Reading is a personal experience. What you find in a book can be very different to another, what you read today might resonate in a different way tomorrow. Our needs change and alongside them so does the support we take away from our favourite titles. So we asked our team to share the ones that have had the greatest effects on their journeys.
Atomic Habits by James Clear, selected by Polina our Marketing Assistant
This book essentially explains how habits work and gives step by step practical advice on how to best to create or break them using the Four Laws of Behaviour Change. This is an important read for anyone at the start of their career journey, as good habits are the way to turn your goals into your achievements and to work on the qualities you want to have as a person. Keeping up positive habits increases productivity, simplifies your work, and makes you happier and healthier long term, which is a great recipe for career success!
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins, picked by Claire our Head of Programme
In sharing his astonishing life story, David Goggins reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. By reading his story, you learn what the body and mind are capable of when they’re driven to maximum capacity and even taking in just a bit of what he shares made me reflect on how much more I could do if I didn’t live in my comfort zone!
This is ‘an original story of a hero. The hero is you.’
The Journey by James Norbury, the choice of Sue our Chief Executive
I read this beautiful short, illustrated book recently. It’s about taking risks, embracing change, and how everything you need is already within you. Tiny Dragon represents the vulnerable and afraid aspect of our psyche, and Panda the steady, patient influence encouraging us to hold our nerve when trying new things or setting out on a new challenge. It is a moving telling of the journey we go through when we are uncertain about how something will turn out. And it really speaks to the times I’ve taken a leap of faith, not knowing whether everything will turn out okay. Careers certainly have their share of risks, change, and unknowns, and having the courage to embrace them is really important.
And if I am allowed to sneak in two other books, which have genuinely influenced my career but maybe on the face of it seem a little dull in comparison to Tiny Dragon, I’d choose How to Win Friends and Influence People and Lead Like Mary. Although How to Win Friends and Influence People was written in 1936 and therefore occasionally refers to leaders in the masculine, it gives a useful take on having positive interactions with others to help you achieve your ambitions. Lead Like Mary was recommended to me by a colleague a few years ago. It inspired me because it suggests that everyone in an organisation can practice leadership skills, which I find very empowering.
Heidi by Johanna Spyri, the lifelong favourite of Susanna our Marketing Manager
At a glance Heidi might be written off as another pastiche children’s story, but inside its covers is held the secret to a great career – making the best of who you are, finding the positives in every situation, and working hard.
It might be one story now, but the publishing history of this book says everything you need to know:
Book one, Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning,
Book two Heidi: How She Used What She Learned.
