The 5 Books Salespeople Should Read That Aren’t About Sales

“Those who lead tend to read.”

Keep that phrase in your head and treat it as a mantra of sorts. It’s useful whether you’re a VP of sales, a marketer or anyone else helping coach or guide others in a business.

Yes, you learn a lot by doing, but reading great books provides insight you might never get otherwise, and in more detail than almost any other medium.

This isn’t a knock against video, email, chat or other forms of communication. It’s just that books have survived into the digital age for a reason. They are deeply immersive, distraction-free experiences. They require no power and can be transported anywhere. They last a long time — even if the pages go yellow, they might sit on a shelf for decades and still be usable once you open them.

Of course, today there are also many electronic options to read books too. This includes tablets or e-readers specifically designed with longform content in mind. There are often great features in these devices to highlight key phrases, share takeaways or simply to easily store and manage your personal library.

The point is that reading tends to turn people into better leaders because it requires an investment of not only time, but sustained attention.

If you absorb the ideas in a good book, you’re developing the kind of focus that will probably make you a more active listener the next time you’re sitting down to coach a sales rep. As you read books, you also get exposed to points of view and perspectives that can cultivate a sense of empathy.

The natural impulse, of course, is to load up on all the many great books about the art of sales. Many of these are well worth perusing.

You don’t have to limit yourself there, though. Look for all kinds of books to fuel you with ideas, inspiration and strategic thinking that can be transferred to a job in sales.

If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry — here’s a handful of volumes that should be on every sales leader’s bookshelf:

1. Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

A Nobel Prize winner in the field of economics, Kahneman breaks down the two most common ways we process information: either intuitively and emotionally, or more deliberately and logically.

No matter what you’re selling, or to whom you’re selling, it’s important to recognize the mental processes we use to make decisions. Despite the subject matter, this book is written in a way that makes it accessible to almost anyone.

From a sales perspective, you’ll gain a lot just by learning to distinguish between the many different types of biases that skew our thinking one way or the other.

2. Tools Of Titans, by Tim Ferriss

Best known for The Four-Hour Work Week, Ferriss has spent the last several years producing one of the most popular business podcasts in the world. They feature interviews with everyone from CEOs to scientists, artists and other authors about how they become successful.

He has taken some of the best insights from hundreds of episodes and turned them into a sort of one-volume encyclopedia of tactics.

This isn’t something you have to read through in one sitting, but can flip through at random. You’ll get tips on becoming more productive, more resilient and even more creative.

3. Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight

There are few brands that have attained the fame, cachet and sheer ubiquity of Nike, but the company was by no means an overnight success.

In this memoir, Phil Knight tells the story of how he spotted an opportunity to empower the athlete in all of us, despite fierce competition from more established sneaker companies. There are some details about Nike’s early sales strategies here, but this is not really a book about sales. It’s more about how Knight overcame personal and professional challenges to create a multinational success with a unique corporate culture.

Read this if you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur one day, or simply if you want to get inside the head of a top-performing CEO.

4. Aimless Love, by Billy Collins

Poetry, you may ask incredulously? Why would a sales person need that — especially if you have bad memories of being forced to memorize poetry in school?

Because more than any single technology, the most powerful tool any salesperson ever uses is language. The better you’re able to express yourself, the better you’re able to guide and persuade customers. And poetry represents language at its most thoughtful.

Unlike some poetry, Collins’ work is never difficult to understand and is often about things that happen in everyday life. They’re also often laugh-out-loud funny, and at other times touching or eye-opening.

Read this to help you notice small details like never before, and help make you more mindful and aware of the world around you.

5. How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen

When he passed away last year, Christensen was largely remembered for his pioneering work in helping define what we now call “disruptive innovation,” and why some companies manage to get far ahead of others.

Late in life, however, he wrote this book, which was a reflection on the decline in ethics and values among some of his peers, and his advice to a next generation on how to make better choices.

Use this to help find your higher purpose, and some extremely moving words on how to make sure you stick to it — no matter what life throws at you.

Whether you choose the book on this list or not, think about how you might best want to make the most of what you read. For some people, this means jotting down notes in the margin with a pencil. Others carry a notebook or use an app on their phone to capture key takeaways.

This doesn’t have to be a solo activity, either. Maybe 2021 is your moment to start a book club for sales people (that aren’t strictly sales books). Either way, enjoy the act of reading. It’s one of the best gifts you can give yourself.