This month I’ve been doing a few hours at le bureau however I’ve still enjoyed a few good reads in my spare moments on the bus and the weekend! I am currently fascinated by ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’ so keep an eye out for my thoughts on that.
Voici…my March reads:
The Commando Way: A Special Forces commander’s lessons for life, leadership and success
Bram Connolly
I stumbled across this book and thought it was one of the best leadership books I’ve read. My favourite leadership lessons are from Shackleton, but now it might be Bram Connolly! This isn’t your typical ‘military person teaches you life lessons’ book – it is relatable and applicable for people of all walks of life. You’ll find my key takeaways in Leadership lessons from a Commando
Healthy as F*ck: The Habits You Need to Get Lean, Stay Healthy, and Kick Ass at Life
Oonagh Duncan
I haven’t read too many health books so I don’t have much by way of comparison however this book explores weight loss from the angle of habit formation. The style is casual and funny, and Oonagh Duncan well and truly calls you out on your own bulls**t thoughts.
Having good habits is the health equivalent of a sensible financial plan that involves saving a little bit every day and then letting the compound interest do its freaking job.
The formula is simple enough: fill half your plate with veggies, get 7+ hours of sleep, ditch (or limit?) booze, control your portions, meal prep, meditation & regular exercise.
I think the most positive female health message this book brings is that you have to be happy with yourself no matter what stage of your health or fitness journey you’re in. The end goal is the same no matter what: happiness.
As a direct result of this book I now walk home from Balmain East ferry, so for that I’m happy. Whilst I do think this book is skewed more towards people looking to lose a bunch of weight, I still found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read.
Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos & Walter Isaacson
I had an interesting conversation with some ex-colleagues the other night. We all agreed on one thing: the organisation we worked for had leaders who were exceptional at communicating the vision and making us feel like we were part of something bigger than ourselves. Reading through Jeff Bezos’ shareholder letters, it’s obvious he has a gift for story telling but it runs deeper than that. He can bring a vision to life and make anyone believe in it.
The criticism I do have of this book is that it was repetitive. The shareholder letters have some repetition which is to be expected given they are written a year apart and require context. The introduction drew me in, only to realise that the last third of the book was a repeat of it. There was no new information. I still rated this 5 stars because I got so much out of it, I’m willing to overlook this.
Smart people are a dime a dozen and often don’t amount to much. What counts is being creative and imaginative. That’s what makes someone a true innovator.
It’s on my backlog to write a more detailed post about this one, as the lessons in it are particularly relevant to any product manager.
