The Top 5 Inspiring Reads for Back-to-Work

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

With the summer holidays coming to a close, CEO Today has pulled together the best books to help your body and mind so you can get back into the swing of work.

Dare to Lead, Brené Brown

Described as “the ultimate playbook for developing brave leaders and courageous cultures” Dare to Lead is a book for people who want to choose courage over comfort.

Written by Brené Brown, PhD, a research professor at the University of Houston, this book breaks down the true meaning of leadership. Brené believes it’s not about titles, status and power over people, but instead being accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing these people to be the best they can be.

By using research conducted with leaders, change-makers and culture shifters, Brené challenges leaders to step up and properly lead by sharing power and aligning authority and accountability by investing in developing hearts and minds of leaders through empathy, connection and courage.

What will you get from this book?

Actionable strategies and examples on how to be and motivate braver, more daring leaders, as well as how to embed the value of courage into a culture.

In This Moment, Jacqueline Shakespeare

The pressures of running a home and holding down a job can leave working parents feeling overwhelmed and muddling their way through each day. Merely keeping on top of the responsibilities and to-do lists takes all of their time, which means that creating a life where they can enjoy each moment feels like an impossible dream.

In This Moment, by business transformation expert and working mother, Jacqueline Shakespeare offers a solution. Through applying years of experience, Jacqueline has developed a winning combination of mindful principles and a practical approach to creating a reliable and simple path for working parents to find contentment in their lives.

As an expert in helping organisations solve complex business problems, specialising in leading strategy development and helping organisations become ChangeReady, Jacqueline breaks down master techniques to help working parents balance their lives, strengthen their mindset, prioritise and create valuable time, build meaning into work and be a role model.

What will you get from this book?

Easy to master principles, skills and advice that can be used and referred back to daily, to help support working parents on their journey to being contented.

Drive, Daniel Pink

Speaker and author of four books about changing the world of work, Daniel Pink uncovers the surprising truth about motivation and how we can use this knowledge to live better lives and work smarter. Daniel reveals that the secret to high performance and satisfaction is the human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things and to do better by ourselves and the world.

By using scientific research on motivation, Daniel reveals the misalignment between the research and what businesses do in motivating their employees and in turn, how this affects their lives. He uncovers the three elements of proven motivation – autonomy, mastery and purpose – and shares case studies from companies that are enlisting these approaches and paving the way for the future of work.

What will you get from this book?

Ideas and smart techniques to help you change the way you think and transform the way you live your life.

The Interim Revolution, Pat Lynes

Business transformation expert and founder and CEO of Sullivan & Stanley, Pat Lynes, wants to open the business world’s eyes to an impending ‘Interim Revolution’. A workforce of the top 5% of business experts, who can be dropped into organisations as SWAT teams, to help transform them from within.

Disruption is here and if businesses don’t start putting change and transformation at their core, they won’t survive the next decade. As an alternative to the current status quo, Pat discusses how by utilising the elite interim workforce, corporates can future-proof against disruptive technology and learn how to close the capability and speed gap facing organisations.

By pairing the best minds with the most interesting business problems, the interim ‘Teams as a Service’ movement, is giving companies the future-proofing they need through project-by-project-based work and experts the opportunity to work the way they want. Pat argues that the interim revolution is coming and businesses that don’t harness the power of it, are at risk.

What will you get from this book?

Strategies and solutions, through extensive industry insight and real-world examples of practice in business transformation to lead an organisation to stay ahead of the game and challenge the existing, tired ways of working.

Limitless, Nick Powell

We’re living in a fast-paced world where energy, time and attention are under constant demand. Senior leaders and entrepreneurs are struggling to find balance in their lives, whether that is working, spending quality time with their family, staying healthy or having a social life with their friends. It’s become unrecognisable for them to what ‘good’ feels like and spend most days feeling low in energy and slogging through each day.

Peak performance coach, business consultant and founder of Stronger Self, Nick Powell unlocks the secrets to biohacking the way to exceptional performance. Through twelve strategies this engaging book helps readers get to grips with sleep, diet, meditation and exercise, uncovering the secrets to fasting, smart drugs and light therapy.

With the backing of scientific research, Nick guides readers through actionable advice, tips and case studies to help improve quality of sleep, managing emotional state and building resilience and how to hack the brain for better cognitive performance.

What will you get from this book?

A challenge to conventional wisdom and advice with a new holistic approach to increasing energy levels, enhancing focus and boosting performance through hacking your biology.

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