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Ken Coleman's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Ken Coleman recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Ken Coleman's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

The Winner Within

Not only is Pat Riley one of pro basketball's winningest coaches, but his speeches before hundreds of corporations, from ARCO to AT&T to Toyota, have earned him the title of "America's Greatest Motivational Speaker." The Winner Within is his formula for success. It is a book about winning, leadership, mastery, change, and personal growth, based on understanding and controlling the shifting dynamics of a team - any team, whether it is a small company or a giant corporation, a family, a city, or a group of athletes. How does a struggling team form a covenant to work together instead of... more
Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Ken Coleman, and 2 others.

Ryan HolidayA few other excellent coaching and leadership books I read this year: The Winner Within by Pat Riley and The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership by John Wooden (thanks to the friend who recommended all these). (Source)

Ken ColemanThis is one of the books that had the biggest impact on my life and my work. (Source)

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2

Thomas Jefferson

The Art of Power

In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power.

Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature...

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Recommended by Ken Coleman, and 1 others.

Ken ColemanMy favorite non-business book is Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham because I am a history nut, and I am fascinated by Thomas Jefferson. (Source)

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3
In this inspiring book, Erwin McManus uses the biblical account of Israel's war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 13 and 14) and the characters of Saul and Jonathan to demonstrate the difference between living a life of purpose and adventure, and living one of apathy and missed opportunity. In the midst of a less-than-hopeful battle, Saul-who should have been leading-rested beneath a pomegranate tree as Jonathan seized the divine moment that would impact the future of Israel. Through this story McManus artfully illustrates the eight characteristics of an adventurer's heart, what he calls "the... more
Recommended by Ken Coleman, and 1 others.

Ken ColemanThis is one of the books that had the biggest impact on my life and my work. (Source)

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4
Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty contains Harvey's gold-chip advice, accumulated over a lifetime of business success, on how to build and maintain the network you need.  Harvey guarantees you'll never be more than a phone call away from a person in the position to help you get what you want--whether it's the job opportunity of a lifetime or a lifetime partner, the sales prospect of your dreams or the career advice you've only dreamed of.  Harvey shows you how to create a network of trusted, valuable contacts that is worth its weight in platinum. less
Recommended by Ken Coleman, Robin Sharma, and 2 others.

Ken ColemanThis is one of the books that had the biggest impact on my life and my work. (Source)

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5
The New York Times bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick explore why certain brief experiences can jolt us and elevate us and change us—and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our life and work.

While human lives are endlessly variable, our most memorable positive moments are dominated by four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. If we embrace these elements, we can conjure more moments that matter. What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later?...
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Angela DuckworthI read this cover to cover and learned something new on each page. Beautifully written, brilliantly researched--I'm recommending it to everyone I know! (Source)

Eric RiesWhat if we could design experiences that have real impact for our families, our customers and employees? Master storytellers Chip and Dan Heath show how. (Source)

Adam GrantThe most interesting, immediately actionable book I’ve read in quite a while. I walked away with new ideas for motivating employees, delighting customers, engaging students, and even planning family vacations. If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine. (Source)

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6
Are you wondering what the next killer app will be? Do you want to know how you can maintain and add to your value during these rapidly changing times? Are you wondering how the word love can even be used in the context of business?

Instead of wondering, read this book and find out how to become a lovecat--a nice, smart person who succeeds in business and in life.

How do you become a lovecat? By sharing your intangibles. By that I mean:
Your knowledge everything that comes from all the books that I'll encourage you to devour.
Your network the...
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Recommended by Skip Prichard, Ken Coleman, and 2 others.

Ken ColemanThis is one of the books that had the biggest impact on my life and my work. (Source)

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7
You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself. That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side. less

Seth GodinBreezy and fun and yes, scary. Scary because it calls your bluff. (Source)

Ryan HolidayPart of ambition is modeling yourself after those you’d like to be like. Austin’s philosophy of ruthlessly stealing and remixing the greats might sound appalling at first but it is actually the essence of art. You learn by stealing, you become creative by stealing, you push yourself to be better by working with these materials. Austin is a fantastic artist, but most importantly he communicates... (Source)

Chase JarvisSuper small, fast read. (Source)

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