Here are 100 books that Remote Not Distant fans have personally recommended if you like
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Entrepreneurs have a tough lot in life. We dream of creating value for others, yet we are often cursed to pay a huge price in our own lives.
My experience as an entrepreneur is no different – I struggled through three mediocre business startups, learning a little bit more with each one. Along the way, I have put my lessons learned into writing: textbooks, how-to guides and even cover stories for Entrepreneur magazine.
Combining my own experience and the best advice from other entrepreneurs, I have systematically improved my current company… and have finally broken free of the curse! Now I love to share my experience with other business owners like you!
Building a great company and a great team takes more than love and data. In Leaders Eat Last, I learned the science behind why we join teams, why we leave a team, and how to build a team where people want to stay.
It turns out that being a part of a team is in our DNA. Literally. We have survived as a species by working together, and our brains produce pleasure chemicals when we are standing shoulder to shoulder with a co-worker.
But that’s not what makes this book great. Simon Sinek references both large companies and the military to make his case. Among other thoughtful insights, Sinek argues that the dedication, drive, and sacrifice that make the Air Force such a formidable team can be similarly created within work teams and companies.
This is a must-read if you want to really understand why and how we work together…
Leadership is not a rank, it is a responsibility. Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about taking care of those in your charge.
When we take care of our people, our people will take care of us. They will help see that our cause becomes a reality.
In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek, internationally bestselling author of Start With Why, investigates these great leaders from Marine Corps Officers, who don't just sacrifice their place at the table but often their own comfort and even their lives for those in their care, to the heads of big business…
Ever since I first started coaching at the tender age of 15, my main passion in life has been helping others find their own passions. Over more than four decades as a coach, educator, and mentor, I’ve read a lot of self-help books. They don’t always deliver. But some gems in the genre have truly helped me—along with the thousands of people I’ve recommended them to—experience significant personal growth and discover a richer, more meaningful existence. It’s my pleasure to share the best of the best here. Pick one up today and I promise your life will be better for it!
Why are some people better leaders than others? I’ve never believed they’re just born that way (or I wouldn’t be in the business of leadership training!). No book has shaped my thinking on this subject more than this one. It’s another title I’ve recommended more times than I can remember.
The big ‘aha’ moment for me in Coyle’s book was recognizing that effective leadership is not about one individual but the group as a whole. That’s allowed me to show more vulnerability as a coach, which has inspired confidence in my players. It’s helped me create a safe environment in the classroom, allowing my students to thrive. Whatever group you belong to—at home, at work, in the community—will invariably get stronger, healthier, and more successful from the many fascinating takeaways found in the pages of The Culture Code.
'A marvel of insight and practicality' Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit ____________________________
How do you build and sustain a great team?
The Culture Code reveals the secrets of some of the best teams in the world - from Pixar to Google to US Navy SEALs - explaining the three skills such groups have mastered in order to generate trust and a willingness to collaborate. Combining cutting-edge science, on-the-ground insight and practical ideas for action, it offers a roadmap for creating an environment where innovation flourishes, problems get solved, and expectations are exceeded.…
My passion for leadership and aspiring women leaders comes from my own leadership experiences and working with women and men executives and aspiring executives, every day. I had to make some difficult work choices in my 20s and 30s (with four young children) and was wonderfully supported by some wise women. Many of my choices were different from my peers and we continue to have to make more difficult choices than our male colleagues. We need to help each other, every day. I lead a blended life co-leading an executive search and leadership advisory firm, while also being a mother, grandmother, wife, mentor, friend, and lover of good music, theatre, food, wine, and curious people.
The Advantage lays out a compelling case that if an organization has strong organizational health it is well placed to succeed in its goals and in its industry.
Goodorganizational healthembraces great teamwork, clear and consistent company culture and goals, and how to have effective meetings. Lencioni brings together many pragmatic and practical perspectives through many years of working with executive teams.
The key element for me is his articulation of the ‘five dysfunctions of teams’ and then how to address these. That one chart has been pivotal to my facilitation of many challenging executive discussions with clients, particularly when paired with Covey’s approach to trust and trust building.
Modelling Trust is the first step in building effective executive teams.
There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides. Simply put,…
I see it every day. People wake up and trudge to work, resentfully working at a company that falls short of its promises and values. This is a problem that I've dedicated my career to resolving. My job is to ‘help organizations discover and live their possible’. This mission has guided me throughout my career as an international author, speaker, coach, and consultant with more than 25 years of corporate experience. Your brand promise doesn't determine your customer’s experience, your culture does. The problem is that we see culture as a means to an end leading us to a “set it and forget it mentality.” Culture is a living, breathing thing that must be nurtured.
If you are linear and like steps and processes this book is for you.
You will most likely make notes and underline a great number of things in this book. This is a practical book that masterfully outlines the “how to.” The author writes it in a way that it feels like they are your coach.
Culture transformation expert Siobhan McHale defines culture simply: "It's how things work around here." The secret to the success or failure of any business boils down to its culture.
From disengaged employees to underserved customers, business failures invariably stem from a culture problem. In The Insider's Guide to Culture Change, acclaimed culture transformation expert and global executive Siobhan McHale shares her proven four-step process to demystifying culture transformation and starting down the path to positive change.
Many leaders and managers struggle to get a handle on exactly what culture is and how pervasive its impact is throughout an organization. Some…
I’m deeply passionate about us all being happy and healthy at work. I’ve been this way ever since I was old enough to realise just how much time we would spend there! I grew up in a time filled with images of stressed out, chain-smoking professionals, where the word ‘executive’ was synonymous with ‘burnout’. I knew there had to be a better way. I’ve worked in mental health for twenty years and corporate wellbeing for over a decade and I love to combine those experiences to help people have their best day at work every day.
I’ve worked for myself for a long time and it can be a lonely and all-encompassing business.
Rebecca Seal offers a companiable voice, backed by science, to help make working for yourself easier and more enjoyable. The examples given help normalise your own experiences and offer reassurance that everyone struggles at points and that’s ok.
This book again offers something practical to keep you focused on your values, why you do the work you do and how to make the most out of solo working.
“Kind, realistic, and genuinely helpful...Install a copy on whatever surface is functioning as your desk, and you may even feel a little bit less alone.” —The Observer (London)
A practical, accessible, and charming guide for finding joy while navigating your professional life working remotely from home—without losing your mind.
Like it or not, working alone is now the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the process, but the trend is clear—making a living outside the confines of a public workplace is here to stay.
For anyone who needs guidance on how to navigate working from a home office—or…
I’ve spent my entire career working with people who have achieved impressive personal and professional success, but in a way that leaves them exhausted, overwhelmed, and stressed. My passion is to help them see that exhaustion is optional, and they can offer their unique gifts to the world in a way that inspires and energizes them. The collection of books I’ve recommended here provide a wonderful starting point for some of the most common challenges I see my clients experiencing: distraction, overcoming unhelpful habits, stress and burnout, and the growing prevalence of remote work and distributed teams. This collection is for busy, driven professionals who are dedicated to personal growth.
With the prevalence of remote work since the coronavirus pandemic, team members and leaders alike are struggling to adapt. What I love about this book is that it causes the reader to reflect on the specific aspects of their work life that are frustrating, disappointing, or detrimental to their career. It, of course, offers practical advice for overcoming the most common issues, but there is so much power in the awareness the book generates. For anyone working remotely some of the time, all of the time, or hoping to in the future, this book will be something you’ll refer to over and over again.
What does it mean to “go to work” when you don't actually leave the house? This is the ultimate guide for remote workers who want to stay engaged as team members, maintain robust work relationships, and keep an eye on their long-term career goals.
Even before the coronavirus hit, remote work was growing at nearly 30 percent per year, and now it's just a fact of life. There are many millions of people who once worked at a central location every day who now find themselves facing an entirely new way of working. Written by the founders of the Remote…
I love helping companies unlock global growth. As a child, I spent my free time writing letters to pen pals in countries around the world. That passion for communicating across borders, languages, and cultures never went away. I’ve spent most of my life working to overcome those barriers in business. I frequently write about international business for Harvard Business Review, and in my latest book, in which I share lessons learned as an operator and executive at HubSpot, where I led international strategy. Today, I’m the Chief Marketing Officer at Zappi, a tech company with employees in 16 countries.
Global business and remote work often go hand in hand. Having worked in a large multinational business, I’ve seen how the issues Tsedal covers actually play out in practice. She talks extensively about two important goals for any remote global team: productivity and trust, and how to achieve both in cross-national remote work settings.
I’ve always found that creating a stable and repeatable operating cadence is critical for driving success with remote global teams. Remote workers crave predictability, and Tsedal talks about how important this is, based on her research and work as a professor at Harvard Business School.
I appreciate that she highlights the fact that preferences around synchronous and asynchronous communication can change depending on employees’ cultures and language competence levels.
LONGLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR
"I often talk about the importance of trust when it comes to work: the trust of your employees and building trust with your customers. This book provides a blueprint for how to build and maintain that trust and connection in a digital environment." -Eric S. Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom
Harvard Business School professor and leading expert in virtual and global work Tsedal Neeley reveals how to thrive in remote and hybrid organizations.
Succeeding in a hybrid work environment comes with unique challenges. Managers must lead virtually…
In 2014, Alyssa Padgett convinced her husband Heath to take her to all 50 states for their honeymoon. Somehow he tricked her into doing it all in an RV. They’ve lived and traveled in an RV ever since. With her husband, Alyssa runs The RV Entrepreneur Podcast, a resource for anyone who wants to run a business while RVing.
With so many families working and schooling remotely, there’s been a huge influx of teens and kids RVing for extended periods of time. Kelsey was roadschooled from ages 12-17 and shares the highs and lows of life on the road as a teenager. (It also makes a great read for parents wondering if full-time RV life is worth it for their kids!)
I’ve always wondered why meetings are so terrible. And, why we spend so much awful time in them. So, in my graduate studies, I decided to try to figure that out. What makes meetings good and what makes meetings bad? Then, over the course of a couple decades, I wrote what constituted about 25% of all the science on the topic of workplace meetings. It may be self-proclaimed, but I am the Meeting Doctor. Just like you go to a physician for an illness, I’m who people go to when their meetings are sick and need a cure!
Do you use a webcam and a microphone to communicate with other people? Chances are you do and chances are you do it all the time! If that’s the case, this is an extremely important book for you, and anyone who meets with people via zoom, teams, google groups, or any number of other virtual meeting platforms. The On-Camera Coach is all about how to lead in a world that relies so heavily on communicating through video. It talks about how to enable presence, how to manage one’s “production value,” and how to inspire others using best practices in these virtual and now hybrid settings. I strongly recommend this read for sure!
The invaluable handbook for acing your on-camera appearance On-Camera Coach is your personal coach for becoming great on camera. From Skype interviews and virtual conferences to shareholder presentations and television appearances, this book shows you how to master the art of on-camera presentation to deliver your message clearly, effectively, and with confidence. Fear of public speaking is common, but even the most seasoned speakers freeze in front of a single lens being on camera demands an entirely new set of skills above and beyond the usual presentation to an audience you can actually see. It requires special attention to the…
The average person spends over 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime – that’s roughly one quarter to one third of a person’s life. I’m an academic researcher who studies work. I know how to design workplaces that are good for organizations (high productivity) and the people who work in them (high employee well-being). But if we leave it all up to senior management, we won’t generate positive changes fast enough. There’s a robust body of evidence that we can all use to make our local workplaces more supportive, inclusive, and fulfilling. I’m on a mission to make the world a better place, one workplace at a time.
This book moved me at a very deep level, because Professor Frost makes the content very personal.
He wrote it when he was suffering (physically and emotionally), and his own pain made him acutely aware of ways that other people can alleviate pain (or conversely, make emotional pain become toxic). Many day-to-day workplace activities create emotional pain (e.g., a negative performance review, a downsizing decision) but people’s responses make all the difference.
Professor Frost’s focus is on managers who operate as “toxin handlers” in their workplaces, but any of us can be toxin handlers for our coworkers. The book helped me to be more mindful of workplace pain points and be more proactive in supporting my colleagues.
Human interaction is never flawless. Even the best relationships produce tension and at times, unpleasant emotions. Since organizations are comprised of people, all organizations generate emotional pain as part of the process of doing business: producing new products on tight deadlines, setting benchmarks for performance, creating budgets, crafting company policies, and so on. Getting the job done is rarely painless. But when emotional pain goes unmanaged or is poorly handled, it can negatively affect both employees and the bottom line - in essence, it becomes toxic. In "Toxic Emotions at Work and What to Do About Them", Peter J. Frost…
