Five books to help you be more effective at your job

We are self-confessed self-help book addicts. We can’t get enough of them! Some have been entertaining reading while others have hugely influenced our personal and work lives. These five below are the ones that have had the greatest influence on us.

1.      Deep Work by Cal Newport
This book has fundamentally changed the way I work and the way that I view productivity. Cal has collated key productivity research into one neat synthesis. He highlights social media and other distractions as hugely affecting our ability to focus and that by removing key distractions we can not only hugely increase our productivity at work but also have greatly improved work-life balance. What’s not to love?!

2.      Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
In this book, Robert Cialdini explains the psychology of why people say "yes" and how to apply these understandings. This book is a huge eye opener particularly around advertising and how companies persuade us to buy things. So it really helps on a personal level to understand how to counteract this but also how to use it to our own advantage. I consider this an essential read if you want to improve your negotiation skills both at work and at home.

3.      Switch: How to change things when change is hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Affecting change in the world is at the heart of our careers in nature conservation. But affecting change can be very hard to do. This book is an easy read on this area but also with some useful ideas that can be readily applied.

4.      Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
As a scientist it can be tempting to spend our time analysing everything. However, Malcolm Gladwell explains that instead we should learn to judge and pay attention to our instincts and first impressions instead of dismissing them. When we do we tend to make better decisions that faster and easier to make. A win-win! So, do you want to save time and make easier and better decisions? Then read this book.

5.      Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
A multiplier is a manager who uses their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. Something that is greatly needed in this day and age - especially in fostering equality in the workplace. If you would like to know how to get the best from your team - then this is a great read.