Between the Covers: Key Takeaways from 10 Industry Trailblazers

Here are the ten business books that have shaped my thinking most recently, a mix of bold ideas, sharp insights, and a few genuine game-changers

I’ve pulled together short reviews for each, and I hope they spark your curiosity as much as they did mine

And a small favour: if you read any of these books, please leave a review

It makes a bigger difference to us authors than you might imagine

If you want to follow the books I’m reading in real time (without waiting for the reviews), head over to the DLA Ignite LinkedIn page and hit follow

Plenty more ideas and inspiration waiting there

AI Strategy for Sales Teams: Integrating AI into Human-Centred Selling by Andrew Hough, Richard Vincent, and Richard Brooks is an essential read for any revenue leader trying to cut through the noise surrounding artificial intelligence. Rather than treating AI as a quick-fix automation tool or a threat to sales jobs, the authors present a grounded, research-backed framework that positions technology as an amplifier of human expertise. Drawing on deep academic research from Cranfield School of Management alongside decades of frontline enterprise experience, the book walks readers through a clear maturity model, showing exactly how to deploy AI across prospecting, discovery, enablement, and forecasting without losing the trust and nuance that define great selling.  

What sets this book apart is its relentless focus on keeping the buyer-seller relationship at the center of the strategy. The authors compellingly argue that the future belongs not to automated bots, but to "liberated humans" who use AI to eliminate administrative drag and focus on high-value, empathetic client connections. With actionable diagnostic tools, ethical guidelines, and real-world execution steps, this book bridges the gap between high-level tech ambition and daily sales operations. Whether you are a VP of Sales looking to scale your team’s productivity or an enablement manager building a future-proof tech stack, this practical guide offers the exact roadmap you need to build a sustainable, AI-empowered sales organization.  

A masterclass in modern leadership wrapped in an engaging, fast-paced narrative, Why Can’t They Be Like Me?: A Parable of Shifting Perspectives delivers profound organizational insights without the dry density of a typical business book. Coauthors Claire Díaz-Ortiz and legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith follow Todd Turner, a struggling startup founder whose default reaction to failing metrics is external blame. Through Todd’s transformative encounters with a mentor, the story brilliantly captures the emotional blind spots that trip up even high-performing founders, unpacking the foundational truth that the habits that drive early success won't necessarily sustain long-term growth.  

What sets this parable apart is its seamless balance between narrative momentum and immediately actionable framework. Rather than serving generic advice, the authors break down complex concepts, such as openness to feedback, accountability, and radical self-awareness, into simple shift-of-perspective moments that resonate deeply. At under 200 pages, it is an accessible, highly impactful read for managers, entrepreneurs, and seasoned executives alike who are looking to break through leadership plateaus, foster empathy, and transform how they guide their teams. 

Give Clutter the Middle Finger: A Chingona's Guide to Taking Control of Your Stuff and Your Life by Meggie Mangione is a breath of fresh air in a genre often dominated by rigid perfectionism and unrealistic aesthetic standards. Mangione, a professional organizer with over a decade of hands-on experience, abandons the pressure of picture-perfect home feeds to offer a deeply empathetic, hilarious, and practical approach to home decluttering. Instead of treating clutter as a personal failure or character flaw, she unpacks the emotional and mental health drivers behind the mess. Her message is clear and liberating: the goal of organizing isn't to live in a pristine showroom, but to reclaim your time, lower your stress, and find peace of mind.

What makes this book stand out is Mangione’s unapologetic, witty, and relatable voice. She delivers real-world strategies, like her actionable ROAR framework (Remove, Organize, Analyze, Return), that work for busy families, neurodivergent minds, and anyone overwhelmed by everyday life. Packed with humor, warm encouragement, and smart self-reflection tools, the book feels less like a strict manual and more like advice from a wise, no-nonsense friend who truly understands the struggle. If you are tired of feel-good decluttering guides that end up inducing shame, this empowering read will inspire you to toss out the guilt alongside the extra physical junk.

Dan Sodergren’s How To REALLY Get Paid To Speak strips away the superficial glamour of public speaking to deliver a realistic, battle-tested operational playbook for experts. Rather than offering vague advice on stagecraft or motivation, Sodergren confronts the industry's unspoken reality: delivery quality rarely dictates income, and relying solely on bureau keynotes keeps most speakers trapped at a low revenue ceiling. Drawing on decades of marketing experience and platform data, he reveals why the generalist speaker model is dead and presents a structured alternative, the 5-Tier Commercial Architecture. This strategy demonstrates how to convert a single mainstage address into high-margin B2B workshops, corporate training days, and strategic advisory retainers.

What makes this book essential reading is its focus on practical systems and risk mitigation for corporate buyers. From using a paid digital anchor book to capture warm leads on stage via QR codes to automating post-event follow-up workflows, Sodergren provides actionable frameworks that eliminate administrative burnout. He shows readers how to build a sustainable £60k to £90k lifestyle enterprise on just 20 to 25 delivery days a year without incurring massive agency overhead. If you want to stop waiting for bureau calls, target enterprise operational budgets, and build a predictable speaking business, this clear and pragmatic guide provides the exact blueprint to do it.

In a business world dominated by productivity hacks and command-and-control pressure, Marc Inzelstein’s Essential Leadership: Practicing L.O.V.E. in Turbulent Times offers a much-needed breath of fresh air. Inzelstein addresses a trap that many executives fall into: performing well on paper while feeling exhausted and disconnected on the inside. Rather than offering another generic blueprint to "work harder," he shifts the focus from simple tactics to the inner presence of the leader. The heart of the book lies in its actionable L.O.V.E. framework; Letting Go, Oneness, Vision, and Energy; which breaks down how releasing the illusion of control and mastering your internal state builds far more organizational resilience than forcing outcomes ever could.

What makes this book stand out among traditional management literature is how deeply practical it remains despite its focus on mindfulness and emotional intelligence. The reflective exercises and "Essential Leadership Pauses" give readers concrete tools to respond intentionally rather than react impulsively under pressure. Inzelstein successfully demonstrates that leading with heart is not a soft compromise, but a sharp, high-impact business strategy for modern complexity. Highly recommended for any manager, executive, or entrepreneur looking to step off autopilot and lead with grounded clarity.  

Let Me Lead is an absolute must-read for any ambitious professional who has ever been told to "wait their turn" or gain "a few more years of experience" before stepping into leadership. Dr. Seger Morris tackles the pervasive problem of experience bias head-on, delivering a refreshing critique of corporate ageism alongside a practical roadmap for overcoming it. What makes this book so effective is how it reframes early-career youth and fresh perspectives into powerful assets rather than liabilities. Instead of waiting for permission, Morris provides clear frameworks, like the RISE Leadership Model and POSH ROAR system, that empower young talent to demonstrate real influence, build authority, and drive impact long before receiving a formal title.  

Beyond the inspiring message, the book is packed with actionable advice on navigating workplace dynamics, building credibility without arrogance, and communicating value upward to senior leadership. Drawing on his unique blend of medical and business expertise, Morris bridges the gap between what emerging leaders bring to the table and what hiring managers need to see. Whether you are a young pro eager to accelerate your career trajectory or a seasoned executive looking to unlock and mentor the high-potential talent on your team, Let Me Lead is a game-changing guide that belongs on every leader's bookshelf. Highly recommended! 

Your Unseen Operating Model by Liz Henderson is an indispensable wake-up call for leaders navigating the chaotic intersection of data strategy, legacy operations, and AI deployment. Henderson, widely recognized across the industry as "The Data Queen", skillfully diagnoses why so many multi-million-pound digital transformations flounder: companies are attempting to plug forward-looking, 2030-era AI tools directly into hidden, friction-laden processes. Rather than treating data issues as a purely technical headache for the IT department, Henderson exposes how shadow work, fragmented systems, and unmanaged "process debt" quietly tax an organization's bottom line. Her analysis of the boardroom blindspots surrounding AI readiness is razor-sharp, reframing messy data not as an administrative annoyance, but as an existential business risk.

What truly elevates this book above typical executive strategy guides is its relentless commitment to practical execution. Henderson bypasses vague, high-level platitudes to deliver a clear, high-velocity 30-working-day roadmap that helps executives identify operational friction, establish meaningful governance, and build actual momentum without causing organizational burnout. She brilliantly demonstrates how removing everyday friction turns AI into something employees actively welcome rather than fear. Packed with hard-won boardroom insights, actionable frameworks, and pragmatic advice, Your Unseen Operating Model is a essential playbook for C-suite executives, board members, and transformation leaders who want to future-proof their organizations before the 2030 convergence hits.

Dr. Staffan Hedén’s The Company Soul: Business Model Innovation Roadmap offers a timely, visionary, and deeply practical manual for leaders navigating today’s fast-moving economic, geopolitical, and technological landscape. Building on his extensive 30-year career consulting for over 150 international business groups, Hedén presents a compelling alternative to purely mechanistic, short-term financial models of corporate strategy. Instead, he grounds high-speed innovation in "the company soul", the connective tissue of human identity, shared values, and employee engagement that no algorithm can replicate. As artificial intelligence and automation rapidly integrate into everyday workflows, Hedén delivers a crucial reminder: technology must serve to enhance human creativity and intuition rather than replace our capacity for critical thought.

What sets this book apart is its balance of high-level strategic foresight with actionable frameworks. Hedén equips owners, executives, and board members with novel toolkits like SETAI (Strategy, Evolution, Tool, Artificial, Innovation) to assess complex external risks and SOAP (Structure, Own, Alternative, Physical) to optimize internal resources and uncover hidden value. From addressing global megatrends and shifting demographic markets to rethinking dynamic pricing models and omnichannel customer experiences, this book serves as both a theoretical atlas and a step-by-step roadmap. Essential reading for CEOs, MBAs, and strategists alike, The Company Soul provides the tools needed to build a resilient, future-fit organization without losing the human core that drives true, sustainable success.

Anthony "Tas" Tasgal’s The Art in Marketing: Why We Need Less Science and More Art in Marketing is an urgent, refreshing antidote to an industry currently suffocating under spreadsheets, metrics, and pseudo-scientific formulas. Tasgal brilliantly dismantling marketing’s obsession with "arithmocracy", the attempt to turn human decision-making into a set of predictable physics equations, and reminds us that brands aren't built in algorithms. Drawing on culture, narrative, and Germaine Greer's bold assertion that marketing is the art form of our era, Tasgal makes a persuasive case for bringing gut-level intuition, emotional storytelling, and genuine creative risk back into the boardroom.

What makes this book stand out is that it isn't just an intellectual critique; it’s a practical rallying cry for strategists, creators, and leaders who are tired of playing it safe in a sea of corporate sameness. Written with Tasgal’s signature wit, energy, and sharp observation, it bridges the false divide between commercial rigor and artistic expression, offering a clear roadmap to rebuild brand distinctiveness. Whether you are a seasoned CMO or a junior strategist, The Art in Marketing is essential reading if you want to stop measuring dullness and start making work that actually moves people.

In The Things We Hide, Tyler Dickerhoof tackles one of the most pervasive yet unspoken realities of modern leadership: how internal insecurities, unexamined fears, and past wounds quietly sabotage our performance and relationships. Rather than delivering generic, high-level platitudes about authenticity, Dickerhoof pulls back the curtain on his own personal journey, showing how high performers often build an armor of achievement, whether through intensity, isolation, or perfectionism, to shield their underlying self-doubt. His writing is striking in its honesty, blending vulnerability with practical wisdom that challenges you to examine the unseen barriers holding you back from real trust and connection.

What sets this book apart is how seamlessly it translates deep inner work into actionable everyday tools. Frameworks like the Circle of Ownership give leaders a clear, tangible path to developing emotional intelligence, embracing feedback, and replacing reactive habits with intentional growth. It’s an essential read for executives, entrepreneurs, and team leaders alike who are ready to drop the exhausting "hustle-and-hide" persona and step into a culture of psychological safety. Honest, compassionate, and deeply impactful, The Things We Hide will radically shift how you view your own scars and how you show up for the people you lead.  

And now a little bit about my books ....

This is my 3rd book on social selling and my 4th book overall, “Social Selling - Using Social Media for Cold Outreach and New Business sales”. Written by hand (and not AI) over Christmas 2025, it uses the latest research and builds on a decade of client work. The book is based entirely on what we know works for our clients; from our own benchmarks, we know the average SDR gets 5x high-quality ICP meetings a week, and we have an AE at Salesforce who gets 7x high-quality ICP meetings a week. If you want to replicate those sorts of results, then this is the book for you. It's self-published, meaning I was free to write exactly what you need to hear. I've kept it short enough to read over a weekend, and in every territory, it’s less than a tenner.

For those searching for an AI answer, there is a whole chapter on the subject written by our AI SME, Bertrand Godillot. Based on our own experiences implementing an AI Agent / Teammate, it will help guide your sales AI journey, not to automate you, but to make you more human and help scale yourself. The book is available on Amazon worldwide.

In my second book, "Smarketing - How to achieve competitive advantage through blended sales and marketing" published through Kogan Page, we looked at the age old problem of marketing and sales working together. At the time there was a lot of conversations on social media about how on earth do we get sales and marketing to be one team?

The book, takes a case study, which we cannot mention, it works through the strategy, how to implement a program to implement sales and marketing, the political risks and measures and governance. The book finishes with a look into the future of sales and marketing.

I would admit that if we wrote the book today, we would probably call it Rev-ops (revenue operations).