10 Great Reads to Help Grow Your Business
NAHB’s Young Professionals (YP) compiled a list of books that have helped inspire their careers and grow their businesses. These 10 books make great gifts for the upcoming holiday season, or purchases for yourself to get ahead of the competition.
The list features books on various topics, such as culture-setting reads like “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara.
“This topic is very related to home building,” said YP Committee Chair Robert Carroll. “We can excel by recognizing our role in creating experiences around our very emotional and personal transactions. This book creates cultural language to move your sales process from transactional to relational.”
Also featured is “Behind Your Back” by Bradley Hartmann, a book about what purchasing managers say when you leave the room.
“Hartmann is a former area purchasing manager for Pulte Homes, and provides insight to how purchasing managers approach their jobs and how they handle relationships with colleagues,” said Wes Robbins, vice president and partner at W Robbins & Company, LLC. Robbins found the book valuable to those looking for insider knowledge on selling to large-volume builders, especially to learn what is and is not important.
Additionally, NAHB’s Young Professionals are celebrating their end-of-year virtual happy hour on Friday, Dec. 13, at 4 p.m. ET. Members are invited to discuss their favorite books from the year, play games and meet fellow YPs. Holiday attire is welcome. Register now.
Latest from NAHBNow
The Trump administration announced that it is seeking to fully rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (“Roadless Rule”), which bars road building on more than 44 million acres of federal forest land.
After three consecutive quarters of modest improvement, housing affordability declined in the second quarter as higher mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty weighed on the market.
Latest Economic News
Second quarter 2026 data reveal softer conditions for townhouse construction as housing affordability challenges affect homebuyer demand, particularly in larger metropolitan markets.
With overall single-family construction down almost 7% for the first seven months of 2026, custom home building has been a relative bright spot for the residential construction industry.
Housing starts fell in July as economic uncertainty, rising construction costs, labor shortages and elevated financing expenses continued to challenge builders.