My Best Reads of 2023

For Literally Everyone

·     Atomic Habits, James Clear – explains how to make your goals less reliant on willpower and more reliant on systems - it lives up to the hype.

·     Writing for Busy Readers, Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink – teaches you how not to write in big chunky paragraphs which absolutely no one will read.

 For the Introspective Striver

·     Find Your Why, Simon Sinek – the companion workbook to Sinek’s “Start with Why” takes you step by step on how to identify your true purpose which you can use as a filter for among other things, career decisions.

 For Those Who Relate to Rocky

(Those who always knew that effort and character are more important than talent)

·     GRIT, Angela Duckworth – it’s the book I reference the most in working with Bankers – learn about how to harness passion and persistence for long-term goals despite setbacks, failures and competing pursuits.

·     Hidden Potential, Adam Grant – helps to re-define how we measure success and recognize how far we’ve come based on where we started; a quote from Grant “Don’t define success as achieving your goals, define success as living your values”.

 For the People Manager

·     The Coaching Habit, Michael Bungay Stanier – you can read this on the plane, a very digestible and practical guide on how to incorporate the reflex of coaching in to your daily management style (its about asking questions vs. giving answers)

·     Radical Candor, Kim Scott – the most straightforward and implementable feedback model I have come across – you can challenge directly as long as you do it with respect and demonstrate that you care personally (and P.S. not telling the truth means you are not living your integrity, which sucks)

 For Those that Want Good News

·      The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor – full of proof through interesting psychology studies and stories of how happiness actually fuels success, not the other way around.