A completely subjective list of five impactful business and psychology books that I read in 2013.

1. FiveAwesome Business and Psychology
Books from 2013
By Francesco R. Barbera, Esq.
Founder, Barbera Corporate Law
Those close to me know I am a voracious reader with a habit of buying way more books than I'll ever
have time to read (Amazon Prime + One Click = Devilish. Hats off, Jeff Bezos). Most of what I read
falls into my core areas of interest: leadership, business, entrepreneurship and psychology. I
thought I'd highlight a few of my reads from 2013 that stand out as especially unique or valuable or
important. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. (Note: These weren't necessarily published in
2013 - I just happened to read them this year).
1. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else by Patrick Lencioni. I've
been curious about Lencioni's work for many years. A few months ago, I finally got around to
reading his well-known classic, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and was so impressed I started
working my way through his catalog. I have not been disappointed. This book - his most recent encapsulates a tremendous amount of wisdom around effective organizational leadership, culturebuilding, and management. I have used his concise strategic planning framework with my own firm
and with a couple of clients, and in all cases have found his insights both intuitive and impactful.
2. Time to Think: Listening to Ignite the Human Mind by Nancy Kline. This is a unique and
important book about accessing our natural capacity for fresh and innovative thought. Kline's
background is in childhood education. From an early age, she became fascinated with a single
question: Under what conditions do human beings think at their best? Her answer is an
environment characterized by ten basic supportive qualities -- qualities we can each learn to embody
for each other. A powerful reminder of the potential (and responsibility) we all have as leaders,
managers, and friends to awaken and encourage the genius in our fellow human beings.
3. The Relationship Handbook by Dr. George Pransky. One of my all time favorites, I re-read this
book this year just to remind myself of its core message, which is focused on cultivating warmth and
positive feelings in relationships -- rather than on solving problems and resolving differences.
Pransky has co-founded an approach to psychology known as The Three Principles, which I believe
Barbera Corporate Law |310.896.8392 | francesco@barberalawfirm.com | www.barberacorporatelaw.com

2. will revolutionize the field of mental health over the coming decades. His audio programs, available
at www.pranskyandassociates.om are equally brilliant and worth your time.
4. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. One of the core messages in
public speaking and writing revolves around the extraordinary (yet under-appreciated) capacity of
the human mind to absorb and digest information and produce insights, learning and innovation in
response to our sustained focus and attention on a given subject. For me, this book was a striking
vindication of the power of embracing this innate capacity. Dweck contrasts people who adopt a
"growth" mindset, which embraces the capacity to learn, grow, improve and expand, with those more
inclined towards a "fixed" mindsets, which tend to focus on uncontrollables like genetics or talent.
Along virtually every metric that counts, folks who adopt growth mindsets succeed more and do
more and enjoy more of life -- an insight with important implications for educators, parents,
managers and just about anyone else I can think of.
5. The Startup Owner's Manual : The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve
Blank and Bob Dorf. Originator of the agile development and the lean startups methodology, Blank's
theories have been massively influential in Silicon Valley and beyond. Not exactly a page turner, this
is more like a rigorous reference manual for those engaged in the thrilling process of discovering and
validating a scalable business model. An MBA in 500 priceless pages.
How about you? Any recommended reads you've enjoyed recently? If so, I’d love to hear about
them. Please feel free to email or connect with me on LinkedIn or at my blog at
barberacorporatelaw.com/blog.
Barbera Corporate Law helps visionaries build thriving companies. We provides specialized
corporate transactional legal counsel, with predictable flat-fee rate structures, to emerging
technology and online businesses throughout California.
Barbera Corporate Law |310.896.8392 | francesco@barberalawfirm.com | www.barberacorporatelaw.com