Continuing to grow yourself on a personal and professional level is something everyone should strive to do regularly. Whether you are just beginning your career, or you've been in the workforce for 25+ years, one of the best things you can do for yourself is get a fresh perspective. While attending conferences, keynote speakers, etc. are a great way to explore and learn new insights and fresh ideas, our current world is limiting what we can attend and explore in person - this is where books and podcasts come in. Not to mention, a cheaper alternative to attending conferences and networking events.
Hireforce is a big proponent of books that encourage growth and knowledge for us to all read, digest and discuss. So we’ll start off with our top two books:
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.
The Challenger Sale by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon
Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach, especially when it comes to selling complex, large-scale business-to-business solutions. The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles, and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance, only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance.
Additional highly recommend books for growth either personally, professionally, or a mix of both:
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
In the international bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.
Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
As Ferrazzi discovered in early life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships—so that everyone wins. In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps—and inner mindset—he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his contacts list, people he has helped and who have helped him. And in the time since Never Eat Alone was published in 2005, the rise of social media and new, collaborative management styles have only made Ferrazzi’s advice more essential for anyone hoping to get ahead in business.
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:
Six ways to make people like you
Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment
And much more! Achieve your maximum potential—a must-read for the twenty-first century with more than 15 million copies sold!
Not big into reading but still looking to continue growing yourself and gaining a fresh perspective? Podcasts are a great alternative. Below are some of our favorite podcasts whether it’s to keep us up to date on current news, encourage us to continuously develop ourselves or just allow us to stay curious.
The Marie Forleo Podcast with Marie Forleo
Named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation and one of Inc.’s 500 fastest growing companies, Marie Forleo’s goal is to help you become the person you most want to be. In this show, Marie and her guests share actionable strategies for greater happiness, success, motivation, creativity, productivity, love, health, contribution and fulfillment — often with a lot of laughs. From business, marketing and career advice, to tackling failure, disappointment and fear, to philanthropy and doing our part to make the world a more loving, just and equitable place — we cover it all. Get inspired, grow stronger, more confident and create a business and life you genuinely love.
Being Boss with Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon
Being Boss is a podcast for creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and side-hustlers, whether you're wanting to quit your day job or have been your own boss for a while now. Authors and "business besties" Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon dig into the mindset, habits, routines, boundaries, branding, marketing tactics, business strategies, systems, and processes that help you make money doing what you love.
The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes
Since its launch in January 2013, the School of Greatness podcast has grown rapidly to be one of the top-ranked Business and Self-Development podcasts. Episodes range from interviews with incredible world-class game changers in entrepreneurship, health, athletics, mindset, and relationships, to solo rounds with the host, Lewis Howes, and the once a week listener-favorite, the 5 Minute Friday format.
The Brendon Show with Brendon Burchard
Go behind the scenes with Brendon Burchard, the world’s leading high performance coach and one of the Top 100 Most Followed Public Figures in the world, as he speaks to 20,000 people in arenas, coaches celebrities, helps his students, and reaches millions of people every week with his message for how we can all live, love and matter. Every week, Brendon shares what he’s struggling with, working on and marching towards – and how we can all live an extraordinary life. This is an intimate and inspiring look into the life and strategies of one of the most watched, followed and quoted personal development trainers in history.
Up First from NPR
NPR's Up First is the news you need to start your day. The three biggest stories of the day, with reporting and analysis from NPR News — in 10 minutes.
Skimm’d from the Couch from the Skimm’
‘Skimm'd from the Couch’, goes deep on career advice with the women who have lived it. We’re talking entrepreneurship, giving and getting tough feedback, growing a team, and much more.
Developing yourself personally and professionally requires continuous effort. These are just a handful of the many books and podcasts out there to help you discover some of your favorite career development books that teach, motivate, and focus your life to be your best self.