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The Best Business Books to Read in 2023

The Best Business Books to Read in 2023

Whether you're looking to stay onboard with the latest trends in finance and business, learn new skills, or, perfect old ones, pass your time with purpose!

Dive into one of these brilliant business books!

The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene - R340

At work, in relationships, on the street or on the 6 o'clock news: the 48 Laws of Power apply everywhere. For anyone with an interest in conquest, self-defense, wealth, power, or simply being an educated spectator, The 48 Laws of Power is one of the most useful and entertaining books ever.

This book teaches you how to cheat, dissemble, feign, fight, and advance your cause in the modern world. The distilled wisdom of the masters - illustrated through the tactics, triumphs, and failures from Elizabeth I to Henry Kissinger on how to get to the top and stay there.

FUTURENEXT: Reimagining Our World & Conquering Uncertainty - John Sanei & Iraj Abedian - R285

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable effect on the world and redefined for us what is truly important. We’re witnessing a reversion to the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy as we find ourselves seeking to safeguard our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Why?

Because we no longer have the luxury of certainty.

For generations, we’ve grown up believing that studying for a defined career and securing a job would guarantee our future. This 'essential' and predictable sequence marked us as productive members of society.

But is our society even a healthy one? Are we heading in the right direction or have we been blinded by collective greed and delusion? How can we justify such inequality and environmental degradation in the world? These were questions being asked even before Covid struck – and now the pandemic has accelerated a desire for change.

For all the stress and disruption Covid has caused, we now have a gilt-edged opportunity to change things for the better. Now is the time for each of us to cultivate new skills, qualities and characteristics to bring about the collective future we want.

FutureNEXT plots a new way forward by combining the accessible thinking of future strategist John Sanei with the deeply thought economic and philosophical principles of Dr Iraj Abedian. The result is a book about the things we need to rethink so that we may step confidently into the future. About the new roles and responsibilities we will each have as consumers, employees, employers, entrepreneurs and executives. And ultimately about reimagining a more harmonious, systemically fair and sustainable, yet prosperous world.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think - Hans Rosling - R240

The international bestseller, inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world, and make you realise things are better than you thought.

 

 

 

Thinking the Future: New Perspectives from the Shoulders of Giants - Clem Sunter & Mitch Ilbury - R280

Every decision we make is a decision about the future. We constantly make choices that affect the next week, year or decade, but get blinded by what we want or expect the future to be. Cognitive traps lie everywhere: failing to question our assumptions; believing in greater certainty and personal control than life allows; or missing signals because we’re distracted by the noise.

The post-2020 world demands a revolutionary way of looking ahead, and in these unpredictable times, the key to good futures thinking is good thinking. The goal of constructive futurism is not to forecast specific events, but to plot a series of scenarios that show what could happen. Consequently, we can work towards the future we want, avoid the ones we don’t, and be prepared to manage the risks and opportunities no matter what.

In Thinking the Future, scenario specialists Clem Sunter and Mitch Ilbury teach us the futurist’s art of decision-making, where the flexibility of thinking like a fox plays a key role in adapting to a complex and interconnected world. The book rejects the appealing but misleading self-help narrative that you can decide your future through sheer determination in pursuit of your goals and replaces it with a more dynamic approach.

Isaac Newton said: ‘If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ By reimagining seminal concepts thought up by some of history’s greatest thinkers, the authors detail the dos and don’ts for thinking the future and handling its uncertainty in a constructive way.

Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness In Others - Stephen M. R. Covey - R380

Traditionally, businesses have relied on a "command and control" management style, focusing on rigid hierarchies and compliance from employees. Covey argues we must shift from a "command and control" to a "trust and inspire" leadership model.

Trusting and inspiring your team is defined by commitment from both sides, with a focus on effectiveness and fostering a growth mindset. It is based on the belief that employees are creative, collaborative, and full of potential; through trust, you can inspire them to do their best work.

Trust and Inspire is a simple yet radical shift in how business must be done in the 21st century and an expansive, visionary, and inviting guide to the future of leadership.

Genius: How To Take Smart Ideas Global - Bruce Whitfield - R350

South Africa and its fraught political economy provide a fascinating case study into how it takes a particular brand of genius to thrive in a difficult domestic environment and to take the ideas and the businesses that deliver them from local to global.

Genius tells the stories of some of the extraordinary individuals, companies and industries whose ideas, products and raw materials solve problems and add value across the globe.

Greatness comes from acting on purpose, and there is a generation of South Africans solving problems for the future. Learn how Pratley beat Armstrong to the moon, how a former Eskom quantity surveyor capitalised on Britain’s obsession with meerkats to create the UK’s most visible price comparison website, how to take a Mediterranean-style food concept to the Mediterranean, and how a device designed to beat diamond smuggling made it from the set of a popular US hospital drama into emergency rooms and pathology labs across the US.

Genius examines what it takes to thrive in an increasingly complex, fast-paced and divisive global environment. These are lessons for anyone looking to succeed anywhere against the odds.

Bricks for Chicks: Property investment for women who kick ass! - Tanya Haffern - R200

Bricks for Chicks introduces women (and men who are smart enough to read it!) to property investment, demystifying industry lingo and introducing the basic strategies a budding investor can employ to maximise returns in what can often turn into a field of broken dreams.

The book aims to grow the reader's financial skill set to acquire the confidence to become financially independent. The author's savvy, fun personality shines through as she delivers invaluable insights into property investment so that reading this book feels like having a fun conversation with a battle-sharpened, clued-up girlfriend who doesn't spare the punches and, at the same time, makes you believe that you, too, can succeed in property investment.

The case studies keep the book light and humorous and make it easily accessible for novice investors. For anyone who wants to start investing in property but feels overwhelmed by the terminology, expenses and inherent risk, this book is going to change her life, starting TODAY.

Take Charge: Life Lessons On The Road To CEO - Nyimpini Mabunda - R280

Join Nyimpini Mabunda on his journey from his childhood in an apartheid-era homeland to the CEO’s office at one of the world’s leading businesses.

In a career spanning Procter & Gamble, Nando’s, Diageo and Vodacom in South Africa, the UK and Uganda, Mabunda actively sets out to always improve his business acumen and leadership skills.

Constantly in learning mode and infused with positive energy, Mabunda’s path offers insightful lessons and practical advice for anyone who wants to succeed in their career, build and lead a business. This is your toolkit to take you the top!

What are you business book favorites? Let us know in the comments below!
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