As his agency bio states, "Jim has spent most of his career putting together ideas, people, and money; identifying, nurturing, and marketing talent; and creating projects that make a difference." 

The projects and the authors he has represented have had a profound effect on the business book genre, and perhaps it's fitting that the initial recipient of the "Covert" award does so much of his work covertly—there from the beginning stages of the book but in the background of the end product. His is a name that most readers won't know unless they've been paying close attention to the acknowledgements sections of books for the last 25 years. In any gathering of industry professionals, though, he is one of the most important people in the room. 

The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company by Michael S. Malone | HarperBusiness 

The Intel Trinity, starting with its description of Intel as “the World’s Most Important Company” in the subtitle, is a book that seems constantly teetering on hyperbole. But, just when you think it’s veering over the edge, Michael Malone makes a perfectly succinct point that brings the picture into focus and the story together in a way that makes you quickly realize he is a completely spot-on and that your own version of events lacks a certain profundity. And that is not surprising, as this is a book that perfectly encapsulates the passing of an era when Silicon Valley’s first generation, a set of individuals that have changed life on this planet forever, is passing from the helm of companies into the history books. 

The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation by Josh Linkner | Jossey-Bass 

Josh Linkner’s Road to Reinvention inspires an immediate reconsideration of your own commitment to innovation. Linkner instills a sense of urgency to his message, but not without providing us with thought exercises and strategies that illuminate just where our own businesses might be stagnating. It’s a cruel world out there, he seems to be saying, but, even as he uses the life, death, and (impending) rebirth of Detroit as his exemplar, he is an optimist, making clear that a smart, daring, and clear-eyed assessment of where you are and where you dream of going can help ward off any disrupters who come to play in your pool. Whether your business is in decline or is searching for a growth strategy—especially those who have little maneuverability in terms of cash or internal bandwidth—Linkner’s championing of creative thinking, flexibility, and personal responsibility in the name of “proactive reinvention” will not only change how you do the business you do, but also keep it changing. 

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown | Crown Business 

In a year when a number of our category winners are about or are written by heads of Silicon Valley companies, Essentialism opens with a story about one Valley company leader who decidedly bucked the tech industry’s overdo-it culture by learning how to accomplish more by focusing on less and then teaches us how. At a time in history when the entire idea of work—what it looks like and how it’s done—is being questioned, the path to essentialism should be an important part, if not the very foundation, of the work conversation.