 25 years old, but did not understand anything about how business or careers worked. I assumed you worked for a company and stayed there forever or that there was supposed to be a career ladder. This book showed me that for win or lose it was going to be up to me and the actions I took along the way.

Andrew Youderian (Founder/eCommerceFuel)

My favorite business book is probably the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as it's helped me focus on the things that really move the needle.

Todd Henry (Founder of Accidental Creative)

I still remember reading 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People when I was in my mid-twenties and trying to determine the course my life would take. The idea of sharpening the saw hit me hard, and I remember dedicating myself to daily study and improvement at that very moment. It has paid profound dividends in my life ever since.

Anant Jain (Co-Founder/CommonLounge)

It provides an excellent framework for life design. Being a successful entrepreneur requires you to truly internalize why you do what you do and how it connects to your inner values, motivations, and goals. This book will help you build your own framework to help you achieve that.

Miracle Olatunji (Founder & CEO/OpportuniMe)

The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People provided me with an excellent set of principles I could build off of for goal setting and personal development.

Amazon description

The essential companion workbook to the international bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People took the self-help market by storm in 1990 and has enjoyed phenomenal sales ever since. The integrated, principle-centered 7 Habits philosophy has helped readers find solutions to their personal and professional problems and achieve a life characterized by fairness, integrity, honesty, and dignity. Covey’s tried and true step-by-step approach is explored even more fully in this workbook, which leads readers through the 7 Habits and shows them how to put these ideas into action everyday.

With the same clarity and assurance that Covey’s readers have come to know and love, the workbook helps readers further understand, appreciate, and internalize the power of the 7 Habits. These engaging, in-depth exercises allow readers—both devotees and newcomers—to get their hands dirty as they develop a philosophy for success, set personal goals, and improve their relationships. The overwhelming success of Stephen R. Covey’s principle-centered philosophy is a testament to the millions who have benefited from his lessons, and now, with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook, they can further explore and understand this tried-and-true approach.

This reference offers solutions to both personal and professional problems by promoting and teaching fairness, integrity, honesty, and dignity. An engaging companion to a bestselling classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook will help readers set goals, improve relationships, and create a path to life effectiveness.

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See more books recommended by

Daylon Soh, Ovidiu Drugan, Andra Zaharia, Cristina Riesen, Raluca Radu, Ola Olusoga, Kris Reid, Mike Benkovich, Noah Kagan, James Murphy, Darren Chua, Nadia Al Sheikh, Alan Pierce, Dr. Monali Y. Desai, Theresa Evanoff, Jose He, Boban Dedovic, Bryan Choo, Faisal Amin, Thom Singer, Andrew Youderian, Todd Henry, Anant Jain, Miracle Olatunji

See more books written by

Stephen R. Covey

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