I’m an Executive who started life as an Occupational Therapist. As an undergrad, I had an innate curiosity around mental health, and what makes people thrive not just survive. This fascination sent me to university multiple times, and, as a self-confessed book nerd (my teams tell me one of my most common sayings is ‘There is a book you could read..’), constantly testing book theories at work. As an executive, I mentor up-and-coming leaders. This compilation of books represents the most common books I recommend to people to help them thrive at work as a leader. I hope you find them as useful as I have.
I wrote
Mentally at Work: Optimising health and business performance through connection
I remember vividly the moment, while researching change, when I read an article by Jeffrey Pfeffer on power in organisations. It was an ah-ha moment for me in making sense of some of the behaviours I was witnessing at work. Marie McIntyre, who studied with Pfeffer, wrote Secrets to Winning at Office Politics and writes in a much more accessible and practical way on understanding and working with these politics, while maintaining your own integrity. Many a mentee has said to me, ‘I’m not interested in the politics, I just want to do my job.' And my response to that is that if you want to be successful in your career, then you need to not just understand but work with the politics. But there are ways to do this, while still being you. And this book helps with how.
Office politics are a fact of corporate life. From new hire to experienced executive, everyone needs to learn how to effectively play the game to win. From sizing up the political climate in the office, to building positive relationships to increasing political power, SECRETS TO WINNING AT OFFICE POLITICS is the handbook for achieving on-the-job success. Marie McIntyre, organizational psychologist and corporate coach, reveals proven strategies to: - Turn adversaries into allies - Counter colleagues' powerplays - Develop an influence strategy - Cope with quirky bosses and annoying co-workers - Achieve personal and professional goals.
I met Susan while doing an Exec Leadership Program with McKinsey and her talk and this book have been pivotal in helping me navigate how I respond to challenges within the workplace. Despite our best intentions, sometimes things go awry, and our emotions can flood us in these moments rendering us ineffective. This book helped me to learn that our emotions are data not direction, and the practical techniques to use to not just learn to live with these emotions, but rather to learn from them. It has made me more resilient as a leader, buffering the challenges by learning my emotions.
Perfect for lovers of Quiet and The Power of Now, Emotional Agility shares a new way of relating to yourself and the world around you
Every day we speak around 16,000 words - but inside minds we create tens of thousands more.
Thoughts such as 'I'm not spending enough time with my children' or 'I'm not good enough to present my work' can seem to be unshakeable facts. In reality, they're the judgemental opinions of our inner voice.
Drawing on more than twenty years of academic research and her own experiences, Susan David PhD, a psychologist and faculty member at…
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and those who want to hear about close encounters with numerous luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuart…
Like most people, my brain can let me down at times with the endless chatter or ‘classroom inside my head’ as I like to call it. There was an amazing moment on a McKinsey course I did, where we all had to share our deepest darkest secret internal chatter about ourselves, and it was all versions of ‘I am inadequate.’ I love this book for how it normalises that chatter, but also provides practical, relatable strategies to use to help harness it. It explores what we can do ourselves, how we can change our environment to help us, what we can ask of our ‘board of advisors,’ and also how we can return the favour in helping others, when that voice of doubt gets too loud.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An award-winning psychologist reveals the hidden power of our inner voice and shows how to harness it to combat anxiety, improve physical and mental health, and deepen our relationships with others.
LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • “A masterpiece.”—Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit • Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink’s Next Big Idea Club Winter 2021 Winning Selection
One of the best new books of the year—The Washington Post, BBC, USA Today, CNN Underscored, Shape, Behavioral Scientist, PopSugar • Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness starred reviews
While we would love to think we are always rational, we are hard-wired for story not the rational data (albeit key data can be a strong anchor in a story). I started my career far more in the assumption of rational data trumps all, but recognised, through bumps and bruises, how stories can overtake decision-making. When I learned how to tell a better story, I learned how to get the results I needed. Gabrielle is such a down-to-earth, energising speaker and writer, and this book provided me with such a practical, relatable framework for always having a good story or two in my back pocket.
Learn the science and master the art of telling a great story
Stories for Work walks you through the science of storytelling, revealing the secrets behind great storytellers and showing you how to master the art of storytelling in business. Stories hold a unique place in our psyche, and the right story at the right time can be a game-changer in business; whether tragedy, triumph, tension or transition, a good story can captivate the listener and help you achieve your goals. In this book, author Gabrielle Dolan draws from a decade of training business leaders in storytelling to show you…
Citizen Scientist begins with this extraordinary statement by the Keeper of Entomology at the London Museum of Natural History, “Study any obscure insect for a week and you will then know more than anyone else on the planet.”
As the author chases the obscure Western red-bellied tiger beetle across New…
This book was recommended to me just as I accepted a big Executive role. I had the benefit of a two-week break between the two jobs and spent time on Hamilton Island with my feet up, processing its content and developing from that a clear but simple approach to how I was going to have the most impact in that next role. It worked. And it set up my career from there. I keep going back to this book each time I take on a new role, and while I don’t read it end to end anymore, the prompts within it are always useful practical reminders to help anchor my focus before starting a new senior role so I can have effective impact fast.
Named one of 100 Leadership & Success Books to Read in a Lifetime by Amazon Editors The world's most trusted guide for leaders in transition Transitions are a critical time for leaders. In fact, most agree that moving into a new role is the biggest challenge a manager will face. While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success. In this updated and expanded version…
Mentally at Work is about understanding the science behind why connection matters, and the practical strategies to build your mental health, the mental health of the team, and the strength of connection that delivers results. This book is written by a senior manager, for senior managers. It pushes away the jargon and ‘fluff’ to give you insights into why you can’t afford to ignore the tsunami hitting the developed world. Your health, your business performance, and your future leadership depend upon it. And it all starts with making pies….
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
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…
