7 books to help you achieve success, recommended by the CEO of Russia’s top bank

The library of CEO and Chairman of the executive board of Sberbank Herman Gref boasts 70 books with tips, suggestions, and simple rules for managing time and business. Here’s a short list of Gref's collection that you can easily find in bookstores.

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

This book helps readers to find their own voice and solve personal and professional problems, and this isn’t a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. Covey suggests accomplishing a “paradigm shift” - a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works, because “the way we see the problem is the problem.”

“It’s incredible easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover that it’s leaning against the wrong wall,” Covey writes.

2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

Collins shows how great companies triumph over time and the reasons most companies fail to make the transition from good to great. He assembled a team of 21 researchers who studied financial and management analyses of 11 companies, including Fannie Mae, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples, the book explores seven characteristics that contributed to their success.

3. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker

The story of Toyota’s success by Jeffrey K. Liker is an outstanding business philosophy based on 14 basic principles of management. For example, responsibility: “Every team member has the responsibility to stop the line every time they see something that is out of standard. That’s how we put the responsibility for quality in the hands of our team members.”

4. 10-Minute Time and Stress Management: How to Gain an ‘Extra’ 10 Hours a Week by David Lewis

Do you believe just ten minutes each day can liberate ten hours a week? The author describes simple solutions and exercises for everybody who feels overwhelmed by workplace time pressures.

5. Screw It, Let’s Do it Expanded: Lessons in Life by Richard Branson

Practical lessons from a hugely successful entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group. “A lot has changed since I founded Virgin in 1968, and I’ll explain how I intend to take my business and my ideas to the next level,” he writes. His lessons are very easy to understand, for example: “Keep going and never give up.”

6. Chasing the Rabbit: How Market Leaders Outdistance the Competition and How Great Companies Can Catch Up and Win by Steven J. Spear

Another book about the world’s greatest companies which focuses on four skills to help achieve maximum results with minimum investment.

7. Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company by Andrew S. Grove

Every leader has this nightmare moment when massive change occurs and a company must adapt or fall into the abyss. As you may have guessed from the title, this read is about making the most out of disaster - aka crisis management.

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