by: Jelena Roksandić
“How to win friends and influence people”, by Dale Carnegie
This book is an old time classic. If you decide to read this book, it will change your perception towards people around you and it will teach you a lot about how you see and judge others. The main point of this book is that, if you want to have friends and be successful, you should be a nice person, not a mean one. Although, it sounds obvious and a lot of people think they are doing it, after reading this book they realise that there is a lot to improve in their relationship with others. That is why this is one of the most profound books to understand other’s behaviors and in teaching you skills to communicate effectively with others. A lot of the information is quite basic, but the examples and the message is quite profound. Regardless of its age, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” contains strong and valid principles that all leaders should have.
“The 7 habits of highly effective people”, by Stephen R. Covey
Everyone has habits. Some of these habits are good, some are bad and some habits have little to no impact on your daily life. Covey’s book focuses not on eliminating bad habits but on building up good ones. Each chapter is dedicated to one of those habits, with the first half of the book focused on moving from dependence to independence (self mastery) and the last half focused on interdependence (working with others). This book is a guide to those who desire to develop their entire personality and become effective in the personal and professional life. Another great asset of the seven habits is, how practical they are to implement into your life. What Covey offers here is not a theory on how you might live effectively — he goes so far as to offer instructions. You should re-read this book several times in your life, because every time you read it, you will learn something new.
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, by Robert T. Kiyosaki
If you want to learn the basics of finances and what is making the difference between poor and reach people, this is a book for you. In his book, Kiyosaki reveals that he had two fatherly perspectives while growing up. His biological father maintained an attitude towards money that kept him struggling financially throughout his life. His friend’s father, with who he spent a lot of time, held a different perspective, and ultimately prospered. Kiyosaki presents the six lessons that his rich dad taught him and then expands on them. The main point of this book is to educate yourself on personal finance, which is to learn how to become financially independent by making money work hard for you and not you working hard to earn every single penny. It teaches you that you do not have to be a slave to money and how to turn the situation to your advantage.
“Lean in”, by Sheryl Sandberg
Lean In is Sandberg’s examination of why women’s progress in leadership roles has stalled. Sandberg combines personal anecdotes with hard data to explore issues surrounding women in the workplace, particularly the limitations imposed upon businesswomen and the ways in which these women tend to limit themselves. Throughout the book, Sandberg offers practical advice for women seeking to take their careers to the next level by overcoming internal and external barriers to success. She also advises women to “make their partners real partners” outside of work, in their home lives. Lean in calls critical attention to the idea that in order for women to succeed in the workplace they need partners who are fully supportive of their careers and who do an equal share of household chores in order for them to have the time it takes to advance in the workplace. The goal of the book is to help women rise to the top of their career field or to achieve any personal goal that they are trying to reach for. Sandberg urges women to be ambitious in any pursuit, be it in-home work, or work outside of the home.
“Start with Why”, by Simon Sinek
This book explains that people buy from a company because they believe in its values, not because of the quality of its products or services. In Sinek’s words, “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” Customers and employees want to be part of a higher cause (your WHY), so you need to share yours and show how your products or service advance that cause. If you watch TED Talks, you’ve probably seen Sinek’s 2009 talk, How great leaders inspire action, which this book expands on. While the book focuses on businesses that are successful by pointing at the leaders and why they started in the first place, it is completely applicable to everything we do in life. This is a great book for anyone with a curious mind. Most of the stories are explained with reference to famous companies we know of like Microsoft and Apple. The concept is that the author explains why the companies are good at what they do and why everyone gravitates towards them.
“Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”, by Susan Cain
If you are an introvert or you have someone who is introvert in your team, this is a great book for you. Basically, the book is a flashing neon sign that says: it’s okay to be an introvert. Through this book Susan Cain chronicles her own struggles as an introvert while being a lawyer in a big company. Quiet a fascinating book about the prejudice that our society faces against introverts, and why it’s unfounded, and how, as an introvert, you can overcome those prejudices, as well as just KNOW yourself better. She points out that a third to a half of all people are introverts; though many of them have learned how to masquerade successfully as extroverts. She argues that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being introverted. Society needs sensitive, risk-shy introverts just as much as it needs brash, risk-tolerant extroverts. In fact, it may need them more.
“The power of habit”, by Charles Duhigg
This book explains why habits exist and how they can be changed. The Power of Habit is broken down into three sections: The Habits of Individuals, The Habits of Success Organizations and The Habits of Societies. According to the book, habits are formed in loops. There is a cue, a routine and a reward. The cue acts as a trigger, so every time your body becomes aware of the cue you will automatically follow through with the routine and the reward. Once habits are formed, this process will happen virtually on autopilot. When it comes to changing a habit there is a golden rule — use the same cue, provide the same reward but change the routine in between. Therefore, to change any habit you first need to be aware of what the cue is and what the reward is. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand how habits are formed, how we can change them and how you can use habits to make you more successful in life and business. So, if you want to add habits of running, working out or studying, this is a book for you.
“How to lead when you’re not in charge”, by Clay Scroggins
For anyone who wants to be a better leader or simply a better human, this read should certainly be added to your list. One of the greatest myths of leadership is that you must be in charge in order to lead. This book teaches you that you are in charge of yourself and that no one can lead you until you first learn how to lead yourself. You can’t wait around for the authority to lead, because authority is largely irrelevant. Influence is the currency of leadership. Whether you are at the top of an organisation or an entry-level position, this book will change the way you view your leadership. Clay Scroggins provides actionable steps for everyone to “start asking yourself what type of leader you want to be tomorrow. And start becoming that leader today.” Ultimately all leaders, even the top-level leaders, must use influence to lead well. Scroggins walks through the concept that figuring out who you are and who you want to be are far more important than what the title on your door says.
“Thinking fast and slow”, by Daniel Kahneman
Thinking Fast And Slow shows you how two systems in your brain are constantly fighting over control of your behavior and actions, and teaches you the many ways in which this leads to errors in memory, judgement and decisions, and what you can do about it. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. It shows you where you can and can’t trust your gut feeling and how to act more mindfully and make better decisions. This book offers practical insights into, how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives — and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking. Although primarily focused on psychology and behavioural economics, the book is still very much applicable to the world of investment where decisions often bear high consequences. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the brain, mind, thought, and decision-making.
“The 48 laws of power”, by Robert Greene
The 48 Laws Of Power draws on many of history’s most famous power quarrels to show you what power looks like, how you can get it, what to do to defend yourself against the power of others and, most importantly, how to use it well and keep it. Even if you have little interest in history you will still find the stories interesting. The stories show how the discussed law of power was used to increase power and when it was disobeyed to decrease power. Each chapter provides examples of an application of the law, along with “keys to power,” and applications to achieve the opposite outcome. This book is a great resource to understand the darker side of social human behavior. The book is not just about achieving and holding onto power. It offers preventative maintenance advice as well — how to defend yourself against others’ aggressive power tactics.
Credit: 54th issue of ESTIEM Magazine (2018)
You can now read the whole 54th issue on the ISSUU Platform!
