Ray Titus is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Franchise Group, based in West Palm Beach, Florida. I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of times this week. One of the things he shared was his recommended reading list. Here it is.
The Carpenter – Jon Gordon
A business owner on the brink of burnout meets a wise carpenter who teaches him to build his company and life on love, service, and genuine care. Through story, the book reframes success as relationships and impact rather than revenue and hustle.
The Energy Bus – Jon Gordon
Told as a workplace parable, a struggling professional’s life is transformed by a bus driver who shares ten rules for positive energy, vision, and teamwork. The story shows how attitude, belief, and purpose can turn conflict, pessimism, and setbacks into momentum.
No Complaining Rule – Jon Gordon
In this corporate fable, a leader implements a “no complaining” policy that initially sparks resistance but ultimately reshapes culture. The book promotes constructive solutions over venting, showing how reframing problems, gratitude, and clear communication can improve morale, engagement, and performance.
The New One Minute Manager – Ken Blanchard
This updated classic introduces three simple practices—one-minute goals, one-minute praises, and one-minute redirects – to get better results through people. Using a short narrative, it explains how clarity, timely feedback, and respect create autonomous, motivated employees in a fast-changing workplace.
Who Moved My Cheese – Spencer Johnson
A simple parable about four characters in a maze who react differently when their “cheese” (success, job, security) disappears. The story illustrates how denial, fear, and clinging to the past hold people back, while curiosity and quick adaptation unlock new opportunities.
The Precious Present – Spencer Johnson
A wise mentor helps a frustrated man discover that peace and happiness are found in fully experiencing the present moment, not chasing past or future illusions. This brief story encourages mindfulness, gratitude, and acceptance as the foundations of lasting contentment.
Tuned In – Stacey Alcorn
This book shows how entrepreneurs and professionals can “tune in” to other people’s stories to build powerful networks, referrals, and opportunities. It argues that curiosity, listening, and personal branding turn everyday interactions into strategic connections that accelerate business and personal growth.
Execution – Larry Bossidy
Written by a former Honeywell CEO and a strategy consultant, this book argues that the main job of leaders is executing, not just planning. It outlines disciplines for setting clear goals, choosing the right people, and holding rigorous follow-through conversations that align strategy with reality.
The 5 Dysfunctions of Team – Patrick Lencioni
Told through a leadership fable, this book presents five obstacles – absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. It offers practical ways to build vulnerability-based trust, healthy debate, and shared accountability so teams perform at their best.
Good to Great – Jim Collins
Collins analyzes companies that moved from average performance to sustained outperformance and identifies key patterns. These include disciplined people, a clear “hedgehog concept,” confronting brutal facts, and building a culture of discipline. The book emphasises Level 5 leadership and long-term focus over quick wins.
Before Happiness – Shawn Achor
Achor argues that happiness is a competitive advantage and begins with how people perceive reality. He presents research-backed strategies for choosing more empowering narratives, mapping alternative paths to goals, and amplifying positive signals so individuals and teams perform better under pressure.
Grit – Angela Duckworth
Drawing on psychology research, Duckworth defines “grit” as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. Through stories of high achievers, she shows how sustained effort, deliberate practice, and a sense of meaning often matter more than talent alone, and offers tools to cultivate grit in oneself and others.
7 Habits of Successful People – Steven Covey
Covey presents seven habits that shift people from dependence to independence and then interdependence. From being proactive to “sharpening the saw,” he blends timeless principles, character development, and practical tools that help individuals align daily actions with their deepest values and long-term mission.
Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss
A former FBI hostage negotiator shares negotiation tactics based on emotional intelligence rather than compromise. Techniques like tactical empathy, calibrated questions, labeling emotions, and the “Ackerman model” show how to get better deals in business and life without relying on hardball ultimatums.
The Happiness Advantage – Shawn Achor
Achor argues that success does not create happiness; rather, happiness boosts performance and resilience. Using positive psychology research, he outlines habits – such as gratitude, social connection, and small “wins” – that raise optimism, engagement, and productivity in workplaces and personal life.
Developing the Leader Within You – John C. Maxwell
Maxwell explains that leadership starts with self-leadership, not positional authority. The book explores vision, priorities, character, and growth, offering practical principles for influencing others, cultivating integrity, and moving from managing tasks to inspiring people at every level in an organisation.
Straight Line Leadership – Dusan Djukich
This book promotes a no-nonsense approach to leadership built on clarity, commitments, and decisive action. It challenges excuses and emotional stories, urging leaders to operate from grounded principles, make clear choices, and take direct paths toward desired results in business and life.
The Four – Scott Galloway
Galloway dissects how Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google built unprecedented power by tapping into basic human needs. He explains their business models, competitive advantages, and cultural impact, while also exploring what their dominance means for careers, regulation, and future opportunities.
Traction – Gino Wickman
Traction introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a set of tools for running a small or mid-sized company. It focuses on six key components—vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction – helping leadership teams gain clarity, accountability, and consistent execution.
Start with No – Jim Camp
Camp rejects win–win clichés and teaches negotiation as a decision-making process rooted in clear mission and emotional control. He encourages negotiators to be willing to hear “no,” focus on the other side’s problems, and avoid neediness, leading to better outcomes and stronger agreements.
The Execution Factor – Kim Perell
Perell argues that execution is the differentiator between dreamers and successful entrepreneurs. She outlines five traits – vision, passion, action, resilience, and relationships – and illustrates how ordinary people can apply them step by step to launch ventures, overcome setbacks, and create meaningful results.
Together is Better – Simon Sinek
Presented as an illustrated fable, this book underscores that leadership is about serving others and that journeys matter more than destinations. Sinek encourages readers to find purpose, build trusting teams, and choose environments where people feel safe, supported, and inspired to contribute.
A Life of Excellence – Richard E Simmons III
Simmons explores what it means to live a truly excellent life, blending philosophical reflection, faith, and practical wisdom. He challenges readers to move beyond success metrics like wealth or status and instead pursue character, service, and alignment with enduring moral principles.
The Go-Giver – Bob Burg & John David Mann
Through a business parable, a driven salesman learns five “laws of stratospheric success” centred on giving more value than you take. The story shows how generosity, service, and genuine relationships often produce greater business results than self-focused tactics or hard selling.
Nine Lies About Work – Marcus Buckingham
This book challenges popular management myths, such as the idea that people need feedback or that culture is everything. Using research, it argues that work is experienced at the team level and that great leaders focus on strengths, individualised attention, and real-world outcomes.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution – Chris McChesney
The authors present four disciplines for achieving strategic goals: focus on wildly important objectives, act on lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability. The framework helps teams execute priorities despite everyday “whirlwind” demands.
Profit First – Mike Michalowicz
Michalowicz flips traditional accounting by advising businesses to take profit first and then run operations on what remains. Using simple bank accounts and allocations, the method builds healthy cash habits, forces discipline, and helps small businesses escape the cycle of being “busy but broke.”
Big Potential – Shawn Anchor
Achor argues that true potential is a team sport, not an individual pursuit. He shows how positive ecosystems – supportive colleagues, networks, and communities – amplify success, and he offers strategies for celebrating others, sharing credit, and creating environments where everyone’s performance rises together.
Think Again – Adam Grant
Grant encourages readers to rethink assumptions, embrace being wrong, and treat opinions as hypotheses to test. Through research and stories, he shows how intellectual humility, curiosity, and “confident humility” help individuals, teams, and organisations adapt, innovate, and avoid stubborn blind spots.
Get Different – Mike Michalowicz
This marketing book argues that in crowded markets, safe and similar messages get ignored. Michalowicz offers a simple framework – differentiate, attract, direct – for creating campaigns that stand out, speak clearly to a narrow audience, and guide them toward a specific, measurable action.
The 6 Types of a Working Genius – Patrick Lencioni
Lencioni identifies six natural “working geniuses”: wonder, invention, discernment, galvanizing, enablement, and tenacity. The model helps individuals understand where they thrive or struggle in the work cycle so teams can design roles, projects, and expectations that fit people’s innate strengths.
All In on AI – Thomas Davenport
Davenport and coauthor Nitin Mittal examine how leading companies are scaling artificial intelligence across their operations. They highlight use cases, organisational changes, and governance practices that separate experiments from enterprise-wide transformation, offering leaders a roadmap for responsibly embedding AI into strategy.
Be Useful Seven Tools for Life – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger shares seven principles from his journey – from immigrant bodybuilder to actor and governor – centred on vision, hard work, resilience, and giving back. The book urges readers to set clear goals, ignore naysayers, embrace struggle, and measure success by usefulness to others.
Unreasonable Hospitality – Will Guidara
Former Eleven Madison Park co-owner Will Guidara shows how going “over the top” for guests can transform any business. Through vivid restaurant stories, he explains principles like personalising experiences, empowering staff, and treating everyone as a VIP to create unforgettable, loyalty-building moments.
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