Reading is always a great form of entertainment and development, but it is also one that requires more time and dedication. The most curious thing, in this phase of isolation that we are in, is that I realize that we can separate people in mainly two extremes—those who don’t have time to read anything and those who have time to read everything.
For those who have time to read, Experts have separated five books that transformed their life and their way of thinking (not necessarily in that order). For those who do not have time (or are unable to prioritize reading), it is worth reading the small reviews and trying to choose at least one of them to change this situation a little!
Adam Grant is a Wharton professor, and influential psychologist at the world’s largest companies.
He is an author I admire in an absurd way (not only me but Malcolm Gladwell also calls Adam “one of his favorite thinkers,” and Sheryl Sandberg counted on him to overcome the trauma of the early loss of her husband, which culminated in a co-authorship for the exciting “Plan B” book ).
Grant overturns several myths surrounding so-called “creative minds” and shows that originality can be boosted, also addressing how you can express your ideas without being silenced, how to win, cultivate and nurture alliances in unlikely environments, how to choose the best times to move forward and act and how to deal with fear and insecurity, which affect innovators as much as anyone else.
The book is suggested by “Collin Matthews, CEO & Founder of Cookwared”
Carol S. Dweck – professor at Stanford University and Ph.D. – is hailed as one of the world’s leading experts in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology.
The book was based and developed over decades of research and presented a fundamental concept: the mental attitude we face in life, which she calls “mindset,” is crucial for success.
Although it seems like an obvious conclusion, Dweck brilliantly reveals how success can be achieved by dealing with our goals and how, mainly, we face our capabilities and limitations.
The “mindset” is not a mere personality trait, and it is the explanation of why we are optimistic or pessimistic, whether we choose a lifelong learning posture or not, and whether we are potentially successful because of these decisions and attitudes.
It defines our relationship with work, with people, and how we educate our children, being a decisive factor for our full potential to be exploited.
The book is suggested by “Bram Jansen, Chief Editor of vpnAlert”
Jim Lord has been a thought leader in philanthropy for nearly 50 years as the author of the bestselling book in the field— and now a new book/manifesto on contribution in the time of a pandemic and social upheaval. His consulting has taken him from YWCAs to the White House and Vatican, and brought civic leaders and university presidents [from Africa to Australia and the Americas] to his invitational Quest strategic retreats.
Jim Lord is the author of the classic book for board members, The Raising of Money, considered a foundational contribution to philanthropy. It has been the bestselling book on the topic, having reached more than 250,000 readers. His work with philanthropists, leaders, and their causes has helped nonprofits to raise billions and taught him more about what motivates people than any book, course, or expert. That’s the wisdom he shares in his writing and retreats.
The author in the book explains how post-traumatic growth can do more than just bounce back people around you and how contributive justice could begin to heal the social chasm around us (and begin to make-up for any loss of social connection you may have felt during the coronavirus pandemic).
With a grounded, heartfelt, and inspiring message that our biggest contribution is ahead of us, Jim shares three steps to: clear our minds, take a walk-and-talk, and elevate higher than ever before—all so we can make the most significant contribution of our lives, and lift people with inspiring confidence.
Most of all, it’s a call to action to shape a post-pandemic world that is better than we can imagine.
These epic times offer us a moment like none before to discover our ultimate personal answer to the question of why we give.
The book is suggested by “Jim Lord, Co-founder of the Center for Leadership Philanthropy”
The Financial Times called the book by Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, “A Masterpiece.” As a central message, our mind works in two ways: one quick, intuitive, and the other slower, in a logical and deliberative manner.
This “structure” – in the broadest and not physical sense – allows us to develop sophisticated competencies and skills and makes us capable of performing complex tasks with relative ease.
On the other hand, it can be a source of systematic errors, with the influence of stereotypes, beliefs, and triggers that are not corrected in time by rational mechanisms.
Understanding our mental model and mastering a map of our way of thinking can help to avoid these mistakes that are often made without conscience and to protect our analytical reasoning capacity and, consequently, our decisions that need reasoning.
The book addresses the issue with several examples, behaviors, and situations that are very enlightening and often surprising about when and how we can trust – or not – our intuition.
The book is suggested by “Mo Mulla, Founder of Parental Questions”
Antifrágil is a book by Nassim Taleb, author of the well-known and celebrated “The Logic of the Black Swan.” “Black Swans” are highly unpredictable and unlikely events that are the trigger for significant changes in the world.
Both the Covid-19 Pandemic and mainly the chain reactions that came to the fight against the virus are being considered the “Black Swan ” of this century: unpredictable, overwhelming, and that puts us in a position of questioning and transformation.
In Antifrágil, the author puts unpredictability and uncertainty differently: as necessary and even desirable elements for the world of business and society, and proposes ways to make organizations – and our lives – not only more resilient and robust but also anti-fragile, which become better when exposed to apparently harmful shocks and events.
Resilient is one who, even with contrary forces, manages to return to his previous form. Antifragile, submitted to the same parties, produces better, more robust, more agile, and full of new advantages and learnings.
The book is large and extensive, over 600 pages, but Taleb’s style, witty and questioning, which makes reading pleasurable and intriguing.
The book is suggested by “Will Cannon, CEO of Signaturely”
We hope that you would have liked our list of best books to read during a pandemic. Do tell us about your favorites in the comments section below!