Books build ideas

Diving into a good book, blog, or social feed can boost your professional development; create a spark of inspiration, help you overcome a problem, provide a new perspective, expand your knowledge and ultimately, continuously improve your work & personal life. Motivational words can crop up from places you’d least expect, like that thought-provoking quote you saw on Instagram last night or that engaging book your colleague recommended the other day. Hopefully reading this blog post might provide a few nuggets of inspiration.

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world”

– Robin Williams

Not another book review

Theory is all very well and good, but it’s the application that matters. In our new podcast our guests will share ideas and concepts they’ve read about in books, and describe how they have applied them in real life. Oyindamola Sosanya chats about Essentialism by Greg McKeown and The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.

Learn to do better by doing less and focussing on the things that are essential to you, and change your perception of obstacles and reframe them as opportunities.

You’re invited to our book re-launch

Learn how to build an organisation that is self-sufficient, continuously evolving, adaptable to new situations and always improving performance in the upcoming re-launch of our book. Complete with a new title, updated branding, exciting imagery and inspiring content.

Sign up to the book launch of Fat Caterpillars: A simple guide to achieving the improvement you want through business transformation using the link below, and be the first to be notified when the book is released so you can celebrate with us. Here’s a glimpse of what’s yet to come below.

Reading for leading

Barack Obama said, “reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible.” Patrick Lawler, CEO of an American non-profit organisation, said that he reads to overcome new challenges and proactively shares useful resources with others. He has built a culture of learning with reading lists and by creating time and space for staff to reflect. He explains that “every book I’ve ever read has had some impact on what we do at Youth Villages.” In the article, ‘A good book’s role in professional development’, Lawler recommends ten ‘must reads’ for non-profit leaders.

Take a book shelfie

The ‘shelfie’ is gaining momentum across social media. Simply put, a ‘shelfie’ is a picture of your shelf, especially bookshelves that showcase your books, DVDs, art, collectibles… anything goes.

What’s sitting on your bookshelf and what you’re reading at the moment? Take a picture and show us – tag us on social media, add the hashtag #AdEsseShelfie and tell us about your shelfie. What’s your favourite thing on the shelf and why?

Take a look at the images below for inspiration. These are a few shelfies from the Ad Esse team.

Tsundoku

It’s okay if you haven’t read everything on your bookshelf. Times slips buy and you see more books that look interesting. The Japanese have a great name for this; tsundoku, the art of buying books and never reading them. In other words, letting books pile up unread on shelves, floors, or nightstands. I must admit, there’s something satisfying about seeing mountains of books.

If you’re looking for more things to read from us, take a look at our knowledge hub. We’d love to hear your thoughts on anything you read. If you would like to share a review or recommendations to help others, we’d be happy to share across our social media & community.

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