Ali Younus
Our experience and expertise are two diverse kinds of bases for action. Analysts give more importance to experience when it comes to learning because it answers some of the questions more usefully than our skills. Recent studies show that the learning process that leaders undergo while adjusting to the profession gives them far more knowledge as compared to acquiring it in traditional manners.
The learning process becomes more interesting when it incorporates the experiences of people who have already reached their heights of success. And there is nothing better than reading books for knowing about the lives of successful people and linking one’s mind with their understanding of various subjects.
For this reason, a list of 25 books by self-made billionaires has been rounded up which can be helpful in learning leadership lessons from true leaders. These books will give a good insight into how they dealt with all the issues and achieved the impossible.
The Virgin Way: Richard Branson
Richard Branson is open to telling people about his own habit of never reading books but his journey is filled with experiences that gave him more knowledge than he could have acquired otherwise. The theme around which his book “The Virgin Way” is based is management and entrepreneurialism. Richard Branson never feared challenges and stresses people to put workers where they can use most of their abilities.
The Essay of Warren Buffet: Warren Buffet
Written by one of the greatest investors in history, the 86-year-old Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has placed his letters to the company’s shareholders. Each letter is addressed to different fields of business and investment philosophies.
Business @ the speed of Thought: Bill gates
This book is written by a person who is rich in all aspects, Bill Gates. He explains that the connection between business and technology to inextricable. This book was published in 1999 but its insights are still accurate and relevant to today’s technological changes in the world.
Zero to One: Peter Thiel
This book focuses on competition as an opportunity for people who failed to achieve and also for entrepreneurs rather than creating monopolies. The founder of PayPal, Thiel stresses building something new and taking over the market.
Think like a Champion: Donald Trump
It is a great book of the president-elect and real-estate mogul’s essays on professional and personal success. It stresses learning from your mistakes and facing your fears.
Soros on Soros: George Soros
This book tells readers about the achievements of the world’s most brilliant investor with personal anecdotes and theories on finance and politics.
Onward: Howard Schultz
“Onward” is a book that shadows the struggles of Howard Schultz to bring the global coffee chain back to life after suffering financial crises. Readers will get to know how tough decisions are made like shutting down more than 7,000 US stores in order to restart without compromising on the company’s core values.
Direct from Dell: Michael Dell
“Direct from Dell” is a book that explains the development of the business of the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He throws light on his own style of management with an inspiring rags-to-riches story offering valuable leadership lessons to readers.
What I Know For Sure: Oprah Winfrey
Who else can explain passion and dedication than Oprah Winfrey? With a childhood filled with tumultuous sufferings because of being born into a poor family, Winfrey provides insight into every aspect of life for others to learn and never lose hope.
The First Billion is the Hardest: T. Boone Pickens
This book is based on eth struggles of an 87-year-old chairman of BP Capital Management and how he dealt with challenges to achieve success.
Ralph Lauren: Ralph Lauren
Revolving around the inspiration behind Ralph Lauren’s work, this book is filled with his autobiography and beautiful photographs. It tells us about the high society lifestyle of the Polo world that inspired Lauren to make a name with his brand.
Call me Ted: Ted Turner
Founder of the first 24-hour cable news channel, CNN as well as the former owner of the Atlanta Braves, Ted focuses on an unconventional path that he took toward his success.
Steering Clear: Peter G. Peterson
Founder and chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Peterson explains his long-storied career in this book by focusing on raising awareness about fiscal challenges in America.
Charles Schwab’s New Guide to Financial Independence: Charles Schwab
This is a revised edition of a book that was published in 2007. It describes readers as to how they can set investment goals, monitor their work, and make plans ahead of retirement.
Show Dog: Phil Knight
Founder of the world’s biggest athletic company Nike, Phil Knight takes readers along with his personal journey to success. He describes all the challenges he faced starting from the age of 24 to joining the corporate world.
Bloomberg by Bloomberg: Michael Bloomberg
This is the autobiography of Michael Bloomberg in which his development of the media empire has been illustrated. Published in 1997, this book guides readers through his career’s ups and downs. It is filled with honest and valuable insights into management and leadership that he experienced throughout his life.
Fooling Some of The People All of the Time: David Einhorn
This is a six-year financial story of the founder of Greenlight Capital, David Einhorn. This book is a detailed description that provides captivating insights into Wall Streets’ general drama.
How Google Works: Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg
This book is a collection of insights into the experiences of Google’s executive chairman and former CEO, Eric Schmidt, and the vice president of products, Jonathan Rosenberg.
Margin of Safety: Seth Klarman
The CEO and president of the Baupost Group, Seth Klarman, explains to readers the rules and logic behind making investments.
Made in America: Sam Walton
This book gives readers the opportunity to have a better understanding of Walton’s personality and the struggles he underwent in building the largest leader in the world, Walmart.
Behind the Cloud: Marc Benioff
Behind the Cloud is a book that provides around 111 management tips by Benioff. These tips from topics of “integrate philanthropy from the beginning” to “the courage to pursue innovation”.
How Did You Do It?: S. Truett Cathy
S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, explained the rise to success starting from the days when he used to work behind the counter.
Simply Rich: Richard DeVos
This is a rags-to-riches story describing Devos’s struggles from a schoolboy to the cofounder of a multibillionaire direct-selling company, Amway.
Built From Scratch: Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank
For readers who want to change their fate and turn their dreams into a reality, Built from Scratch is something that they must read. The book provides good lessons for business leaders on the importance of customer satisfaction and responding to the community’s needs.
How to Win at the Sport of Business: Mark Cuban
This is a story of a multibillionaire who struggled a lot in his early 20s. Mark Cuban confessed to having not sufficient knowledge of computers till he won the competition and learned everything about the software his company sold. This book gives very good information regarding entrepreneurialism.
