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Personally I've found there to be few helpful books which directly relate to management consulting / business strategy. The only one that I've found really helpful is:

• Winning - an overall look on business strategies and philosophies used by Jack Welch (former CEO of GE)
  
  But here are some books that are very helpful in developing people / soft skills essential to effective consultants:
  
  
• Getting to Yes - an incredible book on negotating skills.
  
• How to Argue and Win Every Time - not as argumentative as it sounds, this is a great book which is hugely helpful on how to present your positions and how to get the best outcome for everyone in a situation.
  
• Influence - brilliant book on the ways in which we are influenced to do things.
  
• The 48 Laws of Power - a very Machiavellian put pragmatic look on the ways in which personal power is gained / lost.
  
• Vital Lies, Simple Truths - how to recognise self deception that we're all prone to and how to overcome its limitations
  
• The Blank Slate - a mindblowing book on human psychology and what we're naturally predisposed to be. Helps you to better understand people and their motivations in not just business but all aspects of life. Read from Part 2 onwards.

I'd recommend reading The Effective Manager or maybe start with their podcasts to see if you like the advise. Manger Tools While it wasn't mind blowing for me, it was at least a starting point when I was starting from zero. In the book they do get into giving feedback that will produce results and it's been very helpful for me. Concentrate on positive feedback and use it to lead into things you would like to see changed/improved. Don't just hit them with negative feedback all the time. Avoid the shit sandwich though; positive feedback-negative feedback-positive feedback, people catch on to this quick.

One-on-one meetings with your direct reports are crucial. These meetings are not about you, they are about your direct. They allow you to establish a rapport with your direct.

Good how-to books on management are hard to come by. Sometimes you just need to listen/read other content and pull some useful tidbits from it. I just finished The Hard Thing About Hard Things and was able to pull some useful things out of it.

Last but not least, be a human being.

Look up these two books:

• "McKinsey Way";
  
  
• "McKinsey Mind".
  
  Both are reminiscences written by a former McKinsey consultant and I suppose they are exactly what you are looking for. Lots, lots of interesting insights inside, especially for a newcomer.
  
  After you grasp the idea of consulting from these volumes, and remain eager to read more, you might want to move to books focused on so-called "case interviews". "Crack the Case" and "Case in Point" are good examples to start IMO.

Current junior who is planning to start casing for the first time this summer in preparation for full-time recruiting.

I'm planning to read Case Interview Secrets, listen to Victor Cheng's LOMS, and read How to Get Into Consulting Firms (Link). After this, I plan to run 40ish cases over the summer.

​

Does this sound like a good study plan, or should I add another book like Crack the Case System (saw it in the wiki) to the mix? I'm also actively avoiding Case in Point so that I don't end up learning the same frameworks as everyone else and I am hoping this will lead to me being a bit more creative than other MBB applicants.

There's a very good Korean drama called Misaeng: Incomplete Life, which is about a Korean trading company. There are a lot of good examples of the Korean business culture in and out of the office. When I was working private sector in Korea, I worked for companies in exactly this industry, so the show resonates a lot with me (minus the hyper-inflated tv drama). The show is streaming on Netflix too!

Also, the book Seoul Man by Frank Ahrens, is a good read on Korean business/life culture. Frank was the highest ranking non-Korean executive at Hyundai (and arguably Korea at the time). I've met with Frank a few times and occasionally chat with him from time to time. He's a good guy.

One that's overlooked a lot but I found more helpful than Cheng/Consentino is "How to get into the top consulting firms: a surefire case interview method."

http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Into-Consulting-Firms/dp/0615279899

The Mind of a Strategist, by Kenichi Ohmae (An ex-McKinsey consultant that founded the firm's Strategic Management practice) is the best publicly available book on management consulting. It details the methodology thats required to derive factual, well-thought out strategic insights and it isn't too bogged down with a specific function of a business (e.g. Marketing, PR, finance).

Very few authors or individuals can concisely present to us how the analytical world, strategic world and the competitive world converge. Very few authors can highlight to people, what type of insights are possible.

I will re-read this book over and over again and find something new applicable to the business world from it.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mind-Of-Strategist-Japanese/dp/0070479046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393970749&sr=8-1&keywords=mind+of+a+strategist

Funny you asked, I actually released my first book centered on an Introduction to Consulting last week. I'm still working on getting my website set up and was going to do a free kindle promotion the first week of December, but in case your interested now, here is the link.

https://www.amazon.com/Jack-All-Trades-Master-Some-ebook/dp/B07JX5CXTS/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1540912904&sr=8-30&keywords=introduction+to+consulting+book

Used this for the last three years while traveling regularly for work. Does a great job. Just make sure not to steam your suit if it's fused--those must be ironed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ORC2Z2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RFSTBbBW6SFA0

Usually, it just means knowing how to use excel effectively (to crunch large data sets, create models etc.)

Basic guide to lingo:
http://www.consultingcafe.com/consulting-lingo-dictionary

Books (might not be relevant to you, but tempted to share given the title of your post):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Idiots-Guide-Consulting/dp/0028642716
http://www.amazon.com/Consulting-For-Dummies-Bob-Nelson/dp/0470178094

The ABCs of Consulting is actually a pretty good start.

This book has been instrumental for me https://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197
Useful to understand scenarios where people acted differently than you would expect and position yourself well

This is the one I have, bought it in 2015 and still going strong.

Link

I have been using This ASUS Monitor for a few months now. Its light high'ish resolution and the refresh is good enough to watch movies.

It has its own case and fits with my laptop in my laptop bag. Its powered off USB so only one cable is necessary to make it work. If you do not have a USB-C port they sell a USB 3.0 version thats slightly slower refresh I cant really speak to it.

This book focuses on shareholder activism and is an entertaining read

Saved me in a few small airports. Mini Travel Swivel Charger Surge Protector with Dual USB Ports

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgePlus-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector/dp/B00ATZJ5YS

I picked up one of the new GaN 61W PD USB-C jobs.


Its much smaller than the stock power adapter(2"x2"x1").

Picked up a nice 6 foot USB-C cable to go with it.


Stock power adapter stays at home, new little guy lives in my cord bag

I only carry USB-C chargers/cables and got little adapters for the three items I travel with that are micro-usb.

Mouse(MX Anywhere 2) stays with the computer.

an external backup battery for your tablet/ phone for when you need to charge your phone but can't find a charger

a 3 to 1 power strip, this is great for when you can find an outlet and need to charge multiple things or when you find an outlet and someone else is using it. simply ask to plug your power strip in and share. this model also has USB

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector-Charging/dp/B0015DYMVO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1405737755&sr=8-5&keywords=belkin+power+strip

There is a book I highly recommend called Say it with Charts that was written by McKinsey's Director of Visual Communication, Gene Zelazny. It is, IMHO, the bible on how to display information in presentations.

Becoming the Evidence Based Manager by Gary Latham

Leadership BS by Jeffrey Pfeffer

Dying for a Paycheck by Jeffrey Pfeffer

Evidence Based Management by Denise Rousseau and Eric Barends

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

Work Rules by Laszlo Bock (of course)

​

And more that are actually based on solid evidence, not stories (sorry, I mean case studies. Same thing).

Agree completely. Also: become King of the Airport Gate Seating Areas with this travel outlet multiplier

I think this is the one that several of my colleagues use. It works quite well. https://www.amazon.com/MB169C-1920x1080-Powered-Portable-Monitor/dp/B01C83BE06

Needs a kiddie laptop with JIRA Jr, and a copy of ABCs for Consulting.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATZJ5YS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFROBFI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1426205551&sr=8-1&keywords=tumi+alpha+2+expandable&dpPl=1&dpID=51Zp1O1tMfL&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SX200_QL40

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

Everyone Poops

Buy it here

Everybody poops.

http://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Turtleback-Library-Binding-Edition/dp/0613685725

Jack of all trades master of some

I believe the author is a redditor too.

The downside is that of you set it down in a room full of consultants you'll be checking name tags to find yours.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KFROBFI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1426205551&sr=8-1&keywords=tumi+alpha+2+expandable&dpPl=1&dpID=51Zp1O1tMfL&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SX200_QL40

Edit: also if you're patient you can find them on sale elsewhere.

Depends on what type of consulting, but I found this book to shape my thinking when talking to C-Level folks about strategy. And no, I do not know the author, so pure recommendation