7 Best Books to Boost Your Career - The Muse

7 Best Books to Boost Your Career - The Muse7 Best Books to Boost Your Career - The MuseHere at The Muse, we spend a lot of time talking about careers. Whether its how to start it, change it, or enhance it, weve thought about it all. So, it probably comes as no surprise that we also spend plenty of time reading about how we can move further along our own paths. Below, our team shares seven of their favorite recent reads and explains how their picks have helped them do their jobs (even) better. 1. Dot Complicated Untangling Our Wired Lives by Randi ZuckerbergIm currently reading Dot.Complicated by Randi Zuckerberg. I love reading about her perspective on tech-life balance and stories about Facebooks early days. This is great for anyone whos interested in learning more about the companys history and for anyone who is craving to understand how technologys changing the way people interact with each other. Jessica Huang, Account Executive2. Deep Work Rules for Focused Success in a Distr acted World by Cal NewportThe point of the book is to better understand how distraction and shallow tasks take away from us producing our bigger projects- i.e., the deep work, strategic thinking, new ideas- that were really hired to do. What Newport calls deep work is the opposite of the environment we have by default in most offices. The book is about building repeatable rituals to overcome those defaults, with practical methods like time blocking, fixed scheduling, systematically saying no to different obligations, and how to make the most of your unconscious mind. (Quick tip Give it room to breathe rather than pulling out a screen.)Shahzad Ahsan, Demand Generation Manager3. Power Questions Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others by Andrew Sobel and Jerold PanasRight now Im focused on improving my ability to better understand clients and guide them to realize that they want and need. This book succinctly walks through insightful and original questions to boost a business conversation or how to improve a personal relationship. Its an easy read and extremely actionable.Daniel Ratner, Account Executive4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie KondoIts not a traditional career book, but Im finding it very applicable in both my career and life. Im personally always feeling bogged down and overwhelmed by all the things I have to do. This book is teaching me that by decluttering my physical things, I create more space for things that matter. Similarly, she has a lot of good nuggets of positive thinking advice about tidying up your mental state. By creating space in your physical life, youre freeing up mental space to pursue the things you love and were made forJena Viviano, Account Executive5. Covert Persuasion Psychological Tactics and Tricks to Win the Game by Kevin Hogan and James SpeakmanIt welches recommended to me when I was asking around for a great sales read to help me improve in m y role here at The Muse. One of the best takeaways I got was how to turn a no into a yes by focusing on practical tools that work. One thing Ill say after reading a lot of sales books is that theyre not just for people in sales. After reading Daniel Pinks To Sell Is Human (another great read), you realize everyone, in one way or another, is in sales and can benefit from these books.Dara Meyer, Account Executive6. The Compass of Zen by Seung SahnIt seems tangentially relevant since I see mindfulness, and sometimes meditation, mentioned a lot in career advice or personal growth writing. But in these writings, direct references to Buddhism sometimes get filtered out to keep folks from turning away. I dont think thats always necessary, and Ive generally found the more unfiltered source material a lot more helpful regarding personal growth and very relevant to daily life.Chris Ryan, Data Scientist7. Primed to Perform How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Tot al Motivation by Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregorIt applies data and metrics to the elusive and hard to measure importance of company culture. As The Muse is scaling, the more we understand about how our culture is developing, the better prepared well be to keep making it stronger and to keep attracting driven and high-performing Musers.Lindsay Moroney, Chief of StaffJoin Us at The Muse- Were HiringWhat are some of your favorite career-oriented reads? Let me know on Twitter.Photo of woman reading courtesy of Shutterstock.