Despite my busy schedule as a Creative Director of a digital marketing agency in Gurgaon and also a mom, I am a total bookworm. I feel reading is a good habit for leaders to develop – staying on top of new trends and ideas is what empowers people to lead instead of following. Here are five books that I feel are definitely worth a read and should find space on every leader’s bookshelf.
1. Dream With Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey – Ronnie Screwvala
When I first launched Pure Design Solution, I recall how it was initially a trial-and-error process to find out what works best in building a healthy work culture that empowers people, and also to figure out how to inspire your team to deliver above and beyond basic expectations – UTV head Ronnie Screwvala’s book, Dream With Your Eyes Open, is a great read for all leaders because it offers many excellent examples of accomplishing both these things! Whether you have just launched a new start-up or have been in the game for years, pick up this book to gain access to useful tips to create winning teams. I’m sure you’ll also find anecdotes about Ronnie Screwvala’s journey from modest beginnings in Mumbai’s Grand Road district to starting an entertainment conglomerate and being named the Jack Warner of India by Newsweek very inspiring.
2. TED Talks – Chris Anderson
I love watching TED Talks – they are always uplifting, and lord knows how much we leaders need inspiration from time to time in our stressful profession! Jokes apart, this lovely book by the curator of TED is very insightful and uplifting. It contains meaningful tips on things seasoned leaders tend to overlook when overconfidence kicks in, such as nuances of fine-tuning public speaking. I love how this book gets down to the nitty-gritty about the art of communicating. As a leader I have to know how to communicate clearly and effectively with both my clients and staff – TED Talks has very practical suggestions to accomplish this with examples that stay with you much after you put the book down. Also worth a read is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People – this book contains timeless advice on how to be a charismatic leader and win people’s trust and respect by motivating them and negotiating effectively. I feel the more you read up about communicating, leading people and negotiating, the more successful you will be with running a business. Here in India, where many female leaders face gender discrimination in a patriarchal society, knowing how to assert yourself without hurting egos can be an important skill to pick up on.
3. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True – Amy Wallace & Edwin Catmull
Written by the co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, this book sheds light on the age old business challenge — how managers can bring out the best in their teams. I can vouch for how important it is to strike a fine balance between promoting creativity in your team, while also being successful from a business point-of-view. You want your team to feel free to let their ideas run wild, yet they also need to be accountable for ROI at the end. Creativity Inc helped me discover ways to push my employees to reach new heights when delivering on client projects, while also thinking out of the box at the same time. I also found reading about what goes on at Pixar Animation quite intriguing, especially the way their management straddles taking risks and building effective teams that transform mediocre ideas into excellent ones.
4. Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses – Joe Pulizzi
Joe Pulizzi, the founder of Content Marketing Institute, has penned down a really worthwhile read about putting together engaging content. My team and I find ourselves in situations all the time where we try to brainstorm ideas to market our clients in innovative ways. Content Inc. works as a solid blueprint to think of out-of-the-box strategies to build an audience and then develop a product for them, opposite of the traditional approach. Also worth a read is Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes, which provides useful tips to create one-of-a-kind content to make your brand, or your clients’ brands, stand out. Both of these books are perfect for full service ad agencies, since many topics covered can be applied to digital marketing and advertising. Audiences are changing all the time and so are the means of reaching out to them amongst all the clutter – both these books offer excellent ideas to handle both these constantly shifting variables.
5. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable — The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable – Patrick Lencioni
I found this book intriguing because it busts so many myths surrounding leadership and team-building. Also, there are very clear steps to become a better team leader, which are useful to take away from this book. The use of a real life fable to showcase how to transition a team from being dysfunctional to effective is an interesting approach.
Knowledge is indeed power!
I hope reading these five well-thought-out books will arm you in your journey to become a motivator, leader and pathfinder for your team as it’s done for me.
