10 Must-Read Books for Career Women on Career Development
Ladies, it's time to buckle up and level up! Career development looks different for everyone, but one thing remains the same: knowledge is power. In the corporate world dominated more often by men, it can be challenging to find your footing and rise above the ranks. But don't fret, we've got your back. We've carefully curated a list of awesome "10 Must-Read Books" that every woman chasing after a successful career absolutely needs. These are not just your run-of-the-mill self-help books or some preachy text telling you what to do. They are powerful narratives and insightful guides loaded with practical advice and strategies, penned by top-tier executives, leadership coaches, and successful businesswomen that strike a chord with every working woman. Drenched in wisdom and flavored with candid anecdotes, these books are just the catalyst you need to bust through the glass ceiling and reign supreme. We promise, with every page turned, you will find your conviction renewed and your confidence restored. So, settle down, grab a cup of coffee, clear your mind, and let these phenomenal reads take you on a journey of self-discovery, growth, and career advancement. Here's to your success, ladies!
『Lean In』
#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A landmark manifesto" (The New York Times) that's a revelatory, inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential. In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than eleven million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg, COO of Meta (previously called Facebook) from 2008-2022, provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.
Author | Sheryl Sandberg |
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Price | $13.99 |
Publisher | Knopf |
Release Date | Mar 11, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office』
Before you were told to "Lean In," Dr. Lois Frankel told you how to get that corner office. The New York Times bestseller, is now completely revised and updated. In this edition, internationally recognized executive coach Lois P. Frankel reveals a distinctive set of behaviors--over 130 in all--that women learn in girlhood that ultimately sabotage them as adults. She teaches you how to eliminate these unconscious mistakes that could be holding you back and offers invaluable coaching tips that can easily be incorporated into your social and business skills. Stop making "nice girl" errors that can become career pitfalls, such as: Mistake #13: Avoiding office politics. If you don't play the game, you can't possibly win. Mistake #21: Multi-tasking. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it. Mistake #54: Failure to negotiate. Don't equate negotiation with confrontation. Mistake #70: Inappropriate use of social media. Once it's out there, it's hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Mistake #82: Asking permission. Children, not adults, ask for approval. Be direct, be confident.
Author | Lois P. Frankel |
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Price | $11.99 |
Publisher | Balance |
Release Date | Feb 18, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『Dare to Lead』
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! ONE OF BLOOMBERG’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In Dare to Lead, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.
Author | Brené Brown |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Random House |
Release Date | Oct 09, 2018 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Confidence Code』
Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career. Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence. Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.
Author | Katty Kay/Claire Shipman |
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Price | $14.49 |
Publisher | Harper Collins |
Release Date | Apr 15, 2014 |
Source | Google Books |
『You Are a Badass® (Ultimate Collector's Edition)』
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * MORE THAN 5 MILLION COPIES SOLD The first ever self-development book to help millions of people around the globe transform their lives using humor, irreverence, and the occasional curse word--now with an exclusive new chapter on the power of intuition and inspiring reader testimonials, as well as an updated foreword and reader's guide In this refreshingly entertaining guide to reshaping your mindset and your life, mega-bestselling author and world-traveling success coach Jen Sincero serves up 28 bite-sized chapters full of hilarious and inspiring stories, sage advice, loving yet firm kicks in the rear, and easy-to-implement exercises to help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want. Shift your energy and attract what you desire. Create a life you totally love. And start creating it NOW. Make some damn money already. The kind you've never made before. By the end of You Are a Badass, you'll understand how to blast past what's holding you back, make some serious changes, and start living the kind of life that once seemed impossible.
Author | Jen Sincero |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Running Press Adult |
Release Date | Sep 26, 2023 |
Source | Google Books |
『#GIRLBOSS』
Describes how to seek a unique path to success and relates the story of Sophia Amoruso who started by selling vintage clothing on eBay and eight years later, had established a $100 million dollar online fashion business with more than three hundred-fifty employees.
Author | Sophia Amoruso |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Portfolio |
Release Date | Sep 29, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
『Own It』
A Wall Street Journal and Washington Post Bestseller, Own It is a new kind of career playbook for a new era of feminism, offering women a new set of rules for professional success: one that plays to their strengths and builds on the power they already have. Weren’t women supposed to have “arrived”? Perhaps with the nation’s first female President, equal pay on the horizon, true diversity in the workplace to come thereafter? Or, at least the end of “fat-shaming” and “locker room talk”? Well, we aren’t quite there yet. But does that mean that progress for women in business has come to a screeching halt? It’s true that the old rules didn’t get us as far as we hoped. But we can go the distance, and we can close the gaps that still exist. We just need a new way. In fact, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future, says former Wall Street powerhouse-turned-entrepreneur Sallie Krawcheck. That’s because the business world is changing fast –driven largely by technology - and it’s changing in ways that give us more power and opportunities than ever…and even more than we yet realize. Success for professional women will no longer be about trying to compete at the men’s version of the game, she says. And it will no longer be about contorting ourselves to men’s expectations of how powerful people behave. Instead, it’s about embracing and investing in our innate strengths as women - and bringing them proudly and unapologetically, to work. When we do, she says, we gain the power to advance in our careers in more natural ways. We gain the power to initiate courageous conversations in the workplace. We gain the power to forge non-traditional career paths; to leave companies that don’t respect our worth, and instead, go start our own. And we gain the power to invest our economic muscle in making our lives, and the world, better. Here Krawcheck draws on her experiences at the highest levels of business, both as one of the few women at the top rungs of the biggest boy’s club in the world, and as an entrepreneur, to show women how to seize this seismic shift in power to take their careers to the next level. This change is real, and it’s coming fast. It’s time to own it.
Author | Sallie Krawcheck |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | Crown Currency |
Release Date | Jan 17, 2017 |
Source | Google Books |
『The 5 Second Rule』
Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends, and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself? Using the science habits, riveting stories and surprising facts from some of the most famous moments in history, art and business, Mel Robbins will explain the power of a "push moment." Then, she'll give you one simple tool you can use to become your greatest self. It take just five seconds to use this tool, and every time you do, you'll be in great company. More than 8 million people have watched Mel's TEDx Talk, and executives inside of the world's largest brands are using the tool to increase productivity, collaboration, and engagement. In The 5 Second Rule, you'll discover it takes just five seconds to: Become confident Break the habit of procrastination and self-doubt Beat fear and uncertainty Stop worrying and feel happier Share your ideas with courage The 5 Second Rule is a simple, one-size-fits-all solution for the one problem we all face—we hold ourselves back. The secret isn't knowing what to do—it's knowing how to make yourself do it. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial}
Author | Mel Robbins |
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Price | $9.99 |
Publisher | Savio Republic |
Release Date | Feb 28, 2017 |
Source | Google Books |
『The Athena Doctrine』
New York Times Bestseller How feminine values can solve our toughest problems and build a more prosperous future Among 64,000 people surveyed in thirteen nations, two thirds feel the world would be a better place if men thought more like women. This marks a global trend away from the winner-takes-all, masculine approach to getting things done. Drawing from interviews at innovative organizations in eighteen nations and at Fortune 500 boardrooms, the authors reveal how men and women alike are recognizing significant value in traits commonly associated with women, such as nurturing, cooperation, communication, and sharing. The Athena Doctrine shows why femininity is the operating system of 21st century prosperity. Advocates a new way to solve today's toughest problems in business, education, government, and more Based on a landmark survey and results from Young & Rubicam's respected Brand Asset Valuator's global survey, as well as on-the-ground interviews in 18 countries From acclaimed social theorist, consumer expert, and bestselling author, John Gerzema, and award-winning author, Michael D'Antonio Brought to life through real world examples and backed by rigorous data,The Athena Doctrine shows how feminine traits are ascending—and bringing success to people and organizations around the world. By nurturing, listening, collaborating and sharing, women and men are solving problems, finding profits, and redefining success in every realm.
Author | John Gerzema/Michael D'Antonio |
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Price | unknown |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Release Date | Apr 16, 2013 |
Source | Google Books |
『Presence』
MORE THAN HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD: Learn the simple techniques you'll need to approach your biggest challenges with confidence. Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives' biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret. By accessing our personal power, we can achieve "presence," the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we're making on others and instead adjust the impression we've been making on ourselves. As Harvard professor Amy Cuddy's revolutionary book reveals, we don't need to embark on a grand spiritual quest or complete an inner transformation to harness the power of presence. Instead, we need to nudge ourselves, moment by moment, by tweaking our body language, behavior, and mind-set in our day-to-day lives. Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about "power poses." Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same. Brilliantly researched, impassioned, and accessible, Presence is filled with stories of individuals who learned how to flourish during the stressful moments that once terrified them. Every reader will learn how to approach their biggest challenges with confidence instead of dread, and to leave them with satisfaction instead of regret. "Presence feels at once concrete and inspiring, simple but ambitious — above all, truly powerful." —New York Times Book Review
Author | Amy Cuddy |
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Price | $2.99 |
Publisher | Little, Brown Spark |
Release Date | Dec 22, 2015 |
Source | Google Books |
In conclusion, ladies, career development isn't just about climbing that corporate ladder, but the deliberate steps you take in refining yourself, setting clear goals and navigating through challenges with grace. The books I've listed here, provide invaluable insights from widely successful women, tried-and-true strategies for better negotiating, networking, and leadership, as well as practical exercises for personal and professional growth. They are not your average 'self-help' books, rather they are proper guides to help navigate your career trajectory. Take my word for it, these are gems you wouldn't want to miss out on. Each book is an investment in oneself. Remember, you're not alone in the journey of career progression. Many have walked the path before, and these books provide some of their wisdom compacted for you. Enjoy the read, get inspired, and crush those career goals, ladies!
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