Reading books is one of the most effective ways to gain insights and guidance toward success.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, gaining knowledge and motivation from various sources is always important.

There are six essential books that every entrepreneur should read.

These books are filled with valuable information that could inspire and motivate your entrepreneurial journey.

📖Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career

# Author: Sylvia Ann Hewlett

Are you looking to take your career to the next level? Forget about mentors and start searching for a sponsor instead. Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s book, “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor” highlights the benefits of having a sponsor to advance your career.

A sponsor can offer you valuable opportunities, connections, and advocacy to help you succeed quickly. If you’re determined to fast-track your success, you must start looking for a sponsor immediately.

About the book

This book by Sylvia Ann Hewlett is robust and practical, explaining how sponsors can lead to success. Through data and real-life stories, Hewlett demonstrates the mutual benefits of sponsorship as a strong partnership.

The seven-step guide in the books helps readers achieve their life goals.

To succeed in your career as a company leader or a community activist, “Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor” is the ultimate guide to help you forge the right relationships to propel you toward your goals.

By securing a sponsor — a high-ranking supporter who believes in your abilities and is eager to champion your next promotion or salary boost -, you will be able to supercharge your career growth and reach new heights of success.

A mentor offers guidance on advancing your career, while a sponsor leverages their influence to provide excellent opportunities.

Women often need both mentorship and sponsorship. Sylvia Hewlett’s book offers valuable insights on effectively securing support for yourself and your organization. Herminia Ibarra, the Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning, recommends this book as a valuable resource.

📖How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody

# Author: Abby Covert

Abby Covert specializes in delivering a highly collaborative information architecture process and teaching those she works with.

How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody

About the book

This books offers a transparent seven-step process to help you make sense of any mess, whether at work, school or in your personal life. Each chapter includes lessons and workbook exercises to guide you through your lot.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with vast amounts of information daily. Understanding and working with this information has become increasingly important.

Information architecture is organizing the parts of something to make it understandable as a whole. This is crucial when creating something for others to use, as the architecture of information significantly chosen impacts our ability to convey our intended message to users.

We all encounter messy situations involving information and people. “mess” is a situation where interactions between people and data are confusing or complicated. It’s a common experience for everyone.

📖Planning for Everything: The Design of Paths and Goals

Author: Peter Morville

Peter Morville is a pioneer in information architecture and user experience.

About the book

Although we cannot accurately predict the future, we consistently attempt to do so. We plan and prepare for various endeavours, such as organizing projects, events, and schedules.

We aspire to attain goals such as purchasing a home, establishing a career, travelling, marrying, raising children, educating, retiring, or improving our physical fitness. While our ability to envision current and future circumstances is valuable, it is also mentally challenging.

Thankfully, planning is a skill anyone can improve, whether they are playful improvisers or rigorous planners, as long as they are open to learning.

This includes learning about the principles and practices of nonlinear planning, how to cultivate hope through willpower and way power, knowing when to pivot or persist in regards to paths, goals, values, and metrics, recognizing how myths, memories, fears, and feelings can shape the future, understanding how the plans of an octopus are shaped by evolution, and being aware of how artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize the way we plan.

“Peter Morville’s books is my go-to and the first recommendation I make to those who want to live their lives and shape their world purposefully.

It is practical, approachable, and wise, taking you on a beautiful adventure that will challenge your thoughts about your future.” These were the thoughts, Priyanka Kakar, User Experience Director at The Walt Disney Company, shared.

📖The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

Author: Brené Brown

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston. She holds the Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work, funded by the Huffington Foundation.

About the book

This is not your average self-help book. It’s a motivational and inspiring guide to living wholeheartedly, written by Brené Brown, Ph.D. Through her heartfelt and honest storytelling, Brown boosts self-esteem and personal growth.

She shares original research and encourages her to delve into the psychology of embracing authenticity and letting go of our definitions of an “imperfect” life. Brown presents “ten guideposts” as benchmarks for living authentically, which can help anyone establish a practice for a life of honest beauty, embracing imperfections along the way.

📖Sense and Respond: How Successful Organizations Listen to Customers and Create New Products Continuously

# Author: Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden

Jeff Gothelf advocates lean thinking and design, promoting effective teamwork, innovative product development, and data-driven decision-making. On the other hand, Josh Seiden is a consultant, coach, and designer who assists businesses in creating new digital products and services.

About the book

This informative books presents a fresh approach to managing and operating in an ever-evolving world, designed to aid both you and your organization achieve success. It is highly engaging and provides invaluable insights.

Quantum leaps in technology enable organizations to observe and measure people’s behaviour in real-time, communicate internally at extraordinary speed, and innovate continuously. These new, software-driven technologies transform how companies interact with customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

According to Alan Cooper, a Software Alchemist and coauthor of About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, the biggest challenge of the digital age is not technology design or agile methods. Instead, it is understanding how to integrate these things into commerce effectively.

This requires approaches to organization and leadership that are qualitatively different from conventional methods. In their book, Gothelf and Seiden provide a clear blueprint for success in achieving this goal.

📖Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

# Author: Angela Duckworth

Angela Duckworth founded and leads Character Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the understanding and implementation of character development in children through scientific research and practical application.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

About the book

In the books Grit, the author explores cadets’ challenges at West Point, teachers in difficult schools, and young contestants in the National Spelling Bee. She also delves into historical insights and modern experiments in peak performance.

In addition, she shares insights gained from interviews with successful individuals such as JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, and Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

The book offers a fascinating look into the psychology of success, focusing on the definition of passion — which, according to the author, is not necessarily an obsessive infatuation with a goal but consistency over time.

The grittiest individuals have long-term goals and are constantly working towards them. This book has been praised for its down-to-earth approach and valuable insights.

For any individual venturing into entrepreneurship, keeping oneself up to date and acquiring new knowledge is paramount. Share your top reads.

Read more articles exploring the dynamic interplay between design, user experience, artificial intelligence, and technology here.