BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” — Joseph Addison
BOOK
The Advantage
Great overview of company management strategy. Love the "company playbook" concept.
BOOK
Anti-Racist Leadership
A great primer for inclusivity and belonging.
BOOK
Anxiety at Work
One of my core beliefs: most of your team is a little bit anxious all of the time. This a great book for how leaders can manage worries at work.
BOOK
Bias Interrupted
This book is one of the most useful guides for understanding common biases in the workplace - and tactical strategies for interrupting it.
PODCAST
Coaching Real Leaders
Muriel gives live coaching session to leaders to help them overcome obstacles. There are some great insights in these episodes.
BOOK
Creative Confidence
Tom Kelly (Stanford Design / IDEO) discuss creativity in this inspiring book.
PODCAST
Creative Confidence Podcast
I'm a huge IDEO fan. I love their design thinking frameworks and always find something inspiring in these episodes.
BOOK
Crossing the Chasm
Super helpful for your product development or tech team to read on adoption strategy.
PODCAST
Dare to Lead
Brene Brown is the queen of vulnerability and interviews incredible guests on different aspects of leadership.
BOOK
The Culture Code
A valuable read on company culture.
BOOK
Doing Agile Right
Agile methodology is a great framework for getting stuff done on your team in targeted sprints. This is a just read for every team lead and manager.
BOOK
The Effective Executive
How can I be my best self? Peter Drucker's ideas shaped the management field. Iconic.
BOOK
The Fearless Organization
Amy Edmonson is the thought leader behind "psychological safety." This book is a deep dive into how we reduce fear and increase productivity at work.
BOOK
Management Essentials
First Round Review's management tips are perfect for early stage startups. It's a strong collection of essays on relevant topics.
BOOK
From Start-up to Grown-up
This is a great guide for new leaders and managers. She also hosts a great podcast if you prefer that format.
BOOK
Good to Great
Jim Collins was one of my very first inspirational business thought leaders. I can't speak highly enough about this essential book.
BOOK
The Great CEO Within
Wonderful leadership tips and insights on running a company.
PODCAST
Ideacast
This podcast is one of my favorites. I often listen while walking and then read the guest's accompanying book when I'm inspired to dig in further.
BOOK
High Growth Handbook
This book is one of the most tactically useful books for founders with concrete tips on management, scaling, and growth. A must read.
BOOK
How to be an Antiracist
I love how this book separates us into racists and anti-racists. Which one do you want to be? This is a powerful read for everyone.
BOOK
Invisible Women
Data is not gender-blind. This book shows us all of the ways that implicit bias can influence science, medicine, and society.
BOOK
The Lean Startup
Every founder should read this book. It's about how to innovate rapidly, kill bad ideas, and iterate with data and feedback to improve.
BOOK
let my people go surfing
Patagonia is one of the most inspiring values-driven company I know. This book shares valuable insights into their culture and history.
BOOK
Made to Stick
Not all new ideas stick. So, how do you get yours to be transformative? Great insights here.
BOOK
The Messy Middle
Not only do I love this book because I went to high school with Scott, but it's also really insightful about the invisible tough stretches in every startup.
BOOK
Nonviolent Communication
So often we don't have the real conversation, we're just mis-communicating at the surface. This book transformed the way I think about conversation.
BOOK
Quiet
Leaders come in every shape and size. You don't to be a gregarious extrovert to lead a team. This book is inspiring about how to lead quietly.
BOOK
Radical Candor
This is Kim Scott's classic book that all managers should read. It's about how to be honest and also have meaningful relationships with people at work.
PODCAST
Radical Candor Podcast
I love just about everything from Kim Scott. She's blunt about manager skills and gives insightful advice with great guests.
BOOK
Scaling Up Excellence
This book changed the way I think about scaling. It was enormously influential for me.
BOOK
Set Boundaries, Find Peace
Sometimes we need to set boundaries with people and hard things so that we can be our best selves. This is a powerful book with deep psychological insights on human behavior.
BOOK
Start With Why
We often get sucked into telling our stories chronologically, however, this book shares how we should start instead with why.
BOOK
Strengthsfinder 2.0
Clifton Strengths is a framework for identifying individual strengths so you can leverage them on your team. It's a great book to use with their leadership assessment tool.
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Five Disfunctions of a Team
This is a playful and insightful book on management and how to get teams to function effectively.
BOOK
The Mom Test
Everyone everywhere should read this quick book on how to conduct customer discovery in an unbiased way.
BOOK
Trees, Maps, and Theorems
This is my all-time favorite scientific communication book. It's beautiful and a game-changer. Well worth the price. I used to buy a copy of it for every fellow of mine at MIT.
BOOK
Type Talk at Work
The Myers-Briggs test is personality assessment tool that helps us understand individual preferences which, in turn, can help us work more effectively together.
BOOK
Venture Deals
This is a valuable primer on how the venture industry works. If you're new to term sheets and equity, this book is a solid place to start.
BOOK
Wolfpack
Abby Wambach is a former Olympic soccer player and this book is an absolutely must read for all female and non-binary leaders.
PODCAST
Work Life
I'm a huge Adam Grant fan. He offers great insights on company life with his background in organizational psychology.
BOOK
Essentialism
Discipline is what separates the good from the great. Here are some incredible insights on how to focus on what's important personally and organizationally.