The best 32 Promotion books

1
Cues

Cues

Vanessa Van Edwards
Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication
4.5 (401 ratings)

What's Cues about?

Cues (2022) is about the signals we send unconsciously and how they affect the way others perceive us. The book is geared toward improving your professional life by managing the cues you send and responding appropriately to the ones you receive. 

Who should read Cues?

  • Professionals looking to achieve their goals
  • Those interested in the science of communication
  • People who want to improve their professional relationships

2
Radical Candor (New Version)

Radical Candor (New Version)

Kim Scott
Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
4.6 (352 ratings)

What's Radical Candor (New Version) about?

Radical Candor (2017) is a roadmap for leaders looking to establish the best possible relationship with their employees. Its insightful approach to management shows how to create a working environment where great ideas emerge, individuals reach their full potential, and employees are proud to follow their boss.

Who should read Radical Candor (New Version)?

  • Managers and business leaders
  • Coaches and organizational psychologists
  • Entrepreneurs and self-employed people

3
You Can Negotiate Anything

You Can Negotiate Anything

Herb Cohen
Anything you want, you got it
4.2 (289 ratings)

What's You Can Negotiate Anything about?

You Can Negotiate Anything (1980) shows that negotiations occur in every walk of life and that it is vital to have the skills and understanding to deal with those situations. The book outlines the key factors affecting negotiation success, as well as ways of negotiating for win-win solutions.

Who should read You Can Negotiate Anything?

  • Anyone who has ever negotiated with their spouse, boss or the telephone company, and wants to get better at it
  • Anyone who wants to protect themselves against abuse from aggressive negotiators
  • Anyone who wants to negotiate for mutual satisfaction

4
StrengthsFinder 2.0

StrengthsFinder 2.0

Tom Rath
Know thyself, then go out and conquer the world!
4.0 (124 ratings)

What's StrengthsFinder 2.0 about?

In StrengthsFinder 2.0 (2007) you’ll learn how to identify your skills and develop them to your advantage. Tom Rath presents a powerful framework to both cultivate your potential and match your strengths to your profession.

Who should read StrengthsFinder 2.0?

  • People unsure of which field to work in
  • Anyone who wants to better understand their co-workers
  • Employers who want to better harness their employees’ potential

5
Lean In

Lean In

Sheryl Sandberg
Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
4.2 (188 ratings)

What's Lean In about?

Through a combination of entertaining anecdotes, solid data and practical advice, Lean In (2013) examines the prevalence of and reasons for gender inequality both at home and at work. It encourages women to lean into their careers by seizing opportunities and aspiring to leadership positions, as well calling on both men and women to acknowledge and remedy the current gender inequalities.

Who should read Lean In?

  • Anyone interested in understanding and remedying inequality at work
  • Anyone who struggles with the challenges and expectations of combining a career with family
  • Anyone – female or male – looking for solid career advice

6
The Squiggly Career

The Squiggly Career

Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis
Ditch the Ladder, Embrace Opportunity and Carve Your Own Path Through the Squiggly World of Work
4.5 (160 ratings)

What's The Squiggly Career about?

The Squiggly Career (2020) covers research and tips on how to best navigate a career full of frequent transitions and modern-day challenges. If we learn to identify our own strengths, values, goals, and motivations, we can apply them more often at work – and notice when they’re being neglected. The authors reveal how to network by helping others, the merits of starting a side project, and how to make the most of the newfound control we have over our careers.

Who should read The Squiggly Career?

  • Job-hoppers looking for direction
  • College grads wondering what the next step is 
  • Anyone seeking insight into the new job market

7
The Fearless Organization

The Fearless Organization

Amy C. Edmondson
Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
4.6 (322 ratings)

What's The Fearless Organization about?

The Fearless Organization (2018) delves into psychological safety and how the workplace can become an environment in which everyone feels confident enough to pitch in and do their best. These blinks explain why people hold back on sharing their ideas at work, how this harms businesses, and how leaders can encourage a culture of openness, questioning, and experimentation that leads to learning and innovation. 

Who should read The Fearless Organization?

  • Forward-thinking leaders who want to encourage innovation and learning
  • Human resources managers looking to get the most out of their talent
  • Team players interested in creating a supportive workplace

8
The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management

The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management

Zachary Wong
Solving the Most Common People Problems for Team Leaders
4.4 (130 ratings)

What's The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management about?

The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management (2018) is a hands-on guide designed to help team leaders diagnose and solve people problems in today’s increasingly horizontal workplaces. The fruit of years of first-hand experience, Zachary Wong’s playbook for effective leadership is packed full of actionable advice on how to boost motivation, confront underperformers and push through fear of failure.

Who should read The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management?

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Leaders and managers
  • Anyone fascinated by workplace psychology

9
We Should All Be Millionaires

We Should All Be Millionaires

Rachel Rodgers
Change Your Thinking, Build Bank, and Claim Your Independence
4.0 (476 ratings)

What's We Should All Be Millionaires about?

We Should All Be Millionaires (2021) shows how women can attain financial success by casting off impostor syndrome and demanding that they be paid what they’re really worth. Here, you’ll learn how the ability to earn, save, and manage money has been denied to women – and why that’s a bad thing for the world as a whole.

Who should read We Should All Be Millionaires?

  • Women looking to empower themselves with wealth
  • Those looking to found companies of their own
  • Any woman who has been underpaid and overworked

10
Catalyst

Catalyst

Chandramouli Venkatesan
The Ultimate Strategies on How to Win at Work and in Life
4.1 (96 ratings)

What's Catalyst about?

Catalyst (2018) is the ultimate A to Z guide to navigating one of life’s trickiest journeys: your career. Jam-packed with actionable insights rooted in author Chandramouli Venkatesan’s years of first-hand experience with today’s most successful corporate go-getters, these blinks shed light on key topics from picking the right boss to the value of taking it slow and becoming an effective leader.

Who should read Catalyst?

  • Ambitious professionals
  • Executives and managers
  • Coaches and work psychologists

11
Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office

Lois P. Frankel
Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers
4.0 (66 ratings)

What's Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office about?

This book focuses on the reasons why women often don’t make it to the top ranks in the world of business. Frankel explains how women unconsciously behave in ways that undermine their business aspirations and presents female readers with measures to consciously counteract their self-defeating behavior.

Who should read Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office?

  • Any woman who wants to make it in the business world
  • Anyone who wants to know more about gender inequality
  • Any woman who wants to learn how to be more assertive

12
Inclusify

Inclusify

Stefanie K. Johnson
The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams
4.2 (122 ratings)

What's Inclusify about?

Inclusify (2020) offers some valuable guidance for managers and CEOs who would like to increase the diversity of their workforce. Facts show that diversity is a powerful contributor to success on a variety of levels. Inclusify introduces the proven steps that the biggest and best businesses are taking to be more inclusive and more successful.

Who should read Inclusify?

Who’s it for?

  • Managers who want happier employees
  • People seeking ways to create safer workplaces
  • CEOs who want to create more competitive businesses

13
Bargaining for Advantage

Bargaining for Advantage

G. Richard Shell
Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People
4.3 (107 ratings)

What's Bargaining for Advantage about?

Bargaining for Advantage (1999) is a guide to becoming a more efficient and intelligent negotiator. Combining insights from negotiation research with tried-and-tested tactics by some of the world’s leading business experts, this is a book for anyone who wants to improve their bargaining skills.

Who should read Bargaining for Advantage?

  • Businesspeople whose work involves negotiating
  • Dealmakers looking to improve their bargaining skills
  • Fans of self-improvement and corporate strategy

14
Good People, Bad Managers

Good People, Bad Managers

Samuel A. Culbert
How Work Culture Corrupts Good Intentions
3.9 (61 ratings)

What's Good People, Bad Managers about?

Good People, Bad Managers (2017) argues that the culture of the modern American workplace is perpetuating bad management without our being aware of it. The current management culture of self-preservation leads to behavior that actively harms well-being, productivity and motivation. Culbert explores why so many good people are trapped in the cycle of bad management, and makes a case for cultural change in our workplaces.

Who should read Good People, Bad Managers?

  • Managers looking to improve their business
  • People who are interested in how work culture functions
  • Those who want to challenge conventional management approaches

15
Power

Power

Jeffrey Pfeffer
Why Some People Have It And Others Don’t
4.2 (86 ratings)

What's Power about?

Power (2010) is a realpolitik guide to leading a successful career. It offers unusual insights and advice you wouldn’t normally find in other career literature, with tips and techniques you can start using now to achieve long-term success.

Who should read Power?

  • Anyone who is launching a career
  • Anyone who wants to get promoted
  • Anyone who works in politics

16
Humble Inquiry

Humble Inquiry

Edgar H. Schein
The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling
4.2 (63 ratings)

What's Humble Inquiry about?

Humble Inquiry (2013) sets out the basic principles of the art of asking the right questions in the right way. It examines how your approach to inquiry affects your relationships at the office, your ability to get quality work completed and, ultimately, your success as a leader.

Who should read Humble Inquiry?

  • Anyone who wants to improve how they communicate at work
  • Anyone who wants to be a great leader
  • Anyone who wants to learn how to ask the right questions

17
The Best Place to Work

The Best Place to Work

Ron Friedman
The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace
3.8 (33 ratings)

What's The Best Place to Work about?

If you want to design the best possible workplace, improve employee satisfaction and ultimately motivate your staff to deliver better results, look no further. The Best Place to Work will guide you through the process of improving your working environment, leading to more enthusiastic and productive employees.

Who should read The Best Place to Work?

  • Anyone who’s interested in workplace design
  • Anyone who’s concerned about employee satisfaction
  • Managers who want to improve productivity

18
Give & Get Employer Branding

Give & Get Employer Branding

Bryan Adams and Charlotte Marshall
Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose and Belonging
4.3 (123 ratings)

What's Give & Get Employer Branding about?

Give & Get Employer Branding (2020) is a handy introduction and guidebook into the world of employer branding. You’ll find all the basic information you need to reinvigorate your employer brand in order to attract the best candidates and turn your current employees into loyal and eager ambassadors for your organization.

Who should read Give & Get Employer Branding?

  • Anyone working in human resources
  • Managers who want to attract better candidates
  • Executives tired of wasting time and money on ineffective recruitment techniques

19
How to Lead Smart People

How to Lead Smart People

Arun Singh and Mike Mister
Leadership for Professionals
4.0 (74 ratings)

What's How to Lead Smart People about?

How to Lead Smart People (2019) offers practical advice for leadership in today’s shifting global landscape. In these blinks, leaders can learn how to cultivate a team dynamic that both challenges and inspires.

Who should read How to Lead Smart People?

  • CEOs and managers who want to earn the respect of their employees
  • Junior and mid-level managers seeking a promotion
  • Leaders and team members aspiring to become more effect communicators

20
Ask For It

Ask For It

Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Want
4.4 (18 ratings)

What's Ask For It about?

Ask For It (2008) gives women advice on how to successfully negotiate to get the jobs and salaries they want and deserve. These blinks outline the do’s and don’ts of negotiation so that those who aren’t used to asking for more can learn how to do so the right way.

Who should read Ask For It?

  • Women who want to be better negotiators
  • Anyone who’s afraid to ask for what they want
  • Women looking to further their careers

21
Conscious Business

Conscious Business

Fred Kofman
How to Build Value Through Values
4.3 (56 ratings)

What's Conscious Business about?

Conscious Business (2006) pushes beyond conventional measures of success to show you how to create a dynamic organization based on core human values. You’ll learn why companies that empower employees to align their work with the values they hold dear are the companies that succeed in today’s marketplace.

Who should read Conscious Business?

  • People looking to make work more fulfilling
  • CEOs and managers wanting to create space for values in their organizations
  • Entrepreneurs who value more enlightened measures of success

22
Beyond Measure

Beyond Measure

Margaret Heffernan
The Big Impact of Small Changes
4.5 (26 ratings)

What's Beyond Measure about?

Beyond Measure (2015) shows that transforming a struggling company into a thriving one is a simple matter of making small systemic changes that empower people to speak up, collaborate and share. Discover you can stop your company from being controlled by one overworked CEO and make it into an innovative powerhouse where ideas can flourish.

Who should read Beyond Measure?

  • Employees who want to be more assertive within their own company
  • Business leaders who want to empower their coworkers and foster creativity
  • Start-ups looking for some basic principles around which to build their company

23
Powerful

Powerful

Patty McCord
Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
4.2 (46 ratings)

What's Powerful about?

Based on the work practices at Netflix, Powerful (2017) is a guide to building a work culture that can adapt to today’s fast-paced and ever-changing markets. It offers insights that are rooted in an unconventional way of managing people. You’ll discover eight practices of management that’ll help you create a successful work culture and business.

Who should read Powerful?

  • Leaders and managers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Anyone interested in the stupendous rise of Netflix

24
Feminist Fight Club

Feminist Fight Club

Jessica Bennett
A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace
3.6 (25 ratings)

What's Feminist Fight Club about?

Feminist Fight Club (2016) sheds new light on the rampant sexism in the workplace and equips women with the tools to take down everything from mansplainers to personal feelings of self-doubt. It draws on modern-day examples as well as historical perspectives to illustrate how feminists can help in the fight for a more gender-balanced world.

Who should read Feminist Fight Club?

  • Women who want to build their careers
  • Men concerned about the difficulties their female colleagues face
  • Women dealing with sexism at work

25
Remarkable

Remarkable

David Kronfeld
Proven Insights to Accelerate Your Career
4.2 (210 ratings)

What's Remarkable about?

Remarkable (2021) is a playbook for professionals looking to advance their careers. It’s not about getting ahead by any means, though. Covering topics like self-promotion, mistakes, and disagreements, it makes a compelling case that the best way to move forward is by staying humble and working with – and for – your team. 

Who should read Remarkable?

  • Managers and leaders
  • Entrepreneurs and self-starters 
  • Team players

26
The New Rules of Work

The New Rules of Work

Alexandra Cavoulacos & Kathryn Minshew
The Modern Playbook for Navigating Your Career
4.5 (38 ratings)

What's The New Rules of Work about?

The New Rules of Work (2017) is the definitive handbook for navigating the modern workplace. Authors Cavoulacos and Minshew recognize that the way we work has changed in tandem with the advancement of technology and that the way we think about career paths has evolved accordingly. Modern workers expect a job to do more than just pay the bills – work has to be fulfilling, too. Their New Rules will help you discover the career that fits you best and give you the tools to succeed in the modern job market – from application to promotion.

Who should read The New Rules of Work?

  • Students and graduates still unsure of their career path
  • Anybody stuck in a career rut
  • Employees who started their careers under the “old rules” looking to understand the current landscape

27
Mastering the Game

Mastering the Game

Sharon E. Jones with Sudheer R. Poluru
Strategies for Career Success
4.2 (54 ratings)

What's Mastering the Game about?

Mastering the Game (2018) aims to level the playing field for women and people of color in the world of business – the traditional purview of white men. This book lays bare the unwritten rules of the game and outlines strategies diverse professionals can use to get unstuck at work.

Who should read Mastering the Game?

  • People who have felt marginalized at work
  • Social activists who want to create a fairer and more inclusive world
  • Allies who want to be even more empathetic

28
Build It

Build It

Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey
The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement
4.6 (37 ratings)

What's Build It about?

Build It (2018) takes a look at one of the most important yet overlooked secrets behind business success: employee engagement. Drawing on a decade of research into 2,000 companies, Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey explore the tactics of some of today’s best-known firms to shed light on how they keep their workers switched on and productive. One common theme? They all tore up the HR rulebook, and this path-breaking book is designed to help you do just that.

We’re thrilled to announce that the authors have worked together with Blinkist to create this book-in-blinks for you.

Who should read Build It?

  • CEO’s and entrepreneurs looking to improve their businesses
  • HR people looking to engage their employees
  • Managers wanting to improve the performance of their team

29
The Politics of Promotion

The Politics of Promotion

Bonnie Marcus
How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
4.0 (26 ratings)

What's The Politics of Promotion about?

The Politics of Promotion (2015) offers insights into the ways women can prime themselves for promotion in any line of work. Filled with actionable tips and strategic career advice, it provides the political savvy you need to maneuver within the workplace and secure your next promotion.

Who should read The Politics of Promotion?

  • Women who want to move up the career ladder
  • Anyone interested in the politics and dynamics of high-pressure workplaces

30
The Peter Principle

The Peter Principle

Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull
Why Things Always Go Wrong
4.3 (29 ratings)

What's The Peter Principle about?

The Peter Principle (1969) explains why you feel like you’re surrounded by incompetence at work – you are! This wry book reveals promotions for what they really are: a progression to our final level of incompetence. These blinks help us understand how corporate hierarchies really function, as well as offering advice on how to deal with our own incompetence.

Who should read The Peter Principle?

  • Anyone wondering why they’re surrounded by people who can’t do their job
  • People with dry humor
  • Those interested in how hierarchies really work

31
The Inclusion Dividend

The Inclusion Dividend

Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan
Why Investing in Diversity and Inclusion Pays Off
3.5 (26 ratings)

What's The Inclusion Dividend about?

“I’m not sexist, it’s just that the top candidates are all guys.” “I don’t believe in quotas – surely you should pick the best person for the job, whatever the colour of their skin?” If you’ve ever had thoughts like these, challenge your assumptions with The Inclusion Dividend (2013). It explains how diversity and inclusion actually boost the productivity and business success of any company, while presenting a guide to transforming your workplace for the good.

Who should read The Inclusion Dividend?

  • Leaders who want to take the success of their organizations to the next level
  • Anyone interested in the economic incentives for diversity
  • Executives who have wondered why diverse and inclusive companies perform so well

32
Masters of Disaster

Masters of Disaster

Christopher Lehane
The Ten Commandments of Damage Control

What's Masters of Disaster about?

Masters of Disaster takes you on a journey through a crisis that characterizes today’s information age. Drawing on damage control operations, the authors have developed the ten commandments to help any politician, celebrity or company avoid scandal and a tarnished reputation.

Who should read Masters of Disaster?

  • Anyone in a public-facing role
  • Anyone whose work depends on the audience’s trust
  • Anyone who hopes to one day become an elected official

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