Ten Must Reads for Women’s Month
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (Susan Cain)
In Quiet, Susan Cain maps the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century. She explores and illustrates how deeply and often our culture equates extroversion with success. She shows how we dramatically undervalue introverts and proves how much we lose in doing so. She also introduces us to successful introverts and their stories.
Quiet uses facts, statistics and the author’s own case studies to show that introverts are greatly successful and powerful, not in spite of their introversion, but because of it. This book is superbly written, carefully researched, passionately argued and shares indelible stories of real people – and the author narrates it all with heart and humour. It is an important and engaging read for introverts and extroverts alike!
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (by Angela Duckworth)
Why do some people succeed and others fail? What makes high achievers successful? Angela Duckworth shares new insights from her landmark research that proves that talent is hardly a guarantor of success, and that it is rather the characteristic of grit – a combination of passion and perseverance – that leads to achievement. She defines grit and illustrates how it can be developed.
Grit includes a self-assessment quiz, advice from Warren Buffet on identifying personal goals, and a chapter devoted to the ideal parenting style for those who want to encourage the development of grit in their children. Compelling, personal, insightful and life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that (and not talent or luck) makes all the difference!
The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School (Selena Rezvani)
The Next Generation of Women Leaders is the result of a year of interviews with women executives in various industries, roles and job functions. The book is an in-depth, eye-opening, and ultimately empowering narrative, filled with stories of remarkable and successful women who navigated the leadership maze and triumphed.
The book allows these women to act as mentors to the reader, and they provide tools and information that younger women can use to shape their own careers. Rezvani’s work encourages women to be their own advocates when it comes to professional growth and advancement. It provides tangible how-to’s on negotiating the workplace as a woman. It is a highly recommended read for Generation X and Y women who enter the world of work and aspire to be leaders!
Radical Candour: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean (by Kim Scott)
When we grow up, we are told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But this approach does not work when one aims to be an effective manager of successful teams. This book provides a vital new approach to effective management: radical candour. The radical candour approach finds the sweet spot between managers who are obnoxiously aggressive on one side, and disastrously empathetic on the other. It offers an approach, model and tools that are useful, practical and applicable for both managers and teams.
The author identifies three simple principles for building better relationships with your employees: make it personal, get (sh)it done and understand why it matters. It is the ideal read for managers and teams who want to be successful while retaining their humanity, finding meaning in their jobs, and creating environments where people have positive relationships with their work and colleagues!
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (by Brené Brown)
Researcher, thought leader and renowned speaker, Dr. Brené Brown, offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives. The book takes an honest look at what vulnerability is, why we are so afraid of it, what keeps us from allowing it and how it affects people differently. The conclusions are supported with data, statistics, anecdotes and helpful insights into the author’s own life.
With humour and candour, she shows that we are hard-wired to be connected to others and that we cannot experience joy or peace without these connections. However, we can only have these connections when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable. I really can't recommend this book enough – to everyone, everywhere and in every life situation!
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and be Your Own Person (by Shonda Rhimes)
In this touching, hilarious and deeply intimate book, one of Hollywood's most powerful women reveals how saying “yes” changed her life. As a serious introvert and overloaded woman, there was a particular benefit to saying “no” for Shonda: nothing new to fear. Then came Thanksgiving 2013, when her sister muttered six little words to her: You never say yes to anything.
Profound, passionate and utterly funny, in Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes reveals how saying “yes” changed her life. The book gives hardcore, helpful advice on how you can't do it all, how it's okay to admit you need help, and that saying “yes” to yourself comes in many forms. After reading this book, you’ll want to grab the bull by the horns and say, "Yes!" to your own life.
ROAR: How to Build a Resilient Organization (by Sandy Asch and Tim Mulligan)
There has never been a time when it’s been more important to build organisational resilience. ROAR looks at San Diego Zoo's high-performance culture, and how any organisation can follow its example to achieve exceptional influence and success. Using an innovative Resilience at Work Model, this book offers inspiration and actionable guidance that will drive engagement and inspire extraordinary effort in any organisation.
It captures the essence of what it takes to build a winning culture. A comfortable and inspiring read that offers actionable takeaways and points to ponder to both individuals and organisations who wish to build a legacy of resilience, it will make you want to ROAR!
The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II (by Katherine Sharp Landdeck)
After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbour, the United States needed pilots to fight in the war. This is the story of WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots): a group formed during World War 2 that trained pilots, tested aircraft and ferried aircraft. Essentially, by having female pilots take on these responsibilities, it freed up more male pilots to go into combat. Unfortunately, given society norms and gender roles at the time, these women faced a battle of their own in order to be taken seriously.
Even decades after the war, these female aviators barely received any recognition for helping win the war. A thrilling, beautifully written and painstakingly researched book, The Women with Silver Wings is an unforgettable portrait of these fearless, ground-breaking women. Every so often one is so lucky to encounter a book that is incredibly inspiring and that will continue to live in one’s heart … This was such a book for me.
Becoming (by Michelle Obama)
Michelle Obama is probably one of the most iconic and captivating women of our era. As the first African-American First Lady of the USA, she helped craft an open and inclusive White House, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls around the world.
In her memoir, through authentic and mesmerising storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, shares the experiences that have shaped her and describes her triumphs and her disappointments in a candid and honest way. She tells her story as she has lived it – in her own words and on her own terms. The book is a warm, wise and, at times, witty read of a woman of soul and substance. You cannot close this book without having been inspired!
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (Sheryl Sandberg)
Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become the poster of today’s women empowerment movement. In this book, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world's most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their lives that can affect change on a more universal scale.
The author gives us an in-depth view of how women can take charge of their own careers and push forward at a time when gender bias is more alive and well than most of us may want to admit. It is a “must read” for all women in business!