rajiv.com

Tag: books

  • The Poetic Power Play: A Lesson from Indian Poetry and Professor Jeff Pfeffer

    In this post, my first venture into bilingual blogging, I extend my thoughts primarily towards my English-speaking readers, while also preserving the rich context of its Indian heritage. Recently, a dear childhood friend, dedicated to revolutionizing education for underprivileged children in India, reached out to me, sharing his struggles with political challenges in his career.…

  • Power, for All by Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro (Book Review)

    I’ve been a keen student of power dynamics throughout my career, and my friend, Professor Jeff Pfeffer’s works on power have provided valuable insights in my journey. When I came across “Power, for All: How it Really Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business,” by Professors Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro , I was drawn to…

  • Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change by Marc Benioff (Book Review)

    As a fellow alumni of the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Young Global Leaders (YGL) community alongside Marc Benioff, I have had the privilege of witnessing his journey and evolving philosophy first-hand. The release of Marc’s book, “Trailblazer: The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change,” has been a cause for excitement and anticipation…

  • Take Back Your Power by Deb Liu (Book Review)

    As I wrote in my review of Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer’s book Leadership B.S., leadership advice that is actually effective is in short-supply among the tens of thousands of leadership books. Deborah Liu‘s new book, Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work is one of the rare few that offers evidence-based, practical,…

  • You Are What You Risk by Michele Wucker (Book Review)

    Michele Wucker’s book “You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World” offers a deep dive into the world of personal risk, exploring the different factors that influence our risk perception and our approach to taking risks. In a world where we are constantly being presented with new risks…

  • Humor, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas (Book Review)

    Since I also wrote my review of Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution while pulling an all-nighter, it is only appropriate that I write my review of a book about humor to be as dry as a Bollywood dance number without the music. As fate would have it, back in 2013, I crossed paths with Professor…

  • The Creator’s Code by Amy Wilkinson (book review)

    The Creator’s Code by Amy Wilkinson (book review)

    Having played key roles in driving innovation and success in digital businesses at The Wall Street Journal as their chief product & technology officer and at The New York Times as CTO, I’ve always been intrigued by what sets successful creators apart. It was in this pursuit of knowledge that I read my friend Amy…

  • Leadership B.S. by Stanford University Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer (Book Review)

    Many books on leadership are like fairy tales: Inspiring, but misleading about leadership that is actually effective in our real world. Real leadership — i.e. leadership based on evidence and science, and thus statistically more likely be effective in practice — is less commonly found in leadership teachings. Instead, what we often hear is “feel good…

  • Mandela’s Way: Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage (Book Review)

    I find many books on leadership to be fairy tales: Inspiring to read, but misleading about leadership that is actually effective in our real world. Real leadership — leadership that is based on evidence and science, and thus statistically more likely be effective in practice as opposed to “feel good leadership” — is less commonly…

  • Your Brain At Work (Book Review)

    Let me tell you a story about my friends Emily and Paul. Emily and Paul were struggling in their demanding jobs and in managing their busy family life raising young children at home. Emily, a marketing manager at a company, had recently earned a promotion to VP and was finding it challenging to supervise the…

  • Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (Book Review)

    Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is one of the most inspiring books I’ve read in a long time. It is a book about adventures, travels, cultures, customs, ancient wisdom, evolution, anatomy, biology, footwear, anthropology, friendships and human nature. It is also a book about long distance running. Through the stories of his warm characters,…

  • SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (Book Review)

    I’ve been reading the book SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Like its predecessor, Freakonomics by the same authors, SuperFreakonomics is unputdownable once you start reading it. What’s great about this book is that it argues against many things we believe to be true. Using statistics and challenging established wisdom, Levitt and Dubner make compelling…