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    The 10 books you must read to climb the professional ladder

    Synopsis

    You don’t always need a fancy MBA degree for a challenging career.

    ET Bureau
    You don’t always need a fancy MBA degree for a challenging career. Here are 10 books that will have you thinking like any other top business major.

    1. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

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    Nobel Prize winner and psychologist Daniel Kahneman breaks down our thought patterns into two sectors: the impulsive, emotional System 1 and the logical, deliberate System 2. Knowing when you are using one — when you should be using the other — could be the key to better, more effective business decisions.

    2. Discover Your True North by Bill George

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    Rather than adopting timeworn models of stuffy leadership, George inspires readers to know themselves and create their own tailor-made style.

    3. Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built by Richard Tedlow

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    The studious business person can learn much from this review of the struggles and successes of these world-renowned leaders.

    4. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

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    Its back cover says, “There have been millionaires, and indeed, billionaires, who have made their fortunes as a result of reading this success classic than any other book ever printed.”

    5. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute

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    Using relatable storytelling to drive the theme, the authors reveal how we refuse to see our true motives, limiting our potential success and happiness.

    6. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

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    To help other entrepreneurs through their journey, the author shares the story of when his business nearly failed, how he staved off defeat, and how you can do hard things too.

    7. Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod

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    MacLeod has ideas about everything, including standing out from your competitors and the meaning of life. His main subjects here are creativity and how to foster new ideas. A lively, illustrated guide to unleashing your ingenuity.

    8. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

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    If you don’t take the title too literally, there are some valuable tips and time management strategies for living more and working less, including eliminating time sucks like e-mail.

    9. Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters

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    Masters took notes while taking a class from Thiel at Stanford, and it led to a groundbreaking book about the importance of unique business ideas.

    10. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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    Investor-philosopher Taleb diagnoses the way people misguidedly lean on prediction as a way of moving through the world, and reveals how the most structured of systems are the most vulnerable to collapse — like the financial system in 2007.

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