The best books to gift your corporate besties (or yourself)

Hey! It’s Ash, one of Stryve’s resident book lovers! With the holidays here and 2024 resolutions around the corner, we figured why not compile a stellar list of book recommendations for people in the world of big business? Need a last-minute gift for your corporate bestie, parent, or extended family member? We got you. While you’re at it, why not pick up a couple for yourself? Here are books that have shaped our team throughout the years and we recommend to you:

For the creative team leader

Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace

This book helped create some of the foundations of how we work together at Stryve (and how we think all teams should work together). If you’re a Pixar enthusiast, you’ll love reading about how they made—or almost failed to make, some of the best animated movies of our generation. If you’ve never seen a Pixar film, this book still might be for you. At its core, this is a guide for how creative teams can work (and more importantly, fail) together by creating an environment where feedback is encouraged, and where people are put first. It’s the secret sauce to organizational success. I mean…Ratatouille (2007) is proof enough, right?

For the people-centric leader

Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek

In this book, Simon Sinek talks about how a leader’s purpose is to serve those they lead. He uses examples of successful and unsuccessful leadership alike to paint the picture that an inspirational leader, whom people want to do their best work for, is a resource and support system for their team. It’s a helpful reminder to use the power of leadership for the betterment of the people who are ultimately the reason you have that power.

A 2014 Goodreads Choice Award nominee, this book explores why only a few people are lucky enough to say “I love my job” and how leaders can create an environment where everyone feels inspired to go to work.

For the office lover

Remote, Not Distant – Gustavo Razzetti

Hybrid, remote, and in-office work have been huge topics of discussion this year, with tons of businesses making changes to their work policies brought on by the pandemic in 2020. There are lots of books out there right now speaking to this topic, but Remote, Not Distant seems to be the most relevant to solving the dilemmas businesses are currently dealing with. Gustavo Razzetti has 20 years of experience as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and startups. His advice about effective remote work is both practical and insightful.

This book was so helpful that we made it Stryve’s Book of the Year for 2023.

For the workaholic

Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself – Nedra Glover Tawwab

These past few years have been quite a whirlwind. From COVID, the great resignation, to remote and hybrid work shifts. We’ve all had to adjust. On top of that, our work-life boundaries have blurred and expectations have increased.

Set Boundaries, Find Peace was Stryve’s Book of the Year for 2022. We noticed that everyone around us—friends, colleagues, family, and clients—was feeling burnt out.
We believe that before you can push forward new ideas, it’s important to keep boundaries in check and create a healthy work-life balance.

For the mentor-in-training

Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity – Kim Malone Scott

Giving hard feedback is, well, hard. It’s much easier to brush over issues and keep your head down at work. In Radical Candor, Kim Scott sets up a framework to help you balance directness and care. She uses examples to highlight how kind, yet clear feedback is a crucial way to be committed to someone else’s growth. A person ultimately cannot fix what they don’t know isn’t working! This book will help you build trusting, growth-focused work relationships.

For the DE&I activist

The Diversity Gap: Where Good Intentions Meet True Cultural Change – Bethaney Wilkinson

This is one that every person in a leadership position should read. It narrows in on where DE&I efforts can fail and how to keep working towards an inclusive work environment. The author, a radical justice facilitator, combines data and real-life examples to explain the gaps organizations can have in their DE&I efforts and helps you reflect on where your organization is succeeding and where it is coming up short. It’s a book that will help turn your good intentions into systemic change, creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

For the personal development enthusiast

Atomic Habits – James Clear

This is a must-read for the personal development enthusiast! Multiple folks on our team consider it foundational in their careers and personal lives. What this book does well is make any goal feel achievable. It gives you a mental model to think differently about goal-setting, habit-forming and habit-breaking. From nutrition, movement, reading or, work, it can shift how you show up in the world and view progress.

This is a book that will stick with you. So often, we get bogged down by not doing “well enough” or not being further along. Atomic Habits reminds us that any improvement—be it 1% or 25%, is putting you on the path you want to be. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

For the people-centric marketer

Talking to Strangers – Malcolm Gladwell

Talking to Strangers is about how we interact, communicate with, and judge people we do not know. It speaks to how humans are naturally trusting and how a lack of full transparency during an interaction can lead to misjudgment. The overarching theme is super relevant to our daily lives, work lives, and marketing.

This book teaches you to consider context and perspective. Lack of understanding of our differences can lead to tragic outcomes. Okay, maybe in marketing there aren’t many tragic outcomes (unless we count the controversial Pepsi ad), but we tend to put people into boxes—or audiences, to use a marketing term. In reality, people don’t fit into boxes. Changing our perspective can lead to better marketing messaging and better relationships with those around us.

For the data lover

Hacking Marketing – Scott Brinker

This is another book that helped make Stryve who we are today. We’re big fans of agile work, something borrowed from the software industry, and it’s made us hella productive and efficient. If you’re looking to shift to an agile work environment, this book is a great place to start. As a marketer and a manager, Hacking Marketing will expand your mental models for how to lead marketing in a digital world where everything―including marketing―flows with the speed and adaptability of software.

For the new manager

The Making of a Manager – Julie Zhuo

This isn’t your typical dry management read. It’s like having a chat with your wise friend who has been there and done that so they can spill the tea on how to navigate your new role without losing your sanity. No corporate jargon: this book is raw and real. From navigating office politics to handling those awkward team dynamics that can emerge, it’s honest and talks about the growing pains of adjusting to management. Especially the taboo parts which we feel we can’t admit to others.

For the fiction lover (because it doesn’t always have to be a ‘work’ book)

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J. Klune

This may be controversial, but I believe you don’t need to read non-fiction to learn something. You can learn a lot from fictional stories, they’re all inspired by real life in some way or another. I could make a list of 100 fictional books I recommend for various reasons, but this one really could help you in your corporate life.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is a cozy fantasy that follows a group of magical children who have been shut away into a government-funded orphanage, away from the rest of society. It teaches you not to judge someone based on what makes them different from you, but instead that these differences are what make each person wonderful in their own way. This book feels like a hug, and who doesn’t want a warm hug this time of year?

For everyone—seriously, I think everyone
should read this book

Educated – Tara Westover

Educated is a memoir written by a woman who, until she was 17, had never set foot into a classroom. She was raised by a family of survivalists who didn’t believe in doctors, the government, or public education. It’s a challenging story about taking your life into your own hands, loyalty to your family, and what risks a lack of proper education can pose. It’s a reminder not to take our access to education and health care for granted. I read this book 2 and a half years ago and still think about it regularly. If that doesn’t sell you on it, just start reading it, you probably won’t stop until you hit the end.

Got recommendations for us?

Hit us up on social. We’re always looking for new great reads.