Sage Book Club: 5 books to inspire you in 2021

In the Sage Book Club series business experts share their top must-read books to help you prep your business, and yourself, for the new year.

Looking for a dose of business inspiration this New Year? For me, inspiration is often found where you least expect it, and I’ve found that great reads inspire me to take on new challenges in my career and with my business, whether they’re business books or not. To that end, here are 5 books (not all business) that have inspired me.

1. The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win

   By Steve Blank
   This is a reissue of Blank’s original earth-shattering perspective on startups, which launched the lean startup movement. It has lots of insight about why some startups succeed and others fail. It also applies to businesses thinking of launching new products or introducing new services.

2. In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs
   

   By Grace Bonney
   Over 100 accomplished women describe their own inspiring journeys to entrepreneurship. Whatever kind of business you want to start or already run, from media mogul to tattoo artist, the women in this book will inspire you to take it on.

3. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person
   

   By Shonda Rhimes
   Love this book about how Rhimes, a self-proclaimed introvert and creator of Grey’s Anatomy and other TV hits, overcame her fears (which she enabled by saying “no”) and embarked on a year of saying “yes” to everything that scared her. Taking Rhimes’ journey with her is uplifting, inspiring and empowering.

4. To Kill a Mockingbird
   

   By Harper Lee
   Not a business book, but it’s filled with business and life lessons. It proves the power of doing the right thing, fighting for the underdog, and advocating for the unheard.

5. Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union
   

   By Richard Kreitner
   This may seem an odd recommendation for entrepreneurs, but the author (full disclosure: my nephew) reveals many truths about American history that we never learned in school. From our founding, there have been numerous attempts to “break up” the U.S. into smaller pieces. Along the way, we meet the leaders who stuck to their vision and fought for what they believed in. Though the book covers U.S. history, it’s very relevant today.

Do you have a book recommendation? Share it with us in the comments.

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