The scene: Two college students, running to class, checking their phones, and finding emails from Fortune 500 CEOs.

This is what happens when a desire to learn collides with the generosity of America's top

 business leaders. Two college students, Grant Hensel and Julia Wittrock, who have now recently

 graduated from Wheaton College, wanted answers to one question: What business books should aspiring business leaders be reading? They wrote letters to each Fortune 500 CEO asking for their book recommendations, and were stunned to hear from more than 150 CEOs.

Below are the top 52 books recommended by today's leading business minds (in order of number of recommendations): 

1. Good to Great by Jim Collins

2. Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

3. Great by Choice by Jim Collins

4. The Outsiders by William Thorndike

5. Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter

6. Built to Last by Jim Collins

7. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

8. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

9. The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey

10. The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

11. The Bible by Multiple

12. Moneyball by Michael Lewis

13. The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

14. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

15. In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters

16. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

17. The Leadership Pipeline by Ram Charan

18. Management by Peter Drucker

19. Leadership Is an Art by Max DePree

20. Who Says Elephants Can't Dance by Louis Gerstner

21. Leadership by John Wooden

22. Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter

23. Leading Change by John Kotter

24. The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni

25. True North by Bill George

26. American Icon by Bryce Hoffman

27. Lincoln on Leadership by Donald Phillips

28. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

29. StrengthsFinder by Tom Rath

30. Titan by Ron Chernow

31. Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury

32. Global Tilt by Ram Charan

33. Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler

34. Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

35. The Strategist CEO by Michel Robert

36. The Big Short by Michael Lewis

37. The Will to Manage by Marvin Bower

38. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

39. Business Adventures by John Brooks

40. How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins

41. Winning by Jack Welch

42. The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

43. The Power of Many by Margaret C. Whitman

44. Taking People With You by David Novak

45. Switch by Chip and Dan Heath

46. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

47. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

48. Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough

49. Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove

50. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

51. Give and Take by Adam Grant

52. Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley

Would you like to continue learning and growing from local professionals and experts in a variety of fields that are pivotal to the success of your business? Learn more about Seacoast Bank's advisor network or check out our small business banking solutions.

Read the original article on Inc. Copyright 2016.