Books to Boost Your Professional Growth
Added: (Fri Sep 01 2023)
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Books to Boost Your Professional Growth
Books have power, the power of ideas contained in them. What they also have is the might to get you thinking in a direction you might never have thought in. They have the potential to guide a person looking for help to solve or understand a problem. While the internet is filled with information but, books provide you with researched and vetted information.
We have curated eight such books that will help you fulfill your boost your professional growth potential and help surmount the obstacles in your path to professional excellence.
1. Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life by Stuart Diamond:
In your workplace or the company of friends, family and other acquaintances, underlying every encounter is ‘negotiation’ and Stuart Diamond’s book teaches you professional growth strategies to achieve better results in both the professional and personal domains. However, knowing your professional development goals is the essential beginning step before anything is negotiated.
This book is a valuable source of guidance for aspiring and working professionals to help them polish their negotiation skills and advance their careers.
2. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
In this gem of a book, David Allen proffers a necessary toolkit on how to get more in any situation in life. First published in 2001, it has become an influential text for professionals, each chapter unfurling the secrets of living a life of balance between productivity and sereness.
‘GTD’ has now become shorthand for approaching professional and personal projects, tasks and commitments so that the outcome is maximized and stress is minimized in the pursuit of it all. Allen has given impressive professional growth principles rooted in big ideas that are practically viable.
3. The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker
No matter where you stand in the professional hierarchy of your organisation, this book is a valuable tool for all working professionals, or ‘knowledge workers’ as Peter Drucker calls them. The book is centered around the notion that effectiveness is not a trait inherent in us but must be learned and polished in the pursuing our endeavors. Contrary to what some people like to believe, being effective does not mean doing more tasks. Rather, it is about doing the right tasks that align with your own personal growth as well as with the ideals of the organization.
4. The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
Do you want to get out of a mediocre life and achieve big dreams and goals? If yes, then this book is for you. For people stuck in the same position in their organization for years, David Shwartz’s approach can do wonders. Explained in an effortless manner, the book encourages you to self-reflect and master your mind through an understanding of psychology, ambition, goal-setting and social behavior.
5.Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
The distractions around us have made it increasingly challenging to have prolonged concentration. Cal Newport addresses this issue in his book, focusing on creating a healthy environment in which more time is spent on ‘Deep work’ (a productive state of flow without succumbing to distractions).
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
One of the most empowering books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is an essential read for anyone seeking meaningful professional growth. In his step-by-step guide, Covey presents a framework of seven habits that enhance effectiveness, in addition to fostering career and personal development.
7. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Why do some people achieve success while some can’t get out of a life of mediocrity? Malcolm Gladwell answers this question in his book, by narrating the success stories of successful people from various fields- music, sports, technology etc. The book explores the factors contributing to success- not just personal factors like talent or efforts, but also external factors like culture, environment and opportunities.
8. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
It is a simple yet empowering allegorical narrative that unveils profound truths through the eyes of four characters living in a ‘maze’. There is a hardworking duo of mice, Sniff and Scurry, along with two ‘Littlepeople’ Hem and Haw who look and act like people but are the size of mice. They embark on a journey to look for ‘Cheese’ – a metaphor for all that we yearn for in life, whether its career-related or related to some other aspect of life.