5 books that will change how you think about your job and career
Together, they can be a 'career navigation system' for young people
This is a shorter, crisper edition of an essay I wrote years ago on this topic, and which I think is worth revisiting.
Those who have read this newsletter for the last four years know that I’m a reader, but for some silly reason I came to business books late. This changed during my MBA, when I really got into macroeconomics and business stories. But the books that really changed the way I thought about my life and career came even later, which is the list I’m giving you now.
Together, they can form a kind of career navigation system for you, tried and tested by someone who started out absolutely, completely lost: Me.
Recession Proof Graduate, by Charlie Hoehn
Published in 2014, this one is not even a full length book. But if you are in college, YOU HAVE TO READ IT. This will change the way you look at your job search. In fact, this will change the way you look for, and land a job throughout your career.
Even if you are in your first job, frustrated, and don’t understand how to break into the field you’ve always wanted to be in, this book will show you how.
What’s more, the author has put it up for free to read. Just read it.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport
I have said this before, but when I started my career, I wasn’t a particularly good marketer. I mean, I was a good writer, and that helped, but I really wasn’t anywhere near good at marketing.
But suddenly, in 2016-17, when I was at Wingify and leading a team, everything seemed to come together. My plans were spot-on, my bets worked out, my strategies made sense, my team was happy and successful. I was as surprised as I was delighted. I didn’t think about it too much; it’s difficult to, when you are doing well.
It was only later, when I read Cal Newport’s book, that I understood why I was now a good marketer and manager, and how I could get even better. It’s brilliant, to say the least; I swear by its lessons. For someone 2 - 6 years into your career, and looking around at colleagues zooming ahead and wanting to know how to accelerate your own career, this book is invaluable.
Some of its lessons are surprising and unintuitive, but if you intend to build a serious career in your field, read this book.
Here’s the link to the Kindle edition.
Newport has subsequently built a successful career as a writer of prescriptive non-fiction (his term) about work and achievement, and his later books are must-reads too.
Essentialism, by Greg McKeown
I consider Essentialism required reading for everyone, regardless of profession or calling. My former boss, Paras Chopra, founder and chairman of Wingify, gave it to me, and I have tried to use its lessons almost everyday. The book tells you why the intentional pursuit of less is a great way to make sure you are prioritising what is important in your life.
I apply the principle as much as I can: I do less, but what I do, I do well. This need not apply just to work, it’s applicable everywhere. And in a time when everyone is feeling stretched and tired, it may be the best way for you to reset your priorities (I may need to remember this more myself).
If all of that sounds a bit like hokum, blame other nonsensical self-help books you’ve read. Essentialism is the real deal, and you should read it.
This is Marketing, by Seth Godin
Seth Godin’s book left me with so much to think about. The copy my friend lent me was almost disfigured by the amount of notes I took. But at least three ideas from it have become part of the way I think about marketing everyday:
1. That marketing creates more value, both psychologically and in a real sense than you might think
2. That creating scarcity can be incredibly beneficial for your product, or for whatever you are selling
3. And for the concept of psychographics over demographics, which I won’t explain, but is something I’m still surprised more SaaS marketers haven’t caught up to yet.
It’s ridiculously high value reading, and once you have read it, you’ll never think about marketing the same way. If you are a marketer, this belongs on your shelf.
Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype
I read this during my early years at Freshdesk, and it influenced a lot of my early marketing thinking.
It’s a short, straight-shooting book and guides you to think about marketing with a simple question: How can I help? As you apply this question to some of your content and (especially) product marketing, you’ll realise how much value this simple framework can help you provide to prospects and customers
For a content/product marketer starting out in a new product, this book can help you look at things from the prospect/customer’s POV. This is a way of seeing that cannot be untaught once you have learnt it. Read it.
As part of GTM week, organised by HSR Founder’s Club here in Bangalore, I’m doing an in-person positioning workshop at Hustlehub. This is great because it’s also next to the uncle bar I frequent when I need a couple of drinks after work.
If you are interested (in the positioning workshop, not the bar), please register here.
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