Are you looking for a good book to help you get better at communication, growing your grit (or knowing what it is), or to help you in building relationships? Read on for some recommended reading for anyone looking for ways to improve.
- You can also check out the resources page for other recommendations!
- Want to know what I’m reading next? Check out my Read Along list!
Please note that there are links in this post that will give me a commission if you use them to purchase something, at no extra cost to you. Please rest assured that I will never recommend anything that I don’t trust and believe will be of value to you. See my affiliates page for more details.
I love to read. I LOVE it. My iPad is my most treasured possession not because it’s so cool (which it is) or because I can use it for so many things (which I can), but because I have the Kindle app on it, with (at current count) over 450 books in it.
I try to read a little at least every day. Mostly I read fiction, specifically fantasy type books with tons of magic and mythical creatures like dragons and stuff like that. I recognize, however, that not everyone shares my taste for all things magical- and dragon-oriented, so here I have collected a list of my favorite non-fiction books and articles. Although some do have a certain kind of magic.
One thing you should know is that I’m not a super-critical person. I also don’t believe that reading is dead! Many books and movies I might recommend don’t always have the best reviews and/or are not critically acclaimed. Being that I put much more stock in what I personally think about something than what a stranger thinks, I feel comfortable recommending them to you. Of course, you may not like them, but I hope you will.
As I was looking up the links to put in this list, I realized that some of them were published a long time ago! Being that I still think about them a lot and still use the things I learned in them, I feel like that puts them firmly in the “tried and true” category.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!
Grit, Resilience, & Passion
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance | Angela Duckworth
“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.” Angela Duckworth originally researched the concept of grit and how it is key to being successful. The quote above is found early on and what hooked me into reading it. The idea that talent is not the most telling factor in success helps me believe that even if I’m not the most talented at something I’m trying to do, that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do it if I put in the effort.
Now, Discover Your Strengths | Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton
This one is all about finding what you do best. As you may have read in Grit by Angela Duckworth, talent isn’t everything. But I believe you can combine innate talent and preferences with grit and persistence to become truly phenomenal. This book helps you figure out what those strengths might be.
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy | Sheryl Sandberg
I read this because I knew Sheryl had written Lean In. Also I was confused at first between Option B (the book) and Plan B (the contraceptive). They are not the same. Regardless, this book is great. Ms. Sandberg is the COO of Facebook, and writes about losing her husband. It’s about coming back from a horrible trauma and being able to find joy again. I highly recommend it.
Communication, Interpersonal & Relationships
Fierce Conversations | Susan Scott
This has been a favorite of mine for many years. I read it first when I was fairly new to the “corporate world” and it was pretty life-changing for me at the time. Many of the concepts I learned in the book are ones I still talk about today with my team and coworkers, such as managing your emotional wake, interrogating reality, and not “sugarcoating the spitball”. Don’t be discouraged by some of the reviews; not everyone has to be a psychologist to understand how important conversations are in any kind of relationship.
Emotional Intelligence, Self-Compassion, and Personal Growth
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone | Lori Gottlieb
“…change and loss travel together. We can’t have change without loss, which is why so often people say they want change but nonetheless stay exactly the same.” I got referred to this book from a friend on Facebook, who included this quote. This quote is three pages in, and it hooked me. This is a true story about a therapist and her journey through therapy. She includes case studies from real life, and the peek inside someone else’s head is irresistible. I laughed, I cried, I got inspired, I couldn’t put it down.
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 | Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, Patrick Lencioni
I’ve always thought of this book as the definitive resource for emotional intelligence (EQ). If you’re not familiar with the four core concepts of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management), or even want to take a test to see where you score, this may be just what you’re looking for.
Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success | Sylvia Ann Hewett
When I first became a people manager, I struggled (and honestly, I still do) with presenting myself in a way that enabled other people to take me seriously. While I’m not sure I buy into the “executive” part of the “executive presence” concept, this book really helped me figure out the areas that I needed to work on in order to claim more credibility for myself.
Atomic Habits | James Clear
Habits are the tasks or processes that we engage in on a daily basis that either move us towards or away from the person we want to become. Changing your habits can change who you are, and that can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the habits. This book is an amazing resource to teach you not only how to change your habits but also how the focus should be on who you want to become, not on getting a particular outcome.
Career and Professional Development
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will To Lead | Sheryl Sandberg
I heard about this book for years before I read it. While I think some of the concepts are super easy to talk about and perhaps not applicable to a population of readers, it’s still an amazing book. As a woman reading this, I felt empowered to do better. I think men could get a lot out of this also, just saying. If you’re a leader of people, or interested in becoming a leader of people, you may want to check this out.
How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job | Sally Helgessen & Marshall Goldsmith
I’m sure it’s not news that women many times approach work situations differently than men do. Whereas What Got You Here Won’t Get You There [affiliate link] focused on several habits that may be holding you back in your career, Marshall Goldsmith found that women many times faced different obstacles in their work lives. This book, a collaboration between Mr. Goldsmith and Sally Helgessen, explores habits that are more likely to be held by women. It gives awesome, insightful advice about how women may have habits that are holding them back in the workplace, and how to break those habits. Not that men don’t have these habits, but it definitely has a more feminine slant, which I appreciated.
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful | Marshall Goldsmith
The original book about habits that may be holding you back and how to break them. The idea is that the habits and ways of working you’ve employed up till now may have gotten you to where you are today, but they may not take you farther. Just because something worked before doesn’t mean it will work for every situation. For a more feminine focus, check out How Women Rise [affiliate link], described above.
