9 Career and leadership books to add to your 2023 reading list
We surveyed our Uncommon network to share the career and leadership books that have most defined their work philosophy and influenced their careers. From books that reframe leadership outside the lens of masculinity to groundbreaking research on the power of mindset, these books will shift the way you think about work and level up your leadership skills.
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to make a big career transition? Or are you looking to be a more effective leader at work? We asked our Uncommon community to share the career and leadership books that defined and influenced their careers the most. If you’re feeling like you could do with an extra dose of insights and inspiration on how to thrive in your current role or successfully plot your next move, this list of books comes highly rated by some of Singapore’s top female leaders. From reads on mastering the art of negotiation to groundbreaking research on the power of mindset, these are the books that have inspired, enlightened, uplifted and enriched our network. Below, discover nine books to add to your reading list in 2023.
1. Ask for More, Alexander Carter
Negotiation is an essential skill for your career that can also improve your closest relationships and everyday life. In this groundbreaking and bestselling book on negotiation, Alexandra Carter—Columbia law professor and mediation expert who has helped students, business professionals, the United Nations, and more—offers an accessible approach anyone can use to ask for and receive more. We've been wrongly taught that the loudest and most confident voice wins in any negotiation. Instead, Carter reveals that you can get more out of a negotiation by asking the right questions, rather than arguing. She provides a straightforward, yet effective ten-question framework for successful negotiations, where both sides benefit. Carter's successful approach goes beyond a single "yes" and creates long-lasting value.
2. Drop the Ball, Tiffany Dufu
“Drop the Ball” is a true story of how Dufu–formerly chief leadership officer at Levo and a launch team member to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In–figured out that the answer to managing her mounting (and conflicting) demands of work, parenthood and marriage was by ‘dropping the ball’; that is, learning to let go. Offering a fresh perspective on why the women's leadership movement has stalled, Tiffany Dufu's Drop the Ball is packed with actionable advice. It encourages women to embrace imperfection, demand less of themselves and expect more from others. Only then can they focus on what matters most to them, dedicate the necessary energy to achieving their goals, and create the kind of fulfilling life they desire.
Member review: “This book helped me reframe my perfection(ist) tendencies, and taught me to let go and ask for help.”
3. Dare to Lead, Brene Brown
What does brave leadership look like? This is something researcher Brene Brown dives into in “Dare to Lead”, a practical playbook based on research with 150 global C-suite executives. In her book, Brown, who is renowned for her research on courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, challenges us to cultivate brave leaders who will humanize work. These are the models of leadership in the future and such leaders are necessary to navigate the political realities, digital transformation, and rapid pace of change that organizations face. This is a great read on leadership that positions vulnerability as the foundation of developing your strengths as a leader.
Member review: “Dare to Lead by Brené Brown” helped me to notice and better control my ego, acknowledge and accept my vulnerabilities and resurfaced my (personal) values.”
4. The Success Principles, Jack Canfield
Jack Canfield is the co-creator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. In this book, he turns to the principles he's studied, taught, and lived on for over 30 years and offers an actionable and uplifting playbook that will help anyone get from where they are to where they want to be. He spells out 64 timeless principles used by successful women and men throughout history, that will teach readers how to boost their confidence, approach daily challenges and live a life filled with passion and purpose.
5. Playing Big, Tara Mohr
While running her coaching programs for women, leadership expert and speaker Tara Mohr often found that the women she worked with were “playing small” in their lives and careers; they felt frustrated by that and wanted to “play bigger”. While not all women aspire to end up in the corner office, every woman aspires to something. The book offers tools to help every woman play bigger—whether she’s an executive, community volunteer, artist, or stay-at-home mother. Thus, Playing Big fills a gap among career books for women in that it doesn’t just speak to corporate women.
Member review: “This helped me show up in the world and take up space in a way that feels authentic to who I am.”
6. It’s The Influence Effect: A New Path to Power by Women Leaders by Kathryn Heath, Jill Flynn et al.
Based on recent research by the authors of the New York Times bestseller Break Your Own Rules, this book starts with the idea that what works for men in the workplace won't necessarily be effective for women. Illustrated with dozens of captivating, real-life stories drawn from the authors' extensive coaching experience, The Influence Effect helps women move beyond the politics problem and provides a fresh path to power. Packed with the authors' coaching advice and their "Big Five" strategies tailored to female executives, this book helps women break through political obstacles and get to what they really want: influence.
Member review: “It was empowering to see a different lens (and definition) of power that’s less driven by masculinity.”
7. Mindset, Carol Dwek
After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple yet revolutionary concept: the power of mindset. In her book, she explains how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every other aspect of life can be significantly impacted by our thoughts and beliefs about our talents and abilities. Those who have a fixed mindset—believing that abilities are static—are less likely to thrive than those with a growth mindset—believing that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can use this idea to create exceptional achievement. The book takes us on a journey to explore how our conscious and unconscious thoughts influence us, and how something as simple as word choice can have a powerful effect on our ability to improve.
Member review: “This book taught me how to approach life with a growth mindset, versus a fixed mindset, and therefore taught me how to reframe how I viewed myself.”
8. Do Less, Kate Northrup
Our culture of busyness and gendered tropes of women as multitaskers leads women–especially working mothers–to feel like they’re always failing their families, careers, partners and themselves. This book is for working women and mothers who are ready to let go of the idea that their worth is determined by their productivity, and instead create a life of presence, meaning, and joy. Instead of striving to "fit it all in," manage their time better, or "lean in," as is often suggested, this book encourages women to do less—and have more. It presents readers with 14 experiments to explore what would happen if she ‘did less’ in a particular area of her life. Rather than recommending an unrealistic life overhaul, it offers actionable, bite-sized steps to take over the course of two weeks.
Member review: “This book helped me reframe how I spend my time and energy in a more intentional way.”
9. How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
Leadership expert Sally Helgesen and bestselling leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith have trained thousands of high achievers to reach even greater heights. Time and again, they observed that women face specific and different roadblocks from men as they advance in the workplace. In fact, the very habits that helped women advance early in their careers can be hampering them as they move up.
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