The FT Guides - Böcker

2025 Thinkers 50 Coaching and Mentoring Award - Shortlist

Runner Up - Leadership Book of The Year (The Leadership Awards 2024)

The research on mentoring is clear. Those who are mentored, out-earn and outperform those who are not. They make higher salaries, get promoted more often, have greater job and career satisfaction and lower rates of burnout. For organisations that invest in mentoring their employees, they benefit from higher productivity and greater loyalty. Mentoring works as a great retention tool. But despite all this, only 76% of people understand the undisputed benefits of having a mentor, and only 37% of people actually have one.

But how do you do mentoring well, both as a mentor and in building a mentoring programme in your organisation? The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring gives you the tools you need to understand what mentoring is and its benefits, learn how to mentor effectively, and be mentored.

By breaking down each stage of the process, this book will enable senior and aspiring executives to both give the support they need to act as a mentor to future talent in their organisation and seek mentoring for themselves that they had thought no longer relevant but which will stretch them and fast track their further career progress. While it's likely that they will have been mentored at some point in their career, in our experience many senior executives turn at some point from being mentored to mentoring others.

‘Understanding valuation is relevant to everyone with an ambition in business. For us a Cevian Capital it is an absolutely critical skill. This book will take you there faster than any other in the field.’

Christer Gardell

Former Partner McKinsey, Managing Partner and co-founder of Cevian Capital

‘A handy, accessible and well-written guide to valuation. The authors manage to capture the reader with high-level synthesis as well as more detailed insights in a great way.’

Anna Storakers

Head of Group Strategy & Corporate Development, Nordea Bank AB, formerly with Goldman Sachs & Co and McKinsey & Co

”If you can envision the future value of a company you are a winner. Make this comprehensive and diligent book on corporate valuation your companion pursuing transactions and you will succeed.”

Hans Otterling,

Founding Partner, CEO Northzone Capital

“Both in my previous position as an investment banker and today as an investor in high growth technology companies, corporate valuation has been a most critical subject. The Financial Times guide to Valuationserves as the perfect introduction to the subject and I recommend it to entrepreneurs as well as fellow private investors."

Carl Palmstierna, former Partner Goldman Sachs, Business Angel

‘Not only will Financial Times Guide to Corporate Valuation provide you with the basic understanding of corporate valuation, it also gives you an interesting insight into non-operational challenges that companies will face. And it does it all in an unexpectedly efficient and reader friendly manner. If you want to learn the basics and only have a few hours to spare, invest them into reading this book!’

Daniel Hummel

Head of Corporate Finance, Swedbank

‘In this highly accessible and reliable introduction to valuation, Messieurs Frykman and Tolleryd have succeeded in selecting only the essential building blocks in a topic that can otherwise be difficult to navigate. Indeed a guide, this book will prove handy to many of us and a breakthrough to some.’

Per Hedberg, Academic Director Stockholm School of Economics Russia

‘This book provides an accessible and informative entry point to the vast topic of valuation. The book covers mechanics as well as how value is linked to intangibles, growth opportunities and industry structure, all the way providing clear examples of every key idea. The authors understand value: they know what is useful, what is practical and what is critical, and give any reader great guidance to the challenge of getting values right.’ 

Bo Becker Assistant Professor Harvard Business School

"I read Frykman & Tolleryds book on Corporate Valuation the first time in the late 90's - the book has not only thought me how to value investments, but also how important it is to focus on long term cashflow when building and leading an organization"

Mikael Schiller

Owner, Chairman, Acne Studios

‘The easy, no-nonsense approach to corporate valuation.’ 

Fiona McGuire, Corporate Finance Director FGS

Understanding corporate valuation is crucial for all business people in today’s corporate world.  No other measure can indicate as completely the current status as well as the future prospects of a company. 

The Financial Times Guide to Corporate Valuation is a quic

Do you want to feel more confident about your investment decisions?

Do you need to have a better understanding of how the stock markets value a business?

Do you want to know what the key ratios are that drive share price performance?

The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions is the insider’s guide to how the market examines companies and values shares. It helps you understand the factors that drive long term wealth creation as well as highlighting the key risks that lead to value being destroyed.

Originally published as Analysing Companies and Valuing Shares, this new edition has been fully revised and includes a new and easy to follow framework for understanding valuation. Perfect for investors at all levels, it guides you through the investment maze, and highlights the key issues you need to consider to invest successfully.

The Financial Times Guide to Making the Right Investment Decisions:

· Gives you an easy to follow framework to guide your decision-making

· Explains clearly and concisely key financial concepts and how they drive valuation

· Shows you the key ratios to monitor and how they affect share prices

· Illustrates the key risks and warning signals that will help you avoid losses

· Identifies the qualities of company management and governance that differentiates winners from losers

· Brings the issues and numbers to life with real examples and case studies

In a challenging economic and stock market environment, the need to take better informed decisions is vital. This clear, common sense guide provides a comprehensive and accessible framework for understanding the valuation of a business and what drives its share price. Knowing the key numbers, ratios and techniques that professional investors use will help you to reduce your risk and invest more profitably.

From bestselling author Glen Arnold, this is a jargon-busting book that describes how financial markets work, where they are located and how they impact on everyday life. It assumes no specialised prior knowledge of finance theory and provides an authoritative and comprehensive run-down of the workings of the modern financial system.

Using real world examples from media such as the Financial Times, Arnold gives an international perspective on the financial markets with frequent comparisons in the workings of major financial centres such as the Bank of England and the City, the Federal Reserve System and Wall Street, the Japanese Central Bank, the European Central Bank and IMF and World Bank.

Financial Times Guide to Income Investing is the complete reference guide for all investors wanting their shares and investments to provide market beating — and continuous — income.

This book provides you with the necessary tools of the trade so you can work out the best strategy to follow guiding you through the mainstream, and not so mainstream, investment vehicles.

Beginning with an introduction describing the basics of risk, return, volatility, structure, inflation and investing, the book introduces the simplest and safest products and funds before moving on to those higher risk strategies that will pay the highest income.

The Financial Times Guide to Options, will introduce you to the instruments and markets of options, giving you the confidence to trade successfully. Options are explained in real-life terminology, using every-day examples and accessible language. Introducing three key options markets – stocks, bonds and commodities, the book explains options contracts from straight vanilla options to strangles and butterflies and covers the fundamentals of options pricing and trading   

Originally published as Options Plain and Simple , this new edition includes:

Like all investment strategies, options offer potential return while incurring potential risk. The advantage of options trading is that risk can be managed to a greater degree than with outright buying or selling.

The Financial Times Guide to Options is a straightforward and practical introduction to the fundamentals of options. It includes only what is essential to basic understanding and presents options theory in conventional terms, with a minimum of jargon. This thorough guide will give you a basis from which to trade most of the options listed on most of the major exchanges.  The Financial Times Guide to Options includes:

The Financial Times Guide to How the Stock Market Really Works is an introduction to the complex world of the financial markets. Whether you are new to investing, or already have a share portfolio, this is an intelligent guidebook will guide you safely through the often confusing world of investing. Written especially for the ordinary investor, it will provide you with the key strategies you need to make money on the stock market.

Beginning with the very basics of technical analysis and market price behaviour, this book teaches you how to apply these concepts and principles to your own trading.

With this comprehensive and straight talking guide you will soon be using the same successful techniques and formulas as the professionals.

 Learn how to:

An introduction to the fast growing $1.5 billion foreign exchange trading marketplace, showing you how the markets work, how to trade them successfully and how to mitigate risk.

The Financial Times Guide to Foreign Exchange Tradingis the authoritative primer, the first port of call for anyone interested in foreign exchange trading and wants to know what it is all about before taking the plunge.

The critical knowledge you need to plan, write and deliver your next presentation with maximum impact. Written by a co-founder of the Professional Speaking Association, this book focuses on getting you the results you need from your presentation, whether you are selling a product or service, a proposed change or even your own skills and abilities. It will show you how to persuade your audience by being relevant, clear, engaging and memorable.

FINANCIAL TIMES ESSENTIAL GUIDES: THE KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT

Whether you are writing a proposal, a report, a presentation or an email, this book will show you how to write to persuade staff, colleagues, board directors and customers. The Financial Times Essential Guide to Business Writing demonstrates how your choice of language can influence your reader. It gives you clear examples to show you the dos and don'ts of successful business writing and essential tips that are proven to make your writing more effective.

It shows you how to write for different audiences and in different media using style, structure and the psychology of language to your advantage. It also gives you the writing secrets used by the world's best advertising writers, which you can use to great effect in your own business writing.

Gain the knowledge and confidence you need to build and manage budgets and forecast financial information.

This book demystifies budgets and forecasts, providing simple explanations and clear examples. It includes integrated checklists, goals and milestones, to ensure you are on target to achieve the best results.

Part of The Financial Times Essential Guides series: Task-focused and results-orientated, the essential guides are for every manager who wants to move their skills beyond the ordinary to the best.

Since the first edition of The Financial Times Guide to ETFs was published in 2009, the number of ETFs in issue has doubled and ETFs are now common both on investor platforms and increasingly amongst financial advisors. This massive increase in demand has highlighted an urgent debate – just how dangerous are ETFs and how much do investors and advisers understand about the structure of the index tracker?

The second edition of this book attempts to answer this debate and is the indispensable bible on trackers for professional advisers and serious private investors.

This new edition also features a chapter based around the theme of Due Diligence and a new chapter on How to use ETFs and Index Funds for theLong-term, as well as a new Jargon busting section and a-new appendix looking at new ideas beginning to emerge.

The tools and ideas to help you lead with confidence and achieve better results through your team.

This book provides all the tools and skills to help you be more effective in leading your team and achieving higher levels of performance. It focuses on three key elements: you as the leader, the principles of team working and team building, and getting individuals to contribute and perform.

As well as identifying obstacles and pitfalls, it assists you in improving your skills and coaches you to work out what you could be doing better.

Everything you need to know to become a first class business trainer, from working out how people learn, to finding out if you can be a trainer, through to showing you the tools and models that will allow you to be a successful educator and teacher.

The Financial Times Guide to Business Training shows you how to develop, design and deliver outstanding business training. Written by two of the UK’s leading business trainers and based on extensive research into what the best trainers say and do, this book:  

· Is a single reference for anyone involved in business training whether you are newly qualified or experienced, a freelance trainer or already embedded in learning and development departments

· Provides a comprehensive resource of ideas, tools and approaches

· Will help you improve the quality of all aspects of your training needs, including analysis, planning and delivery

· Reveals the secrets of outstanding business training so that you can improve your reputation and results

· Answers commonly asked questions

· Offers support on your training journey via www.ftguidetobusinesstraining.com

The Financial Times Guide to Leadership is a one-stop shop for professionals at every stage of their leadership journey. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to upgrade your current skills, this practical guide takes you through the core building tools of self-awareness, influence and execution.

With thought-provoking exercises and action points throughout, plus handy chapter summaries for when you need to access information, this book is your roadmap to becoming a better leader. This definitive guide to leadership includes:

Everything you need to know to become an authentic and dynamic leader.

"My shelves groan under stacks of leadership books. But just a very few stand out as solid gold. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership merits inclusion in that select company. There is simply no excuse for not applying its very practical steps. I'd urge you to start or continue your journey here!"

Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

"Finally, a first-class leadership book that focuses on the 'how' and 'what' as well as the 'why' and 'when'. Full of practical steps to take you to the next level."

Doug Richard, entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups

"Leadership is at the intersection of competence, charisma and the ability to think big for yourself and for others. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership gives you the tools you need to navigate this junction with success." 

Mercedes Erra, Executive President of Havas Worldwide

‘One of the best books on stock market investing that I’ve ever read.’

Christopher Gilchrist, Editor, The IRS Report

‘Lucid and perceptive – any intelligent person can follow this guide and be on equal terms or better with the best professional money managers.’

Dr Peter Johnson, Saïd Business School, Oxford University

Is your investment strategy right for you?

Could you be making more money?

The Financial Times Guide to Selecting Shares that Perform helps you identify the approach to buying and selling shares that is best suited to you. It will help you to align your strategy based on the time and money you have available, taking into account your overall objectives and your attitudes to risk and loss.

In this thoroughly updated fifth edition of their bestselling investment classic, Richard Koch and Leo Gough explain 10 distinctive and proven investment techniques for you to choose from. They describe the different tactics needed to succeed in today’s market conditions and show you how it can be fun and profitable to try to beat the stock market.

The Financial Times Guide to Selecting Shares that Perform gives you:

This jargon-busting book describes how the bond and money markets work and how they impact on everyday life. It assumes no specialised prior knowledge of finance theory and provides an authoritative and comprehensive run-down of the workings of the modern financial system.

It’s in the money markets where money, or the value of money, can be bought and sold. It’s the place where Treasury bills, deposits, repurchase agreements, short-lived mortgages etc, can be traded. These are crucial to the global economy because they provide liquidity funding for the global financial system.

Bond markets operate in the same way but are financial markets where participants can issue new debt or buy and sell existing debt – known as bonds. As with money markets, bond markets are key because they provide money where no money previously existed (think of your mortgage).

Using real world examples from media such as the Financial Times, bestselling author Glen Arnold gives an international perspective on these markets.

The Financial Times Guide to Banking is a comprehensive introduction to how banks and banking works. Best-selling author Glen Arnold provides you with a foundation for understanding the wide variety of activities undertaken by banks. He shows you why these global institutions are so important to consumers and finance professionals alike and explains how their activities impact on everyday life.

The Financial Times Guide to Banking will give you:

-    A thorough understanding of all types of banking from retail through to asset management and investment banking.

-    An overview of global banking including the worldwide evolution of the sector, the influence of cross-border money flows and the importance of modern banking to international development

-    Expert knowledge about instruments and markets including debt markets, futures markets and swaps and options

-    Insight into the crucial importance of central banking and government regulation

-   Answers to the big questions about monetary policy and interest rates, payment systems and banking success

‘Practical, concise and full of tips that every manager needs to know, The Financial Times Guide to Management provides a powerful guide for leaders at every level.’

Arianna Huffington, Chairman, President and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group

‘This is clear, encouraging and packed with good sense – just like its author. A winner.’

‘Amidst the myriad of books on leadership, this guide presents an unusually concrete, comprehensive and practical set of principles and learnings for managers at every level.’

John Pepper, Former CEO & Chairman P&G; Former Chairman Walt Disney

From motivating a team and developing star talent to controlling budgets and fostering innovation, The Financial Times Guide to Management is your authoritative guide to becoming an effective manager.

Full of practical tips and advice, this defi nitive handbook offers

solutions to the everyday challenges of:

There is also on-the-ground advice from the executive frontline,

with insights from leaders including Paul Polman (CEO, Unilever),

Steve Marshall (Chairman, Balfour Beatty) and Cilla Snowball

(Chairman and CEO, AMV BBDO).

Whether you’re a new team leader or an experienced director,

this book contains everything you need to know to become an

outstanding manager.

Want to take your company to the next level?  You need a roadmap, a strategy.  Preferably one that is simple, workable and saleable.  This book provides you with just that.  It sets out a straightforward strategy development process, the ‘Strategy Pyramid’, and guides you through it.  It uses a lively central case study throughout, as well as drawing on examples of how real businesses have developed winning strategies.  Whether you are intent on growing your business, or setting out on your start-up, this book offers an uncomplicated, practical and readable guide on how to get the strategy you need for your business to succeed.

It offers sound advice on the following areas:

The FT Essential Guide to Developing a Business Strategy will help businesses of all sizes to chart and realise their growth ambitions.

One of the most important financial plans you can have is saving and investing for your retirement. Quite simply, the success of this plan determines whether you’re going to live comfortably after you stop working.

The Financial Times Guide to Saving and Investing for Retirement will lead you through a bewildering maze of financial tools and provide advice on crucial investment decisions. It provides everything you need to know about how to save and invest so that you can successfully plan for your retirement. It is packed with invaluable information on taxes, ISAs, pensions, investing across different assets and buying property.

The Financial Times Guide to Saving and Investing for Retirement will help you:

‘A comprehensive framework for savings, investment and consumption in the real world - a must read for every individual.’

Prof. Narayan Y. Naik, Professor of Finance & Co-Head of Finance Department, London Business School

'Yoram Lustig cuts through the noise to give you the practitioner’s insight on developing and implementing a robust financial plan'

Nick Bartlett, CFA, Director of Education, CFA UK

‘Anyone whether they are 20, 60 or 80 should read this book. It will make retirement much more financially enjoyable.’

Lawrence Gosling, Founding Editor of Investment Week and Group Editorial Director of Incisive Media, which is the publisher of Professional Pensions

How does a business differentiate itself through the customer experience and win exemplary levels of customer advocacy and love?

Customer  Experience  is  a  hot  topic  in  business  circles,  for  good  reason,  managing  the  customer experience has become increasingly complex, yet also essential for businesses to compete and grow.  Whilst in no way trying to diminish the importance of this work, there is an elephant in the room called differentiation. This is where the Brand takes centre stage.

In this book, you'll discover what is meant by the Branded Customer Experience, why it’s so important today, some of the common hurdles in executing a brand experience strategy, compelling examples from companies that are getting it right, and simple steps that companies can start taking today to deliver a customer experience that is not only efficient, but reflects (and never loses sight of) what is distinctive and desirable about the brand.

'The most damaging half truth for savers is “performance matters more than expenses”. Read this book carefully and the financial services industry will have one fewer easy victim, but you will have a sound base for a lifetime of successful investment.'Martin White, Chair of UK Shareholders Association

This is one of those great big books to buy and then tuck away for constant reference. It's a tour through everything from managing a portfolio to establishing a fair intrinsic value for a share. If it moves in the world of investing, it’s probably here.'

David Stevenson, 'Adventurous Investor' in the Financial Times

‘Informative and easy to read, Glen Arnold has produced arguably the most comprehensive book there is today on stock market investing and one that unquestionably will give an edge to any retail investor. This is a must read for anyone serious about investing.'  

Simon Thompson, Companies Editor, Investors Chronicle

AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE BESTSELLING INVESTING BOOK IN THE UK

The Financial Times Guide to Investing is the definitive introduction to the art of successful stock market investing by debunking the myth that investing is only for the wealthy.

Bestselling author Glen Arnold covers the basics of what investors do and why companies need them, through to the practicalities of buying and selling shares and how to make the most from your money. Learn how to understand different types of investment vehicles, pick the right companies and understand their accounts so you can compile and manage a sophisticated portfolio.

The fourth edition of this investing classic has been thoroughly updated and will give you everything you need to choose your shares with skill and confidence.

New for this edition:

In the ten years since the much-praised first edition, coaching has become a core requirement for

leadership. It's a core part of business school programmes, it's the norm on all leadership development programmes, and all leaders and managers now have to be able to coach. The FT Guide to Business Coaching is the book on which many leaders rely, and this updated edition will give readers a comprehensive introduction to coaching.

Being a successful business coach means having exceptional listening skills, asking great questions and

applying the best techniques at just the right time. But how do you learn to do that?

The Financial Times Guide to Business Coaching shows you the way. It gives you a sure footing in the

basics and provides you with a step-by-step overview of all the tools and techniques you need to build

your own unique and well-grounded approach as a coach. Ultimately it enables you to take your coaching from good to great. This indispensible guide covers:

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO STRATEGY. PLAIN AND SIMPLE.The Financial Times Guide to Strategy is your unbeatable reference on strategy. It offers an incisive overview of both corporate level and business unit level strategy, an A to Z of the world’s leading strategic thinkers and introduces the key strategic tools and techniques you need to develop your own strategy. Based on long experience and on conversations with leading strategists around the world, Richard Koch helps you discover each critical step in creating, delivering and understanding successful strategy. The fifth edition of this bestselling book is your easy-to-read, jargon-free guide to the strategic models and thinkers you really need to know about. Updated with new tools and examples, The Financial Times Guide to Strategy shows you which questions to ask, how to go about answering them, and then what action to take. This is the smartest and most readable strategy guide available anywhere.

Whether you’re about to start your own business or have already taken the plunge and want to keep everything on track, make sure you have a copy of The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up on your shelf. Regularly updated, this edition covers all the latest legal and financial changes you need to be aware of following the Budget.

All you need to know to make your start up a success.

This is the book that helps managers maximise the business value brought by data to their organisation. 

Are you eager to unlock the power of data in your organization? In the Financial Times Guide to Data Driven Transformation, Andrea De Mauro and Michele Pacifico provide a comprehensive roadmap for leaders aiming to harness the full potential of data analytics. This guide is designed for top executives, data leaders, and practitioners who are seeking to drive substantial business value and navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation.

The book covers key strategies for building data-driven cultures, developing analytics roadmaps, and leveraging artificial intelligence to support decision-making. Through practical insights and real-world examples, the authors show how businesses can unlock value from their data assets, streamline operations, and gain a competitive advantage. Whether you're at the early stages of your data journey or looking to enhance existing capabilities, this guide offers the tools you need to succeed.

Drawing from the extensive experience of both authors, this book is more than a theoretical guide; it's a hands-on, actionable resource tailored for professionals who want to make data an integral part of their company’s strategy and operational excellence.