5 Books We Loved in 2014

We are both big readers and big believers that reading is the best way to keep growing personally and professionally. We are starting a new tradition of sharing our 5 favorite books we read each year on the blog so here are our favorite books from our reading in 2014:

Carly:

5. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: Tony shared a quote by Lawrence Powell about the written word a few days ago: “Write to be understood.” I loved this quote, and I have always been intrigued by those who can write well. It is one of the many reasons I love reading. There was even a time when I considered writing as a future profession. For now, I read books on writing almost annually and try to take something away from them that I can use in the hobby and in my professional writing. King’s memoir was an inspiring story and showed me another example of the varied ways that writers approach the craft.

4. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh: I read this when I was still working in a call center environment as a sales agent, and I was completing my MBA. During the MBA program, many different management professors talked about the importance of the culture of a company in success. They often referenced Good to Great and other case studies, but reading Delivering Happiness brought the point home for me. The stories Hsieh shared made me wonder how insurance companies can create call centers that inspire the kind of passion that Zappos.com has with their service representatives. Customer service is an essential function, and it will continue to transition to call center environments. I’m still pondering how our industry can create a model like this. Note from Tony: If you are involved in running an insurance call center you MUST read this book.

3. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor: While I strive to be an optimist, my nature is much more on the “realist” bordering on pessimist side of the spectrum. Reading about Achor’s research which shows the advantages of choosing happiness was inspiring. I enjoyed the fact that it was research based and that he had concrete suggestions for thing one can do to improve their happiness level. This is a book that I will likely try to revisit annually. If you haven’t read it and aren’t sure about the premise, I’d suggest starting out with his TED Talk.

2. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg: While I’m not certain that Sandberg said anything surprising, the fact that she said it and started the conversation on such a grand scale was groundbreaking. Any woman who is in a professional setting likely knew the things that she was writing about before reading the book. However, reading something that you identify with is always enjoyable. Taking it a step further by promoting Lean In Circles is a fantastic way to create change.

1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain: This is another book that I fully identified with; I found myself reading her stories of introverts and nodding my head. However, I loved the book because of the strategies that she shared to be more comfortable in traditional extrovert situations. One that I have implemented in almost every networking situation is to show up early and try to get assigned a job. In addition to strategies to make myself more comfortable, I loved that Cain addressed the difference between shyness and introversion. Because the term shy comes with the connotation of being less confident, I think it is important to make the distinction between these two terms. Anyone who interacts with others (EVERYONE), should read this book. If you’re an extrovert, you’ll be better prepared to understand introverts, and if you’re an introvert, you’ll learn a set of strategies to make sure that you are using your strengths and working around your weaknesses in the best way possible.

Tony:

5. The Wealthy Speaker 2.0: The Proven Formula for Building Your Successful Speaking Business by Jane Atkinson: I did Toastmasters for a while back during my time at Nationwide, and I generally love public speaking. I picked up a few books on the topic, and this one was the clear standout. Jane is a very successful professional speaker and has a way to clear out the BS and give you the down and dirty in an inspirational way that doesn’t sugar coat the difficulty of being successful as a professional speaker.

4. Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by Carmine Gallo: I am absolutely addicted to TED Talks and think that there’s no better way to get your creativity flowing than watching a TED Talk every night. I read this one in preparation to my session on Recruiting and Retaining Millennials at the 2014 CPCU Society Annual Meeting in Anaheim and it helped a lot. While I don’t feel like it was as good as a true TED Talk it did help me a lot in improving the session to a whole new level from when I originally presented it at a prior smaller conference. Learning to open up, be genuine and being a good storytelling is very important for your professional career. If you ever have to give a presentation, you’re doing yourself a favor by learning the tricks of the best TED speakers.

3. Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen: Taking feedback is something our generation thrives on and at the same time struggles with. We need constant feedback but many of us have never been exposed to true constructive feedback and can be shocked when we first get the gift of true feedback from a boss or mentor. This book should be mandatory reading for all college seniors before graduating and even better before their first internship. It teaches in simple, plain language why feedback is important, the different types of feedback, how to properly receive feedback and many other incredibly important strategies and tactics to make the most out of every feedback opportunity and avoid looking like a cry-baby. Whether you’re a feedback giver, received or both do yourself a favor and get this one and get a copy for your kids who are just starting their career.

2. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness by by Richard T. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: As a proud insurance and psychology nerd the premise of this book was truly fascinating. Developing a good understanding of “choice architecture” and how it affects the decisions people make can only help you make a difference wherever you work. Defaults matter! Even if you think health insurance is a mess (which it is) you’ll thank me after reading this book which is about much more than just health insurance, it’s really about the overall psychology of choice.

1. Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier: I am very surprised that this was my first choice. When I picked it up I had no idea I would love it so much! I had read many articles about how big data will change business, insurance, and everything else in our lives and I still had simply no idea what the heck big data is. This book explains in very simple language just what big data is and how it has already affected our world. Most importantly it really opens your eyes about the kind of things we’ll be able to get from big data in the future. It made me kind of sad that I don’t have the analytical skills or inclinations to work directly with big data but I really feel that understanding it from the perspective of a non-practitioner will be very beneficial.

Links to Amazon included with each book for your convenience, we do not receive a kickback from them for each sale. When available we recommend the Kindle version instead of the dead trees version.

Have you read these books? What are some of your favorites that we didn’t write about? Share your thoughts in the comments.

This article was co-authored by Tony Canas, Regional VP West Coast Operations of InsNerds.com and Carly Burnham, Regional VP East Coast Operations of InsNerds.com

Tony Canas is a young insurance nerd and speaker. He has worked in claims, underwriting, finance and sales at three different insurance carriers, five cities and four states. Currently he’s the Territory Sales Manager for Northern California at American Modern Insurance, a part of Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company. Tony is passionate about insurance, technology, innovation and about engaging Millennials in the insurance industry.

Carly Burnham is the other half of the dynamic duo. She’s currently a Commercial Lines Underwriter at Erie Insurance. She has the difficult task of being Tony’s co-author, keeping his constant flow of crazy ideas focused and helping fleshing them out into useful articles. Tony and Carly are both CPCUs and have MBAs from Iowa State and they met while running Nationwide’s Gen Y Associate Resource Group.