On My Shelf with Cristina Crucianu — Podcast Host & PM at Classgap (Barcelona)
About Cristina
She is a seasoned product manager at an ed-tech startup in Barcelona and above all, she defines herself as a growth mindset person. For this reason, she hosts a podcast called Growth Mindset On to spread the #growthmindseton attitude. Her growth attitude has taken her to learn 6 languages, live in 5 countries, build 2 businesses, finish 2 masters and start a podcast.
On my shelf
Dare to Lead
Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
by Brené Brown
My opinion
A book meant to help you become an empathic leader by practising vulnerability and being brave enough to share it with your team. A practical book that gives actionable tips on how to deal with difficult situations on our work-life and teaches you to be a great manager that understands its team’s emotional modus operandi. “Be courageous enough to show your vulnerability” as it’s an act of empowerment. This, together with specific know-how applied to emotional management gives you the keys to successful leadership. In a nutshell, an outstanding book for PMs who want to improve their empathic management’s skills to become inspiring leaders.
“With Dare to Lead, Brené brings decades of research to bear in a practical and insightful guide to courageous leadership. This book is a road map for anyone who wants to lead mindfully, live bravely, and dare to lead.”
— Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
320 pages, Ebury Digital 2018
Zero to One
Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
Why read?
This book is a must-read for those daring founders or product people willing to build the future. The writer has some thought-provoking statements meant to ignite unorthodox thinking and innovation. The only door to success is by building something completely new as it is the way to become a monopoly and play by your own rules, not the ones that the market indicates, e.g. Google, Tesla, etc. For those familiar with Design Sprint Guide, Thiel’s entire book is a constant invitation to practice “the crazy eights” exercise in order to find a business niche. He constantly asks readers: What valuable company/product is nobody building? Find it out and become a Monopoly. Easy, isn’t it?
224 pages, Currency 2014
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
A Story
by Richard Bach
My opinion
This book is a metaphor about growth and the desire to pursue one’s endeavours. It may sound as self-help but it is an ode to a passion-led life. To me, this book is the epitome of personal and professional growth as growth is not something easily found but something that requires hard work, passion and above all, an outstanding EQ (emotional coefficient). I think success is a perfect combination of these aspects and meaningful leadership is on learning how to efficiently master them. And, that’s all PMs must be willing to attain, right?;)
96 pages, Harpercollins Pub Ltd 2003
The Mom Test
How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
by Rob Fitzpatrick
My opinion
One of the most difficult aspects that PMs and entrepreneurs must do is to figure out their users’ pains in order to build, grow and iterate their products. This discovery skill is a must for product managers but a very difficult skill to master. Due to its difficulty, Fitzpatrick brilliantly gives actionable tips on how to talk to customers in order to know if you are building the right solution. Because it’s not about solutions but about understanding the problem that we are trying to solve and the users we are trying to help, right?
136 pages, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2013
The PM Library series “On my shelf” features Product Leaders from all over the world who are passionate about reading and sharing with the community. If you want to join the movement and share your reading list with others send us a message or fill out the following form. Let’s get better together 📚.
