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Business books we like – Metro US

Business books we like

Beyond the job description Check out our picks for the books that can make you happier at your job and in your life.

Here are a few books from this year that caught our eye and might help fatten your wallet and make you happier at work.

“What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast”
Do you stop and ask yourself “Where did the time go?” Perhaps the answers are in Laura Vanderkam’s three-part guide to time management. She takes you through what successful people do before breakfast, on the weekends and dispenses practical tips on how to make the most of your time. Maybe your New Year’s resolution should be to do a one-week time log, analyze it and rethink your habits with the help from Vanderkam. Chances are, you’ll have more quality time with your family and achieve more at work.

‘The Renaissance Soul’
“A man can do all things if he will,” said Leon Battista Alberti in the 15th century, creating what ultimately became the term “renaissance man.” In her book, Margaret Lobenstine embraces this statement and helps people who may feel like their varied interests don’t fit in a time when one career path and one passion is the accepted norm. Lobenstine gives advice for readers to avoid the paralyzed feeling of choosing between many paths, link passion to a source of income and combine interests so that you don’t have to start over every time a new passion appears.

‘Beyond the Job Description’
This book is kind of like a couples therapist for managers and employees. Through chapters such as “Seeing Your Job-Within-a-Job” and “A Guide to Team Navigation” author Jesse Sostrin gives advice to help avoid frustration and friction between employees and managers. The book will help employees step up to the individual contributions expected of them so they can rise to the hidden challenges their managers were foreseeing for them, serving better the needs of the team. It’s time to find a mutual agenda!

‘Your Network Is Your Net Worth’
Wouldn’t it be nice if your worth was about happiness and job satisfaction and not just about dollars and cents? In “Your Network Is Your Net Worth,” Porter Gale, a speaker, entrepreneur and marketing executive, claims that this is actually the case. Gale says social capital is about finding and sticking to the people with whom you share passions and purpose — not just power lunches or office gossip. Those people can be your core circle or a broader group via social media, for example. But to do that you will need to define your values for yourself and nurture your confidence in them.

‘What Color Is Your Parachute?’
It has been in the hands of 10,000,000 people since it was first released in 1970, so there might be something to it. “What Color Is Your Parachute: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters & Career-Changers” is here in a new 2014 edition to help even more people looking for a new work scene. Author Richard N. Bolles keeps it up-to-date with knowledge from job-hunters, HR managers and career counselors. Among other chapters is a long list of social networking tools followed by the benefits of each one. There’s also handy advice to help you start your own business and exercises to instill confidence in the work-hunting process.