Agency Intensive is a podcast focused on the people behind successful agencies; founders, operators, strategists and leaders who share honest insights into what it really takes to grow and run a modern agency. The conversations cover everything from leadership and sales to operations, positioning, team culture and personal growth, with guests often speaking openly about both the wins and the mistakes that shaped their journeys.
At the end of each episode, guests are asked to recommend a book that has influenced the way they think, work, lead, or build businesses. It’s a simple question, but over time it’s become one of the most interesting parts of the podcast because the recommendations reveal the ideas and philosophies that agency leaders consistently return to.
A few guests have also spoken about building consistent reading habits, whether that’s setting aside time each day, reading 10 pages before bed, or taking on personal reading challenges throughout the year. If you’ve been thinking about reading more, learning outside of your day-to-day work, or building a stronger habit around personal development, this list is a great place to start. Rather than random business books, these are recommendations from people actively building and leading agencies every day.
Ep 01 – Stephen Kenwright
Stephen recommends the book Pep Confidential by Martí Perarnau, this book is an inside look at how legendary football manager Pep Guardiola thinks about leadership, culture, preparation and innovation during his first season at Bayern Munich. It’s less about football tactics and more about obsessive attention to detail, continuous improvement and building elite teams. It shows what high-performance leadership actually looks like behind the scenes, showcasing relentless curiosity, systems thinking and the ability to evolve before competitors do.
Available here.
Ep 02 – Chris Thomas
Chris recommends the book Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, it’s a brutally honest memoir about building Nike from a tiny startup into a global brand. Rather than a polished business success story, it’s full of uncertainty, cashflow crises, risk-taking and emotional strain. It captures the reality of entrepreneurship, encapsulating persistence, belief and surviving chaos long enough to win. Readers learn how great companies are often built through imperfect decisions and sheer resilience.
He also recommended Outlive by Peter Attia, which focuses on longevity and proactive health optimisation. Instead of waiting to treat disease, the book argues for building systems around exercise, nutrition, sleep and emotional health to increase both lifespan and “healthspan.” Sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is put your health and wellbeing first, the better you feel, the better you can do.
Shoe Dog available here.
Ep 03 – Richard Mawer
Richard Mawer didn’t recommend a book, he opted to share a great tool, to find out what tool and how it could help you, watch the episode here.
Ep 04 – Nathan Lomax
Nathan recommends the book Sales Glue by Matt Sykes, it focuses on building repeatable sales systems rather than relying on individual charisma or random wins. It’s aimed at agencies and service businesses trying to create consistency in lead generation, sales processes and client retention. The core lesson is that sustainable growth comes from process, alignment and clarity rather than heroic sales efforts.
Available here.
Ep 05 – Joshua Grant
Joshua recommends the book Human Powered by Trenton Moss, a book about creating businesses that genuinely empower people instead of draining them. It challenges outdated management thinking and argues that better culture, trust and autonomy create stronger business outcomes. It really defines how your growth is directly linked to how engaged and motivated your team feels.
Available here.
Ep 06 – Simon Penson
Simon recommends a book called The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy, it’s a classic strategic thinking book rooted in consulting frameworks and competitive positioning. It covers how businesses create advantage, allocate resources and make long-term decisions in changing markets. While it’s an older book, it’s one that agency owners should read if they find themselves hitting a stage where operational skill alone isn’t enough. A great one to give clearer strategic thinking around differentiation, growth and market positioning.
Available here.
Ep 07 – Ady Collins
Ady recommends a book called Traction by Gino Wickman, it introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a framework for helping growing businesses improve accountability, structure, communication and execution. It’s hugely popular among agencies because it gives founders practical tools for escaping chaos and building scalable operations. Readers typically learn how to clarify vision, improve leadership meetings and align teams around measurable goals.
He also recommended Essentialism by Greg McKeown, which is about disciplined focus. The core idea is that success often comes from eliminating distractions and saying “no” more often. For agency owners juggling endless opportunities and demands, the book reinforces the value of prioritisation and intentional decision-making.
Traction available here.
Ep 08 – Kelly Evans
Kelly recommends the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling, this book argues that people consistently misunderstand the world because of bias, fear and outdated assumptions. Using global data and storytelling, Rosling demonstrates that many aspects of humanity such as health, poverty, education, and life expectancy are improving more than we realise. It’s a great book for sharpening critical thinking and encouraging data-led decision-making instead of emotionally driven assumptions.
Available here.
Ep 09 – Adam Pearce
Adam recommends the book The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz, it uses pumpkin farming as a metaphor, arguing that businesses grow faster when they focus on their best clients and strongest strengths rather than trying to serve everyone. It’s particularly relevant for agencies because it encourages specialisation, premium positioning and removing problematic clients. Readers learn how narrowing focus can actually accelerate growth and profitability.
Available here.
Ep 10 – A Milestone Episode
Skipping to episode 11 as episode 10 was a milestone episode where we hear some expert takes from our guests so far. If you want to hear them, listen here.
Ep 11 – Amanda Walls
Amanda recommends the book From Third World to First by Lee Kuan Yew, this is a memoir of how Singapore transformed from a struggling post-colonial state into one of the world’s most successful economies. It’s packed with lessons on leadership, long-term thinking, pragmatism, talent development and governance. It demonstrates how vision paired with disciplined execution can create extraordinary transformation over decades.
Available here.
Ep 12 – Nigel Davies
Nigel recommends the book A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young; it’s a short but influential classic on creativity and idea generation. Young argues that great ideas are usually combinations of existing concepts formed through deliberate mental processes rather than random inspiration. It’s especially popular in marketing and advertising because it gives creatives and strategists a framework for generating better ideas consistently.
Available here.
Ep 13 – Jason Hennessey
Jason recommends the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, it challenges conventional business advice around meetings, growth, productivity, hiring and planning. The authors advocate for simplicity, smaller teams, faster execution and less bureaucracy. It validates learners and offers a more agile way of operating without corporate complexity.
Available here.
Ep 14 – Adrienn Major
Adrienn recommends the book Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort, often seen as controversial due to Belfort’s history; this book focuses on persuasion and sales psychology through Belfort’s “Straight Line Selling” system. While controversial the book remains influential in sales circles for its communication frameworks around certainty, tonality and influence. It allows readers to take away practical lessons on handling objections and improving sales confidence.
Available here.
Ep 15 – Mikey Emery
Mikey recommends the book Good Company by Arthur M. Blank who’s the co-founder of The Home Depot, in this book he explains how values-driven leadership and customer obsession shaped his businesses. The book emphasises trust, culture, stakeholder relationships and long-term reputation over short-term gains. It’s the kind of recommendation that reflects sustainable leadership rather than pure growth-at-all-costs thinking.
Available here.
Ep 16 – Angelo Zanetti
Angelo recommends the book $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi, a highly practical book about crafting irresistible offers that customers feel foolish saying no to. It breaks down value creation, pricing, guarantees, urgency and packaging in a very actionable way. It directly addresses one of the biggest growth problems: weak positioning and commoditised services.
Available here.
Ep 17 – Aaron Hutchinson
Aaron recommends the book The Four Conversations by Blair Enns, it’s written specifically for creative and consulting businesses, this book explains how agencies can lead sales conversations instead of reacting to client procurement processes. It focuses on authority, expertise, pricing confidence and better client relationships. It helps reposition agencies from vendors to trusted strategic partners.
Available here.
Ep 18 – Mads Singers
Mads recommends the book First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham, it’s based on extensive workplace research and challenges traditional management assumptions, arguing that great managers focus on individual strengths rather than fixing weaknesses. The key lessons revolve around talent, motivation and creating environments where people perform at their best. For agencies managing creative and specialist talent, the book offers valuable people-management insights.
Available here.
Ep 19 – Anthony Barone
Anthony recommends the book Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday, drawing heavily from Stoic philosophy. This book explores how ego can sabotage ambition, learning, leadership and long-term success. Stating that humility, self-awareness and discipline create more sustainable achievement than arrogance or status-chasing.
Available here.
Ep 20 – Joshua Grant
Joshua hadn’t read much since his last appearance on the podcast (episode 5) he said he preferred to watch YouTube. To find out what he likes to watch on YouTube, watch episode 20 here.
What These Recommendations Reveal
Looking across all of these recommendations, a clear pattern emerges, they’re all focusing on the foundational skills that determine whether an agency grows or stagnates. The overriding themes include, leadership, positioning, decision-making, sales, creativity, health, psychology, and personal discipline.
A lot of the recommendations revolve around building something sustainable rather than simply chasing revenue. Books like Traction, The Pumpkin Plan and The Four Conversations all reinforce the idea that successful agencies become more focused over time. They narrow their positioning, improve operational clarity, define better processes and become more selective about clients. The message is that growth usually comes from simplification and specialisation not from trying to be a Jack of all trades.
Another strong theme is leadership and people management. Books like Pep Confidential, Human Powered, Good Company and First, Break All the Rules all highlight that agencies are ultimately people businesses. Talent, culture, trust, communication and team performance are not “soft skills” they are competitive advantages. The best agency leaders create environments where people can perform at a high level consistently.
Sales and commercial thinking also appear repeatedly. $100M Offers, Way of the Wolf and Sales Glue focus on persuasion, offer creation and building systems that make growth repeatable. Many agencies struggle not because they lack technical skill, but because they fail to clearly communicate value or create offers that stand out in crowded markets.
There’s also a recurring emphasis on mindset and self-management. Essentialism, Ego Is the Enemy and Outlive all point toward a more mature version of success: focused thinking, emotional control, long-term sustainability and protecting your energy. That’s particularly relevant in agency life, where founders often operate under constant pressure, distraction and client demands.
What’s especially interesting is that many of these recommendations challenge conventional business thinking. Rework questions corporate complexity, Factfulness challenges assumptions and bias and A Technique for Producing Ideas reframes creativity as a process rather than magic. Together, they encourage agency founders to think more independently and avoid blindly following industry norms.
The Bigger Takeaway
The broader takeaway is that the best agency founders rarely succeed because they know one marketing tactic better than everyone else. They succeed because they become stronger decision-makers, communicators, leaders, strategists and operators over time.
An Unofficial Curriculum
Even reading just a handful of these books will give you a stronger understanding of, how to position and grow an agency, how to lead people effectively, how to sell with confidence, how to think strategically, how to avoid burnout and how to build a business that lasts rather than one that constantly feels chaotic.
These recommendations almost form an unofficial curriculum for modern agency leadership, blending business strategy, operational excellence, personal development and commercial thinking into the skills needed to build a resilient agency in a competitive market.
Alternatively, if reading isn’t your thing but you’ve still somehow managed to make it to the end of this blog, I’d recommend listening to any of the Agency Intensive podcast episodes where you’re sure to learn a lot from experienced experts in the industry without having to turn a single page.
