The 39 books all consultant should read (ebook)

As a consultant and a mentor, the first suggestion I offer to people on my teams who are hungry and eager to develop themselves is to read more. It doesn’t matter which industry you are working in or what capability you specialize in; reading will help you enhance your worldview.

Consultants should read books because it deepens their expertise and broadens their horizons.

I rarely read books that are not, at least, 5 years old. I find recently published books to be repetitive, and often a rehash of concepts expressed in older work:“I might as well read the originals” - I tell myself.

This curated list of 39 books includes the writers (and their work) that I have enjoyed the most. Importantly, these are books that taught me something.

I have selected 39 books, summarized them and grouped them across 7 categories:

1. Mindset and self-development
2. Soft Skills
3. Coaching others
4. Biographies
5. Understanding the world
6. Old Classics
7. Fiction

This selection is intentionally generic and not focused on any specific industry - I wanted to make it useful for all consultants and knowledge workers, regardless of domain: strategy, technology, process, system integration, etc.

It took me 10 hours to put this document together - and, of course, 20 years of filtering.

If you find it useful, I would be grateful if you could write a short post on 𝕏 about it, and let your friends know.