15 Inspirational Books to Help Your Business Thrive During Difficult Times

Every business journey goes through ups and downs, and you have to take the good with the bad in order to survive. While the downs are inevitable, it’s how you deal with them that controls what their impact will be. Sometimes the difficult times that challenge us can even push us to greater success.

If you’re at a low point in your business, and you’re
struggling to get out, these books may help provide a spark of inspiration when
you’re in a dark place.

1. Mean People Suck: How
Empathy Leads to Bigger Profits and a Better Life by Michael Brenner

Author
Michael Brenner has seen his fair share of challenges both experienced by the
client he works for, and during the course of his career as a marketing and
sales executive.

One
challenge that comes up time and time again is low levels of employee
engagement and a negative working culture. Lack of compassion, blame, and lack
of respect in the workplace leads to a poisonous working environment.

In
this book Brenner explores how empathy can be used to defeat and diffuse the
“mean” in every situation at work, creating a happier environment and greater
potential for business success.

2. The Lean
Start-Up by Eric Ries

It’s a sobering fact that most start-ups fail. However, in
this book, the author demonstrates how most of these failures are preventable.

The Lean Start-Up
lays out a blueprint for new businesses to follow, adopting efficient processes
and leveraging human creativity to adapt to today’s fast-changing business
environment.

3. Be the Hero: Three Powerful
Ways to Overcome Challenges in Work and Life by Noah Blumenthal

Be the Hero is a
modern-day parable focused around a young professional who’s struggling in
every area of his work and life.

The book teaches readers to “change the story” they are
telling themselves, moving from a place of negativity and blame to one of power
and positivity. By demonstrating gratitude for what we have, we can move beyond
challenges and be more creative and constructive with our solutions.

4. Who Moved My Cheese?: An
A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer
Johnson

It may be one of the older titles in this list, but Who Moved My Cheese? is an undisputed classic, and its advice remains as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

Unexpected change can be one of the greatest challenges you’ll ever have to face in your business, but with the right approach, you can embrace change and use it to grow and evolve. This book is all about spotting the warning signs that change is coming, and how to cope with massive changes when they occur.

5. Profit
First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making
Machine by Mike Michalowicz

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to
succeed in today’s challenging economy. If you can’t seem to find a way to make
your business profitable, or you’re struggling with complex accounting
practices, Profit First may offer
some solutions.

Michalowicz introduces four simple principles to simplify accounting and make it easier to manage a profitable business. The system taught in this book can transform your cash flow, whether you’re brand new to business, or you’ve been operating for several years.

6. Die Empty:
Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Todd Henry

Many of us use excuses to leave our most important and
valuable work until tomorrow. If your days feel busy but you’re not achieving
anything of value, or you feel bored at work it’s a clear sign you need to
shake things up.

Die Empty could be
the motivation you need to stop putting your best work off for yet another day.
It provides clear guidelines for defining your goals, cultivating an ambitious
mindset, and stepping out of your comfort zone to create your best ever work.
This can all help to transform your business and career.

7. Hard Times: Leadership in
America by Barbara Kellerman     

The level of trust in leaders in America and worldwide is at
an all-time low. Leadership is more difficult than it’s ever been, and yet it’s
also more crucial than ever before that today’s leaders excel in their roles.

Hard Times is not just an exploration of leadership in the context of US politics, but also in businesses and organizations of all sizes. Kellerman clearly sets out the challenges that face the leaders of today and offers suggestions for how anyone can improve their leadership skills at any level and in any industry.

8. Cracked
it!: How to solve big problems and sell solutions like top strategy consultants
by Corey Phelps, Olivier Sibony, and Bernard Garrette

A skilled business consultant can streamline your business processes, identify opportunities for future growth, and suggest solutions for problems you may not even realize you had. But not every business can afford to hire a top consultant.

Cracked it!
teaches the problem-solving skills of top strategy consultants combined with
the latest research in psychology and advances in design thinking. The result
is an easy-to-use guide for anyone who wants to improve their organization by
solving problems large and small.

9.
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio

With today’s workers valuing company culture more than any
other factor when choosing which organization to work for, a culture of
negativity in the workplace can spell disaster for your business.

Principles lays out Dalio’s own recipe for an effective business culture, built around two key principles of “radical truth” and “radical transparency”. If you’re struggling with meeting your business goals, engaging your employees, or developing efficient systems in your organization, this book could hold the answers.

10. Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your
Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins

Former Navy SEAL David Goggins has overcome incredible
adversity to achieve success in his personal life and career. In this honest
and gritty memoir, he describes how he used mental discipline and hard work to
transform himself into one of the world’s top endurance athletes.

Goggins shows how anyone can push past their personal
challenges to achieve their full potential. This inspirational tale has
takeaways for anyone who’s ever felt like giving in, whether it’s in businesses
or in life.

11. Atomic
Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by
James Clear

Bad habits are often the cause behind unwanted outcomes, but
they can be unbelievably difficult to break. Procrastination, negative
thinking, and other bad habits will limit your business success, and can feel
impossible to break free from.

In Atomic Habits,
James Clear lays out a simple and effective way to eliminate your bad habits,
while at the same time building positive habits to help you achieve your goals
and accomplish more every day.

12. Leading the Unleadable:
How to Manage Mavericks, Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People by Alan
Willett

Managing difficult people is often the worst part of any
leader’s job. In Leading the Unleadable,Willett
lays out a strategy for managing the most challenging people in your
organization and turning them into productive team players.

The book explains how to master your management mindset,
communicate problems effectively, coach others, and spot problems before they
occur. Leading the Unleadable offers
effective people-management strategies for managers in any industry and at any
level.

13. The Success of Failure: A
Coming-of-Age Fable About Overcoming Failure Despite Ourselves by Mike Bensi

This quick and entertaining read is a valuable resource for
leaders who want to learn how to overcome challenges and come back, stronger
than before.

By learning from your failures you can develop effective
strategies for both work and life, and ultimately become a more successful
person.

14. Emotional Intelligence in
Business: EQ: The Essential Ingredient to Survive and Thrive as a Modern
Workplace Leader by R. Stevens

Effective leadership requires managing your emotional state
as much as business savvy. This practical book offers a clear breakdown of
emotional intelligence, as well as a guide on how to manage your emotions to be
a more successful leader.

If you ever overreact when the stakes are high, or react
without thinking when faced with an unexpected situation or information, this
book can be valuable to help you learn how to manage your reactions and give
your team the solid and stable manager they need for optimal results.

15. The Corporate Culture
Survival Guide by Edgar H. Schein

The effects of globalization, technology, and changing
organizational structures have changed the corporate culture of today’s
businesses way beyond anything we could recognize a decade or two ago.

If you’re struggling with dealing with the massive changes
in business culture over the past ten years, this book is your survival guide
for creating a more effective and functional organization.