March is here, which means that spring cleaning is around the corner — and as you deep clean your home and get rid of things that no longer “spark joy,” consider adding your career to your spring-cleaning checklist.
Spring cleaning your career could mean updating your resume, organizing your calendar or any other task that helps you better manage your time at work and get closer to achieving your professional goals.
If you’re looking for inspiration or feel stuck in your job, these 5 career books, recommended by Goodreads, can help put you in the right mindset.
These books, all published in 2022, have at least a 4-star rating on Goodreads and at least 1,000 members added the book to their “want-to-read” shelf on the site.
‘Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen’
By Zoe Chance
This title gives readers a front-row seat to the Yale School of Management’s most popular class: “Mastering Influence and Persuasion,” which is taught by Chance.
Chance walks readers through how to cultivate charisma, become a stronger negotiator and deal with manipulative people.
Goodreads members raved about Chance’s succinct, powerful insight into the human psyche, with one review calling “Influence Is Your Superpower” a “self-help book that actually helped.”
‘7 Rules of Power: Surprising—but True—Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career’
By Jeffrey Pfeffer
In “7 Rules of Power,” Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, explains how to be more efficient and level up in your career, promising “life-changing results” in 8-10 weeks if you follow his advice to a tee.
Pfeffer introduces seven rules for building a fulfilling, successful career, including “break the rules” and “network relentlessly,” as well as how to follow them in your own life.
“[It’s] a good book for those who need a little push,” one reviewer wrote. “Everyone needs motivation most days, and this is the perfect one to start with.”
‘Hack Your Bureaucracy: Get Things Done No Matter What Your Role on Any Team’
By Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai
If you’ve ever been frustrated by red tape or felt like no one listened to your ideas at work, this book is for you.
Nitze and Sinai have spent much of their careers navigating some of the world’s toughest bureaucracies, from the White House to the world of venture capital.
In “Hack Your Bureaucracy,” they present actionable strategies for taking initiative and transforming your ideas into impact, even in the most challenging of environments.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called the book “a master class on intrapreneurship” in his review. “If you want to drive change in large organizations, ‘Hack Your Bureaucracy’ is a must-read,” he added.
‘Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less’
By Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz
The co-founders of Axios teach readers how to communicate in a clear, concise and compelling way both online and in person.
Their guiding principle? “Brevity is confidence. Length is fear.”
Business leaders from Jamie Dimon to Ariana Huffington have praised ‘Smart Brevity,’ with Tory Burch calling it a “clever, concise book that will make you a sharper communicator and better leader.”
‘Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level’
By Alex Budak
In ‘Becoming a Changemaker,’ Alex Budak, a lecturer at the University of California Berkeley, introduces original research on the traits successful changemakers have in common as well as real-world examples (as recent as the Covid-19 crisis) to teach people how to develop the mindset and skills needed to lead change and have a more positive impact in their lives and careers.
Goodreads members called it an “excellent” guide for anyone who sees an opportunity for social or organizational change and wants to lead that change, calling out Budak’s practical tips for influencing change when you are not in a position of influence or authority as “especially helpful.”
As one review noted: “This book felt like the wakeup call I had been seeking for years now.”
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