Ever since my teenage self stumbled into the world of computer programming, I’ve been fascinated by how technology is built. This isn’t limited to just how the software or hardware is architected; I’m just as fascinated by how teams and companies work together in order to get the job done. I’m currently Director of Engineering at Shopify, and previously I helped grow Brandwatch from start-up to scale up to successful acquisition. Along the way I’ve blogged what I’ve learned and have published two books: one being the subject of this list, and the other being Effective Remote Work. I live in Cumbria, UK.
I wrote...
Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs
I wrote this book for my past self, but unfortunately there was no time machine available to go back and give it to me. It was the tool that I wish I had to hand when I got my first management gig. It offers practical, actionable guidance for engineers making that transition. In the book, we explore effective leadership by presenting techniques for being efficient and productive, organizing information, delegation, and how to do essential management tasks, such as hiring, firing, and conducting performance and salary reviews.
The book also delves into the psychology of leadership, including staff motivation, coaching, managing deadlines, and navigating workplace politics. Fundamentally, great managers can make the world a better place, and in this book we can show you how.
This is the book that started to unlock the idea that management was a skill that could be learned, honed, and deployed effectively.
Although it was published before I was born, it was written by one of our industry greats — Andy Grove, who was the former CEO of Intel. He was an equally skilled writer as he was a leader; he ran one of the biggest semiconductor companies on the planet.
In High Output Management, Andy packs all of his company leadership skills into simple analogies such as how to start and grow a breakfast café that just beautifully describe the day-to-day challenges of leading technology companies.
When I wrote my book, I wanted to bring Andy’s book into the present day and hone it for front-line managers. Hopefully I did him justice.
The president of Silicon Valley's Intel Corporation sets forth the three basic ideas of his management philosophy and details numerous specific techniques to increase productivity in the manager's work and that of his colleagues and subordinates
If books about the military make you wince due to potential stereotyping, please just give me a minute to convince you otherwise.
Not only is this book riveting with real stories from the most decorated Special Operations unit in the Iraq war, it translates the lessons learned into compelling, actionable advice that you can use when facing any kind of challenge in your work or personal life.
Fundamentally it’s a book about taking complete ownership for outcomes: a refreshing and contrarian approach to dithering organizations that require twenty meetings to get anything done. It will make you a better leader and a better person.
Highly decorated Navy SEALs, now successful businessmen, show readers how to lead and win in business and in life with principles learned on the battlefield. In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin share hard-hitting, Navy SEAL combat stories that translate into lessons for business and life. With riveting first-hand accounts of making high-pressure decisions as Navy SEAL battlefield leaders, this book is equally gripping for leaders who seek to dominate other arenas. Jocko and Leif served together in SEAL Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated Special Operations unit from the war in Iraq. Their efforts contributed to the…
This book is one of the most skillful and actionable executions of an incredibly complex topic: how do we successfully work with people from different cultures?
The book covers techniques for unpicking cultural differences and better understanding our own so that people from dramatically different backgrounds can work better together: a topic that is close to the heart of all of us in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world.
The most fun part of this book is an exercise that you can do with your team to highlight and understand cultural differences. Despite sounding like a potential minefield, you’ll come out with a clear perspective on how each individual approaches building trust, prefers to give and receive negative feedback, and navigates decision-making in a group.
Whether you work in a home office or abroad, business success in our ever more globalized and virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences and decode cultures foreign to your own. Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together.When you have Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans who get straight to the point ( your presentation was simply awful") Latin Americans and Asians who are steeped in hierarchy Scandinavians who think the…
It heartens me to see that more and more excellent material is being produced about how to be an effective senior individual contributor, and Tanya’s book is a fantastic guide for growth-minded engineers that want to become technical leaders in their organization.
More importantly, as a manager, you get a blueprint of how to turn your senior engineers into true leaders and partners.
I almost see this book as a sibling of my own that I wrote for managers: it skillfully dances between making yourself better, making your team better, and making your company better. Essential reading for any senior engineer to understand what lies ahead.
For years, companies have rewarded their most effective engineers by suggesting they move to a management position. But treating management as the default (or only) path for an engineer with leadership ability doesn't serve the industry well. The staff engineer path allows you to contribute at a high level, with more free time to drive big projects, determine tech strategy, and raise everyone's skills.
With this in-depth book, author Tanya Reilly shows you ways to master strategic thinking, manage difficult projects, and set the standard for technical work. You'll learn how to be a leader without direct authority, how to…
Getting the most from yourself and others requires an intrinsic understanding of why people do what they do.
And this book describes a framework that is both actionable and incredibly easy to understand. By showing how all of us desire autonomy, mastery, and purpose, we can reflect on what brings meaning to our lives and our work.
As a leader, you can map this framework into the goals and objectives that you set with your staff, and you won’t believe the difference.
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things,…
As a trauma therapist and dedicated researcher, I love uncovering valuable insights within lesser-known books. There are hidden gems, free from the pressure of commercial success, crafted by authors deeply committed to research, understanding, and the art of writing itself. Their dedication resonates with me, as I believe in the profound value of information and the power of critical thinking. Through my own book, Traumatization and Its Aftermath, I aim to emphasize that psychological concepts often lose their depth in translation and my mission is spreading awareness and fostering a deeper understanding of trauma and its intricate facets. With that idea in mind, I chose these five titles.
A fresh take on the difference between trauma and hardship in order to help accurately spot the difference and avoid over-generalizations.
The book integrates the latest findings in brain science, child development, psycho-social context, theory, and clinical experiences to make the case that trauma is much more than a cluster of symptoms to be tamed, but instead best understood as development gone off course, away from growth and towards (only) survival.
This book prompts a profound shift in perception, inviting to view trauma as an intricate and diverse experience, a point of view that ultimately leads to sharper treatment and, hopefully, more healing. It encourages a transition from asking, "What happened to you?" to the deeper question, "What is your relationship with what happened to you?"
Traumatization and Its Aftermath: A Systemic Approach to Understanding and Treating Trauma Disorders
The book is comprehensive, bold, and practical-a much-needed resource for the assessment and treatment of trauma. Instead of the traditional focus on the overall importance of healing, Traumatization and its Aftermath decodes why some people don't heal as easily as others, analyzes the various failures of diagnosis, and explains how to make therapeutic interventions truly effective.
This book offers a systemic deep dive into traumatization that clarifies myths and misinformation about the entire spectrum of trauma and provides both clinicians and non-clinicians with the right level of validation, preventive measures, conceptualization methodology, assessment tools, and healing facts that have not…
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
leadership,
diversity,
and
career.
