Reading Lists: Consulting
·5 mins·
0
Resources
Consulting
Professional Development
Business
Reading List
Table of Contents
Intro #
In this list you will find a collection of books, periodicals, and other writings which share one foundational trait: they help create incredible consultants. Consultants not only must be experts in their technical field, but should also be experts with people and businesses.
In order to foster that degree of expertise, it is important to expand your understanding in a variety of domains, from Business and Finance, to Communication and Influence, to Human Psychology and beyond!
Here are some additional resources with further reads and potential discourse around the items below:
If you’re interested in checking out any of these books, consider trying out Audible from Amazon. With the below link, you can start your Audible Premium Plus trial and get 2 FREE audiobooks, and if you decide to cancel by the end of your 30 day free trial, you still get to keep them!
General Consulting #
MBB/Mgmt/Strategy Consulting-style #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HBR 10 Must Reads | Harvard Business Review | Leadership, Management, Strategy | A collection of 10 essential HBR articles on various business topics |
| HBR Emotional Intelligence | Harvard Business Review | Emotional Intelligence, Leadership | A collection of 5 essential HBR articles on emotional intelligence |
| The McKinsey Way | Ethan Rasiel | Consulting, Strategy, Management | A guide to the techniques used by the world’s top strategic consultants |
| The McKinsey Mind | Ethan Rasiel | Problem-solving, Management, Strategy | A guide to problem-solving tools and management techniques used by McKinsey consultants |
| BCG on Strategy | Carl W. Stern | Consulting, Strategy, Management | A collection of articles by BCG consultants on strategy and management |
Magazines #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard Business Review | Various | Business, Management, Leadership, Strategy | Leading ideas and insights in business and management |
| Stanford Business | Various | Business, Management, Leadership, Innovation | Articles on business, management, and leadership from Stanford Graduate School of Business |
| Economist | Various | Business, Economics, Finance | International news, politics, business, finance, science, and technology |
| McKinsey Quarterly | Various | Business, Management, Strategy | Insights on business and management topics from McKinsey & Company |
Websites (Articles/Blogs) #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy-Business | PwC | Business, Consulting, Strategy | Online publication covering business strategy and management consulting. |
| Consulting Magazine | - | Consulting, Management | Online magazine focused on the consulting industry, including trends, news, and insights. |
Presenting #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking | Barbara Minto | Presentation, Influence, Writing, Communication | |
| Unleash the Power of Storytelling | Rob Biesenbach | Communication, Presentation | |
| HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations | Nancy Duarte | Communication, Presentation |
Sales #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It | Chris Voss | Negotiation, Sales | |
| Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion | Robert Cialdini | Psychology, Influence | |
| Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade | Robert Cialdini | Psychology, Influence |
Leadership/Management #
New/Prospective Managers #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making of a Manager | Julie Zhuo | Leadership, Management | |
| HBR 10: New Managers | Harvard Business Review | Leadership, Management |
Advanced Leadership (or Anyone!) #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barking Up the Wrong Tree | Eric Barker | High-achievers, Success | The role of deliberate practice in expert performance |
| Dare to Lead | Brené Brown | Leadership | |
| Quiet Voice Fearless Leader | Terrance Lee | Leadership | Introvert Leaders |
| Leadership in Middle-earth: Theories and Applications for Organizations | Michael J Urick | Leadership | Part of Series: Exploring Effective Leadership Practices Through Popular Culture, series also currently includes books from: Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, and Game of Thrones |
| The Captain Class | Sam Walker | Leadership | Leadership from Sports |
| The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups | Daniel Coyle | ||
| The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement | Eliyahu M. Goldratt | Management, Efficiency |
Project/Software Management #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peopleware | Tom DeMarco | Management, Leadership, Teamwork | |
| Mythical Man-Month | Frederick Brooks Jr. | Project Management, Software Engineering |
Economics/Financial Markets #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| When Genius Failed | Roger Lowenstein | Hedge Funds | |
| All Michael Lewis books | Michael Lewis | ||
| Too Big to Fail | Andrew Ross Sorkin |
General Business #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good to Great | Jim Collins | Leadership, Management | Examines the factors that distinguish great companies from mediocre ones |
| Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies | Jim Collins | Leadership, Management | Explores what sets long-lasting companies apart from others |
| Innovation on Tap: Stories of Entrepreneurship | Eric Schultz | Entrepreneurship | Collection of inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who have succeeded in their respective fields |
| The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life | Rosamund Stone Zander | Communication, Selling | Encourages readers to shift their mindset from limitations to possibilities |
| The Innovator’s Dilemma | Clayton M. Christensen | Success, Business Growth | Explores how successful companies can become disrupted by smaller, innovative competitors and offers strategies to avoid this fate |
| The Innovator’s Solution | Clayton Christensen, Michael E. Raynor | Business, Innovation | A guide to creating successful innovations that sustain growth in any organization. |
| Blue Ocean Strategy | W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne | Business, Strategy | Introduces a systematic approach for creating uncontested market space and making the competition irrelevant. |
| The Art of War | Sun Tzu | Strategy, Military | Classic Chinese text on military strategy and tactics, but widely used in business, politics and beyond for its insights into conflict and competition. |
| Competitive Strategy | Michael E. Porter | Business, Strategy | Provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing industries and competitors to gain a competitive advantage in the market. |
| Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works | A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin | Business, Strategy | Presents a five-step strategy framework that will help you define winning aspirations and develop the capabilities to achieve them. |
| Crossing the Chasm | Geoffrey A. Moore | Business, Marketing | Describes the challenges that companies face when transitioning from early adopters to the early majority, and provides guidance on how to overcome them. |
| The Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Entrepreneurship, Startups | Offers a scientific approach to creating and managing startups in an environment of extreme uncertainty. |
| The Hard Thing About Hard Things | Ben Horowitz | Entrepreneurship, Management | Offers practical advice on how to build and manage a startup, especially during difficult times. |
General Betterment #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic Habits | James Clear | Habits, Efficiency | |
| The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen R. Covey | Habits, Efficiency | |
| 12 Rules for Life | Jordan B. Peterson | ||
| How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie | Communication, Leadership, Efficiency | |
| The 48 Laws of Power | Robert Greene | Politics, Success, Power | |
| Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High | Kerry Patterson et al | Communication |
Other #
| Title | Author | Tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Book | C. G. Jung | Psychology |