Recommended reads
Our lives are impacted and changed by the people we meet, the books we read and the travel we take. I love reading – I learn so much from the lives, perspectives and experiences of others. Every month I read a non-fiction book, and below are some of the books on my list. You can check out my book reviews on the blog.
What’s on your reading list this year?
HARM Book Series | Joanne Marino
HARM: How to Stop Workplace Bullying
This is a guide that offers solutions during the times that challenge you the most in your workplace. It helps provide a foundation for creating better workplaces FREE from HARM. Check out the book review I wrote here
HARMED: From Victim to Survivor of Workplace Bullying
Jo shares her journey through trauma and then to recovery and offers readers the lessons she learned through the process.
HARMED: Out of the BLUE into the LIGHT
This book is Jo’s personal story to demonstrate the journey of workplace mental stress, the triggers, the opportunities missed, and the recovery.
Grab your copy of the series with a significant discount here
The Upstander Leader | Jessica Hickman
In the workplace, bullying and bad behaviour take place, causing toxic cultures and awful places to work. But with 35% of the workforce now from the Millennial generation, it is essential that workplaces change. The Millennials are the Upstander generation — and they are the ones who are driving the future of business – you need them on your team
This practical book offers a 5-step model to empower our leaders to attract the best talent and make their working lives safe and enjoyable places where they can thrive
Check out the book review I wrote on The Upstander Leader, here
You can also listen to my chat with Jessica on my podcast, Under the Rug, where we discussed the harm bystanders can cause in the workplace, by clicking here
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Rules of Belonging | Fiona Robertson
Organisational culture is poorly understood and has been way over-complicated. It’s not easy, but it is simple
Once you know what to look for, you can identify the current culture of any group by the current rules of belonging in that group – and you can articulate your desired culture in new rules of belonging and create that culture through a series of clear, deliberately managed steps
In Rules of Belonging, culture-change expert Fiona Robertson shows you how.
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Beat Gender Bias | Karen Morley
Bias might be built in to how our brains work, but that doesn’t make it acceptable. When it comes to leadership, biases create a ‘sticky floor’, making it hard for women to rise to the top. An inclusive culture, by comparison, creates personal, social and economic value that will sustain an organisation’s future success
The good news is that the change to gender balance can be accelerated if you know more about how bias works. In this book, Dr Karen Morley explains how biases, particularly the insidious unconscious ones, trip us up. She outlines an approach for minimising their impact in organisations with Bias Busters – specific actions you can take with the goal of making it easier to notice, talk about and overcome bias
Beat Gender Bias is for everyone who wants work to be better – to make a difference and play a bigger, more satisfying part in creating a more inclusive world!
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
The Languages of Leadership | Wendy Born
Many of us have issues trying to lead disparate teams with multiple personalities, colleagues with conflicting agendas and bosses with minds of their own.
The questions we often ask ourselves are:
- How do I manage my team leaders?
- How do I manage my peers?
- How do I manage my own leader to stop making big promises to my team that I know they won’t deliver on?
The answer is to learn to master the languages of leadership. In this fascinating book, Wendy Born will show you how and teach you to make small changes that will have a big impact
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Leadership Matters | David Pich and Ann Messenger
Leadership Matters is packed with ideas, research and practical advice for aspiring leaders in Australia and worldwide. It will keep you thinking long after you have finished reading
Authors David Pich and Ann Messenger , together with a team of experts, believe that you need to master 7 skills to become a successful leader in today’s complex and challenging organisations. They researched locally and globally to find out why and how these 7 skills are so important
As part of this research, David Pich interviewed several inspiring global leaders – including human rights activist and Nobel Prize recipient, Kailash Satyarthi; Qantas CEO Alan Joyce AC; and Gloria Ai, China’s leading independent business host, whose daily talk show attracts an astonishing 8 million listeners and watchers. Their invaluable insights and much, much more are shared in this book, which concludes that leadership really does matter!
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Leading Well | David Pich and Ann Messenger
Leading Well is about the inspiration of leadership. It focuses squarely on the personal attributes that can transform managers into leaders and good leaders into great leaders
For this – the second book in its Leadership Series – the Institute of Managers and Leaders asked its membership of more than 10,000 which were the most important personal attributes for leadership success. The top 7 attributes selected are explored in detail in this book
Respect, integrity, emotional intelligence, ability to inspire, authenticity, self-awareness and decisiveness lie at the very heart of the ability for a leader to lead well. These attributes are presented in each of the 7 chapters and each is supported by case studies, practical advice, real-life examples, strategies for improvement and interviews with some of today’s top leaders.
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
FlexAbility | Karen Morley
A comprehensive, coach-yourself guide for busy, burnt-out leaders to take back control of flexible working arrangements and find balance in an overworked world
Despite the promise of a post-pandemic ‘reset’ that would make flexible work practices mainstream, it seems that overwork is here to stay
According to leading executive coach and psychologist, Dr Karen Morley, overwork is driven by ambitious, competitive and over-confident bosses who chase continuous growth and are prepared to sacrifice their own health and wellbeing, and that of their workforce, to achieve increasingly unrealistic targets
It’s time to take better control of why and how you work – a concept the author refers to as ‘flexAbility’. Flexibility is how the system operates, flexAbility is how you operate yourself in this demanding system
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Resilience Recipes | Fleur Heazlewood
To function as our best selves, we need to make space for our own wellbeing
Resilience Recipes is for real people facing real-time challenges every day. If you are feeling overworked and overwhelmed, this book will teach you the strategies to manage stress, find more balance in your life and bounce back
Starting with a wellbeing self-assessment test, readers remind themselves about what is important to them, before they can dive into the resilience recipes that will improve their wellbeing. The chapters that follow focus on rebuilding emotional resilience, practising mindfulness to increase mental adaptability and finish with strategies to re-energise and remain stronger going forward
The reality is that wellbeing isn’t a nice-to-have – it is necessary. It is necessary for our health, energy, connection, creativity, relationships, performance… the list goes on
Grab your copy here to get 20% off with the code NEONSHED
Harry the Bully Blocker | Evelyn M. Field OAM
Harry is a shy, bullied little dog. In a dream, he meets some friendly animals who teach him useful bully-blocking skills. Mia the meerkat tells him the best ways to respond to bullying; Ollie the owl emphasises eye contact; Gerry the giraffe explains the importance of good posture; and so on.
Harry puts these new skills into practice: they work immediately, and his life is transformed. In learning how to block bullies and make new friends – skills he can use all his life – Harry has shed his fear, and now enjoys being with his peers.
This small book will empower 8+ year-old children to learn how to block bullies. It is based on the therapy model Evelyn developed to train psychologists, and on years of teaching bullied children how to manage their basic survival instinct. Harry’s story is written in the form of a poem – in rhyming four-line stanzas – to help children remember the words, which are meaningful and therapeutic.
Grab your copy here
Inclusive Teams & Workplaces | Gloria Tabi
Don’t allow a restricted cultural vision keep you from recognising the potential of all of the employees in your workplace-this will cause you to overlook them as assets. Instead, create a resilient, agile business by expanding your cultural literacy, learning how to engage and support all your staff and thus actualizing the progress of your business on a global front
In Inclusive Teams & Workplaces, Gloria Tabi reveals the 10 blind spots every manager needs to be aware of as they work to cultivate a diverse workplace. In this book, you’ll view cross-cultural communication in action and its possibilities for creating more substantial, inclusive business relations
Grab your copy here
Practical Reconciliation | Munya Andrews & Carla Rogers
Blending keen insight with engaging anecdotes and practical advice, this easy-to-read book will give you the tools you need to feel confident living with, working with and supporting our First Nations peoples
Equip yourself with the skills to communicate without fear of misunderstanding or offence. Build strategies for engaging communities respectfully and strengthening partnerships. And most of all, be proud of the incredible richness of the oldest continuing culture in the world..
Grab your copy here