Our “Canon” is the list of books we believe everyone should read. Loosely following the model set by the Bible Canon, we have broken our recommended books into 7 major Biblically based categories.
The Gospels
These are the 4 most important books for Beratung’s Culture. They are required reading in the first year of joining Beratung and recommended to be read annually. These books are instrumental in forming our culture and are referenced often.
In the Bible, the Gospels are 4 books that tell the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The Pentateuch
These are foundational books that have been instrumental in the formation of our company. Team members are expected to read these within 2 years of joining Beratung and are often referenced by the team. Our strategy and culture have been heavily influenced by them.
In the Bible, the Pentateuch is the first 5 books of the Bible and take us through the beginning of mankind and the first stories of God and his chosen people. Without these books, the Gospel would not exist.
The Epistles
These are books that are important and should be read within the first 5 years of joining Beratung. These are often referred to in our culture and help team members understand our culture deeper and give a more detailed explanation into certain cultural norms.
In the Bible, the Epistles (letters) make up most of the New Testament books and are typically read more often by Christians than the Old Testament (Pentateuch, History, Wisdom, Poetry, and Prophets).
The Major Prophets
These books are important but would be read by someone looking to deepen their understanding or looking for help on a certain topic. These books are often gifted or recommended based on a desired growth in an area.
In the Bible, prophets are persons who convey a message from God or teach the Word of God. The term “major” has nothing to do with the achievement or importance of the prophets, rather the length of the books. In comparison, the books of the Twelve Minor Prophets are short and are grouped together into one single book in the Hebrew Bible. In the Beratung Canon, the major prophets hold a higher place and are books we believe everyone should read during their life and are not based on size.
The Minor Prophets
These books are books worth reading before you die. However, unless seeking wisdom in a certain topic these should be read after the first 4 categories have been completed.
In the Bible, the minor prophets are not less important than the major prophets; it’s just divided by length of the writings. In the Beratung Canon, the minor prophets hold a lower place of importance compared to the major prophets not based on size.
Historical Books
These include biographies of leaders, spiritual books, and books for your personal life. Similar to the minor prophets, unless seeking wisdom in a certain topic, these should be read after the first 4 categories have been completed.
In the Bible, the historical books make up a large portion of the Old Testament. They are arranged in a rough chronological order, and they tell the story of God’s people including rise and fall of sin, restoration, miracles, rejection, and judgment. Throughout the centuries, we see God’s people learning many lessons that still apply to our lives today. God chose his people to be a witness and bring salvation to every other nation on earth. Before the revealing of the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, these books displayed the principles of Christianity: love for enemies, forgiveness, and God’s grace and mercy.
Poetic and Wisdom Books
These books offer deep wisdom to become a more rounded leader. They are historically and culturally significant novels that stimulate your mind and challenge you to think differently. They help you understand the human condition and engage in more well-rounded conversations with others. We believe that everyone should read these and that our team should read these as the rhythms in their life allow.
In the Bible, the Poetic and Wisdom represent a major shift in style from the historical books that precede them. Instead of telling the story of the nation of Israel, they focus not on God’s people as a whole, but on the individual. Much of the Old Testament centers on the twelve tribes of the Hebrew race and the land they occupied; in contrast, the five poetic or wisdom books are concerned with the human heart and the drama of life common among us all. They explore existential questions, about God, humanity, Creation, and the nature of evil and suffering. Beyond that, the wisdom books show us that God values and responds to these myriad questions and prayers. We can take comfort that no experience in our lives, whether wonderful or terrible, can place us outside the love and understanding of a gracious God.
The Bible
When reading through our Canon, you may notice the Bible is not included. We believe the Bible transcends these reading. As the inerrant and infallible written word of God, and we believe it should be part of daily reading and weekly study. The Bible is as important to living as breathing and eating. None of these books will help you become the person you were designed and called to be without consistent reading and study of the Bible.
Important Note
The Bible Canon does not change. However, our canon does change as we read more books and discover others that are useful for our growth and development.
The Gospels (Read Annually) (4)
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
- Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
The Pentateuch (Foundational Books) (5)
- Know What You’re For by Jeff Henderson
- Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn
- Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
- Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
- You’ve Been Framed by Ray Sclafani
The Epistles (Read in the First 5 Years) (15)
- Iconic by Scott McKain
- It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried
- The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
- Miracle Morning by Hal Erold
- Built to Last by Jim Collins
- Leadership and Self Deception by Arbinger Institute
- Intentional Living by John Maxwell
- The Key to Everything by Matt Keller
- Communicating for Change by Andy Stanley
- Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander
- Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze
- One Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards
- You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham
- Misbehaving by Richard Thaler
- 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam
The Major Prophets (40)
- Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn
- Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
- Living Forward by Michael Hyatt
- Fans First by Jesse Cole
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
- Nudge by Richard Thaler
- Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
- The E-Myth Revisited by Michel Gerber
- Little Black Stretchy Pants by Chip Wilson
- The Servant by James Hunter
- Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet
- How to be a Great Boss by Gino Wickman
- Who Not How by Dan Sullivan
- In The Defense of Food by Michael Pollen
- Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
- The Making of a Leader by J. Robert Clinton
- The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
- 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- Essentialism by Greg McKeown
- Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley
- The Behavior Gap by Carl Richards
- Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
- Didn’t See it Coming by Carey Nieuwhof
- Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman
- Shoe by Dog by Phil Knight
- Business Made Simple by Donald Miller
- The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma
- Find Your Why by David Meed
- Extreme Ownership by Jocko Williams
- Ask It by Andy Stanley
- Game Plan for Life by Coach Joe Gibbs
- From Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Choose to Cheat (When Work and Family Collide) by Andy Stanley
- Redeeming Money by Paul David Tripp
- The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
- The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni
- The Four Obsessions of and Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni
- Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars by Patrick Lencioni
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
- Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall
The Minor Prophets (45)
- Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni
- The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni
- The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni
- The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni
- Make Your Bed by William McRaven
- 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
- Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 by John Maxwell
- The One Thing by Garl Keller
- Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud
- Boards that Excel by Joseph White
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Donkey Missions by Matt Keller
- Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
- Made In America by Sam Walton
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
- Think Again by Adam Grant
- Radical Candor by Kim Scott
- Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
- The 5 Second Rule by Mell Robbins
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
- Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Carlson
- Multipliers by Liz Wiseman
- American Nations by Colin Woodward
- The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron
- Sabbath by Wayne Muller
- Leadership 101 by John Maxwell
- 360 Leadership by John Maxwell
- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
- See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar
- How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
- Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
- 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney
- The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack
- The 10x Rule by Grant Cardon
- The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
- How Successful People Think by John Maxwell
- Developing the Leaders Around You by John Maxwell
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
- Forks Over Knives by Gene Stone
- Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall
- Lessons from the Titans by Scott Davis
Wisdom and Poetry Books
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
- Inferno by Dante Alighieri
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
- The Call of the Wild by Jack London
- The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Iliad by Homer
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Historical Books
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
- The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
- Family Revision by Jeremy Pryor
- The Attack Lambs by Mark Geppert
- The Southwest Airlines Way by Jody Gittell
- Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
- Family Worship by Donald Whitney
- 7 Tenets of Taxi Terry by Scott McKain
- All Business Is Still Show Business by Scott McKain
- The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman
- Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs
- At Your Best by Carey Nieuwoff
- Mind over Money by Brad Klontz
- The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Steve Scott
- The EOS Life by Gino Wickman
- Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
- The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan
- 10x Is Easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan
- The Go-Giver by Bob Burg
- A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
- Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson
- Leadership Pain by Samuel Chand
- Gravitas by Jerome Daley
- Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc
- Family Revision by Jeremy Pryor
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnerman
- Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor, Saul Singer
- Bonhoeffer by Metaxas
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
- Boundaries for Leaders by Henry Cloud
- The Power of the Other by Henry Cloud
- Find Your Yellow Tux by Jesse Cole
- When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner
- The Confessions of St. Augustine by Saint Augustine
- The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
- The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews
- Eat Mor Chikin by S. Truett Cathy
- How To Hear the Voice of God and Understand it by Adam Houge
- Board of Directors by Deaver Brown
- Adam’s Return by Richard Rohr
- Shift Your Mind by Brian Levenson
- Banana Ball by Jesse Cole
- How Did You Do It, Truett? by S. Truett Cathy
- Nuts!: Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin Freiberg
- The Ensemble Practice by Philip Palaveev
- Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
- G2: Building the Next Generation by Philip Palaveev
- Starting Your Own Practice by Robert Fragasso
- The Supernova Advisor by Rob Knapp
- The 8th Habit by Stephen R. Covey
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
- Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- A Million Mile in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
- The Real Deal by Sandy Weill
- Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
- The Man I Knew by Jean Becker
- No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing by Dan S. Kennedy,
- Scary Close by Donald Miller
- Love Works by Joel Manby
- The Great Influenza by John Barry
- The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge by Brad Klontz
- Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
- 5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 A.M. by Terri Savelle Foy
- The Laws of Wealth: Psychology and the Secret to Investing Success by Daniel Crosby
- Culture Wins by William Vanderbloemen
- Visioneering by Andy Stanley
- Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
- The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut
- As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
- The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman
- Fierce Conversations by Susan Craig Scott
- 26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi
- Racing to the Finish by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Prayer by Timothy Keller
- Capital Gains by Chip Gaines
- If You Can Keep It by Eric Metaxas
- Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas
- The Little Book of Behavioral Investing by James Montier
- How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg
- Washington’s Farewell by John Avlon
- American Character by Colin Woodard
- The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon
- Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
- Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
- Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther
- What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam
- Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor
- Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet by Eric Metaxas
- Die with Zero Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins
- The Ideal Team Player by Patrick M. Lencioni
- Leading Without Authority by Keith Ferrazzi
- Never Eat Lunch Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- The Motive by Patrick M. Lencioni
- Not in It to Win It by Andy Stanley
- Living with a SEAL 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler
- Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
- Outliers The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- America Sniper by Chris Kyle
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- The Dip by Seth Godin
- How to Grow Your Small Business by Donald Miller
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- A World Without Email by Cal Newport
- The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
- No Rules by Reed Hastings
- Working Backwards Insights by Colin Bryar
- Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan
- Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus
- How the Mighty Fall And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins
- Measure What Matters by John Doerr
- Onward by Howard Schultz
- How to Win by Mark Cuban
- Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
- The Everything Store by Brad Stone
- Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni
- Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
- The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
- The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick M. Lencioni
- Winning by Jack Welch
- Robert’s Rules: QuickStart Guide – The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Robert’s Rules of Order by ClydeBank Business
- The Effective Board Member by Mr. Karl George MBE
- The New Gold Standard by Joseph A. Michelli
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim
- Build by Tony Fadell
- That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Covert Cows by Steve Robinson
- $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi
- Company of One by Paul Jarvis Narrated by: Paul Jarvis
- The Family Board Meeting by Jim Sheils
- Hero on a Mission A Path to a Meaningful Life by Donald Miller
- Powerful by Patty McCord
- Rework by Jason Fried
- Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
- Crucial Conversations by Dr. Dan Grider
- Dead Center by Jason Altmire
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- Tribes We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
- Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Who Moved My Cheese? by Kenneth Blanchard
- The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie
- The Tycoons by Charles Morris
- How to Develop Your Family Mission Statement by Stephen R. Covey
- Three Feet from Gold by Sharon Lechter
- The Wal-Mart Way by Don Soderquist
- Seven Women and the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas
- The Greatest Coach Ever Timeless Wisdom and Insights of John Wooden by Fellowship of Christian Athletes
- The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
- The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister
- Built from Scratch by Arthur Blank and Bernard Marcus
- Quench Your Own Thirst by Jim Koch
- Talk Triggers by Jay Baer
- Leadership Is Language by L. David Marquet
- Off Centered Leadership by Sam Calagione
- Brewing Up a Business by Sam Calagione
- The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.The opinions expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of LPL Financial.
This is not an endorsement for any of the books or authors listed.
13 Lessons I Learned From My Dad
My father was called home to be with God 13 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 2011. Today would have been his 76th birthday. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of my dad. In his memory, I wanted to share the 13 most important lessons he taught me, one for each year he has not been with me.
