90+ Inspiring Books For Impact-Driven Doers and Entrepreneurs

2019 for impact boom was another great year, with powerful conversations entailing the development of projects and ideas in the field of social enterprise. discussions with global change-makers (often leaders of their respective fields) has brought light to positive influences, inspirations, and importantly, resources.

Traditionally, a favoured resource of social entrepreneurs is the humble book. From literature directly related to social enterprise, to self-help guides and biographies, Impact Boom guests throughout 2019 have shared the books which they draw inspiration from, and channel into projects and careers to change the world.

To follow is the 2019 ranking of the most inspiring reads recommended by world-leading global change makers. The collated list includes 90+ books recommended from the 2019 Impact Boom podcast series, and many of these high ranking books have even been recommended in both 2017 and 2018.

Uncover inspiration and share this list with others to keep turning ideas into maximum positive impact!

The top 90+ recommended books for change-makers

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one

Good To Great by Jim Collins

two

Banker To The Poor by Professor Muhammad Yunus   

Three

The Diamond Cutter by Geshe Michael Roche and Lama Christie McNally

four

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth

five

Chapter One by Daniel Flynn

six

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Seven

The Value of Everything: Making and Taking the Global Economy by Mariana Mazzucato

Eight

ORIGINALS: HOW NON CONFORMISTS MOVE THE WORLD BY ADAM GRANT

Nine

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Ten

START WITH WHY BY SIMON SINEK

Eleven

REINVENTING ORGANISATIONS BY FREDERIC LALOUX

Twelve

THE LEAN STARTUP BY ERIC RIES

Thirteen

Radical Candour by Kim Scott

Fourteen

A World of Three Zeros by Muhammad Yunus

Fifteen

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Harari

Sixteen

Doing Good Better by William McCaskill

Seventeen

Small is Beautiful by Ernst Schumacher

Eighteen

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris

Nineteen

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson

Twenty

Becoming by Michelle Obama

21. The Social Entrepreneur: Making Communities Work by Andrew Mawson

22. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

23. The Other Side of the Frontier by Henry Reynolds

24. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

25. Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller

26. Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing The World by Anand Giridharadas

27. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

28. Dual Transformation by Scott Anthony, Clarke Gilbert and Mark Johnson

29. The Innovator’s Guide to Growth by Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield and Elizabeth Altman

30. Work Rules by Laszlo Bock

31. Why Nations Fail by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu

32. Social and Solidarity Economy The World’s Economy with a Social Face, 1st Edition by Sara Calvo, Andres Morales and Yanni Zikidis

33. Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller

34. Against Elections - The Case for Democracy by David Van Reybrouck

35. ConBody by Coss Marte

36. The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley

37. Drawdown by Paul Hawken

38. Design, When Everyone Designs by Ezio Manzini

39. Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

40. A Rightful Place by Noel Pearson.

41. Understanding Social Enterprise by Rory Ridley-Duff and Mike Bull

42. A Research Agenda for Social Entrepreneurship, edited by Anne de Bruin and Simon Teasdale.

43. Dare to Lead by Brene Brown.

44. When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Cullors.

45. Atomic Habits by James Clear.

46. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

47. Ice Cream Social by Ben Edmondson

48. Getting Things Done by David Allen

49. Navigating Change for International NGOs: A Practical Handbook by James Crowley and Morgana Ryan

50. Sprint by Jake Knapp

51. Keating by Kerry O'Brien

52. Depression Quest by Zoë Quinn

53.Life On Air by David Attenborough

54. Giving Voice to Values by Mary Gentile

55. The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

56. Deep Work by Cal Newport

57. Woman Code by Alissa Vitti

58. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

59. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

60. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

61. Do the KIND Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately by Daniel Lubetzky

62. Begging for Change by Robert Egger

63. What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael Sandel

64. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

65. Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols

66. Wild Power by Alexander Pope, Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer

67. Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard

68. The Power Of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath

69. Impact Brand Storytelling by Luke Faccini

70. The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry

71. The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord

72. Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

73. The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken

74. The Greatest Estate by Bill Gammage

75. Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massey

76. Take Back The Economy By J.K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, and Stephen Healy

77. Out of the Bag by Museum of Design Zurich

78. The Eighth Habit by Stephen Covey

79. The Food Fighters by Alex Moore

80. The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Thompson

81. The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte

82. The Economics of Arrival by Katherine Trebeck and Jeremy Williams

83. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

84. Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison

85. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

86. Seven Lessons for 21st Century Economists by Yuval Noah Harari

87. Prosperity by Professor Colin Mayer

88. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

89. The Purpose of Capital by Jed Emerson

90. Fixing The Game by Roger Martin

91. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

92. Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

93. The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist

94. The Power of TED by David Emerald

95. The Rise of the Meaningful Economy by Mark Drewell and Bjorn Larsson

96. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

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