Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message
Mohr is a CTI-trained coach and a compelling writer who homes in on how the voice of what she calls our “inner critic” can undermine self-confidence and impede our ability to reach our full potential. She offers practical strategies for how to recognize this voice, name it, and overcome its power. Mohr speaks directly to women, providing strategies to help them surmount what she sees as a tendency to submerge their best ideas, stay in the background and “play small,” but if you’re a man, don’t be deterred – her strategies will work just as well for you!
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
As successful people move up the ladder, they often rely on the same behaviors and skills that fueled their early ascent. At a certain point, however, that playbook can be insufficient, or even limiting, to achieve upward mobility at the top. In this book, Marshall Goldsmith, one of the best known and highly regarded executive coaches in the field, identifies some of the most common derailing habits that trip up high performers and provides straightforward strategies for successful individuals and teams to take their game to the next level.
Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life
Want to discover an optimal state of consciousness where you feel and perform at your best? It’s called “Flow,” a state of being described by high achievers from artists to extreme athletes as total engagement in an activity such that you lose all sense of time and self, performing at your highest level without anxiety or impediment. Finding Flow is a streamlined update of Csikszantmihalyi’s seminal book Flow. In this digital age of multi-tasking, distraction, and fractured thinking, Flow is an antidote for both individuals and organizations seeking to cultivate the factors that foster creativity and lead to innovation.
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help that Actually Works – A True Story
Dan Harris’ journey from skeptic and naysayer to practitioner and evangelist for the benefits of mindfulness meditation. With self-deprecating wit, the ABC news anchor describes his odyssey into the realm of the incessant chatter of his mind and how he learned to tame the negative voice in his head so he could respond rather than react to life’s challenges. Citing scientific evidence and his personal experience, Harris makes a compelling case for how a regular, consistent meditation practice can make you less stressed, more focused and happier.
The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion
Published a year to the day of her blog post that went viral, The Crossroads of Should and Must, expands Elle Luna’s advice and inspiration for connecting to your authentic self and finding your calling. Interspersed between colorful illustrations and doodles are Elle’s “pep talk” (her words) and suggestions for how to identify what it is that you are meant to do and developing the courage to pursue it. Even if a career change is not in the cards for you, Elle makes a compelling, visually delightful case for the premise that whether as your vocation or your avocation, your heart’s desire “must” be part of your life. Definitely a book to revisit anytime you need renewed inspiration or when you just want to smile.
Buddha’s Brain
Neuropsychologist Rick Hanson with neuroscientist Richard Mendius explain in lay man’s terms the science behind the brain’s plasticity or ability to change based on our thoughts and experiences. Combining scientific research with ancient contemplative practices such as mindfulness and meditation, Hanson provides a practical approach to how we can effectively rewire our brain and keep our nervous system in an optimal state of balance to reduce stress and increase health and well being.
Positive Intelligence
How much time does your brain act as your friend or your enemy? Most people are all-too- familiar with that internal voice that provides a running dialogue of negativity. Shirzad Chamine suggests that we all have that voice, which he calls the Saboteur, and that more than external circumstances it’s the biggest single obstacle to success and happiness. Chamine contends that everyone has their unique mix of Saboteurs that undermine success (of which he offers 10 different varieties, such as the Judge, the Pleaser, or the Avoider). In contrast to these negative, limiting voices, we also all have a voice of the Sage, a messenger of positivity that allows us to keep an open mind, show compassion for others, and that through increased use can weaken our Saboteurs. By measuring our PQ, building up our PQ muscles, and applying these practical techniques daily to reset our thinking, Chamine explains how we can silence the inner critic and strengthen our inner wisdom, resulting in higher performance, greater happiness and reduced stress.
Daring Greatly
If I could choose one TED presenter to sit down and chat with over dinner and a bottle of wine, it would definitely be Brené Brown. The fundamental premise of her wonderfulbook is that allowing ourselves to be open and vulnerable (vs. numb and self-protective) yields dividends in just about every arena of our life: in our relationships, at work, and in our overall capacity for connection, creativity, resiliency and fulfillment.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Underlying all effort, achievement or success, there is the simple fact of mindset. According to Stanford researcher Carol Dweck, mindset can be fixed (epitomized by the belief that intelligence and talent are innate) or growth-oriented (e.g., intelligence and talent can be cultivated). Using famous examples from the worlds of sports, business and politics, Dweck demonstrates the amazing possibilities that are possible with a growth mindset and, conversely, how a fixed mindset can stifle even the greatest talent. After reading this book, it’s tough to look at success and failure in traditional black-and-white terms, whether in the context of raising a child or building a career. Dweck demonstrates that the learner’s mindset is a crucial starting point for anyone looking to develop, change and grow.
The Power of Habit
Charles Duhigg’s excellent book offers interesting case studies and research throughout. Did you know a habit loop has three stages? The cue, which is the trigger that causes the habit to occur; the routine, which is the behavior itself; and the reward, which is how the brain learns to save the habit and encode it for future use. To change a habit – your own or even an entire organization’s – you need to identify the cue and then replace the bad reward you’re using to satisfy that craving with a healthier one that does the same thing. Easy, right?
The Power of Presence
How many times have you heard the term “Executive Presence” and wondered, what does that
expression even really mean? The truth is, this murky and elusive term has a multitude of definitions.
When presence is deemed as lacking, the definition will vary greatly depending on the individual, their
role and their organization. Kristi Hedges’ book cuts through many of the popular proclamations about
what presence is to truly help individuals figure out for themselves what executive presence means for
them, and how they might address any gaps between their intentions and how they are perceived. Filled
with practical exercises, this book is a valuable resource for any professional who wants to increase their
impact.
Change Your Questions Change Your Life
In this quick-reading business fable, Dr. Marilee Adams introduces the concept of the Learner/ Judger mindset, a tool to quickly change your mindset (or that of your team) from feeling “stuck” to finding possibilities and solutions. Dr. Adams’ premise is that our mindsets are determined by the questions we ask. Some questions have the potential to catalyze insights and inspire transformations. Others lead to inaction and demoralization. Learner/Judger taps into our natural curiosity, which allows for more options for renewal, greater breakthroughs and results.
