Sally Helgesen

Author of Rising Together and coauthor of How Women Rise

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Book Recommendations:

Recommended by Sally Helgesen

Work-life balance? We’ve been labouring to achieve it for the last two decades. Clearly, we need a new approach and a new metaphor. So, we should all be grateful to Dan Pontefract for providing it with Work-Life Bloom. Dan offers not just sound principles but actions we can take to bloom together—testing our soil, remembering to water. Helpful, inspiring, and fresh. (from Amazon)

THINKERS50 BEST MANAGEMENT BOOKS FOR 2024 GOLD MEDAL WINNER – 2024 AXIOM BUSINESS BOOKS AWARD – LEADERSHIP CATEGORY "Work-life balance" isn't making anyone happy. In fact, our relentless attempts to achieve this goal have created workplaces full of stress, discontent, and burnout. While this workplace disillusionment has been brewing for years, the pandemic helped catalyze a cultural shift of workers redefining themselves beyond what they do for a living. Now, it's time for you to rethink your role as a leader in the nexus of work and life. In Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team That Flourishes, award-winning author Dan Pontefract contends that a thriving workplace isn't about employee engagement levels, nor is it predicated on your team members bringing their "best selves" to work. Instead, it requires you to support the people you manage so they can be their best in work and life. Just as a flower needs the right mix of sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow, your people need the right mix of work-life factors to create a fulfilling and harmonious existence. Pontefract introduces a new leadership paradigm focused on twelve key work-life factors that determine whether your team members' gardens are able to grow. Drawing upon primary global research, interviews, and personal experiences, Pontefract delivers a timely blueprint for leaders to cultivate work-life ecosystems where individuals don't just survive—they bloom.

Recommended by Sally Helgesen

A must-read for any woman who’s ready to rise . . . and for any company ready to support her in that ascent. (from Amazon)

Based on 25 years of research into the specific hurdles facing women in business, In Her Own Voice offers sage advice and empowerment for any woman striving to advance her career—and any organization ready to improve gender equity at every level. The world has awakened to the urgent need to focus on women’s advancement—companies with gender-balanced leadership are far more likely to outperform their peers, and the evolving expectations of leadership align to women’s natural strengths. Yet just 10 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs and less than 30 percent of senior leaders are women, and the pace of growth is shockingly slow, made worse by COVID-19 and its aftermath. What does it take for women to ascend to the highest levels of leadership? In Her Own Voice from Jennifer McCollum, CEO of Linkage, a global leadership development firm, sheds light on this timely topic. Backed by in-depth and enlightening research, this book examines the specific challenges women still face in the workplace. Whether we’re contending with our own inner critic, being expected to prove our value time and again, or navigating the often-intimidating world of negotiating for ourselves, women today still have unique obstacles as we advance our careers—but they need not become roadblocks. In Her Own Voice outlines how readers can overcome these obstacles, with key competencies and action steps such as quieting your inner critic, discarding biases, building confidence, gaining clarity about the future, and more. Supported by data and infused with compelling real-life stories, it’s a blueprint for helping readers identify, measure, and conquer what’s holding women back at any stage of their careers.