Summer is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and reset your business strategy. With a mid-year vantage point, you can assess what’s working, re-evaluate what’s not, and realign your plans to finish the year stronger. Whether you’re navigating economic shifts, dealing with internal change, or simply want to sharpen your strategic edge, a well-timed reset can unlock new opportunities. These five hand-picked books offer clear, actionable guidance to rethink, refresh, and relaunch your business strategy with confidence, clarity, and purpose.
Best read for: Data-driven strategy
Data Impact
Ritavan
£33.99, Rethink Press
In a world flooded with AI hype and digital buzzwords, Data Impact brings clarity. This is a must-read for legacy businesses looking to cut through the noise and build a strategy grounded in empirical truth, not fleeting trends. Ritavan presents a proven, principle-based framework to align on value creation, eliminate waste, and drive scalable, data-led growth.
This book offers a grounded, no-fluff approach to leveraging your organisation’s strengths while avoiding costly groupthink. With a sharp focus on simplification, alignment, and learning, Data Impact is your practical guide to turning data into real results – without the overwhelm. A strategic reset starts here.
Best read for: Bold leadership and courageous strategy
Leading on the Edge
Zana Goic Petricevic
£17.99, Rethink Press
Are you playing it safe in business and life? Leading on the Edge is a powerful wake-up call for leaders who know they’re capable of more. Zana Goic Petricevic dares you to break out of comfort zones and lead with greater purpose, conviction and boldness.
Through real stories and insightful exercises, this book helps you connect with what truly matters, take calculated risks, and act with courage. It’s an inspiring roadmap to transform hesitation into action, mediocrity into meaning, and plans into extraordinary results. Ideal for the summer strategist seeking not just a reset, but a reinvention.
Best read for: Strategic thinking with a competitive edge
Business Warfare
Paulo Cardoso do Amaral
£17.99, Armin Lear Press
If your strategic thinking feels outdated or flat, Business Warfare delivers a refreshing jolt of clarity. Drawing on the wisdom of Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Foch, and Machiavelli, Paulo Cardoso do Amaral offers a layered, intelligent framework for modern business strategy in volatile, complex environments.
This is not just about competing, it’s about understanding the full terrain: political, regulatory and emotional. The book blends classical military theory with modern business insight, helping leaders see beyond day-to-day battles and position their companies for long-term, resilient success. Strategy as art, science and power play.
Best read for: Cyber-security
Secure by Design
René-Sylvain Bédard
£16.99, Rethink Press
Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue – it’s a strategic imperative. In Secure by Design, René-Sylvain Bédard lays out a practical, SME-focused approach to building a resilient, secure business in an age of increasing digital risk.
Using the proven SECURE framework, this guide helps you identify vulnerabilities, educate your team, and create systems that keep your business running, even under attack. It’s clear, comprehensive, and perfectly pitched for non-technical leaders who want to future-proof their organisation. If your summer reset includes strengthening your foundation and cybersecurity, this book is your starting point.
Best read for: Planning your exit strategy
The Exit Roadmap
Chris Spratling
£16.99, Rethink Press
Selling your business is one of the most significant decisions you’ll ever face and one of the most complex. The Exit Roadmap is the ultimate guide to preparing for a smooth, profitable exit on your own terms.
Chris Spratling strips away the guesswork with a clear, step-by-step plan for maximising your company’s value, avoiding common pitfalls, and attracting the right buyers. Whether you’re thinking of exiting in five years or five months, this book gives you the tools to plan ahead, negotiate smartly, and walk away with confidence and clarity. A must for founders ready to think long-term.
Now’s the time to reset. Whether you want to rethink your goals, protect your operations, plan your next move, or lead with greater impact, these five titles offer insight and inspiration to guide your business into a stronger, sharper second half of the year.