Your career is more than just that job you wake up every day to execute and then pay bills at the end of the month. A career is a lifetime pursuit that is consistently growing, evolving and is not always easy, however, it is undoubtedly fulfilling.
Developing your career requires commitment, dedication, and constant learning and expansion of knowledge. Your career development journey not only involves the day-to-day work you do, but also the skills you have and are acquiring, your passion, your definition of happiness and ultimately what success looks like to you. Keeping all these in mind while going up the career ladder isn’t as easy as it sounds.
At some point you have gotten stuck at getting the job done, so the bills are paid then hoping to make time for career development. However, did you know that you ca achieve balance? That you can keep the lights on and still have a fulfilling career? The answer to these questions can be found in many places, one of them is in books written by people who were once where you are.
If you put down career development as a resolution this year, or as I like to call them, ‘intentions’ then the following books will come in handy at enlightening, inspiring and ultimately giving you that nudge you need to get back on your career development journey.
The Squiggly Career: Ditch the Ladder, Embrace Opportunity and Carve Your Own Path Through the Squiggly World of Work by Helen Tupper
The life of career ladders and lifetime-long jobs is long gone. Today, we live in a more fluid world where people have multiple careers, or are not afraid to shift between industries, roles or even locations. The career path is no longer a straight path, it’s more of a squiggly line.
Squiggly careers are exciting and packed with numerous opportunities, however, their ambiguity can be a little overwhelming when you cannot seem to figure out how and when to take advantage of them.
In the book, Helen Tupper offers a practical guide on how to go about career development and make the most of these squiggly careers. The book focuses on a lot of self-reflection and is quite engaging so do not expect to read through from cover to cover. Grab your pens and pencils; it’s time for some homework.
What motivates and drives me? What am I good at? These are a few of the questions you will encounter as you engage with the book. As I said, it will not be a breeze, some critical thinking will be involved.
The Squiggly Career will challenge you to think about the kind of squiggly career you want and guide you on how to sculpt it in line with your interests.
Rave Review
‘The Squiggly Career is no ordinary business book. Practical, pithy and personal it will revolutionize the way you think about work’
Crystal Eisinger, Head of Strategy, Google Ads Marketing
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building A Business When There Are No Easy Answers By Ben Horowitz
Presenting the book that will teach you what business school did not cover.
Starting a business especially in todays’ world is overly glamorized and simplified. It is almost like a fairy tale- sit at a coffee shop with your laptop replying to emails, have a few meetings here and there then make a ton of money to travel the world. The social media perfect business. Ben Horrowitz is the guy who is about to burst that bubble for you and be brutally honest about how hard it actually is to run a business.
Though the book is majorly focused on start-ups, it is packed with fantastic business lessons applicable to just about any job. If you are in a management position look out for tips on hiring and firing people. If you currently have a day job and are thinking of starting a business as a side hustle, the knowledge shared in this book by Silicon Valley’s most respected entrepreneurs is invaluable. And if you already hacked running a business successfuly, get some pointers on when to sell the company and how to do it.
Packed with invaluable insights on the business world, this is a book that will impact your career development journey greatly.
Rave Review
“One of the great things that [the author] wrote in [this book] is the hardest part of being a CEO is managing your psychology.” –
Drew Houston, CEO Dropbox
Check Out – The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building A Business When There Are No Easy Answers By Ben Horowitz
More Than Enough: Claiming Space For Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) By Elaine Welteroth
No matter your age, race, or background- let no one convince you that you are not enough. Incase you don’t believe me, maybe Elaine Welteroth- author, former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, and the youngest person to ever hold that position in a Conde Nast publication, will.
Often the only black woman in the room, Elaine has had to work twice as hard to rise the ranks and shatter numerous ceilings along the way. More Than Enough is more than just the title of her part memoir, part manifesto; Welteroth describes these three words as a mantra for anyone who has been made to feel less than enough, made to feel like an ‘other’, from women to people of color to people from marginalized communities.
Unlike most of the career development books on this list, this book isn’t just giving you pointers on what to do; it is the story of someone you can follow on Instagram to confirm she truly walks her talk. So if you’re looking to venture into a new career or are the ‘other’ person in your current place of work, Elaine’s words might be exactly what you need.
Rave Review
“Anyone who has ever felt like she doesn’t belong will feel less alone after reading [this book].” –
Sophia Amoruso, Founder of Nasty Gal & GirlBoss Media
Check Out – More Than Enough: Claiming Space For Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) By Elaine Welteroth
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self To Your Biggest Challenges By Amy Cuddy
Have you ever left an interview and wished you could get a do-over? Or been in a challenging situation and wished you had brought out your best self?
This has happened to right about everyone at least once in their lives, especially in their career development journeys. Challenges, especially in the workplace, can sometimes push us to a place of self-doubt, anxiety, and less-than-adequate performance. So how do you bring out your best and strongest self when faced with the biggest hurdles?
More often than not, we miss out on opportunities to advance our careers (or lives) because we are too focused on what others will think of us and our decision. Enter Amy Cuddy, the queen of self-confidence. This Harvard professor teaches us on how to tap into the power within, and be present at all times. If you intent to take a deep dive into networking or interviewing for jobs, then this book will come in handy at how to ace each interaction.
Being present does not have to be a long spiritual journey, like Cuddy says in the book, it is the daily choice to nudge yourself to be in the moment, a day-by-day practice of tweaking our mindset, body language and behaviour.
Rave Review
‘The high priestess of self-confidence for the self-doubting. A must-read for – well, for everyone.’
Susan Cain, author of Quiet
Check Out – Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self To Your Biggest Challenges By Amy Cuddy
The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Career By Alex Banayan
There’s a reason Forbes awarded this book Career Book Of The Year: it is MINDBLOWING!
If you’ve been trying to pivot in your career, do something out of the ordinary but feeling stuck, wondering how did so and so do it? The probably used the Third Door.
What is the Third Door? You may be asking..
Well, like in every nightclub, there is the main door where everyone and their mother is trying to get through, then there’s the VIP where the elite people slip through, and then there’s the weird little entrance somewhere at the back that you need to bang hundreds of times, get tired and decide to slip through the back kitchen window- The Third Door. It’s not a direct entrance, it is a combination of struggle, wit and the unwavering will to find a way inside.
That is what you may need to find for your career development. The Third Door to that meeting that will change your career trajectory, the Third Door to that exclusive networking mixer where anyone who is anyone in your industry will be attending.
A career development book like no other, written by a young man who everyone would ignore but instead took the Third Door to uncover how the world’s most successful people did it. Wildly entertaining yet overflowing with insight, Alex Banayan poured his heart and soul into the making of this book, and you will feel it as you read it and try finding your Third Door.
Rave Review
“Banayan’s hustle is insane. He crouched in bathrooms, chased people through grocery stores—he did whatever it took to make his dream happen. The extents he went through will inspire you to keep grinding on your path. If you are hungry to succeed, trust me: read The Third Door.”
JERMAINE DUPRI, Grammy-award winning rapper and music producer
Barking Up The Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong By Eric Barker
As you have probably noted by now, most of the advice shared about achieving great success in your career is not quite accurate. If you have been playing a guessing game with your career development journey to ultimate success, author Eric Barker is about to make things clearer for you.
In Barking Up the Wrong Tree, we learn why top of the class students don’t end up becoming billionaires, how your weaknesses could be your greatest strengths, and why the best lessons in the cooperate world come from the odd balls- pirates, serial killers, gang members.
The traditional definition of ‘road to success’ hasn’t worked for the vast majority. Why? Eric Barker lays down all the answers and shows us what separates the super successful from the rest of us, how we can emulate them and why sometimes we shouldn’t. Backed up with statistics and anecdotes you have never heard of before, this book will help you stop guessing and start moving with direction in your career development journey.
Rave Review
“Delightfully puckish, evidence-backed and full of insight, this book answers questions about success that have puzzled us for far too long.”
Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take
The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) By Seth Godin
You have probaby heard this old saying countless times ‘Winners never quit. Quitters never win.”
In this book, bestselling author and Marketing guru Seth Godin disagrees with the saying and believes that winners are actually the greatest quitters, they just know when to do it. Call it smart quitting if you may.
As I mentioned earlier, the career development journey is not always easy, it may start out as fun and exciting and then we hit somme challenges and then it’s not fun anymore. Winners go through these periods as well, they just know how to tell the difference between a Dip- which is a difficult situation that gets better if you tough it out and a dead end. Knowing how to decipher Dips and Dead Ends is where winners and quitters differ.
Wanting to quit doesn’t make you a failure, we have all done it especially when starting something new like a job, a business or a relationship, however, being able to identify the temporary nature of the situation helps you quit forward. You get to see what let go of, what to work on and keep the focus on the end goal.
Godin shares more on how to become a winner who knows when to and how to quit in this short read. A must-read career development book as you set up plans to advance in your career.
Rave Review
“Absolutely delightful, combining his wise aphorisms and anecdotes with Hugh MacLeod’s darkly brilliant business-card cartoons.”
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail
Check Out- The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) By Seth Godin
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
Getting a position of leadership when the organization is going through its biggest challenges can be quite unsettling and detrimental to ones career, or it can shape you to become an extraordinary leader. That is the story of Robert Iger, former CEO of Walt Disney, one of the largest and the world’s most respected media companies.
During his appointment as Disney’s CEO in 2005, the company was facing intense competition, technology was evolving at record speed and the company morale was at all time low: not the best time to be the person everyone looks up to. In his memoir, Iger shares what he made as his focus points during this period that helped turn things around for the multi-billion dollar company.
Fifteen years as CEO, a mindblowing transformation, and a wealth of wisdom in leadership. In your career development journey, you will be faced with times when your leadership qualities will be put to the test, your team may lack motivation, or your competition always seems to be a step ahead. Learn from someone who has walked that path, and come out on top.
Rave Review
“The Ride of a Lifetime is leadership gold—you won’t forget the stories or the lessons.”
Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead
Check Out – The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy by Kathryn Finney
Build the Damn Thing is a keeper!
Starting a business when you do not fit the typical image of a start-up founder can be daunting and tempting to give up. However, best selling author, entrepreneur, investor and startup champion, Kathryn Finney shows readers just how to thrive in the world of entrepreneurship no matter who you are or what you look like.
As a woman of color, starting a business and looking for investors was not a walk in the park, but she did it, and did it well. If venturing into business is part of your career development plan this year, then this book is the career development cheat sheet you should keep close to you. Learn how to turn that business plan into reality and expand.
Rave Review
“Kathryn Finney is the mentor every founder needs. Her irreverent, pragmatic, personal advice shows entrepreneurs from all backgrounds how to win a seat at the table.”
Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures
Check Out – Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy by Kathryn Finney
The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julia Zhuo
You just made it to that management position you have been eyeing since you started as an inter, now what? One single decision just turned your colleagues into your employees and now they look at you differently, you’re starting to realize you don’t quite know what it means to be in management or what you are doing.
Julia Zhuo was in that exact position when at just 25 years old, she became a rookie manager expected to hire and fire, turn teamwork into value and give results. It was scary just as it may be for you now. A few years later with a number of successful teams under her belt, Zhuo learnt the most valuable lesson in her career: great managers are not born, they are made.
This book is the cheatsheet to making you the manager your superiors believe you are (that’s why you got the job right?) It’s the career development book she wishes she had on her first day at a management position and now she is offering you a short-cut to success.
Rave Review
“I’ve seen so many people thrust into management in high-growth companies with so little guidance. From now on, I will hand them this book. Its practical wisdom is immediately useful for the newly minted manager—and us old ones.”
Ev Williams, CEO of Medium and co-founder of Twitter
Check Out – The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julia Zhuo
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
If you have read his global bestseller Start With Why, then you should add this career development game changer to your must-reads. Simon Sinek has been spot-on at transforming lives with his bestselling books and inspiring videos packed with wisdom and insight.
Having worked with individuals and organizations, Sinek notes that leadership is what sets apart teams that make it and those that do not. In the book, he shares findings from investigating a variety of team leaders, from Marine Corps to big business leaders and even government officials, showing how each of them put their own interests aside for the sake of their teams.
An important takeaway from the book is that leadership isn’t about rank, but rather a responsibility. As you seek career development into leadership positions, this must-read book will come in handy in shaping what kind of leader you are and in turn, elevate your organization.
Check Out – Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
Disclaimer, none of these books will solely offer you the solution to whatever career rut you may be stuck in; your career development is fully dependent on you and the self-work you put in. However, they will come in handy as you dare to lead, experiment, and push forward toward your desired career.
All the best!