13 Must-Read Books From CEOs and Innovators

Mar 11, 2022

It’s Women’s History Month and The O’Daily is all in. We’re building on last week’s career wisdom with 13 fantastic book recommendations from women leaders. Check out what the best CEOs, investors, innovators, and global leaders are reading and why.

13 Amazing Books To Grow Your Self and Career

1. Radical Acceptance

By Tara Brach

So much of the startup experience for me has been managing my emotions, energy.... existence, really. Getting (and staying) over the sense that I'm not good enough, in all of the many ways that fear shows up, is one of the biggest unlocks I've found as a founder.

- Angela Ferrante, CEO of Laudable

2. Atomic Habits

By James Clear

This book changed the way I thought about setting goals. Instead of simply setting a goal, I now set habits that will help me achieve that goal. I encourage friends and family to write down a description of the person they want to be a year from now and then write down that person's habits. What time do they wake up? What's their morning routine? Then, slowly start to adopt those habits and watch your life transform.

- Shante Frazier, CEO of WellCapped

(Kathryn: +100. Atomic Habits is one of the goal-domination strategies here.)

3. Vanishing Half

By Britt Bennett

A favorite since I started reading more during the pandemic. It's a great story about different perceptions and perspectives of race and identity.

- Eileen Lee, Co-founder of The Lola

4. Traction: Get a Grip On Your Business

By Gino Wickman

Must read for any entrepreneur! Practical, tactical advice to building and leading a scaling, sustainable business.

- Karen Houghton, CEO of Infinite Giving

5. Cassandra Speaks

By Elizabeth Lesser

This book made me realize that so much of how society and business is shaped is deeply rooted in history, biology, and more. Sometimes systems need to be rocked. Lesser’s message is "when women are the storytellers, the human story changes."

- Sara Saxner-Coughlin, Head of Platform at Overline