Reading List

March 8, 2020

Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office

Title – Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office
Author – Lois Frankel

Happy International Women’s Day!

Women have achieved so much in the last 50 years in terms of breaking the glass ceiling, conquering water and space, but we still have a long way to go. And if there is one book, I could recommend to all my young friends, nieces and any female I care about – this would be it! This brilliant book is packed with more than 150 mistakes women make at work and the practical ways to stop doing the things that really hold them back.

This book is something every woman should read, whether you are fresh out of college, or already in a high-ranking successful career. There are so many pearls of wisdom, it is amazing. For most readers, you will feel convinced that you make every single mistake in the book (or have done in the past!) Do NOT worry, awareness is half the battle, we can only correct what we know!

SCORE: 4.5* out of 5

To be honest, this book easily deserves a 5 on 5. However, I disagree quite a lot with the “How You Look” Section. To me some of the advice seems a little outdated, especially if you work in tech roles. However, I totally agree with the author that it is better to err on the side of conservative dressing, at least in the beginning of your career. You can choose to stand out for your dress sense or style after you’ve established your brand beyond question. Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, mentioned something very similar in one of her townhalls I attended (as an employee), and she is the leader of the largest stock exchange platform and one of the biggest fintech companies in the world.

Aside from this short qualifier, I have nothing but praise for the rest of the book. Indeed, the gist of the book is to play to your feminine strengths, while making you aware of common career mistakes that derail your career in subtle but concrete ways. I’ve made many of these and sadly seen many wonderful women get stalled in their careers for the same reasons, while other (men) overtake them to extraordinary heights. Women often never reach their full potential due to what I like to call “Death by a thousand cuts” – small mistakes here and there. Just one or two won’t hurt you, but like compound interest, over a period of 10 years, they make a huge and NEGATIVE difference.

I have the audiobook version, and honestly the author’s narration sounds like a conversation with my favorite aunt or a strong and honest mentor. I’ve read the paperback version but loved the audio format much more for this very reason. Plus, its easy to listen to audio at 2X speeds and while I am doing manual chores like cleaning, traveling or just for a quick 2-minute dose of inspiration and pointers before an important presentation!

Nice AND successful! Avoid tactics that subtly sabotage your career.

Some Takeaways (mistakes) that Resonated with me personally:

#1 – Pretending It Isn’t a Game. #2 – Assuming the Rules are the same for Everyone.
#3 – Pinching Company Pennies. I stopped doing this very recently, and no one cared or asked why! Not even the finance department!
#24 – Polling Before a Decision. I do this a lot, so I sometimes must bite my tongue and assume silence is a sign of no objections.
#33 – Denying the importance of Money. Job satisfaction is important but earning top $ is a sure-shot way of skyrocketing motivation!
#44 – Making Miracles.
#56 – Ignoring the Importance of Network Relationships. Similarly, #17 – unwilling to capitalize on relationships.
#66 – Waiting to be Noticed.
#77 – Couching statements as Questions.
#85 – Using Qualifiers
#120 – Tolerating Inappropriate Behavior. On the same vein, is #15 – Protecting Jerks.

Overall, must read. If you mentor women or girls, or want to give a graduation gift for a female in your circle, then this book will be perfect!

Similar Works:

Books – Lean In, By Sheryl Sandberg. How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job; by Sally Helgesen. Girl, Stop Apologizing; by Rachel Hollis. Secrets of Six Figure Women, by Barbara Stanny. Own it, by Sallie Krawcheck.

Movies – Late Night (2019), Joy (2015), The Associate (1996).

March 7, 2020

Presence – Guide to More Confidence

Title – Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office
SubTitle – Bringing your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges
Author – Amy Cuddy

From brain trauma accident survivor to Harvard professor to TED talk speaker with million viewers! Who would not want to listen to an author with such an incredible rags-to-riches story?

This is an amazing book, and once you start reading you will quickly realize why the book landed on the Amazon bestseller list, and the talk garnered 30+ million views on a generic topic like “confidence”.

SCORE: 4.5* out of 5

Some of the concepts may seem like common sense or something your grandmother would advise you – sit up straight, don’t hunch, etc. But here are some unique concepts to pique your interest:

[a] Wonder Woman or starfish Pose
[b] Nudging – how small changes can bring out large gains!
[c] iHunch (serious concept with a hilarious name)
[d] Fake it till you become it! Dealing with impostor syndrome.

Personal stories

The book certainly is filled with anecdotes from struggling actors who landed coveted Hollywood roles, homeless person, introverted kids giving public presentations, women leaders and so much more! It’s a self-help guide and a leadership training book for rookies and a motivational speech all rolled into one!

But I personally related very well to the book, because I have my own stories that prove the methods in the book work. Don’t ask me why, the reasons are listed in the book. All I care is that they miraculously work!

Here are some personal stories that make me believe in the book, 100%!

[a] Fearless girl – Have you seen the sculpture of the “Fearless girl” facing the massive Wall Street bull? Just the thought alone makes me feel more confident as a woman. My 7-year old niece always stands this way and she recently was awarded a memento at school for exemplary leadership in class, despite having changed school in the middle of the year, and only being there for 3 months! 🙂
[b] Lucrative jobs interviews – A colleague confessed to trying out the “wonder woman” pose minutes before her interview for a competitive technical position at Nasdaq, the megalith fintech exchange! She landed the lucrative at a salary range far higher than she imagined. She admits the pose might not have been the tipping factor, but she is convinced she eliminated the “desperate” vibes that unemployed jobseekers unconsciously give that had been holding her back until then!
[c] Shrinking violet – take up your available space! When my mom returned after a 2-month trip caring for my ailing grandmother, neighbors and colleagues remarked that she looked “shrunken” and every bit her normal short 5 feet 5 inches frame. In truth, this is a far cry from the joyous personality who has made 6+ feet students quaver in fear! Interestingly, I’ve been told I look taller after I published my book and took a leadership role last year. Maybe confidence does make you taller and more attractive!

Boost your confidence – for the moments that matter!

Who will benefit the most?

This is not just a self-help book, and even though I have it listed under my “women” section, the book was not targeted solely for women.

So who all can benefit?

You are a stay at home or unemployed jobseeker, anxious about returning to the workplace and being unable to cope up.
Kids (or adults) who have been bullied or feel excessively shy.
Anyone with mental health, depression or anxiety issues.
Women of color, or anyone from a minority group who is eager to take their career to the next level, but facing feelings of “impostor syndrome”
Grad student stepping into a researcher or first professor role.
College students embarking on their first jobs.

I’ve already recommended this as a MUST-READ to all my mentees. This will also make an excellent graduation gift to students and young professionals!

March 2, 2020

Husband Material – Women’s Fiction

Title – Husband Material
Author – Emily Belden

This was another book I picked up at my local library, from the “New Reads” section. The date was close to Valentine’s Day, the title was supremely catchy, and the blurb was intriguing to say the least! After all, how many romance books involve an urn holding the ashes of the heroine’s dead husband’s ashes, mailed in a package?

SCORE: 5* out of 5

If I had to describe this book with movie analogies, then this is a book where “Double Jeopardy” meets “Legally Blonde”. Or “Confessions of a Shopaholic” meets “The Intern”. Or the recent “The Spy Who Dumped Me”.

This author portrays drama, grief, betrayal, unusual friendships, romance and dating set in the glitzy background of LA, complete with control-freak, unapproving and RICH mother-in-law and romantic male character who may turn out to be the hero or the villain! All the characters are very well fleshed out and the heroine’s

I read the whole book in one go (~ 2 hours)! ? It’s been awhile since I found a romance or chick lit book so gripping, so do want to appreciate the book thoroughly. I suspect I finished half the book just to find out how the husband died in the first place – even though I knew this was a “hook” I was willingly ready to take the bait!

The book is classified as “coming of age” fiction on Amazon, but honestly “Women’s Fiction” would be a better category or Urban Drama! Or even RomCom. Why do authors classify books this way and make it difficult for readers to find them? (bit annoyed, but the author writes so well! ) Thankfully, my library correctly had it marked under “New Age Romance”.

I loved how the author weaved some very controversial and depressing questions relating to death, hurtful relationships without making it sordid or overwhelming! After all, we read such books for entertainment, but it’s beautiful that the author was able to intersperse them without losing the story’s magic!

Similar Works

If you like any of the below, you will appreciate reading this author too:

Genres – Drama, contemporary romance, Chick Lit, Women’s Fiction.

Movies – The Spy Who Dumped Me, Double Jeopardy, The Intern, Legally Blonde, Devil wears Prada, Confessions of a Shopaholic.

TV Series – Modern Love.

Books – “The Summerhouse” by Jude Deveraux, “Confessions of a Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsella, “Right Fit Wrong Shoe” by Varsha Dixit, “Marriage Clock” by Zara Raheem.

Overall, a fantastic read, and ideal for traveling or gifting! Happy Reading!

March 1, 2020

March – Women Authors Month

March 8th is International Women’s Day, so this month is dedicated to all the amazing women authors out there, as well as books that advocate for women. Below is my reading list for the month, so also hoping to accomplish a good chunk of my reading goals and “clear the clutter” Goodreads challenge. So many birds with one stone! 😉

March 2020 Reading list

Presence, by Amy Cuddy.
Women Still Don’t Get the Corner Office. Author Lois Frankel.
Squeezed by Alyssa Quart
America for Beginners. Author = Leah Franqui. (Fiction)
Head over Heels, Lila Monroe. (Fiction)
Husband Material. Author = Emily Belden. (Fiction)
You are a BadAss, by Jen Sincero.
365 Days of Facebook. Author = Nirupama. (Fiction)
Achtung Baby, by Sara Zaske.
You Woke up Worthy, Britny West.
To Winter at Wildsyde, by Emma Leech. (Fiction)
Mirror Work, Louisa Hay.
The Profitable Content System, by Meera Kothand.
Evening is the Whole Day. Preeta Samarasan. (Fiction)
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Women and Leadership. Harvard Business Review.
Secrets of Six-Figure Women. Barbara Stanny. Non-fiction business.
The Big Book of Juices. Natalie Savona. Health & Living.
Why Not Me? Mindy Kaling. Non-fiction business.
The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae. Stephanie Laurens.
The Marriage Clock: A Novel. Zara Raheem.

Happy Reading!

January 11, 2020

Top 15 Secret Productivity Hacks – Find Time to Read More

Since I posted about my reading goals for 2020, and a new reading list, it feels like I’ve been bombarded with Qs about finding time to truly accomplish that goal. So I wanted to share some tips I use to create time for my life’s top priorities.

Of course, you might want to know why I am qualified to dole out productivity advice and time-saving hacks! After all, TIME is that elusive elixir that we all want to have, but never seem to find! However, in the last year, I’ve been a little more mindful about my time, and found that I was able to accomplish so much more:

Published a book on DataScience jobs, which hit the Amazon bestseller charts for almost 2 months!
Grew my blog from 5k views per month, to 10k views, compared to last year.
Won an all-expenses paid Diversity scholarship to KubeCon San Diego!
Completed my MBA Finance with a 3.4 GPA, while holding a full-time job.
Traveled to Everglades National Park, ticking off a long-listed item off my bucket list.
Took over the reins of a 1500+ member meetup group!
Read 25+ books over the year!

Many of the time-saving hacks that helped me achieve these are also valuable techniques to find chunks of time to read more, even for the most hectic schedules. Here are my Top 15 favorite tips:

READING GOALS – Have a weekly/ monthly goal and decide what you are going to read. Just wanting to read is too vague, and will get drowned by other “firefighting” priorities. With the goal in mind, keep books handy – by either keeping light paperbacks in your bag or on mobile apps like Kindle and BookShout.
Use Waiting Rooms wisely. We all have these “wasted” moments, 10 minutes at the doctor’s clinics, 30+ minutes at airports, 5-10 mins waiting for a kids class to get over or just a serpentine queue at the grocery stores. Most people use it to check social media, or browse clickbait articles or the never-ending stream of office emails. I use it to read books. I have to admit this is harder, and takes willpower. Sometimes its hard to remember, too. I normally go “offline” and force myself to read. TRY IT, you will be surprised how much reading can be integrated into these invisible pockets of time.
Schedule 20 minutes in the morning with coffee / breakfast. Yes, there are a 1001 chores pending, fidgety kids and spouse and 250 emails from work that need your attention. But here is a secret. They will wait another 20 minutes, too! But not spending time on your personal development and expanding your mind (or just down time) is making you less smarter, and decreasing your productivity, joy and creativity far more than you know. If you prefer, do it way early in the morning before others wake up. I was scheduling 45 minutes way early in the morning, when everyone is asleep for my MBA and now that the degree is over, I’ve replaced it with reading, exercise, prayers and other personal priorities.
20 minutes “offline” time before bed. Seriously, all the “blue light” from electronics devices is not good for health. Reading a physical book before bed forces me to step away from my devices, promotes better sleep and makes me feel amazing about myself.
Use your commute time. Instead of listening to the radio or taking office calls, commit half of your commute (or one way) to audiobooks. Hubby and I have committed 25% of all long-drives and road trips to audiobooks. I hated the thought at first, but he picked some truly interesting titles like “Freakonomics” and “12 rules of life” and now I am hooked!
Listen to Audiobooks at 1.5x or 2x speed. Seriously, this one tip (from my MBA phase) has made me so much more efficient. You will need to work your way up to such high-speeds, but I’ve found the increased speed forces me to focus more. Downside – now I can rarely listen at 1x speeds, even for Youtube videos!
Make chores interesting. Who likes making the bed, or doing dishes or folding clothes? I don’t so I grab my lovely Bose headphones and make them interesting by listening to escaping to the world of audiobooks!
Read faster. It’s amazing that schools teach you to read, but not how to read faster. So try to consciously increase your speed without compromising on retention. There are many tools out there, and reading apps like BookShout calculate it for you automatically. Comes easily with practice, and you’ll get more achieved, at work and your personal goals.
Read more efficiently. You don’t need to read word-by-word. Not every chapter is useful or important, and you won’t remember it in 3 months anyway! Life is too short to waste on bad books, so make sure you read what is truly remarkable, entertaining, valuable in practice, or all of the three!
No monkey behavior. Don’t jump from 1 book to another. Even with my reading speeds, I find myself with a large list of incomplete books. So I stick to two book at a time (one ebook/audio + 1 hardcopy). If you want to do more, make sure they are from different genres, so it is easier to follow the various content tracks.
Use your lunch hour. This was advice from an amazing mentor, who emphasized the importance of using the lunch hour for networking or reading. If I am in office, I force myself to get out of my cube and chat with 1 new person everyday. But since I work remote a lot, I do spend 20 mins on lunch while reading a good book. It’s amazing how this “clean” 20 minutes break from work helps me relax better, complete more pages on my goal, and improves my efficiency when I resume work.
Leverage your smart phones for some good – if you cannot carry physical books, then there are many amazing apps like Kindle, Bookshout or GooglePlayBooks. Audible for audiobooks. Most offer metrics – how many days/weeks you read continuously, cute badges for reading sprints, reading speeds and much more. All these add motivation to help you read more!
Scared of breaking the bank? – visit your library. In the US, all have dedicated mobile apps, which allow you to read ebooks and listen to audiofiles. In India, there are some amazing local libraries that provide vast number of titles at very reasonable rates. Plus, I’ve noticed that the more I read and buy on Google and Amazon, I seem to get more credits to encourage more spending!
Keep a time log. Phantom slots keep slipping away. Don’t schedule every minute, but at least be aware of where your time-sucks are. Chances are, some of these can be used to slip in reading time.
Say NO. The world does NOT hand out Nobel Prizes to super-moms or super-dads. So get off your invisible hamster wheels, and spend time on yourself, in self-development goals and reading time!

Those were my reading hacks. You don’t need to use all 15 techniques, but incorporating even 3-4 will help you reclaim valuable slots of time that might otherwise be frittered away on low priorities, or worse without your knowledge.

Happy Reading! 🙂