The summer leadership book club is now open!
And we're starting with a stone cold classic if you want to become more effective at work and at home
I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to personal development books. I can’t get enough. Luckily, I’m in a profession (coaching of course) where that’s kind of a good thing!
There are SO MANY good books out there if you want to learn, evolve and grow in your career and as a leader.
In case you missed it, last year, I put together my first list of leadership and self development books that I really rate (including some non-traditional picks that work wonders). Here it is in case you want a refresher:
The Lead with Intention summer reading list 2023
Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what leadership lessons you took from them? I’d love to know which ones resonate!
The Summer 2024 book club
I’ll be putting together another list very soon (stay subscribed so you don’t miss it!), AND I want to do something a little different too.
How do you feel about an online book club for the Lead with Intention community?
I’ll be making it free, so anyone can join in and comment, and I want to start with one of the books off the 2023 list - a classic that has changed my day to day life for the better (at home and at work!) In fact, I used the key principles to go alcohol free eight months ago and it worked really well.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Here’s my review from last year…
“…in his eponymous book, James Clear sets out small habits and changes that can lead to life-changing outcomes. What I love about this book is that it’s always clear, always straightforward and always immensely practical. I’m also a huge fan (increasingly so as I get older), of small steps that build to something bigger.
I just find it easier to gain momentum this way and it’s one of my favourite coaching questions too: “What’s the easiest first step you could take right now?”
In fact, my favourite part in this book is called “Make It Easy” and I use many of the techniques every day. For example, if something takes two minutes, just do it now! That’s helped me get a load of necessary but boring admin out of the way very quickly!”
Let’s talk about it
The book is split into 4 “laws” of building good habits:
Make It Obvious
Make It Attractive
Make It Easy
Make It Satisfying
And of course, if you’re trying to break a bad habit, it’s the other way around:
Make It Invisible
Make It Unattractive
Make It Difficult
Make It Unsatisfying
And I thought that’s how we could break down this book together? Identify one personal and one professional habit we want to build (or break!) over the next few months and work through the chapters and the steps in the book to apply the framework and see what happens by September!
We can hold each other accountable in the comments too (feel free to be anonymous if it helps you!)
Here’s what to do next if you’d like to take part (this is for all subscribers)
Buy or download the book Atomic Habits by James Clear (to be clear, I don’t get any commission from book purchases, so I haven’t included a link just in case you thought I was!)
Read the introductory chapters called “The Fundamentals”
Identify a habit you want to build or break over the summer (personal and / or professional)
Share these in the comment thread I’ll set up for this book club (you can stay anon if you’d like) or if you prefer not to be specific about the habits, that’s fine too - you can still take part!
I’ll then share a prompt every two weeks on the key points in each of the four main sections, along with coaching questions for you to think about in relation to these themes
You then read that section and we can discuss our reflections and actions / progress in the comment thread, as well as share helpful tips for others
Share this with others, so we can build our community!
As this is free to all subscribers (don’t worry, the weekly coaching emails continue for paid subs, with some juicy stuff coming up on communication tips and your non-negotiables for your career), I’d love it if you could share this with friends, colleagues and your networks, so that we can get more people joining in.
We’ll start the week of June 17th, so you have some time to invite people, grab a copy of the book if you don’t have one already and think about which habits (professional or personal) you want to build or break this summer!
Louise