Best business reads: Parenting books could help you boost your work performance in 2020
Holiday reading lists are always packed with business books. Problem is, most books about business are uninspiring. The best books about business typically have absolutely nothing to do with business. This is true of most things: we learn more by applying knowledge than from copying it.
In that spirit, my list of must-read business books for the holidays has everything and nothing to do with business. If you want to get an edge next year in business, read about parenting:
1. The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp
For anyone with a young child, you will know Harvey Karp as the doctor that brought you the swaddle blanket. I was lucky to have Harvey as my son’s first doctor, and he taught me as much about parenting as he did about business.
This brilliant book is for babies so I recommend it for entrepreneurs and startups. Harvey has a 5-step process—Swaddle, Side, Shhh, Sway and Sucking—that I will try and distill into business-speak. Think of swaddling as relentless focus. The idea is to wrap your baby tightly and make her feel as if she is still in the womb, so do the same with your new business, product or team.
The key is to envelop and overwhelm with the deepest level of attention imaginable. Side, Shhh, and Sway are all about providing the necessary support for your baby. Doing the same in business is paramount: surround yourself with amazing talent (Side), quell naysayers (Shhh) and navigate your way around competitors (Sway).
Harvey’s final step, Sucking, is obvious, whether it be a pacifier or a stiff drink: take time to relax, reflect and re-energize — tomorrow will be another crazy day.
2. Transformational Parenting by Jennifer Johnston-Jones
Jennifer and her husband Mike Jones are friends who have raised two wonderful kids and built a number of businesses (Mike was the CEO of MySpace). Transformational Parenting does wonders to teach parents how to raise children but it is equally relevant as a business book.
A key tenant of the book is reminding us that parenting is less about raising children than it is about building a family: Parenting is about the relationship between parent and child. That truth is so deeply woven into the fabric of business that it has become lost in the drape: business is about relationships.
Nurture your team, your partners and your customers, and the business will flourish. This book helps to remind us of that.
3. The Power of Showing Up by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
Showing up is so simple yet so hard. As a parent, it is my single biggest challenge, and it is equally difficult to do in business. I spent time with Tina while she was writing her book and it was immediately clear to me that her message transcends parenting.
Being present is often the difference between success and failure in life. But how many of us actually remain in the moment, available and at the ready. I studied this book first with my children in mind. And then I read it a second time as a business book. I am still deciding what genre it actually belongs to.
Business isn’t that hard, or at least it is no more difficult than raising a child. Actually, both are pretty hard and similar in many respects. While somewhat surprising at first blush, it is no coincidence that as an entrepreneur, I know a lot of parenting experts.
To be sure, I have two kids and want to be the best parent possible. But I also have other “kids” in the form of businesses. Whether you work at a business or run one, a good parenting book might be the perfect stor over the holidays to help jump start your business career in the new year.
Jeff Stibel is the former CEO of Web.com and vice chairman of Dun & Bradstreet, a partner of Bryant Stibel and an entrepreneur who also happens to be a brain scientist. He is the USA TODAY bestselling author of "Breakpoint" and "Wired for Thought." Follow him on Twitter at @stibel.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
