Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

"Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked."

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Tim Ferriss - Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of Your Goals

Why you should define your fears instead of your goals "The hard choices -- what we most fear doing, asking, saying -- are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take action? Tim Ferriss encourages us to fully envision and write down our fears in detail, in a simple but powerful exercise he calls "fear-setting." Learn more about how this practice can help you thrive in high-stress environments and separate what you can control from what you cannot."

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Harvard Business Review: Be a Better Ally

"How can white men be effective allies to those employees? First, by taking responsibility for their own behaviors, educating themselves about racism and privilege, and getting and accepting feedback from people in underrepresented groups. They can also become confidants to and sponsors of women and people of color and insist on diverse hiring pools and practices. They can vigilantly watch out for bias at work, intervening decisively if they discover it. Last, they can work to build a community of other allies against racism and sexism."

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The Tim Ferriss Show: Susan Cain. "Transforming Pain, Building Your Emotional Resilience, Exploring Sufi Wisdom, Tapping into Bittersweet Songs, and Seeking the Shards of Light."

The Tim Ferriss Show: Susan Cain. "Transforming Pain, Building Your Emotional Resilience, Exploring Sufi Wisdom, Tapping into Bittersweet Songs, and Seeking the Shards of Light." [KJ Note: Susan Cain curated a very eclectic Spotify playlist to accompany the release of her most recent book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. You can find the playlist here]

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Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin

“The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller that redefined what it means to be a leader.

Since it was first published almost a decade ago, Seth Godin's visionary book has helped tens of thousands of leaders turn a scattering of followers into a loyal tribe. If you need to rally fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers around an idea, this book will demystify the process.”

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The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams

"...Through 144 provocative stanzas, legendary business author Seth Godin gets to the heart of what ails us; he shows what’s really at the root of these trends, and challenges us to do better in ways that matter. The choice is simple. We can endure the hangover of industrial capitalism, keep treating people as disposable, and join in the AI-fueled race to the bottom. Or we come together to build a significant organization that enrolls, empowers, and trusts everyone to deliver their best work, no matter where they are."

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TED2022: Why art is a tool for hope.

TED2022: Why art is a tool for hope. "Famed for enormous black-and-white portraits that are pasted on surfaces ranging from the Louvre to the US-Mexico border wall, multimedia artist JR continues to tackle ambitious projects. In this powerfully moving talk, he shares how he made a giant mural on the courtyard floor of a maximum-security prison -- with the help of guards and prisoners alike -- and ended up with much more than a compelling image."

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TED2022: You don't actually know what your future self wants

TED2022: You don't actually know what your future self wants. "You are constantly becoming a new person," says journalist Shankar Vendantam. In a talk full of beautiful storytelling, he explains the profound impact of something he calls the 'illusion of continuity' -- the belief that our future selves will share the same views, perspectives and hopes as our current selves -- and shows how we can more proactively craft the people we are to become."

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Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way

Jonah Berger's book, Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way, is rich in research, analysis and insights on how to increase our communication effectiveness in both our professional and personal lives. He distills his "magic words" into 6 types:
1) Activate Identity and Agency
2) Convey Confidence
3) Ask the Right Questions
4) Leverage Concreteness
5) Employ Emotion
6) Harness Similarity (and Difference)

Within this framework, he offers an array of practical, actionable advice and tools to increase the impact of not just what we say, but how we say it. Ultimately, we have the opportunity to forge stronger connections, meaningfully persuade and tell our stories in ways that resonate more deeply with others. "...Words have an amazing impact, and by understanding when, why, and how they work, we can use them to increase ours."

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Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up

“In an irresistible invitation to lighten up, look around, and live an unscripted life, a master of the art of improvisation explains how...to apply the maxims of improvisational theater to real-life challenges—whether it’s dealing with a demanding boss, a tired child, or one of life’s never-ending surprises.”

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Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words

“In this practical, accessible guide to having more powerful conversations, leading evidence-based coaching expert Haesun Moon offers a set of powerful words or phrases—one for every letter of the alphabet—to help you move others toward greater purpose and accomplishment. Based on her extensive research with the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School, Moon shows you how to apply each of these concepts to transform the way you relate to others and empower them to strive for and achieve better outcomes. Each entry includes an inspiring real-life example, and reflection questions to help you put it into action in your own life and in the lives of people around you.”

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The Creative Act: A Way of Being

"The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime's work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments--and lifetimes--of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us."

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Ikigai: The Japanese Secret To a Long and Happy Life

"The people of Japan believe that everyone has an ikigai – a reason to jump out of bed each morning. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa – the world’s longest-living people – finding it is the key to a longer and more fulfilled life. Inspiring and comforting, this book will give you the life-changing tools to uncover your personal ikigai. It will show you how to leave urgency behind, find your purpose, nurture friendships and throw yourself into your passions."

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Ganbatte! The Japanese Art of Always Moving Forward

"Ganbatte (gan-ba-tay) is a Japanese philosophy focused on doing the best you can with what you have. Though there is no direct translation, 'Keep Going,' and 'Give it your all,' embody the sentiments behind the word. Just as wabi sabi shows the beauty of imperfection in life, ganbatte teaches you how to get past obstacles and be motivated to keep moving forward.”

In Ganbatte! author Albert Liebermann provides an inspirational, yet practical guide to becoming more resilient the Japanese way. In 50 short chapters, some deeper and some more playful, Liebermann guides you through ways you can adopt the ganbatte approach to achieve a happier, more fulfilling life--and a happier, more fulfilled self."

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How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

"As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”...In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?

Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception."

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