You may well be considering taking some well-earned time off this summer. This blog offers some recommendations for career-oriented books that may well provide food for thought as we return to work ahead of the final stretch of 2021. Each one has been carefully curated to offer you a compelling, engaging and insightful read. I hope you enjoy this list.
- Never Split The Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it (Chris Voss with Tahl Raz): Chris was the head of hostage negotiations for the FBI and would often travel from the USA to negotiate for the release of US citizens. Thus, he has a deep and practical understanding of negotiation. This book offers some novel ideas that can be applied to negotiation in the workplace.
- So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love (Cal Newport): Newport is currently Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Georgetown University and the author of eight renowned books. In this classic book, he debunks the long-held belief of following your passion and instead suggests that developing deep skills is the way to success and satisfaction at work. It has lots of insightful mini cases studies and he makes a convincing case.
- What Color Is Your Parachute: Your guide to a lifetime of meaningful work and career success (Richard N. Bolles with Katherine Brooks): Now in its 50th Anniversary year, this is an absolute classic and no home should be without one. It has been revised annually and has sold more than ten million copies.
- The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board (Keith J. Cunningham): This is a great book for entrepreneurs, those who run a business or anyone who aspires to that. Cunningham has experienced both failure and enormous success as businessman and investor. In his career, he has learned that his mistakes were a result of unexamined assumptions, tolerating a poor team, and culture that did not execute consistently. In this very accessible book, he takes us through 48 lessons on different aspects of business and encourages us to have dedicated thinking time on specific business issues so that we avoid paying a “dumb tax”, i.e. the sometimes catastrophically high cost of avoidable mistakes.
I hope you decide to pick at least one book from this list and enjoy a fun and thought provoking read during your well-deserved break.
