NEW YORK–Daymond John first rose to prominence by building the FUBU brand from scratch, and then to national fame after becoming one of the Sharks on ABC’s popular Shark Tank program.
Now John, who says he is dyslexic and often has to re-read text in order to grasp it, has offered a list of six business books he believes everyone should read.
“Because I’m dyslexic, I’ve had to read books many times,” he told Inc. “That’s why I focus on reading ones that are high-impact and incredibly useful, full of important lessons that I can apply to my life and business.”
The six books John recommends you read, as first reported by Inc. Magazine, are:
1. Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not, by Robert Kiyosaki. This is a step-by-step-style financial literacy classic, multi-millionaire entrepreneur and motivational speaker Robert Kiyosaki shares how he used lessons from two dads -- his own fiscally poor father and his best friend’s rich father -- to shape his opinions around money and to build his fortune.
2. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
In this popular book, the business theorist authors of this data-rich international bestseller lay out an innovative systematic approach to obliterating your competition without competing with them at all. Drawing on a decade-long academic study of more than 150 strategic business moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years, they detail how to build what they call “blue oceans” -- new opportunities in markets that are ripe for disruption.
3. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. This is a classic business book, having first appeared in print in 1937. Napoleon Hill’s motivating classic is the result of 20 years-worth of research and interviews with more than 40 famous millionaires, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller and Theodore Roosevelt.
4. Life is a Series of Presentations: Eight Ways to Inspire, Inform and Influence Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime, by Tony Jeary. In this book, veteran executive coach and presentation strategist Tony Jeary reveals his expert strategies in a series of practical, easy-to-digest tips and techniques, including how to boost your confidence and credibility when facing one of life’s most terrifying things for many -- a live audience staring back at you, hanging on your every word.
5. Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life, by Spencer Johnson. Management consultant Spencer Johnson’s 96-page literary attitude adjustment winds readers through a simple yet potent parable that unfolds in a maze. The maze is occupied by four characters -- Sniff and Scurry, mice that will stop at nothing to get cheese, and Hem and Haw, mouse-sized humans for whom cheese represents much more than merely sustenance.
6. The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. In this allegory-filled oldie but goodie, widely revered management experts Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson share how to manage others in ways that can increase their confidence, pride and productivity. The book maps out three powerful one-minute management “secrets.”
John also offers other insights in this video here.