Change is coming. And patience is running out for those who don’t get it.
We’ve poured through some of the latest books written by women, about women, and for women in honor of Women’s History Month. Here are 6 fresh books that we think are well worth the turn of the page:
1. Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord
What it’s about: At Netflix, McCord served as Chief Talent Officer when a popular slide deck about its culture went viral. Now a consultant, McCord promotes the idea of radical honesty in the workplace, sharing lessons from her time at Netflix and elsewhere.
Why pick it up: It’s a guide for leaders of all levels on how to build a high-performance culture in the midst of vertigo-inducing change.
2. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All of the Facts by Annie Duke
What it’s about: Duke, a former World Series of Poker champion, was awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship to study cognitive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She shares her work on decision strategy and distills its lessons in this book.
Why pick it up: Various sources estimate that an adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day. This number may sound absurd, but in fact, we make 226.7 decisions each day on just food alone according to researchers at Cornell University (Wansink and Sobal, 2007). As your level of responsibility increases, so do the smorgasbord of choices you are faced with.
3. Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley by Emily Chang
What it’s about: For women in tech, Silicon Valley is a land where men hold all the cards and make all the rules. Vastly outnumbered, women face toxic workplaces rife with discrimination and sexual harassment, where investors take meetings in hot tubs and network at sex parties.
Why pick it up: In this powerful exposé, Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals, why bro culture endures despite decades of companies claiming the moral high ground, and how women are finally starting to speak out and fight back.
4. That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together by Joanne Lipman
What it’s NOT about: Man shaming.
Why pick it up: Filled with illuminating anecdotes, data from the most recent studies, and stories from Joanne Lipman’s own journey to the top of a male-dominated industry, it shows how we can all win by reaching across the gender divide.
5. Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness by Melissa Dahl
What it’s about: New York magazine’s “Science of Us” editor explains the compelling psychology of awkwardness, and asks: what if the moments that make us feel most awkward are actually valuable?
Why pick it up: When everyone else is pretending to have it under control, you can be a little braver and grow a little bigger–while remaining true to your awkward self. And along the way, you might find that awkward moments unite us in our mutual human ridiculousness.
6. The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
What it’s about: A hopeful meditation on womanhood and a universal quest
ion: What’s the most we should expect from ourselves and our bodies? It’s also a rumination on memory, family, commitment and the frailty of those things. You don’t have to be a woman for Levy’s writing to resonate.
Why pick it up: Levy’s story of resilience is an unforgettable portrait of the shifting forces in our culture, of what has changed—and of what is eternal.
Question: What titles would you add in honor of Women’s History Month?
