My book recommendations

My Library

I have loved books since I was a little girl. I remember excited I would to go the public library, taking home as many books as I could carry: Long into the night I would read, when my parents thought I was long sleeping.

Still today, I never fall asleep without turning some pages and thought I let you know which books I'm currently diving into. While I'm always reading a non-fiction book and a novel parellel, sharing only the business ones here ;-)

Climate

Book Tips

by Alain de Botton

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 2026 - 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 📚✨

So as mentioned, 2025 was amazing in so many ways, but it was also a packed year. For the following twelve months, it is my wish to make more space in my life. It's not about buying books to fill those shelves, it's about being able to slow down to read, it's about staying curious and having the time to go after my curiosity, acknowledging how I (still) know nothing, really, so it's about keeping on learning, changing perspectives through what I read and being able to apply what I've learned in my moderation and project work.... Lastly it's about finding more "treasures", i.e. those amazing books that you cannot put away and looking forward to reading every night! The best!! 💎𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 2025 💎 N̳o̳v̳e̳l̳s̳: Kaveh Akbar “Martyr!” Sally Rooney ”Intermezzo” Alison Espach “Wedding People” Miranda July “All Fours” Claire Keegan "The third light" N̳o̳n̳-̳f̳i̳c̳t̳i̳o̳n̳ Adam Grant “Think Again" Mo Gawdat “Solve for Happy” Natasha Lunn “Conversations on Love” Alain de Botton "School of Life" I̳l̳l̳u̳s̳t̳r̳a̳t̳i̳o̳n̳:̳ Charlie Mackesy “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse'' G̳e̳r̳m̳a̳n̳ Daniel Schreiber "Zuhause" Elke Heidenreich "Altern" Yours bookworm, Meiky PS. In case you were wondering: Yes indeed, the only act of discrimination I've ever done: all books that don't fit into my color code have been forced to reside with me in my bedroom 😅

Climate

The School of Life

by Alain de Botton

Some mornings call for coffee, messy hair, and a good book. For me, that book was Alain de Botton’s The School of Life – An Emotional Education. His work is a powerful reminder that while business trains us in numbers and processes, the real key to thriving at work lies in emotional intelligence.

A few years back, an algorithm nudged me toward an interview with **Alain de Botton** on *Sternstunde Philosophie* (SRF Kultur). That moment sparked something — his way of making complex ideas feel accessible (without ever oversimplifying) reminded me of great thinkers like Simon Sinek and Esther Perel. Since then, I’ve been hooked.

Too often, we’re trained in processes, strategies, and numbers, but not in the essentials of emotional intelligence. The result? Workplaces that value performance over people’s growth, including leaders’ own development. Alain’s perspective is a reminder that business is built on people — and people are emotional.

A few takeaways that stuck with me: 1. We are all emotionally unfinished. Childhood patterns come with us into the workplace, so practicing patience and empathy makes a real difference. 2. “Charity” at work doesn’t just mean financial giving. It can be as simple as offering kindness, understanding, or encouragement to a colleague who needs it. 3. Diplomacy isn’t about winning every point, but about protecting the relationship. Conceding small things builds trust and opens the door to bigger agreements. 4. Perfection isn’t always the goal. Sometimes “good enough” creates healthier teams, stronger relationships, and more progress than chasing flawlessness ever could.

At the end of the day, business is about people — and the more we understand ourselves and each other, the better we can collaborate, lead, and create together.

Climate

𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 - 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

by Philipp von Carlowitz & Dr Simon Zürle

This is finally not a book that repeats the narrative of how Africa is the continent of opportunities, we need more partnerships at eye level etc pp, but gives comprehensive account of 𝐇𝐎𝐖 to do business in Africa. It is also full of examples of businesses such as Krones, Boreal Light GmbH, Werner & Pfleiderer Industrielle Backtechnik GmbH or Bosch Power Tools that have successfully set up shop here by adapting to local realities.

I don't think there's currently a more important book to read than 🌿 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐞𝐧 🌿

As I'm venturing more and more into the field of hashtag#GreenTech, reading up on Climate change, supporting innovative Startups that do fight it, this book had a lasting effect on me. As opposed to many other reads, it's not about creating fear of how the world is going to end if we don't do anything about it.

Here, you have a concrete action plan how we can do something about it - each and everyone of us. Hawken and his team offer an holistic approach: If climate protection and biodiversity alongside equity and human dignity is ensured; if individual and joint action 𝘢𝘯𝘥 policy fall into place, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions can by 45-50% until 2030.

Big thanks to Andreas Wittmann and r3leaf for this special gift!

Climate

Regeneration

Ending the climate crisis in one generation

by Paul Hawken

"The heating planet is our commons. It holds us all. TO address and reverse the climate crisis reuqires connection and recipsocity. It calls for moving out of our comfort zones to find a depth of courage we may never have known It doesn't mean being right in a way that makes others go wrong; it means listening intently and respectfully, stitching together the broken strands that separate us from life and another."

Big thanks to Andreas Wittmann and r3leaf for this special gift!

Climate

Book list 2024

by Meike Neitz

📚 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 '24 📚

"𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠."

– 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐦

For anyone who's still looking to make friends, business partners or colleagues turn some pages in 2025: Here's a selection of my favourite books I've read this year!

Big thanks to Andreas Wittmann and r3leaf for this special gift!

Climate

The Power of Us

by Jay van Bavel & Dominik J. Packer

In their book The Power of Us, the authors unpack the 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲, and how understanding our identity (or better: identities) can help us in personal and business life.

I found it so astonishing to learn how identities shape the way we think - often subconsciously- and what a big role they play in our behaviour and decision making, especially when it comes to the aspect of 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

For example, once people identified as being a member of a certain group, they dedicated significantly more resources to that group and were more favorable to members of that same group versus another one. So interesting questions to ask are: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐞? Me becomes us? Mine becomes Ours? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?

In the past, social identity has often, very often been misused to do harm. And it’s important to be aware of the risks associated with movements and groups that are sharing questionable values and moral systems.

Yet it’s even more important to understand identity and group dynamics in order to do good. Getting a sense of how identity really works, can help tremendously to overcome bias, prevent political gridlocks, build great teams and mobilize for positive change. That's what the book is about. Great read!

Big thanks to Andreas Wittmann and r3leaf for this special gift!

Politics

Africa is not a country

Dipo Faloyin

"In reality, Africa is a rich mosaic of experience, of diverse communities and histories, and not a singular monolith of predetermined destinies. We sound different, laugh differently, craft the mundane in uniquely mundane ways, and our moral compasses do not always point in the same direction."

Remember the 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐩 in South Africa 🇿🇦 in 2010? As tradition demands, the host nation had the honor to open the tournament - South Africa played Mexico in the first match. When Siphiwe Tshabalala picked up the ball and skilfully lashed it into the net, the ITV commentator screamed: “𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚!” And then:

“𝐀 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚!”

And indeed, there must have been a collective sense of relief spreading from Rabat to Maputo that the enormous pressure of being the first African World Cup host was somewhat eased. After all, if South Africa had failed, the unspoken truth was that the whole continent would not host a World Cup ever again.

And still, imagine Griezmann scoring his first goal in a tournament and commentators would happily announce: “𝐀 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞!” - just how delighted the German, Dutch or Italian Fans would be to hear that.

Would the Brazilians ever want Messi to score a “𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚!”? Probably not.

And this is exactly the point 𝐃𝐢𝐩𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧 makes in “𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲!”. If you pay attention you'll probably realize quickly how true this is: No other continent is more frequently referred to as one entity - instead of granting 54 nations their distinct identities.

In this highly recommended, warm and eye-opening book, Faloyin paints a colorful picture of a proud continent - discussing anything from the burden of colonial times to the different faces of dictatorship, from the return of the Benin Bronzes to Jollof Rice, from Band Aid and “White Saviourism” to the influence of Afrobeat pop culture, from the traditional image of Africa in Hollywood to Wakanda.

𝐔𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞!

Artificial Intelligence

Alles überall auf einmal

Wie KI unsere Welt verändert

Miriam Meckel & Lea Steinacker

"We have to tackle this now with the one thing that no technology will be able to beat us in: The human consciousness."

Since the big development “push” in recent years, Artificial Intelligence has become a universal technology that has left the labs and has begun to turn all of our lives upside down. It has created a new Multiverse of opportunities and possibilities - but also of threats, risks and fears. And this is just the beginning.

Due to my work for coac GmbH I wanted to get a better understanding of the technology; it’s history and our future with it and found it in

𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬 Ü𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐟 𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐥 (“Everything everywhere at once”)

by Dr. Miriam Meckel and Dr. Léa Steinacker

The authors are doing a fantastic job in carefully unpacking the story of hashtag#AI, taking a balanced, rational view on its huge potential without shying away from discussing its risks.

From taking the reader back to Ada Lovelace, the Dartmouth workshop and ELIZA to understand the first steps of AI to giving two different future scenarios of our lives with AI...

The central argument of the book is that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧, it must be the one deciding on its own development path and have AI be the copilot on the way to a fruitful human-machine collab. Not the other way around.

Miriam Meckel and Lea Steinacker are also highlighting the risks due to to deepfakes, data security, bias, the acceleration of an unfair capital system, the loss of work places. They argue that AI must be used as the tool it is - and certain rules and regulations need to be in place for it to serve us; to make us better, greener, more efficient.

The dawn of a new technology has in the past caused fear, sometimes failed, because it was looked at as a purely technical thing, instead of an all-embracing, organizational change with important psychological dimensions for humans.

We have to tackle this now with the one thing that no technology will be able to beat us in: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

MARKETING

Avatar Hacking

by Anna Müller, Florian Eckelmann and Siamak Ghofrani

"All about agile, data-driven, customer-centric-Marketing."

For those who didn’t know - I was born and raised in the beautiful city of 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧 💚🤍 : A wonderful 90’s type of childhood with Dr Dre, OutKast, Missy, with Bravo and platform shoes and Bandannas and much better times for Werder Bremen…

When we graduated from highschool it was the new century!

Graduation of all schools in town is like holding sand in your hand and blowing into it: Everyone is spreading in different directions; some far, some stay close to base.

Meeting people from your old hood after all these years it’s something so special! 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 when they’re doing just amazing stuff in our new home where the dome is.

Long story short, I had the tremendous pleasure to attend the book release party of my Bremen-fellas Siamak Ghofrani and Florian M. Eckelmann. Their book 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, published by Haufe Verlagsgruppe, co-written with their MUYDOZO partner in crime Anna Müller, is all about 𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

And to my grand pleasure it even features the wonderful hero’s journey that I talk about in all my Storytelling workshops!

I shouldn't tell you more because it's really worth looking into yourself....

POLitics

Dead Aid - Why aid is not working and how there's a better way for Africa

Dr Dambisa Moyo

"Economic Development: no other sector, whether it be business or politics, where such proven failure are allowed to persist in the fact of such stark and unassailable evidence"

It was a long weekend and so nice to have time to read during the day :)

Dr. Dambisa Moyo's "𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗶𝗱 - 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮" gave me so much food for thought. It’s already 14 years old, but hasn't lost any of its relevance. It’s not an uncontroversial thesis, but an important one.

In her book, Dambisa Moyo first takes us back and teaches us about the history of development aid, the rationale behind it, and how dynamics changed over the years (see for example the 90s Africa movement led by Bono/Geldof).

We learn that over $1 trillion has been transferred to African countries in sixty years - and why it has created more harm than good. In strong words, Moyo argues that there is one disease that all African countries have in common - it's donor money.

“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.” writes Moyo.

In the second part of the book she moves on to lay out solutions; to show how the aid-dependency model can be turned around. These are particularly interesting to analyse from today's point of view, given that Moyo wrote the book more than ten years ago.

If you agree with the author or not, I can only recommend this book to anyone interested in, living and working in, with and “for” an African country.

Life

Start with WHY

Simon Sinek

"You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills."

For those who've been to my Pitching coaching or storytelling workshops, sometimes even my moderations: I'm hardly able to do one without mentioning Simon Sinek (yes, I'm the biggest fan) ;-).

So apart from listening to his podcasts, reading articles and posts it was about time to finally read THE book...And wasn't Easter break a great opportunity!

In 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝘆, Sinek writes:

"𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿: 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁.

Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?

People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.

We are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹, 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀.

For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not “integrity,” it’s “always do the right thing.” It’s not “innovation,” it’s “look at the problem from a different angle.” Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea - we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation. (...)

Leading is not the same as being the leader. Being the leader means you hold the highest rank, either by earning it, good fortune or navigating internal politics. Leading, however, means that others willingly follow you—not because they have to, not because they are paid to, but because they want to.

You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.

𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺."

Politics

No rules rules - Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer

"The Fearless Organization (....) if you want to encourage innovation, you should develop an environment where people feel safe to dream, speak up, and take risks. The safer the atmosphere, the more innovation you will have.”

This book has left such a profound impact on me! Therefore allow me to introduce: “𝐍𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 - 𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐗 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧” by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer.

“𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥” is the central statement of the book.

Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer share insights into the infamous Netflix leadership philosophy of “𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 & 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲”. We learn why Reed has removed any expense and vacation policies, why at Netflix, candid, 360 degree feedback culture is consequently carried out, why top execs confront themselves with the question: “𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩?” The authors explain how talent density can be achieved without which this system would not work.

If you want to learn about modern leadership; about how to lead with trust, high level of responsibility for the team, giving them freedom to move, to decide and to innovate and how to establish an honest, transparent communications culture, read this book!

Big thanks Cyril Schouten and Hugo Niezen for sending me this excellent read!

“If you give employees more freedom instead of developing processes to prevent them from exercising their own judgment, they will make better decisions and it’s easier to hold them accountable.”

Life

Range

by David Epstein

"The challenge we all face is how to maintain the benefits of breadth, diverse experience, interdisciplinary thinking, and delayed concentration in a world that increasingly incentivizes, even demands, hyperspecialization"

One of the books I’ve read in 2022 which fascinated me the most was 𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 by David Epstein.

David argues that you are likely to become more successful (to be defined in your own way) if you sample widely, experiment and take detours, and allow different interests and focus areas to find room in your career - thus to develop what he calls “range”.

He argues that when you 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲, your experiences and proficiencies you’ve gained in different fields will make you a much stronger expert than a ‘narrow’ specialist. He then gives a wide range of examples: From elite athletes such as Roger Federer who’ve played different sports before focusing on “their” discipline they became successful in, to scientists with the broadest imaginable interests to top musicians who play a number of instruments. 🎸 🎹

He also gives a number of interesting tips for better learning practices (“𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞”, “𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭”) and career planning.

I really like in particular how he challenges the widely popular idea of having life goals and long-term career plans. He advocates instead thinking in smaller cycles and catering for the many different talents that lie in you:

“𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”

He calls it “𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬” 💞 - really applicable for someone like me - I love to reinvent myself. I'm currently flirting with my “based-in-Germany working for the government in a hyper-generalist position” self. And so curious to see how this develops into and how long this cycle will be!

Life

What we owe the Future

William Macaskill

"Longtermism - the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time ❗ "

The title itself was so thought-provoking for me that I needed to read the book, and I was finally able to finish it on this beautiful spring weekend. William MacAskill is a Scottish philosopher and author. I first came across him when making myself familiar with the “Effective altruism” movement - he is one of the founders.

Personally, although I’m trying my best to leave this place with a positive impact, I had never thought about it that way: Do I owe the future?!? Or do I owe my child who’s going to live in that future?

Macaskill makes a point for ↪ 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦 - the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time ❗

It’s about taking seriously just how high the stakes are. That with our actions - and this is not only with regards to climate change, but also for example AI - will largely define the values that will govern our children’s children’s children’s future. This thought may sound intuitive for those innovators and change makers that are already doing the best they can to shape future outcome - but living in our bubble we have to accept that this is still not a mainstream view…”The challenges we face are enormous”, Macaskill writes, “but so is the influence we have!”

The book is not an easy read, especially the first two thirds, but looks at interesting topics, for example how the 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 came about - was this merely, as many say, an economically driven change process or was it contingent? How did Western societies like Britain or France change their opinion about owning slaves? Who acted first? Government or people?

The last part of the book gives concrete examples of how we can act, and what are the most effective ways to….

BUSINESS

The Storyteller's Secret

Carmine Gallo

"How to tell stories that inspire, entertain, surprise and shock to convey your message."

I’m still hearing many pitches, presentations and keynotes that are way too technical and packed with facts & figures.

What we need to keep in mind is: Our brain is a lazy thing - it doesn’t like to listen to numbers. It doesn’t like to listen to complicated things - as a result it shuts down.

What our brains love, what it therefore memorizes and what leads to the release of “happiness-hormones” (such as oxytocin) is:

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦!

Stories that inspire, that entertain, that surprise, stories that shock. Stories with a proper beginning, climax and end.

It should be noted some of the world’s best storytellers are not born like that - they’re made. You can watch them on stage at TedTalks and they’re sure to deliver stories that make you hang on their lips - and transport wisdom and meaning through them

Therefore I can highly, highly recommend Carmine Gallo's 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁.

It takes you behind the curtains of some of the best TedTalks and explains how you can learn - and use the craft of storytelling to convey your message!

Life

Designing your Life

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

"A coherent life is one lived in such a way that you can clearly connect the dots between three things: who you are, what you believe, what you are doing. A well-designed life is a life that is generative—it is constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving, and there is always the possibility of surprise."

I watched Bill Burnett's Ted Talk a while ago - and during my vacation I finally got around reading his and Dave Evans book: 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞!

The basic idea is that while so many things and items in our lives are being perfectly designed

re-designed

re-redesigned

Why are we not designing our own lives? Why do we just let it happen? Even though we’re unhappy, why don’t we find out, which aspects of our lives or our work frustrate us and start changing those?

Sure, here and there we’ve taken some strategic decisions, like what to study or which first job to take. But many times after that, our work and life paths are not reflected upon anymore - we just walk these paths… We stumble…We get up and continue walking where the road takes us. Instead of starting to walk, to stop, to take good look if this path 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 for us, and to then build the road that will be ours.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans teach Design your Life at Stanford University using the method of 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. They encourage us to think about - and write down (important!) what is most important for us in life and at work: Freedom, stability, responsibility, flexibility, respect, fame, creativity, family, money?

The authors then show, how work and life values can be (better) aligned, how we figure out what it really is that makes us happy, how to change what makes you unhappy, how to assess what they call “gravity problems” - problems not changeable - and how to deal with them.

The most important mind-sets of life design:

💡𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲: See and think in opportunities instead of complaints

🥊 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: the commitment to build your way forward, not just getting frustrated but not changing anything. Just like designers do : Try things, test, create what eventually works

🖼 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠: How designers get “unstuck” - to think in next steps instead of thinking you need to design your whole life…

🤝 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: We are not alone. Know the right questions and ask. Life design is team sports

If you're not happy, don't sit it out. Find out what it is. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

BUSINESS

Measure What Matters

John Doerr

"Micromanagement is mismanagement."

"Then come the four OKR “superpowers”: focus, align, track, and stretch."

I've been wanting to learn more about OKR's as -admittedly- I've never worked in an organization that has implemented them. Hence I was so happy to stumble across the book visiting Christian Tors and Jana Marie Backhaus-Tors in Swakop.

"𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀" really is a Tech-history book: John Doerr started his career at Intel Corporation in the 70's, and was taught OKRs by noone less than the legendary Andy Grove. When moving to Kleiner Perkins and becoming one of the first investors of Google, he impemented them there.

The foreword is by Larry Page - I mean what more can I say ;-)

You learn why John holds the opinion that "micromanagement is mismanagement", how OKRs can support great leadership, how to design and effectively implement them and how they help to support a company culture that -as John writes - "high five's small, innovative ideas!"

He shares loads of different OKR examples and therewith gives you a really good idea on how successful US companies are run...

Great read! 📖

BUSINESS

The Culture Map

Erin Meyer

"The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about culture is impacting their work! When you live, work, or travel extensively in a foreign country, you pick up a lot of contextual cues that help you understand the culture of the people living there, and that helps you to better decode communication and adapt accordingly."

I've finished this very entertaining book by Erin Meyer in less than a week. In "The Culture Map", the author explains how individual personality is being formed by the cultural system in which a person is raised - if we like it or not... While reading, I found myself nodding and smiling quite a bit when reflecting on my own, indeed often stereotypically German, behaviour in work life.

For people who are working in- or leading multicultural teams or -like me- dealing with partners all over the world, there are some proper eye openers in there and useful tips how to avoid misunderstandings. A great example is this conversation here:

𝐌𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐳: 𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭.

𝐌𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞.

𝐌𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐳: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲?

𝐌𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐘𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐨.

𝐌𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐳: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.

𝐌𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐌𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐳: 𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲?

𝐌𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐌𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐳: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐭.

𝐌𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Do you think Mr Chen showed up on Sunday or not? For Mr Diaz it was of course clear he would ;-)

I found it really interesting to learn about patterns in work life, how we are 'culturally coined' when it comes for example to low-context vs high-context communication, being used to giving and receiving direct vs indirect (negative) feedback, top-down vs consensual decision making processes or relationship based vs task-based trust building.

Super interesting read!

PS. Important to note: The author analyses only those cultures that she has worked with, which is the Americas, Europe and Asia. Unfortunately Africa, the Arab world as well as Oceania are not being discussed : (

EVENTS

The Art of Gathering

Priya Parker

"Gathering - the conscious bringing togetherof people for a reason - shapes the way we think, feel and make sense of the world."

Now again, there are so many events taking place that it can be really hard to choose which one to go to. For organizers it's becoming more demanding to put together a great event that pulls the right crowd. And sadly, I'm again and again disappointed how non-strategic event organizers are thinking about the why, the who, the what and the how.

For anyone who's interested in learning more about how to host a fantastic event - no matter if this is a wedding, a 40th birthday party, a Startup pitch event or business anniversary: Please READ THIS BOOK.

It teaches you all about defining a meaningful purpose for your event, how to open or close doors on the basis of that purpose. What it means to be a great host and how you become one.

Priya Parker brought you many interesting examples - from Jeffersonian Dinner to the launch of the Obama administrations new "Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation to the global movement "Diner en Blanc".

Great read!! Thanks Alexander Broekman and Superconnectors for the nice present : )

BUSINESS

Moonwalking with Einstein

Joshua Foer

"The art and science of memory is about developing the capacity to quickly create images that link disparate ideas!"

Sometimes I forget to buy the one item I went to the supermarket for. 🤯

I forget the car keys upstairs in the apartment when I was going to drive somewhere. I forget when the 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨 took place and it annoys me that I never know my 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 by heart when I have to fill out visa forms 😤 . I can never remember the meaning of the beautiful word 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲. I check my train ticket about 15 times because I don’t remember the number of my seat.

Luckily when I started reading “𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧” by Joshua Foer, he himself the owner of an 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, it turns out he has the same troubles!! Just like me!!! 💯 He’s right up there on the level of forgetting why he got up and went to the fridge…

Foer is journalist and is asked to write an article on 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩s. He gets fascinated by the topic - and challenged to take part in the US Memory championship. In the book, he describes his journey until the finals and digs deep into the topic of remembering: From the days when it was really considered a 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, to the day it got discredited, especially in modern times education. Until today, it hasn't been able to win the reputation it used to enjoy, back. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? 𝐅𝐨𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤:

✨ As with everything in life, with the right techniques and enough training, your brain -working just like any other muscle- will improve. Stopping to challenge it properly (for example by replacing it with electronic aid or sticking to the same routines/tasks every day) will lower its performance.

✨ The brain best remembers things that are repeated, rhythmic, rhythmic, structured and above all, easily visualized.

“In our gross misunderstanding of the function of memory, we thought that memory was operated primarily by rote; you rammed it in until your head was stuffed with facts. What was not realized is that memory is primarily an imaginative process. The art and science of memory is about developing the capacity to quickly create images that link disparate ideas!”

✨I learned some of the tricks and techniques current memory champions (none of which have outstanding IQs by the way) use - for example on how to create a “memory palace” and how to “index” your brain. And if it’s currently just to recall my shopping list instead of taking it with me - helps to know how the brain works!

PS. In case you were wondering: After one year of an hour of training, 6 days a week, Foer indeed took part in the US Memory Championship. He won.nd packed with facts & figures.

What we need to keep in mind is: Our brain is a lazy thing - it doesn’t like to listen to numbers. It doesn’t like to listen to complicated things - as a result it shuts down.

What our brains love, what it therefore memorizes and what leads to the release of “happiness-hormones” (such as oxytocin) is:

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦!

Stories that inspire, that entertain, that surprise, stories that shock. Stories with a proper beginning, climax and end.

Therefore I can highly, highly recommend Carmine Gallo's 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁.

It takes you behind the curtains of some of the best TedTalks and explains how you can learn - and use the craft of storytelling to convey your message!

BUSINESS

Afrika First!

Martin Schoeller, Daniel Schönwitz

"Afrika braucht keine Almosen, sondern positive Impulse. Es ist deshalb höchste Zeit für einen Paradigmenwechsel: Europa muss jetzt investieren, statt helfen!"

Except for the title that I don't agree with (I don't think it's about putting anyone first), this is a really good and important book. As opposed to just rambling about what's all going wrong in the field of Africa-relations and development work, the authors are offering concrete action suggestions, for example:

- a "spice route 2.0" connecting India, Europe and Africa - such an infrastructure can be the main catalyst for prosperous economic relations

- Europe needs to reduce its lush agricultural subsidies and commit to real fair play

- the social security systems on the African continent needs to be strengthened so that those who work can really care for their families

- related to the above: minimal wages are an important driver of establishing a Mittelstand on the African continent.

- Europe must support and invest in Green Technologies on the African continent

Philantrophy

Doing Good Better

William MacAskill

"Make Smarter Choices about Giving back"

I learned about the concept of "Effective Altruism" from a colleague of mine in Namibia and was curious to learn more about it.

The idea is quickly explained: Most acts of doing good (or what one thinks does any good) are driven by emotions, which leads to our good intentions often being ineffective or doing outright harm. Yet there are ways to measure which projects are actually doing good, and how donor money, even small sums, is actually best allocated: Buying school books or research on malaria? A new kids' cancer treatment hospital or an orphanage? It does at first feel counterintuitive do actually out a data-driven, rational approach to this, but it also forces us to think differently and overcome biases.

While I don't agree to 100% with a purely data-drive approach as I do believe that an emotional component is natural and also OK, this book is really an eye-opener in many ways and worth reading!

Life

The Diary of a CEO

Steven Bartlett

"Stop telling yourself you’re not qualified, good enough or worthy. Growth happens when you start doing the things you’re not qualified to do."

I'm a big fan of Steven Bartletts' Diary of a CEO Podcast, so was curious to read the book: What it hold to expecations?

It did, yet I find it almost impossible - it is packed with life advice in so many different fields of your life....

I took a lot of notes!

Example: THE FIVE BUCKETS that "make you"

1. What you know (your knowledge)

2. What you can do (your skills)

3. Who you know (your network)

4. What you have (your resources)

5. What the world thinks of you (your reputation)

BUSINESS

Atomic Habits

Jim Collins

"You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems."

I'm usually not the greatest fan of the growing self-help book industry as I love to read my novels BUT James Clear's Atomic Habits was really a fantastic read with loads of good examples and practical tips and tricks. Highly recommended if you want to improve your daily routines bit by bit (without overdoing it) !

“Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”

BUSINESS

Prisoners of Geography

Tim Marshall

"The key is Russian national interest"

So I'm currently re-reading Tim Marshall's seven (!) year old book "Prisoners of geography" and it's crazy how he gives an explanation for seemingly every single move the Russian government has been undertaking.

In the Russia chapter, Marshall first quotes Winston Churchill, who in 1939 famously said: "Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma... but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."

According to Marshall, two geographic aspects govern Russian action

- the North European Plain - a comparatively easy territory to attack Russian land

- the need for a warm-water port

Marshall writes in 2015:

"As long as a pro-Russian government held sway in Kiev, the Russians could be confident that its buffer zone would remain intact and guard the North European Plan. Even a studiedly neutral Ukraine, which would promise not to join the EU or NATO and to uphold the lease Russia had on the warm-water port at Sevastopol in Crimea, would be acceptable. That Ukraine was reliant on Russia for energy also made its increasingly neutral stance acceptable, albeit irritating. But a pro-Western Ukraine with ambitions to join the two great Western alliances, and which threw into doubt Russia's access to its Black Sea port? A Ukraine that one day might even host a NATO naval base? That could not stand..."

If anyone hasn't read this book, I can only highly recommend it!

I keep having Henry Kissinger's words in my head, who doesn't get tired of highlighting that if you want to understand modern politics, you got to do your history lessons...

And then add the geographic component!

BUSINESS

Good to Great

Jim Collins

"When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work."

I’m still hearing many pitches, presentations and keynotes that are way too technical and packed with facts & figures.

What we need to keep in mind is: Our brain is a lazy thing - it doesn’t like to listen to numbers. It doesn’t like to listen to complicated things - as a result it shuts down.

What our brains love, what it therefore memorizes and what leads to the release of “happiness-hormones” (such as oxytocin) is:

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦!

Stories that inspire, that entertain, that surprise, stories that shock. Stories with a proper beginning, climax and end.

Therefore I can highly, highly recommend Carmine Gallo's 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁.

It takes you behind the curtains of some of the best TedTalks and explains how you can learn - and use the craft of storytelling to convey your message!

Career

The Neo-Generalist

Kenneth Mikkelsen & Richard Martin

"The neo-generalist defies easy classification. They are tricksters who travers multiple domains, living between categories and labels. Encompassing rather than rejecting, the neo-generalist is a restless multidisciplinarian who is forever learning. They bring together diverse people, synthesising ideas and practice, addressing the big issues that confront us in order to shape a better future."

A few years back, I finally started to be proud of my trans-disciplinarity. And I discovered that a new school of thought is emerging from the US.

New York Times columnist Neil Irwin wrote an article in 2016 entitled: “How to become a CEO? The quickest path is a winding one.”

“Why you should have (at least) two careers” was the headline of the Harvard Business Review in 2017. In the same year, the book* ‘The Neo-Generalist’ by Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin was published.

The neo-generalist defies easy classification. They are tricksters who travers multiple domains, living between categories and labels. Encompassing rather than rejecting, the neo-generalist is a restless multidisciplinarian who is forever learning. They bring together diverse people, synthesizing ideas and practice, addressing the big issues that confront us in order to shape a better future.

The neo-generalist: Specialist and generalist at the same time

I had found it. Finally a definition, finally a pigeonhole. Namely the realization that not having a pigeonhole is absolutely fine. Mikkelsen and Martin argue that neo-generalists manage to be both specialists and generalists at the same time.

This is because they are always working their way into new depths, becoming specialists in them, but not staying there; they are like travelers who are always moving on and learning. At last, someone had understood!

I had gone through many different career stages, but they had never been ill-considered, never arbitrary. On the contrary: before becoming self-employed, I had held exciting management positions and, as a generalist, I had always delved deeply into specialist areas.

I just hadn't stayed there. But this career zig-zag on paper - in other words, my CV - had become a package that made it impossible to put a label on it.

And one thing is certain: our society is absolutely obsessed with categories, job titles, organizational charts and rankings. It would be better to think less in terms of boundaries and more in terms of fluid structures and possibilities created by transdisciplinary thinking.

Mikkelsen and Martin explain neo-generalists like this:

The neo-generalist, then, is both generalist and specialist, switching between the two as required. Neo-generalists bring unique perspectives, blended knowledge and experience from diverse disciplines they perform. But as lifelong learners and inherently curious people, they also demonstrate a facility in switching specialisms. They are fluid and flexible. Their generalist preferences contribute to the development of metaskills, boundary-crossing capabilities that are essential as we respond to big issues or take advantage of unforeseen opportunities.

In their book, the authors Kenneth and Mikkelsen also warn against the “hyperspecialism” that continues to dominate the world of work. They argue that generalists are more important than ever.

This is because, as argued above, they bring foresight, experience from many different fields and a fresh perspective on often entrenched work processes. They are visionary, forward-thinking, produce new ideas and experiment.

And that's right: it's also an ability not to be an insular talent, but to be the one who can be quickly deployed in a new position.

Someone who is adaptable and happy to familiarize themselves with new areas of responsibility. Who acts as an interface between departments and people. Who is always venturing into completely unknown areas of knowledge. That's not everyone's cup of tea. That's a good thing!

But good neo-generalists have the energy to initiate new things, the willpower and determination to master them successfully. They have to put up with never being completely sure of their position. But perhaps they don't need or want this security.

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