When traveling I am afforded more time to dive into my ever growing book list. This summer these are the six books I have been reading - or added to my list to tackle very soon - and are greatly impacting the way I view the world and business. 

I will be discussing these books in more detail this week on Founders Live Center Stage from India. Join us Live here.

7 Rules of Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer

If you want to "change lives, change organizations, change the world," the Stanford business school’s motto, you need power.

Is power the last dirty secret or the secret to success? Both. While power carries some negative connotations, power is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Don’t blame the tool for how some people used it. 

If fully understood and harnessed effectively, power skills and understanding become the keys to increasing salaries, job satisfaction, career advancement, organizational change, and, happiness. In 7 Rules of Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, provides the insights that have made both his online and on-campus classes incredibly popular—with life-changing results often achieved in 8 or 10 weeks.

The Network State: How to Start a New Country by Balaji Srinivasan

When the brand new is unthinkable, we fight over the old. That’s where we are today with governments, with politics, and with much of the physical world. But perhaps we can change that.

This book introduces the concept of the network state: a country you can start from your computer, a state that recruits like a startup, a nation built from the internet rather than disrupted by it.

The fundamental concept behind the network state is to assemble a digital community and organize it to crowdfund physical territory. But that territory is not in one place — it’s spread around the world, fully decentralized, hooked together by the internet for a common cause, much like Google’s offices or Bitcoin’s miners. And because every citizen has opted in, it’s a model for 100% democracy rather than the minimum threshold of consent modeled by 51% democracies.

Of course, there are countless questions that need to be answered to build something of this scope. How does a network state work socially, technically, logistically, legally, physically, financially? How could such a thing even be viable?

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Buy as many lattes as you want. Choose the right accounts and investments so your money grows for you—automatically. Best of all, spend guilt-free on the things you love.

Personal finance expert Ramit Sethi has been called a “wealth wizard” by Forbes and the “new guru on the block” by Fortune. Now he’s updated and expanded his modern money classic for a new age, delivering a simple, powerful, no-BS 6-week program that just works.

Mr Monkey and Me: A Real Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs by Mike Smerklo

What if the secret to being a successful entrepreneur had nothing to do with your business plan, resources, market size, or strategy? If your success or failure weren’t dependent on how much money you have, where you grew up, or the level of education you received?

Here’s the truth: the difference between success and failure is right between your ears.

A big, hairy beast stands between you and success. Your fears, your doubts, and every negative thought you have about yourself manifest as Mr. Monkey—and he’ll exploit them ruthlessly to sabotage you and destroy your dreams.

In Mr. Monkey and Me, business leader, Mike Smerklo, lays bare his broad range of experiences and mistakes, as well as lessons he’s learned from renowned entrepreneurs. Using the SHAPE formula—Self, Help, Authenticity, Persistence, and Expectations—this smart and irreverent anti-memoir gives readers an actionable approach to mental toughness that will help any entrepreneur start, grow, and run a successful business.

The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life by Lynne Twist

This unique and fundamentally liberating book shows us that examining our attitudes toward money—earning it, spending it, and giving it away—can offer surprising insight into our lives, our values, and the essence of prosperity.

Lynne Twist, a global activist and fundraiser, has raised more than $150 million for charitable causes. Through personal stories and practical advice, she demonstrates how we can replace feelings of scarcity, guilt, and burden with experiences of sufficiency, freedom, and purpose. In this Nautilus Award-winning book, Twist shares from her own life, a journey illuminated by remarkable encounters with the richest and poorest, from the famous (Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama) to the anonymous but unforgettable heroes of everyday life

Better Capitalism: Jesus, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and MLK Jr. on Moving from Plantation to Partnership Economics by Paul E. Knowlton

Sometime in your business life you’ve looked up from the task or person in front of you, paused before your head explodes, and thought to yourself, “There’s got to be a better way!” This book offers you that better way. Whether you’re in school preparing for the world of work or have experienced multiple careers, whether you make decisions that affect others or are affected by others’ decisions as their employee or customer, whether you’re part of a multinational corporation or a small business or a ministry or a government, this book shows how you’re affected by plantation economics. It then shows you the more profitable—beneficial—viewing, thinking, and living of capitalism through the framework of Partnership Economics. Better Capitalism adds value across the full landscape of capitalism and the bridged worlds of business and faith. Ready for that better way? Read on to unleash a more profitable and ethical capitalism.