Continue your leadership journey with this specially curated collection of books by activists and entrepreneurs, instigators and innovators. There’s even a rocket scientist in the bunch.
Plus, we’ve got titles from a few members of Take The Lead’s own talented team. This featured list will help you Take The Lead in your life and career.
Want to go further? Consider joining the virtual Book Club to explore ideas and expand your understanding with a diverse group of passionate women.
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By Gloria Feldt
Co-Founder & President, Take The Lead
In the wake of two pandemics that shook our world to its core and revealed deep fault lines in our culture, Intentioning shows how we can seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity created by massive disruption to build back stronger with women at the center of the recovery.
Through the lens of women’s stories, it delivers a fresh set of leadership tools, skills, and concepts that help all women reach their own highest intentions, purposefully creating new norms, while guiding institutions to break through the remaining barriers to gender and racial parity for everyone’s good.
By Gloria Feldt
Co-Founder & President, Take The Lead
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Feminist icon Gloria Feldt pulls no punches in this new book, which argues that the most confounding problem facing women today isn’t that doors of opportunity aren’t open, but that not enough women are walking through them. From the boardroom to the bedroom, public office to personal relationships, she asserts that nobody is keeping women from parity—except themselves.“
An up-to-the-minute, indispensable book. This book is the coach young women need.” —Gloria Steinem
by Jamia Wilson
Director, Feminist Press at the City University of New York
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Who am I? What is race? What is gender? What happens when we die? What is right and wrong? What is justice? What is memory? Studies show that children ask caregivers 300 questions a day... this book teaches children to train their busy brains and think outside the box. Get lost for hours exploring puzzling questions that have stumped thinkers for years. More importantly, discover your truth by reading about a diverse range of thinkers. Drawing on influences from ancient Greeks right up to modern-day American writers, philosophy is re-imagined in this book. Relate to the real-life experiences, explore big ideas from a range of thinkers, and decide where you stand. A world-expanding book to get lost in: either individually, or as a family.
Latham Thomas
Founder, Mama Glow
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Own Your Glow is an inspirational, actionable, and wildly enriching companion for change. Celebrity wellness and lifestyle guru, Latham Thomas provides soulful principles that offer an illuminated path for examining life’s challenges, helping you curate your path to greatness, while embracing your uniquely feminine attributes. Packed with rituals, meditations, and snackable lifestyle tips, Thomas provides a clear framework for harnessing your passion, developing spiritual fitness, and embracing true vulnerability. This guide is for anyone who wants to witness her own life transform and contribute to the positive change of the world around her.
by Minda Harts
founder of The Memo LLC
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Most business books provide a one-size-fits-all approach to career advice that overlooks the unique barriers that women of color face. In The Memo, Minda Harts offers a much-needed career guide tailored specifically for women of color. Drawing on knowledge gained from her past career as a fundraising consultant to top colleges across the country, Harts now brings her powerhouse entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo to the page.
by Jennifer Block
Investigative Journalist
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American women visit more doctors, have more surgery, and fill more prescriptions than men. In Everything Below the Waist, Jennifer Block asks: Why is the life expectancy of women today declining relative to women in other high-income countries, and even relative to the generation before them? Feminism turned the world upside down, yet to a large extent the doctors' office has remained stuck in time. Block returns to the 1970s women's health movement to understand how in today's supposed age of empowerment, women's bodies are still so vulnerable to medical control―particularly their sex organs, and as result, their sex lives.
by Kristin Grady Gilger and Julia Wallace
Professors in Journalism at the Cronkite School
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October 2020 selection of the Take The Lead Book Club
There’s No Crying in Newsrooms tells the stories of remarkable women who broke through barrier after barrier at media organizations around the country over the past four decades. They started out as editorial assistants, fact-checkers and news secretaries and ended up running multi-million-dollar news operations that determine a large part of what Americans read, view and think about the world. These women, who were calling in news stories while in labor and parking babies under their desks, never imagined that 40 years later young women entering the news business would face many of the same battles they did – only with far less willingness to put up and shut up.
by Gloria Steinem
Activist & founder of New York and Ms. magazines
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A beautifully illustrated collection of Gloria Steinem’s most inspirational and outrageous quotes, with an introduction and essays by the feminist activist herself. Covering topics from relationships (“Many are looking for the right person. Too few are trying to be the right person.”) to the patriarchy (“Men are liked better when they win. Women are liked better when they lose. This is how the patriarchy is enforced every day.”) and activism (“Revolutions, like trees, grow from the bottom up.”), this is the definitive collection of Steinem’s words on what matters most. Steinem sees quotes as “the poetry of everyday life,” so she also has included a few favorites from friends, including bell hooks, Flo Kennedy, and Michelle Obama, in this book that will make you want to laugh, march, and create some quotes of your own.
by Tiffany Shlain
Filmmaker, speaker, and Webby Awards founder
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Internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain takes us on a provocative and entertaining journey through time and technology, introducing a strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for twenty-four hours each week. This practice, which she’s done for nearly a decade with her husband and kids (sixteen and ten), has completely changed their lives, giving them more time, productivity, connection, and presence. She and her family call it “Technology Shabbat.”
by Dr. Nancy O’Reilly
Founder, Women Connect4Good, Inc.
Chair, Take The Lead
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Thoughts, advice, and stories from 40 successful women across a variety of careers—from authors to actresses, CEOs and professors—encouraging women to support each other in the workplace and in life—along with action plans on how all women can work together to break free from the binds of gender inequality. Women worldwide are breaking their silence—coming forward against the men that have oppressed and abused them in the #MeToo movement. It’s an exciting, liberating moment time of female empowerment—but now we have to relearn how to connect with each other.
by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson
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Are you ready to take action and make your voice heard, but don't know how to go about it? This hands-on, hit-the-ground-running guide delivers lessons on practical tactics for navigating and protecting one's personal democracy in a gridlocked, heavily surveilled, and politically volatile country. If you want to start making a difference but don’t know what to do next, Road Map for Revolutionaries provides the resources needed to help you feel safer, more empowered, invested in, and intrinsic to the American experiment.
by Sylvia Acevedo
CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA
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A meningitis outbreak in their underprivileged neighborhood left Sylvia Acevedo’s family forever altered. As she struggled in the aftermath of loss, young Sylvia’s life transformed when she joined the Brownies. The Girl Scouts taught her how to take control of her world and nourished her love of numbers and science. With new confidence, Sylvia navigated shifting cultural expectations at school and at home, forging her own trail to become one of the first Latinx to graduate with a master’s in engineering from Stanford University and going on to become a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
by Allison Yarrow
Journalist & Speaker
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To understand how we got here, we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace. Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Marcia Clark, and Roseanne Barr were undermined. Newsmakers like Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the 24-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched sexism. Meanwhile, marketers hijacked feminism and poisoned girlhood for a generation of young women.
by Tiffany Dufu
Founder and CEO of The Cru
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A bold and inspiring memoir and manifesto from a renowned voice in the women's leadership movement who shows women how to cultivate the single skill they really need in order to thrive: the ability to let go. In Drop the Ball, Dufu recounts how she learned to reevaluate expectations, shrink her to-do list, and meaningfully engage the assistance of others―freeing the space she needed to flourish at work and to develop deeper, more meaningful relationships at home.
by Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever
Founder, Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women
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How Exceptional Black Women Lead brings together compelling research, hard data, and generously shared personal advice to unlock the secrets to exceptional success for today’s Black woman. Shared in these pages are perspectives gathered from 70 exceptional Black women leaders, each who've blazed a trail in corporations, non-profit organizations, as public servants, activists, elected officials, entertainers or entrepreneurs. From the C-Suite to the Streets, and even to the Halls of Congress, How Exceptional Black Women Lead relays the strategies and techniques that result in breaking away from the pack, making your mark, and overcoming the layered challenges every Black woman faces on her way to the top.
by Farai Chideya
Program Officer, Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression team
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“Journalist and policy analyst Chideya tackles how to survive in a time of broadening inequality and dwindling job market prospects…The Episodic Career is part policy summary, part journalistic narration, part self-help book” (The Guardian)
Understanding how America is working (and not working) is a critical first step to finding your best place in the employment world. Chideya brings her extensive research and her own solutions to work/life balance in The Episodic Career, an accessible manual to help you chart your course in the workplace, use your skills, and find your “sweet spot” within the variety of independent and corporate work structures today. The Episodic Career is a powerful new tool for determining success on your own terms.
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Author & MacArthur Fellow
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August 2020 selection of the Take The Lead Book Club
The highly acclaimed, provocative New York Times bestseller from the award-winning author of Americanah.
In this personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.
By Linda Hirshman
Lawyer & Author
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The relationship between Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher’s daughter and Brooklyn girl—transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other’s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women. Linda Hirshman’s dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession—battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women’s lives.
By Mallary Tytel
Founder, Healthy Workplaces
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One Simple Thing Can Change Everything. Your power lies in your ability to influence the world and all it takes is doing One Simple Thing every day. One Simple Thing offers you an opportunity to discover who you are, what is important to you, and how you want to connect with others. This book provides you with a set of Simple Tools that will allow you to create conditions for learning, reflection, and change. Once you start to explore, recognize, and identify your own patterns of thought and behavior, you will develop an understanding of what motivates you, the future you wish to create, and your next steps. And it is your own values and beliefs that will light your way. Go on and take the first step. As self-awareness and anticipation grow, new questions will emerge. From these you will then begin to build your own Theory of Change for moving forward.
By Laura Vanderkam
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“Having it all” has become the subject of countless books, articles, debates, and social media commentary, with passions running high in all directions. Many now believe this to be gospel truth: Any woman who wants to advance in a challenging career has to make huge sacrifices. She’s unlikely to have a happy marriage, quality time with her kids (assuming she can have kids at all), a social life, hobbies, or even a decent night’s sleep. But what if balancing work and family is actually not as hard as it’s made out to be? What if all those tragic anecdotes ignore the women who quietly but consistently do just fine with the juggle?
By Bonnie Marcus
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The Politics of Promotion offers women the tools and guidance they need to successfully navigate the realities of their organization, emphasizing the need to understand office politics to get the promotions and recognition they deserve. Written by Bonnie Marcus, a professional coach who focuses on helping women advance their careers, this book demonstrates the impact of relationships and sponsorship on career trajectory. Readers will learn why excellence and achievement aren't propulsion enough to get ahead, and how networking with power and intention can make all the difference in perception, reputation, and promotion.
By Carla Harris
Vice-Chair, Managing Director, and Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley
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Whether we’re starting out, striving toward a promotion, or looking for a new opportunity, the working world isn’t what it used to be. Wall Street veteran Carla Harris knows this, and in Strategize to Win she gives readers the tools they need to get started; get “unstuck” from bad situations; redirect momentum; and position themselves to manage their careers no matter the environment. With her trademark galvanizing advice, Harris identifies and clarifies issues that are often murky, offering lessons on: Identifying and making the most of your work profile (are you a Good Soldier? a Leader? an Arguer?); preparing for a career change without going back to school or taking a step down: honing three essential skills industry leaders possess (and how to get them); tuning into unspoken cues; and thriving through change. Introducing a new way of planning one’s career in five-year units, Strategize to Win distills battle-tested and step-by-step tools that Carla has used to launch and sustain her own successful career and help others move forward, recover from setbacks, and position themselves for success.
by Jennefer Witter
CEO, The Boreland Group
Take The Lead’s Communications/PR Consultant
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As an entrepreneur, you need every helpful tool you can get your hands on to build your business. And if you know the tricks of the trade, perhaps nothing can gain more attention for your small business and build your company's credibility than a good, old-fashioned public-relations campaign. Whether you're an established company or a cost-conscious start-up, The Little Book of Big PR tells you all you need to know to be able to use public relations effectively as a business-building tool.
By Nancy D. O'Reilly
Founder, Women Connect4Good, Inc.
Chair, Take The Lead
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Stop waiting around for the career--and life--that you deserve and start taking the reins! Leading Women shows you how to claim power and respect, conquer your internal barriers, and change the world by helping other women do the same. Featuring stories from twenty nationally acclaimed female leaders, this empowering guide offers real-life advice for breaking free of the predetermined roles in the business world and life. Powerful women such as New York Times bestselling author Marci Shimoff, advocacy leader Gloria Feldt, and Emmy-winning television host Aurea McGarry describe what it's like to go beyond their comfort zones, hold their own in a male-dominated environment, and take control of the situations that keep many women from achieving their goals.
By Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
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Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career.
Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.
by Brigid Schulte
Director of The Better Life Lab at New America
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When award-winning journalist Brigid Schulte, a harried mother of two, realized she was living a life of all work and no play, she decided to find out why she felt so overwhelmed. This book is the story of what she discovered―and of how her search for answers became a journey toward a life of less stress and more leisure. Schulte's findings are illuminating, puzzling, and, at times, maddening: Being overwhelmed is even affecting the size of our brains. But she also encounters signs of real progress―evidence that what the ancient Greeks called "the good life" is attainable after all.
By Marcia Reynolds
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You want people to stretch their limits, but your conversations meant to help them often fall flat or backfire, creating more resistance than growth. Top leadership coach Marcia Reynolds offers a model for using the Discomfort Zone—the moment when the mind is most open to learning—to prompt people to think through problems, see situations more strategically, and transcend their limitations. Drawing on recent discoveries in the neuroscience of learning, Reynolds shows how to ask the kinds of questions that short-circuit the brain’s defense mechanisms and habitual thought patterns. Then, instead of being told, people see for themselves the insightful and often profound solutions to what is stopping their progress. The exercises and case studies will help you use discomfort in your conversations to create lasting changes and an enlivened workforce.
by Manisha Thakor
Founder, MoneyZen, and VP, Financial Wellbeing at Brighton Jones
and Sharon Kedar
Co-Founder, Partner of Northpond Ventures
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Whether you've been living paycheck to paycheck or are saving for a down payment on your first home, this updated edition of the bestselling On My Own Two Feet will help you grasp the basic principles of money management. Written by Harvard Business School graduates and leading investment experts Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar, this finance guide provides you with all the information you need to know to keep your everyday spending in check, save for big-ticket items or emergencies, and create a secure retirement plan.
By Sheryl Sandberg
Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
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Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. “Honest and brave . . . The new manifesto for women in the workplace.” —Oprah Winfrey
By Carla Harris
Vice-Chair, Managing Director, and Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley
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Carla Harris, one of the most powerful and respected women in business and Chairperson of the National Women's Business Council, shares advice, tips, and strategies for surviving in any workplace environment. While climbing the corporate ladder, Harris had her own personal missteps and celebrated numerous victories. "Advice books are like oysters: rarely do they contain precious pearls. Expect to Win is one of those exceptional finds.” —Richard D. Parson
by Kathleen Turner
Actor & Activist
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Turner shares her childhood challenges-a life lived in countries around the world until her father, a State Department official whom she so admired, died suddenly when she was a teenager. She talks about her twenty-year marriage, and why she and her husband recently separated, her close relationship with her daughter, her commitment to service, and how activism in controversial causes has bolstered her beliefs. And Turner reveals the pain and heartbreak of her struggle with rheumatoid arthritis, and how, in spite of it, she made a daring decision: to take a break from the movies and relaunch her stage career.
by Stacey Tisdale
President and CEO of Mind Money Media, Inc.
and Paula Boyer Kennedy
Expert Financial Planner
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Personal money management advice that makes sense. In The True Cost of Happiness, financial journalist Stacey Tisdale and expert financial planner Paula Boyer Kennedy combine their extensive financial experience with a powerful series of interviews and real-world stories to help you make personal money management decisions that make more sense.
by Lily McNair
President, Tuskegee University
Take The Lead board member
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This best-selling anthology is a unique introduction to feminism and women’s studies. It presents a multidisciplinary collection of academic essays and analyses, personal narratives, and fiction and poetry about women’s lives. The selections illustrate the variety of women’s experiences, primarily in the United States, considering both commonalities and differences among women and appreciating women’s diverse approaches to living and fostering change.
by Michele Weldon
Take The Lead’s Editorial Director
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In this honest and tender collection of essays, award-winning memoirist Michele Weldon asks what it means to be a mature woman seeking a life of purpose and meaning through work, family, and relationships. Facing ageism and invisibility within popular culture, Weldon examines the effects of raising children, striving for applause, failing expectations, forming new friendships, reconciling lost dreams, and restoring one’s faith. With sincerity and humor, she unwraps family traditions, painting classes, lap swimming, dress codes, and career disappointments. She addresses white privilege and her evolving understanding of racism. And she asks crucial questions about mortality, finding connection in writing and stories.