These five books will unlock the answers to three key questions every career driven twenty-something should be asking themselves.
There are so many great personal growth and leadership development resources out there that it can be truly daunting to try and figure out where to start. Especially if you are new to the workforce and new to the world of non-fiction leadership books. Which author should I pick? Which subject is most relevant to me? Which is the best investment of my time, attention and money?
I am recommending these five books for career driven twenty-somethings for two reasons. 1) I read all five in my twenties and each had a profound impact on my career trajectory and success. 2) All five books will help you unlock the answers to three key questions that every career driven young adult should be asking themselves:
How do I stand out as top talent?
How do I gain influence?
How do I deliver results?
Unlocking the answers to these three questions will make you crazy invaluable, establish a track record for success, build a reputation or maturity and reliability, and most importantly increase your influence and leadership no matter your position in your organization.
Let's get to it.
Tagline: How to lead yourself and others to greater success.
Authors: Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch and Sean Lynch
This is the ultimate introduction to the idea that leadership isn't a title or position. SPARK provides behavior-based practices and key elements of leadership that give any professional, at any level, the opportunity to flourish, spark change and stand out as top talent. All three authors are former military and sprinkle in anecdotes and personal experiences that capture your attention and bring the message home.
This is a great book not just for yourself and your own leadership development, but is also a fantastic book to read as a team or with a book club or resource group at work (i.e. young professionals group, women's leadership group, etc.). On the SPARK website, you can download a mini-workbook for each chapter so you or your team can take time to reflect, write, and further explore how to apply the practices.
Why It's Worth It: If you have always assumed that leadership is only for managers - this book is for you. No matter who you are, how old you are, or your position in an organization, you can learn how to increase your leadership capacity and be a spark in your organization.
Tagline: How to identify and cultivate the three essential virtues.
Author: Patrick Lencioni
In this easy and unique read, best-selling author and organizational health pioneer Patrick Lencioni reveals three indispensable virtues that make some people better team players than others. This book will help you identify which of the three virtues are sufficient or lacking in your current performance, and cultivate a necessary balance of all three.
The first 150 pages are written in the form of a fable, or a story, which makes it seem like a much faster read than any other 200 page non-fiction book. After the fable, he brings everything home by introducing the model, it's history, how to apply it practically in your life or with your team. The model highlights how the ideal team player is a blend of all three virtues and how only possessing one or two of the three virtues can negatively impact the team.
Why It's Worth It: It's a great all-in-one resource. There are books out there on how to be a great individual contributor and there are books out there that teach you how to build and lead an effective team as a hiring manager. This book does both. When the day comes where you get promoted to a first-level management position, you will already be armed with knowledge that takes most managers years to figure out on their own.
Tagline: The only book you need to lead you to success.
Author: Dale Carnegie
This is the ultimate “oldie but a goodie”. But do not let its age fool you into assuming it lacks relevancy. Quite the opposite actually. With principles like "be genuinely interested in other people" and "talk in terms of other people's interests" and "don't criticize, condemn or complain", the timeless principles in this book are a playbook not just for gaining influence at work or with clients, but really how to just be a good person in general. Dale Carnegie was teaching the art of intentionality decades before other leadership authors picked up on it. There are 30 principles total broken down into 4 categories:
1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. How to Win People To Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People
Why It's Worth It: Learning how to be a great leader or a great influencer doesn't have to be rocket science or a mysterious puzzle that can only be solved through data, case studies and research. This 86 year old resource is profound in its simplicity and appeals to common sense kindness.The world needs more of this book.
Tagline: How to positively impact the lives of others
Authors: John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan
John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than 26 million books in fifty languages. He is the Tom Brady of the personal growth and leadership development world.
Maxwell famously says that leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. Becoming a Person of Influence teaches that if your life in any way connects with other people, you are an influencer. No matter your age, your job, your goals or aspirations, you can increase your impact on others through ten simple and insightful ways to connect and interact more positively with other people. And in classic Maxwell fashion, each practice begins with a letter from the word I-N-F-L-U-E-N-C-E-R. Apply these practices and watch your organizational success go off the charts!
Why It's Worth It: This book transcends beyond leadership in the workplace. I have read it several times and each time the principles come off the page in new and enlightening ways depending on what lens I am looking through. If you want to increase your influence at work, with your boss, with your team, with your family, your kids, your church, your community (or even as a social media influencer!) - this book is for you!
Tagline: Achieving your wildly important goals.
Authors: Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling
The 4 Disciplines of Execution is all about how to set and structure goals that are measurable and achievable, and provides a simple, repeatable formula for executing on your most important priorities. Other resources call these SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound); in the FranklinCovey world they are called WIGs (wildly important goals). The four disciplines - focus, leverage, engagement and accountability - can be used to make any individual or team more effective.
Fun fact, this was the very first non-fiction leadership/business book I ever read (at the request of my boss at the time) when I was about 25 years old and it had a profound impact on my career trajectory. Within a year of reading this book, I was traveling to hotels across the country teaching entire teams how to apply the 4DX principles to drive customer satisfaction scores and increase team engagement.
Why It's Worth It: As important as it is to learn how to gain influence, be a team player and spark change, you can't just stop there. You also should want to be known as someone who can deliver results and execute on goals. When you add this tool to your belt, you will build a reputation for yourself as someone who is trustworthy and reliable that can actually get stuff done - the smart way, not the hard way!
Leaders are readers.
Half of Americans read 4 books or less a year. The average CEO reads 4-5 books a month. And studies have shown that the more books you read the higher income you can earn. So what are you waiting for?
Grab your copy of one of these books today and watch how fast your leadership, influence and career will take off!
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