In Pursuit of Profession: Top 20 summer (career) reads
There’s nothing like digging into a great read on summer vacation. This summer, why not boost your career while your toes are in the sand?
I know what you’re thinking. I’m on vacation; the last thing I want to think about is work. But instead of, or perhaps in supplement to, our normal summer reading choices that may take us back in history, or to far-off lands, or inside the mind of a sadistic killer, why not get to know ourselves and our careers a little better? Teddy Roosevelt once said that, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Some of us may have lost our spark at work, others want to reach for a promotion, still others might desire a career change. Wherever we are in our professional life, one of the books below can probably help us to use the time away from work to make things a lot better once we get back to the office.
Behind the scenes
Because I’m not an expert at the best books to inspire us in the career department, I turned to Jody Michael, CEO and founder of Jody Michael Associates, a career and executive coaching company. She recently compiled a list, which is available as a free e-book, entitled, “Top 20 Books for Succeeding in Life, Love and Career.” But before we get into the list itself, I asked Michael how she came up with her list. “Let’s face it, there is no shortage of “best of” lists today,” Michael said. “Yet all the Top 10 or Top 20 book lists I’ve encountered seem too narrow in focus. You can learn all the leadership “best practices” in the world, for example, but you really can’t reach your potential if you avoid communicating in difficult situations, lack empathy or haven’t learned to cultivate trust. I believe in taking a holistic approach – and I wanted to come up with a book list that reflected that perspective.”
Through her years of being a career coach, Michael has realized a few things about what make us successful in our professional lives. “I am a firm believer that, while every career calls for unique proficiencies, there are common threads that lead to success in any profession: accountability, emotional intelligence, communication (verbal and nonverbal) and self-management (emotional and task-related) – to name a few! Every single one of the books on my list speaks to one or more of these skills. We know that to be successful in a career, the most important attribute — far outweighing intelligence and technical skills – is emotional intelligence. As you move up the corporate/organizational ladder, you need to have the capacity to navigate the nuances of potential landmines and to pull people together. That requires emotional intelligence,” said Michael.
If you read the e-book, you’ll notice that while the books have been sorted into several categories, there isn’t one for “jobs” or “careers.” Well, there’s a reason for that. “I made a conscious decision not to include a career or jobs category on this list,” Michael said. “Having coached thousands of clients over the years, I do not believe there is a book that can effectively help people choose the right career path. And that’s where it all starts. People are only average when it comes to assessing their own skills, and often base their careers on false assumptions. Sometimes people choose a career path based on a particular vertical because that’s where they have the experience; other times, a confirmation bias tells them to look where they want to find it (we often find that with musicians, for example; they love music, and so they assume their career should be music-based, when that isn’t the case at all). Essentially, a book can’t be an effective sounding board.”
The list
While there’s not enough room here to give a snapshot of all 20 books, the following are a few that really stood out to me. Michael’s synopsis and category are also included:
▪ Accountability – The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. “While this book could also fit into the spirituality category, I’ve identified it as my number one choice for learning about accountability because, at its core, its message is about accepting what happens to us as if we had chosen it.”
▪ Communication - Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. “The way we use language has a profound effect on the messages we tell ourselves and others. And while it is perhaps the most important skill set in life, so many of us fall short when it comes to the ability to communicate in all situations. When the stakes run high, discomfort trumps the willingness — and, often, the capacity — to effectively engage in those crucial conversations.”
▪ Emotional Intelligence - How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. “This classic, time-tested book helps you get outside of yourself. It shows you that instead of focusing on being interesting, be interested. Even though it was written years before the concept of emotional intelligence was introduced, How to Win Friends & Influence People is based on two of its core principles: empathy and social skills.”
▪ Outliers - Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life by Mark Goulston. “Wherever we go, we run into irrational people. When something triggers them — whether it’s our doing or not — they respond in a crazy, unreasonable way. This book helps you understand, empathize with and effectively de-escalate the irate individual who has been provoked — whether intentionally or unintentionally — by you or your shared environment.”
▪ Trust - The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey. “This extremely powerful book emphasizes the importance of trust in both personal relationships and in business. It is unique in that it is one of the first to quantify trust.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 2:28 PM with the headline "In Pursuit of Profession: Top 20 summer (career) reads."