10 Remodeler Recommended Business Reads

We asked each of our 2023 Forty Under 40 winners for their favorite business book, and the results were share-worthy. From step-by-step guides to become highly effective, to approaching leadership through empathy, these 10 recommended business books for remodelers offer something for everyone:

1. Build a Business, Not a Job by David Finkel & Stephanie Harkness

What it’s about: The average small business owner works 52 hours a week with 20% working seven days a week. This book focuses on accelerating your company’s growth while enjoying your own life. The authors provide readers with a step-by-step map to an owner-independent company, from understanding the most costly excuses, essential building blocks, quarterly action plans, and time mastery strategies.

“These two world-class entrepreneurs will show you how to sustainably grow your company, increase your profitability, and enjoy more time freedom. You will learn how to truly build a business, not a job.”

2. Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

What it’s about: What effect can a checklist really have on a person? Author Atul Gawande explores how the simple concept of a checklist really reflects our complex lives, plus, how to deal with the grueling to-do list.

“In riveting stories, he reveals what checklists can do, what they can’t, and how they could bring about striking improvements in a variety of fields, from medicine and disaster recovery to professions and businesses of all kinds.”

3. Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

What it’s about: Author Brene Brown takes new research on leaders and cultural influencers, stories, and examples to answer the questions: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? Being a leader in the current day requires training and understanding of deeply and uniquely human traits, says Brown.

“The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start.”

4. Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

What it’s about: Through a first-person, firsthand experience helping the US secure the city of Ramadi, Iraq, authors and members of SEAL Team Three Task Unit Bruiser Jocko Willink and Leif Babin take readers through heroism, loss, and victory. The Navy SEALs detail the principles that allow SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult missions, giving readers actionable approaches to leading with success.

“A compelling narrative with powerful instruction and direct application, Extreme Ownership revolutionizes business management and challenges leaders everywhere to fulfill their ultimate purpose: lead and win.”

5. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

What it’s about: The bestseller, written 30 years ago, shares a principle-centered approach to problem-solving in personal and professional settings. Mixed with anecdotal evidence and insights, the author gives easy-to-follow steps to become highly effective. Such include Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, and Put First Things First.

6. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

What it’s about: Written in 1936, this classic bestseller offers proven insights into getting people to like you, win people’s way of thinking to agree with yours, and change people. 

“You can go after the job you want...and get it! You can take the job you have...and improve it! You can take any situation you're in...and make it work for you!”

7. People Over Profit by Dale Partridge

What it’s about: Author Dale Partridge offers readers seven beliefs that create success by putting people first. Partridge shares how valuing honesty over deception, transparency over secrecy, authenticity over hype, and people over profit can create a sustainable world. 

“Established corporations have begun reevaluating the quality of their products, the ethics of their supply chains, and how they can give back by donating portions of their profits to meaningful causes. Meanwhile millions of entrepreneurs who want a more responsible and compassionate marketplace have launched a new breed of socially focused business models.”

8. Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy

What it’s about: Kick the anxieties and nerves behind and embrace feeling present, described as a state where we stop worrying about the impression made onto others and adjust our impressions of ourselves, according to author Amy Cuddy. Small tweaks and nudges can push us to achieve presence.

“Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about "power poses." Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same.”

9. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

What it’s about: Author Napoleon Hill takes the successes and insights of famous thinkers—Dale Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, for example—and illustrates his principles of finding lasting success.

“It is this—all achievement, all earned riches, have their beginning in an Idea! If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it, therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind.”

10. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman

What it’s about: Profit woes, personnel conflict, inadequate growth—author Gino Wickman says these are common frustrations faced by entrepreneurs and business leaders. Wickman offers up the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) as a solution to these struggles. 

“In Traction, you’ll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. You’ll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment.”