Top 26 Business Books For Women By Women

The business world is changing quickly. The word ‘businessman’ has quietly eroded in place of business people, thanks in part to these businesswomen authors.

We’ve got some positive, energizing and inspiring books and stories that will get you passionate about your corner of the business world. Whether you want to read about the common struggles unique to women, or you want to siege outdated business practices, these books will be perfect for some motivational reading. 

#1 Book:You Are a Badass® by Jen Sincero

Jen Sincero adds comedy and confidence to the business arena. Haf the battle is knowing you can do it and having a keen and unstoppable mindset. This book helped me tremendously with that.’

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#2 The 6 Stress Points in a Woman’s Life by Dr Kevin Leman

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It address the extreme stress woman are under in every aspect of their lives and how to break free from pressure society puts on us. You don’t have to be superwoman!

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#3 Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie

Instead of focusing on building up your weaknesses are capitalize on your strengths. They’re already an asset! You’ll learn what your strengths are and how to soar even higher with them

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#4 Equipped to Lead by Dan Saners & Galen Walters

A great book for any business leader. Focuses on the 4Ps and how to master them

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#5 Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott

I think this is especially important for woman. How to have difficult conversations with strong emotions and come out enriching the relationship. And since it’s written by a woman other women are able to use these tactics. How to be the boss without being bossy.

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#6 Violent Leadership by Wesley Middleton

More of an entrepreneur book in my opinion but still has some great examples of workplace culture for all business leaders.

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#7 Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Probably the most valuable book I read last year. Revolutionized my business.

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#8 The Cash Factor by Trace Reddick

Female-owned businesses are on the rise in the US. It’s incredible! I wrote a book called The Cash Factor for business owners and would-be business owners that help them find ways to capitalize their business using a product called factoring. Factoring is where we buy a business’s unpaid invoices for a small discount so our clients can grow and grow rapidly by getting paid quickly!

I replied because so many of our clients are female-owned businesses and feel that my book could really help women succeed in with their own venture. It’s a completely underserved demographic in the world of finance.

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#9 Breathe, Empower, Achieve by Shonda Moralis MSW LCSW

Not your typical women’s business book, BREATHE, EMPOWER, ACHIEVE is mindful empowerment guide for women who don’t have time for mindfulness but who do want to play bigger and create balance. Including 50 evidence-based mindful breaks, personal stories, and interviews with inspiring women, BEA teaches high-achieving women how to ditch the stress without losing their edge.

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#10 Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed.) by Ayn Rand

My favorite female character, Dagny Taggart, is the self-confident hero from the controversial, business book Atlas Shrugged. She’s respected, willing to never give up, and takes responsibility for the success and failures of running her company. A business book featuring a strong female who knows exactly what she wants and what she’s willing to do for it, is a nod to female power at its finest. You’ll walk away inspired and empowered to make your own mark on your industry. As author Ayn Rand wrote, The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.

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#11 Business Boutique by Christy Wright

The business book for woman takes you step by step from business ideas to the generation of good income. The author gives you directions how to create a business plan, helps u learn how to manage your life with the business, discuss marketing of the business and more. Its the chance for woman to go after their financial dreams.

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#12 Smartcuts: The Breakthrough Power of Lateral Thinking by Shane Snow

Some people manage to build highly successful businesses in surprisingly short time-frame, while others stay where they were months or years ago.

Smartcuts are not “shortcuts”, and the principles laid out in the book encourage to work smarter

The book encourages us to think not just 10% bigger/better but 10x bigger. Read the book to learn why just the “10% better” mentality can hurt businesses and ideas and how to get on a path for 10x growth.

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#13 Secrets of Six-Figure Women by Barbara Stanny

You need to be financial literate, self aware and encourage your team members to grow. Your growth is dependent on your passion to lead, learn and leverage.

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#14 Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Don’t let male voices take you for granted. When you get the hot seat, let your voice and act do the talking. Both men and women are alike- so lean in

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#15 Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock

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A key skill for any woman, especially a businesswoman, is to be able to negotiate. This book directly addresses some very harsh truths about the challenges women face due to their socialization. It refers to several studies and experiments that show how women have many false beliefs about what they deserve and can get.

The title is also the main takeaway from the book – women don’t ask for what they need or for what they deserve. It shines a light on uncomfortable societal pressures that women face and empowers women by making them aware so that they can choose to act differently.”

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#16 Your Business, Your Rules by Cat LeBlanc

Women often feel they need to fit into a certain mold to be a successful business owner. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Your Business, Your Rules is a step by step action plan on how to start a successful business your way. Whatever your personality type and however you want to show up. It’s your rules all the way!

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#17 Launch Yourself by Krista Neher

Personal branding is something that every business woman should be thinking about. Proactively crafting a positive impression that attracts the opportunities you want is a solid investment in yourself. Launch Yourself! is a blueprint to create and execute a personal brand with actionable insights and ideas. It is an easy read with examples and stories, and the framework makes it easy to implement.

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#18 How Women Rise by Sally Helgesen

If you’re a woman who has ever shied away from asking for something you knew you deserved, you need to read this book. Men are always asking for a raise or a promotion. Women, on the other hand, tend to hope that their hard work will be enough to get their superiors to simply offer them that next step on the career ladder.

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#19 Turning Goals into Results by Jim Collins

As business owners, we have big hairy audacious goals (BHAG) to help us propel into the next level of growth or furthering our vision, mission and future of our organization. Jim Collins with his brilliance spanning decades of studying organizations has simplified the process into what he calls ‘catalytic mechanism’ which are critical links between results and objectives.

He gives examples from various industries with immense clarity for any business to achieve its BHAG. This book is a must for women business owners either starting their venture or looking to update/upgrade how they can take their goals and turn them into a reality.

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#20 The Confidence Code By Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

This book describes the story behind a low confidence level that could be putting a girl or woman backward. It covers all the necessary steps and techniques to overcome the stress and negative thoughts and how to become strong enough to own a business and become an entrepreneur. Truly a helpful book for ladies and should read at least once to change the sense of thinking.

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#21 Rules of Engagement: Making Connections Last by Froswa’ Booker-Drew

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Rules of Engagement: Making Connections Last is a workbook for women who understand the value of relating to others, both professionally and personally. The book provides 29 Rules of Engagement to help the reader understand how to do more than just share your name and address. Building a network can be challenging.

As a businesswoman and a mother, you don’t know if you have the time or energy to find and develop new relationships. Have you ever attended a conference expecting to meet numerous people and collect business cards from those who can be a valuable asset to you both professionally and personally, however when you try to follow up you discover that everyone is busy and you get no return calls.

A friend introduces you to someone you would really like to get to know, but after a few minutes of chit chat, your new acquaintance walks away disinterested. Helping women develop the kind of relationships that pay valuable dividends to everyone involved is the goal of Froswa’ Booker-Drew in this book, Rules of Engagement: Making Connections Last. This powerful workbook will not only equip you with the information you need, but the workbook format will walk you through the exercises to make it a reality.

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#22 Girl Code by Cara Alwill Leyba

Being a female entrepreneur comes with its own unique set of challenges. A little more work and innovation often must go into receiving recognition, and the home-work balance often becomes more important. That’s why Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur is such a wonderful tool for any empowered female to read and refer back to over and over again.

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#23 Outlier Leadership by Dr. Christopher Brazzle

Outlier Leadership is a powerful holistic and principle-centered approach that provides the five no excuses habits which helps leaders of all kind stand out and would help women improve their own leadership in the arenas of ownership and interpersonal relationships. In this personal workbook, you’ll discover what to do daily to become the next outlier leader. In Outlier Leadership, the author helps leaders with simple leadership principles of leaders who are set apart from the crowd. Leaders who lead. No excuses. He helps leaders be open to change and watch the transformation unfold. He also helps leaders to understand that every leader has a first step where leaders often stop, but questions whether you are ready to take the next step and become an outlier leader.

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#24 Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office by LOIS P FRANKEL

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One of the best business books for women is “Nice Girls Don’t the Corner Office” by Lois P Frankel. It is a great book that talks about the systemic problems that working women face. It talks about how women are talked into shrinking back, and how they undersell themselves because their confidence is impacted. But more importantly, it is a call for women to discover their inner strength, and build up their confidence.

It tells women to negotiate to get their rightful dues, and not get into the “nice girl” space where they forsake negotiations and passively accept what they are handed out. She talks about several “nice girl” mistakes women make, and how to overcome them. I highly recommend it for all women.

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#25 Idea Stormers by Bryan W. Mattimore

Every business leader, but increasingly female executives, are being asked to create an environment where employees are encouraged to generate new and original ideas to help the organization grow. Unfortunately, traditional “brainstorming” is often ineffective. Ideation techniques, on the other hand, which use a rich palette of proven stimuli-rich, creative problem-solving methodologies, can generate a wide range of implementable options — not to mention true breakthroughs — for virtually any creative problem or business challenge.

Drawing on his work leading high-stakes ideation sessions at over 300 organizations, the author explains the how, what, and why of successful ideation processes and provides a framework for when and how leaders can use them. The featured creative problem-solving techniques include triggered brainwalking, the worst idea technique, question assumptions, problem redefinition, directed wishing, and many more.

As importantly, Idea Stormers includes real world stories that demonstrate how the creative problem-solving techniques have been used to address a wide range of business challenges: from strategy to sales, marketing to culture change… and the creation of new products and services valued at over $3 billion.

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#26 The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

This book is great for anyone, especially women because it has clear-cut, logical ways you can easily start a business. From the title you can tell that starting a business doesn’t always require lots of money, and that’s great because it incites action.

Women are often the ones who play it safe, and this book points out all the ways you can start a business without much risk–and it showcases successful businesses in detail so you have no excuse not to do it yourself. One of my favorite quotes from the book is this: “Use the process of skill transformation to think about all the things you’re good at, not just the obvious ones.”

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