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21 Business Books to Read in 2021

Posted by Megan Habel on Feb 23, 2021

21 Business Books to Read in 2021

New books to inspire your teams and organizations this year.

Every year, we look forward to the new and innovative ideas presented in business books. In addition to evergreen topics such as management, leadership, and sales, popular books to hit the bookshelves include those on diversity and inclusion, women in business, and working from home. We've highlighted 21 of the most noteworthy business titles to come out in 2021 below for your consideration. For a complete list, visit our 2021 Business Catalog.

1. Just Work: Get Sh*t Done, Fast & Fair by Kim Scott

Just Work

Bestselling author Kim Scott is back with an essential guide for leaders to create a more just workplace and establish new norms of collaboration and success. Learn how to recognize, attack, and eliminate gender injustice while respecting workers' individuality, making sure all voices are heard, and collaborating effectively.

Learn all about Kim's new book in our March AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

2. Think Again: the Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant

Think Again

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life.

3. Curve Benders: Why Strategic Relationships Will Power Your Non-Linear Growth in the Future of Work by David Nour

Curve Benders

David Nour provides a personal growth roadmap at the intersection of the future of how we’ll work, live, play, give, and our strategic relationships. The book will focus on how strategic relationships can dramatically alter our growth trajectory in both its direction and ultimate destination against the forces that will shape the future of how we’ll work, live, play, and serve others.

4. The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance by Rich Diviney

The Attributes

Beneath obvious skills are hidden drivers of performance—surprising core attributes that explain how we perform as an individual and as part of a team. Former Navy SEAL commander Rich Diviney explains how understanding these attributes can allow readers and their teams to perform optimally, at any time, in any situation.

Learn all about Rich's new book in our June AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

5. Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World by Emily Balcetis

Clearer Closer Better

Successful people literally see the world differently. Now, award-winning scientist Emily Balcetis explains how anyone can leverage this “perception” gap to their advantage. Inspiring, motivating, and always entertaining, Balcetis demonstrates that if we take advantage of our visual experiences, they can lead us to live happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

6. Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton

Anxiety at Work

Executive coaches and #1 bestselling authors Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton offer insight and advice in this practical eight-step guide both managers and employees can use to reduce work anxiety in the office and at home.

Learn all about Adrian and Chester's new book in our August AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

7. Never Enough: A Navy SEAL Commander on Living a Life of Excellence, Agility, and Meaning by Mike Hayes

Never Enough

Mike Hayes, former Commander of SEAL Team TWO, shows readers how to apply high-stakes lessons about excellence, agility, and meaning across the spectrum of their personal and professional lives. His battle and boardroom-tested advice will motivate readers to do work of value, live lives of purpose, and stretch themselves to reach their highest potential.

8. Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr

Working Backwards

With keen analysis and practical steps for applying it at your own company—no matter the size—two long-serving executives illuminate how Amazon’s fourteen leadership principles inform decision-making at all levels and reveal how the company’s culture has been defined by four characteristics: customer obsession, long-term thinking, eagerness to invent, and operational excellence.

9. Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars That Drive Results by David Horsager

Trusted Leader

Without trust, people and businesses fail. Bestselling author David Horsager provides a framework for building trust so that you and your organizations can perform at your best. Through a business parable, readers will be introduced to the Eight Pillars of Trust and learn strategies to increase alignment, overcome attrition, and get absolutely clear on executing their top priorities.

Learn all about David's new book in our October AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

10. Marketing Mess to Brand Success: 30 Challenges to Transform Your Organization's Brand (and Your Own) by Scott Jeffrey Miller

Marketing Mess to Brand Success

In this second book of Scott Miller’s Mess to Success series, the FranklinCovey Executive VP reveals 30 career-challenging obstacles that you may encounter as a marketing manager and how he learned to transform them into team-enhancing opportunities.

Learn all about Scott's new book in our September AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

11. Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers by Raja Rajamannar

Quantum Marketing

Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer of Mastercard, shares breakthrough, frontier strategies to navigate the challenges marketers face to thrive in a modern business world that is changing with unprecedented speed and disruption.

12. Let's Talk; Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower by Therese Huston

Let's Talk

Recent studies have revealed 44% of managers dread giving feedback, and 65% of employees wish their managers gave more feedback. But fear of hurt feelings leads managers to bite back valuable insights. Dr. Therese Huston provides a game-changing model for giving effective feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss—without offending or demotivating.

13. Love 'Em or Lose 'Em, Sixth Edition: Getting Good People to Stay by Beverly Kaye & Sharon Jordan-Evans

Love 'Em or Lose 'Em

Learn to create a supportive workplace culture, fight employee burnout, and keep the people you can't afford to lose in the newest edition of the number one bestselling employee retention book in the world. Complete with new sections on diversity and inclusion, Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans provide 26 simple strategies, from A to Z, that managers can use to address their employees' real concerns and keep them engaged.

Learn all about Beverly and Sharon's new book in our March AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

14. Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power by Brooke Baldwin

Huddle

CNN news anchor Brooke Baldwin explores the phenomenon of women “huddling”—in politics, Hollywood, activism, the arts, sports, and everyday friendships—to make changes, solve problems, and to inspire, amplify, and support one another.

15. A Woman's Guide to Claiming Space: Stand Tall. Raise Your Voice. Be Heard. by Eliza VanCort

A Woman's Guide to Claiming Space

Women fight the pressure to make themselves small in private, professional, and public spaces. Eliza VanCort, a teacher, consultant, and speaker, provides the necessary tools for women to rewrite the rules and create the stories of their choosing safely and without apology.

Learn all about Eliza's new book in our November AuthorConnect Chat - reserve your free spot here.

16. Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (and How Anyone Can Harness It. Even You. by Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas

Humor, Seriously

Stanford lecturers Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more importantly—how you can use it more often and effectively in the workplace to positively impact your performance, relationships, and health.

17. Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose

Futureproof

New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision of how humans can survive in the machine age. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have thrived during periods of technological change and explains how we can protect our own futures.

18. The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations by Robert Livingston

The Conversation

A practical guide for businesses and other organizations seeking to create candid dialogue about the persistence of racism in their communities, identify and eliminate bias, and take action to bring about a more equitable workplace and culture, written by a Harvard academic and leading expert on diversity and inclusion.

19. Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere by Tsedal Neeley

Remote Work Revolution

A Harvard Business School professor and leading expert in virtual and global work provides remote workers and leaders with the best practices necessary to perform at the highest levels in their organizations. Filled with specific actionable steps, original illustrations, and interactive tools, this timely book will help team members deliver results previously out of reach.

20. Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work... Wherever You Are by Robert C. Pozen & Alexandra Samuel

Remote, Inc.

Leverage the "business of one" mindset to thrive while working remotely. Productivity experts Robert C. Pozen and Alexandra Samuel map out principles that drive this entrepreneurial approach and translate them into the specific habits and tools that make remote work productive and enjoyable.

21. Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life by William Green

Richer, Wiser, Happier

Renowned financial journalist William Green draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with many of the world's super-investors to demonstrate that the keys for building wealth hold other life lessons as well.

2021 Business Catalog


This post was written by Megan Habel, the Brand Strategist at BookPal. She is currently reading Fable by Adrienne Young.