Books To Check Out This Spring
Some books you can check out this spring
One of the most rewarding aspects of my work is the opportunity to build relationships with incredibly talented individuals.
Many of my friends have recently published, or are in the process of publishing, books that could be invaluable to you at this stage of your personal or professional journey. Here are a few I recommend checking out:
Lorraine K. Lee: Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence and Catapult Your Career
Lorraine is a friend of mine who is a keynote speaker, trainer, and now Author. Her book is a practical and helpful guide to understanding what presence is, to how someone can build their professional presence (in-person as well as digitally) to achieve their career goals. The book draws on Lorraine’s own journey from being a founding editor for LinkedIn’s editorial team to working at Prezi to now being a keynote speaker, corporate trainer and Stanford Instructor, but also draws on insights from folks like Daniel Pink, Kim Scott, Corporate Natalie, and Vivian Tu.
Who Is This Book For and What Problem Does This Book Solve? This is a book for professionals who know they want to advance in their career, however they define it. It answers the questions How do I develop my presence in an authentic, practical and effective way? What actions or practices can I take, if I want to achieve a career goal through developing my presence? What are ways in which I can better communicate my presence in my day to day work?
Madeline Mann: Reverse The Search: How to Turn Job Seeking Into Job Shopping
I came across Madeline's work from a friend of mine who originally introduced me to her via her YouTube Channel and LinkedIn presence. We ended up connecting as it turns out we live pretty close to each other, and she even invited me to participate in an in-person event a few years ago. I really resonated with her journey of spending time outside of her day job to solve a problem she couldn’t stop thinking about, and then finding ways to share that to the world (through YouTube and LinkedIn) and self-teaching herself along the way. Now, she has over a million followers on LinkedIn, is a LinkedIn Top Voice and now the author of a book.
The two parts of the book I found to be most helpful were “your resume is not about you” and “network as the shortcut.” While these are not new concepts her approach to them was a lot more helpful than others I’ve come across.
Who Is This Book For and What Problem Does This Book Solve? If you’re job hunting and frustrated with the conventional wisdom of the job search, this book is for you. It offers a step-by-step guide to navigating your job search in a way that’s more effective and less stressful.
Melody Wilding: Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge
I came across Melody’s work years ago as she was writing content and thought leadership on leadership topics in places that I was reading. We got connected as we both were LinkedIn Top Voices and she even did an interview for one of my other podcasts where I interview fellow entrepreneurs about their business. I've often found that one of the more challenging aspects of navigating your career and the workplace is that there are countless unspoken rules and things or experiences you come across that nobody really tells you about or prepares you for. Melody takes a refreshing approach to the concept of managing up, and presents it in a way that is both helpful and action-oriented for anyone looking to achieve their career goals or gain greater agency over their time and role in the workplace.
Who Is This Book For and What Problem Does This Book Solve? This book is for anyone who is trying to improve their relationship with their manager or leader. It’s also a good book if you know of a manager or leader who wants to improve how they elevate their teams.
Tasha Eurich: Shatterproof: How to Thrive in a World of Constant Chaos (And Why Resilience Alone Isn't Enough)
I came across Tasha’s first two books, Bankable Leadership and Insight (NY Times Best-Sellers) many years ago. Her research on self-awareness has been a focal point of a lot of the work I do with my clients in leadership development. Since then, I have had the privilege to learn from and with Tasha, and consider her both to be a friend and mentor that I look up to. Her latest book is about resilience+ - how do we use the right amount of resilience and what else beyond resilience (more on that in the book) and we rely on to not just bounce back, but grow forward? Part of why this book is a book is that Tasha found in her research on resilience that while many of us have well intentionally placed significant value on resilience as a society we actually have misunderstood what it actually means.
Turns out, resilience, while important, is not necessarily enough when it comes to navigating a complex, changing and chaotic world, and like many things, resilience has limitations - resilience was never meant to be a finite resource, which also may explain why many high achievers (some of whom Tasha writes about in the book) who are practicing what they have been told is resilience are still struggling to keep up nevertheless "grow forward" when navigating difficult times. But to me, the best part of the book was Tasha’s personal story. Throughout the entirety of the book, Tasha weaves in a deeply personal story of some personal challenges she faced during the process of writing this book, which illustrate the research she has done, as well as the guide she provides to going beyond being resilient, and becoming Shatterproof.
Who Is This Book For and What Problem Does This Book Solve? If you’re someone who has been trying to work on resilience but have found that resilience alone is not enough. If you are a leader who is trying to figure out how to lead in these challenging times, but feel overwhelmed by everything that is going on. If you’re struggling to navigate the change and uncertainty of our world today, and want to identify how you can respond.
So there you have it. Four books to check out for your own personal or professional development. If you end up reading or checking out these books let me know what you think!