Must read business books of 2010

By Renjith VP, SiliconIndia   |   Friday, 31 December 2010, 12:50 IST   |    4 Comments
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Must read business books of 2010
Bangalore: 2010 was a year of slow comeback for businesses. It laid each step forward carefully, collapsing and again setting right, just like a toddler acquiring the new walking skill. It had to learn many things the hard way. With a whole set of experts, entrepreneurs and go-getters to give it the necessary boost, it survived the year, with much guts and nerve. And now another year of uncertainties, predictions and surprises await businesses worldwide. And whom should you listen to for a better career? When you ask someone the direction, you always make sure it is someone who has been through the route before. Similarly to know about what happened throughout the year and whether a marketing boom or economic disaster awaits you, you have to ask the best advisors in the market at present. Here are some business books which will be the best offerings when businesses enter a new year. 1. The Art of Choosing, by Sheena Iyengar - Do you choose to brush your teeth in the morning? Or do you just do it? Can a habit or custom be a choice? When Sheena Iyengar asked Japanese and American college students in Kyoto to record all the choices they made in a day, the Americans included things like brushing their teeth and hitting the snooze button. The Japanese didn't consider those actions to be choices. The two groups lived similar lives. But they defined them differently. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Iyengar is drawn to such cross-cultural comparisons and now with her book 'The Art of Choosing', she is giving valuable insights into new business tactics. Iyengar, professor of Business at Columbia University, had been even short-listed for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award for her book, which focuses on choice and how it is affected by culture. The book also includes an account of the stunning rise of Facebook and a more philosophical reflection on the Art of Choosing. 2. The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness, by Deepak Chopra - "The Soul of Leadership unfolds as an exceptional guide for remembering how to access the peace and clarity the soul brings to any vision, decision, action, or non action. Deepak Chopra's latest book lights the way to twenty first century leadership, where consciousness, love, and compassion redefine the locus of power in relationships and organizations." says John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. Chopra, the author of "How to Know God" and "The Path to Love" probably doesn't carry as much wallop in the business world as the legendary Warren Buffet, but he's has been teaching CEOs for some time. The core of his counseling is 'know oneself', which is never bad advice. Chopra writes: "At the deepest level, a leader is the symbolic soul of a group," which can inspire the reader. 3. Linchpin: Are you Indispensable?, by Seth Godin - Seth Godin, a speaker, author, and business blogger with numerous books to his name and a Gladwell-like ability to push new terms into the vernacular - terms like permission marketing and idea virus has done a good work yet again through his new book. Maybe his best book yet; it's also his most personal. Rather than explain marketing, pontificate about the urgent need to be unique, how to spread ideas or when to quit, he aims his message squarely at the growing ranks of anxious employees who wonder what lies ahead for them and their jobs. 4. Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World, by Stuart Diamond - Wharton Professor and Pulitzer Prize winning former journalist for the New York Times, Stuart Diamond, has written another magnificent new book on negotiations, based on his most popular course at the business school for thirteen years. The book includes hundreds of real life negotiations drawn from the experiences of the over 30,000 course participants he has taught in 45 countries. 'Life changing' is the most typical comment from participants. His process was used to solve the 2008 Hollywood writer's strike, to make companies billions of dollars, and to get four-year-olds to willingly brush their teeth and go to bed. 5. Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, by Linda A. Hill, Kent L. Lineback - You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from subordinates, your supervisor, peers, and customers. You're constantly fighting fires. You're mired in office politics. You end each day exhausted and discouraged, wondering what, if anything, you've accomplished. You're not alone. As Linda Hill and Kent Lineback reveal in "Being the Boss", becoming an effective manager is a painful, difficult journey.