Summer Reading List: The B-School Edition

Looking for a little light reading to while away the hours? These books might be just the ticket

By Francesca Di Meglio

Reading books can give managers and aspiring managers a new perspective and insight into the human condition that drives their businesses. "Reading will make you a better businessperson and a better, happier person," says Erik Gordon, associate director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business (Ross Full-Time MBA Profile). "Students don't want to hear it. They want to know the magical formula that will get them rich tomorrow, but we have a duty to try and convince them."

In fact, Gordon and his colleagues at the Zell-Lurie Institute came up with a summer reading list focused on inspiring the entrepreneurial spirit in students. Whether you are holding down an internship, writing a business plan, or lounging by the pool, reading is an investment that pays big dividends.

Business lessons can continue long after the classroom doors are closed for the summer. That's why BusinessWeek asked professors and students at top business schools to share the five books they'd put at the top of their personal summer reading lists. Titles ranged from the classic novel to contemporary nonfiction, but when read together create an encyclopedia of leadership, just the thing to productively while away a summer as the financial crisis continues. A rundown of the most popular picks follows. For the complete list, visit "Summer 2009 Books: MBA Reading List" on the Getting In blog.

challenging ideas of success

It comes as no surprise that Outliers: The Story of Success (Little, Brown & Co., November 2008), by Malcolm Gladwell, appeared on more summer reading lists than any other book. Its subject, after all, is one that's near and dear to B-schoolers' hearts: success and how to achieve it. To explain what separates the extraordinarily successful from the also-rans, Gladwell examines personal stories and histories of entire populations. For example, he traces the Asian history of working in rice paddies to explain the work ethic that leads Asians to score higher on math achievement tests.

Readers find the book appealing because it challenges traditional notions about what success is, says Kevin J. Martin, executive vice-president of the student association at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business (Darden Full-Time MBA Profile). Americans like to think hard work is all it takes to achieve great things, says Martin, but this book shows that circumstance, knowing the times in which you live, and getting help when you need it also makes a difference.

Sometimes the greatest lessons, especially those about leadership, are gleaned from role models of the past. One of Gordon's top picks, The Aeneid (Penguin Classics, January 2008), by Virgil (with a translation by Robert Fagles and introduction by Bernard Knox in this version of the book), is a classic that reads like a modern-day work. Readers follow Trojan warrior Aeneas as he goes from defeat on the battlefield and a doomed love affair in Carthage to the founding of what would become the first Roman settlements and, ultimately, an empire.

advice for troubled leaders

Gordon is struck by the temptations and sacrifices that Aeneas faces in his journey. "It's about a guy who's a fabulous role model for entrepreneurs," says Gordon. "You're a human being. You're not a superhero. Your heart will be troubled."

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