Dan Coughlin’s Recommended Books

Here are books I’ve read since 1985 that I recommend for you to consider reading. The books are organized into the following five buckets:

Personal Effectiveness

(Purpose, Self-Confidence, Initiative, Visualization, Self-Discipline, Goal Setting & Problem Solving, Control Your Thoughts and Emotions, Creativity)

  1. Purpose
    • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
    • Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
    • The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
    • Living a Life that Matters by Harold Kushner
    • Tap Dancing to Work by Carol Loomis
    • Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
    • The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
  1. Self-Confidence
    • Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Blue Book by AA
    • The Ultimate Secrets of Total Self-Confidence by Robert Anthony
    • The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
    • Gifted Hands by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey
    • Journey of Awakening by Ram Dass
    • Grit by Angela Duckworth
    • No Easy Answers by John Gardner
    • Big Magic by Liz Gilbert
    • Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
    • Success through a Positive Mental Attitude by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
    • Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
    • This Thing Called Life by Ernest Holmes
    • This Thing Called You by Ernest Holmes
    • Loyalty to Your Soul by Ron and Mary Hulnick
    • Balancing Heaven and Earth by Robert Johnson
    • Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
    • Spirit – Mind – Body and the Will to Existence by Arthur Kornhaber
    • How to See Yourself as You Really Are by Dalai Lama
    • The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
    • Secrets of Success and Happiness by Og Mandino
    • The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino
    • The Greatest Salesman in the World, Parts I and II by Og Mandino
    • Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
    • The Further Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham Maslow
    • Man’s Search for Himself by Rollo May
    • A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer
    • To Know as We are Known by Parker Palmer
    • Happiness is an Inside Job by John Powell
    • On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers
    • You are Special by Fred Rogers
    • How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
    • Wallace Wattles Trilogy by Wallace Wattles
    • A Woman’s Worth by Marianne Williamson
    • Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success by John Wooden
  1. Initiative
    • Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
    • Running from Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit by Richard Bach
    • Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
    • Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell
    • Pathways to Bliss by Joseph Campbell
    • The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
    • The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
    • How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
    • Creating Affluence by Deepak Chopra
    • Riches Within Your Reach by Robert Collier
    • 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
    • I Dare You by William Danforth
    • Promises to Keep: The Life of Dr. Thomas Dooley by Agnes Dooley
    • The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer
    • The Shift by Wayne Dyer
    • The Magnolia Story by Joanna Gaines
    • The Dip by Seth Godin
    • Love Does by Bob Goff
    • Mojo by Marshall Goldsmith
    • What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
    • Personal History by Katherine Graham
    • The Maverick Mindset: Finding the Courage to Journey from Fear to Freedom by Doug Hall and David Wecker
    • Who Stole the American Dream by Burke Hedges
    • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
    • Succeeding Against the Odds by John Johnson
    • The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
    • Self-Made in America by John McCormack and David Legge
    • Even Eagles Need a Push by David McNally
    • A Better Way to Live by Og Mandino
    • The Choice by Og Mandino
    • The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer
    • Success is a Choice by Rick Pitino
    • Success is Never Ending by Robert Schuller
    • Power Thoughts by Robert Schuller
    • The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes
    • Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James
    • The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Ben Zander
  1. Visualization
    • Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson
    • The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
    • The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
    • The Big Picture by Ben Carson
    • Think Big by Ben Carson
    • Real Magic by Wayne Dyer
    • The Sky’s the Limit by Wayne Dyer
    • Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer
    • Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain
    • The Path of Transformation by Shakti Gawain
    • Living in the Light by Shakti Gawain
    • Return to the Garden by Shakti Gawain
    • Awakened Imagination by Neville Goddard
    • The Power of Awareness by Neville Goddard
    • You Can If You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale
    • The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
    • Don’t Ever Stop Dreaming Your Dreams by Susan Polis Shutz
  1. Self-Discipline
    • Take the Risk by Ben Carson
    • Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
    • First Things First by Stephen Covey
    • Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
    • Development of Professional Expertise Edited by K. Anders Ericsson
    • David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
    • Endure by Alex Hutchinson
    • Make Your Bed by William McRaven
    • Million-Dollar Habits by Robert Ringer
    • Reach Out for New Life by Robert Schuller
    • A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington
    • All You Can Do Is All You Can, But All You Can Do is Enough by A.L. Williams
  1. Goal Setting and Problem Solving
    • Live Your Dreams by Les Browne
    • How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen
    • The Measure of Our Success by Marian Wright Edelman
    • Secrets of Greatness by Editors of Fortune Magazine
    • Superself: Doubling Your Personal Effectiveness by Charles Givens
    • Strategy for You by Rich Horwath
    • Psychocybernetics by Maxwell Maltz
    • The Essence of Success by Earl Nightingale
    • Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
    • Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
    • See You At the Top by Zig Ziglar
  1. Control your thoughts and emotions
    • As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
    • Cognitive Therapy by Aaron Beck
    • The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
    • Flow: Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    • Mindset by Carol Dweck
    • Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer
    • Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
    • Dare to Win by Mark Hansen and Jack Canfield
    • The Master Key to Riches by Napoleon Hill
    • Grow Rich with Peace of Mind by Napoleon Hill
    • Your Greatest Power by J. Martin Kohe
    • The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
    • Live with Intention by Mary Anne Radmacher
    • A Design for Growth by Veronica Ray
    • Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman
    • Flourish by Martin Seligman
    • Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman
    • What You Can Change and What You Can’t by Martin Seligman
    • Inner Simplicity by Elaine St. James
    • Bounce by Matthew Syed
    • Warburton’s Winning System by Greg Warburton
  1. Creativity
    • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
    • Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
    • If It Ain’t Broke, Break It by Robert Kriegel
    • Sports, Energy, and Consciousness by Eric Leskowitz
    • Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz
    • Big Mind, Big Heart by Dennis Genpo Merzel
    • The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
    • The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk

Interpersonal Effectiveness

  • The Lessons of Love by Melodie Beattie
  • Co-dependent No More by Melodie Beattie
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  • Humans are Underrated by Geoff Colvin
  • The 8th Habit by Stephen Covey
  • The Hurried Child by David Elkind
  • Friedman’s Fables by Edwin Friedman
  • Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix
  • Keeping the Love You Find by Harville Hendrix
  • The Flying Boy by John Lee
  • The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
  • Further Along the Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
  • The Road Less Traveled and Beyond by Scott Peck
  • The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
  • Lifemates by Harold Bloomfield and Sirah Vettese
  • Stop Struggling With Your Teen by Evonne Weinhaus and Karen Friedman
  • Harmony in Marriage by Leland Wood
  • Social Thinking at Work by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Cooke

Leadership

  • Leadership & Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
  • Lead with LUV by Colleen Barrett and Ken Blanchard
  • How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going by Susan Beaumont
  • The Science of Coaching by Claire Bee
  • Leaders by Warren Bennis and Bert Nanus
  • The Gettysburg Gospel by Gabor Boritt
  • How to Give It So They Get It by Sharon Bowman
  • Presenting with Pizzazz by Sharon Bowman
  • The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
  • The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson
  • Think Big by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey
  • Ask Not by Thurston Clarke
  • Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey
  • Leadership is an Art by Max DePree
  • One Minute to Midnight by Michael Dobbs
  • Century of Struggle by Eleanor Flexner and Ellen Fitzpatrick
  • An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
  • Excellence by John Gardner
  • Leading, Living, and the American Dream by John Gardner
  • On Leadership by John Gardner
  • Churchill: The Power of Words by Martin Gilbert
  • The Dream by Drew Hansen
  • Pop! Stand Out in Any Crowd by Sam Horn
  • Leading with the Heart by Mike Krzyzewski
  • Abraham Lincoln Great Speeches unabridged by Abraham Lincoln, John Grafton, and Roy Basler
  • Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
  • Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
  • Visionary Leadership by Bert Nanus
  • High-Impact Presentations by Bob Pike
  • Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath
  • The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh and Steve Jamison
  • Certain Trumpets: The Nature of Leadership by Garry Wills
  • They Call Me Coach by John Wooden

Teamwork

  • Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis and Patricia Biedermann
  • Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard
  • The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown by Edward Hermann
  • Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
  • The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
  • Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson
  • Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson
  • Dutch Total Football by Terry Michler
  • A World Waiting to be Born by Scott Peck
  • The Winner Within by Pat Riley
  • Russell’s Rules by Bill Russell

Management

(Purpose, People Management, Culture, Strategy, Planning, Execution, Innovation, Branding, Economics)

  1. Purpose
    • American Creation by Joseph Ellis
    • A Leap in the Dark by John Ferling
    • 1776 by David McCullough
    • Common Sense by Thomas Paine
    • Start with Why by Simon Sinek
    • The Summer of 1787 by David Stewart
  1. People Management
    • The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham
    • Zapp: The Lighting of Empowerment by William Bynham and Jeff Cox
    • Built to Last by Jim Collins
    • Good to Great by Jim Collins
    • Great by Choice by Jim Collins
    • The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
    • The Practice of Management by Peter Drucker
    • The Definitive Drucker by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim
    • The Capitalist Philosophers by Andrea Gabor
    • Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey
    • Moneyball by Michael Lewis
    • Drive by Daniel Pink
    • Process Consultation, Volume 2 by Edgar Schein
    • Golden Opportunity by Cody Teets
    • The Unofficial Guide to Power Managing by Alan Weiss
    • Winning by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch
  1. Culture
    • The Cleveland Clinic Way by Toby Cosgrove
    • Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic by Leonard Berry and Kent Seltman
    • Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
    • Leading by Design by Ingvar Kamprad and Bertil Torekull
    • The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker
    • The HP Way by David Packard
    • The Pixar Touch by David Price
    • Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein
    • Process Consultation, Volume 1 by Edgar Schein
    • The Google Story by David Vise and Mark Malseed
  1. Strategy, Planning, Execution
    • Kill the Company by Lisa Bodell
    • Enough by John Bogle
    • Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
    • Beyond Entrepreneurship by Jim Collins
    • Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega
    • Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming
    • Managing for Results by Peter Drucker
    • Managing in Turbulent Times by Peter Drucker
    • Work in Progress by Michael Eisner
    • The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
    • Theory of Constraints by Eliyahu Goldratt
    • Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove
    • Know Your Story and Lead with It by Richard Hester and Kelli Walker-Jones
    • Deep Dive by Rich Horwath
    • Elevate by Rich Horwath
    • Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
    • Hit the Ground Running by Jason Jennings
    • Less is More by Jason Jennings
    • Think Big, Act Small by Jason Jennings
    • It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small, It’s the Fast that Eat the Slow by Jason Jennings
    • Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney
    • Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
    • The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
    • Bill Gates Speaks by Janet Lowe
    • Warren Buffett Speaks by Janet Lowe
    • Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta
    • The Spirit to Serve by Bill Marriott
    • Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
    • Friction by Jeff Rosenblum
    • Insanely Simple by Ken Segall
    • It’s Your Biz by Susan Solovic
    • The Discipline of Market Leaders by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema
    • Top Management Strategy by Ben Tregoe and John Zimmerman
    • The New Rational Manager by Ben Tregoe
    • The Deming Management Method by Mary Walton
    • The Magic Kingdom by Steven Watts
    • Customer Intimacy by Fred Wiersema
    • Profit from the Core by Chris Zook
    • Beyond the Core by Chris Zook
  1. Innovation
    • Loonshots by Safi Babcalf
    • The Innovator’s Solution by Clayton Christensen
    • The Innovator’s DNA by Clayton Christensen
    • Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker
    • The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo
    • The Imagination Way by The Imagineers
    • Jamming by Jonathan Kao
    • The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley
    • The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley
    • The Elegant Solution by Matthew May
    • Practically Radical by William Taylor
  1. Branding/Marketing
    • Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith
    • Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway
    • One Helluva Ride: How NASCAR Swept the Nation by Liz Clarke
    • Walt Disney by Neal Gabler
    • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
    • Purple Cow by Seth Godin
    • This is Marketing by Seth Godin
    • Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin
    • The Disney Touch by Ron Grover
    • Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy
    • Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
    • The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
    • Winning the Story Wars by Jonah Sachs
    • It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For by Roy Spence with Haley Rushing
  1. Economics
    • Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
    • The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
    • The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan