07 Oct Inspirational Autumn Reads
Make it your goal to spend more time reading this autumn! Be inspired by Jo Malone and Jamie Vardy who have fought against the odds to achieve their success, gain leadership advice from the former Chairman of Microsoft Europe, and then relax with some timeless meditations.
Jo Malone: My Story by Jo Malone – 6 Oct 2016
Jo Malone is the inspirational British businesswoman responsible for creating her globally renowned beauty business and, more recently, her new brand ‘Jo Loves‘. In her autobiography, she shares her incredible journey from modest beginnings as a teenager, struggling with dyslexia and leaving school with no qualifications, to becoming an international brand name and one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Jo’s lively story explores how her fascination with smell teamed with her natural ability to create world-famous blends such as ‘Lime, Basil & Mandarin’, revolutionised the way we think about fragrance. Her unique talent for pioneering innovation and originality within her field is unrivalled. Yet, despite her success, she has faced huge challenges with courage and determination, including being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37 and told she only had nine months to live, and her decision to go it alone after selling the original Jo Malone brand to the Estée Lauder Corporation and walking away in 2006. Jo’s commitment and down-to-earth approach to life, work and family makes her one of the most likeable and well respected personalities in British retail and her honesty, hard work and entrepreneurial grit are an inspiration to all.
Based on cutting edge research, and with truly actionable advice, The Positive Leader shows you how to banish stress and negativity, rediscover your best self and become an inspirational leader – starting now. Former Chairman of Microsoft Europe, Jan Mühlfeit, turns the lessons he’s learnt from his years at the coalface of leadership into a ‘how to’ guide for busy managers. Academic studies have shown that a positive mind-set results in 31% higher levels of productivity.
The Positive Leader gives you a four-point approach to becoming a happier and more inspirational leader:
Discover and work to your strengths
Identify your mission and vision
Become a ‘Chief Energy Officer
Lead yourself to happiness
Jamie Vardy: From Nowhere, My Story by Jamie Vardy – 6 Oct 2016
An ordinary lad from Sheffield, Jamie Vardy has become known as an against-the-odds footballing hero the world over. Yet a few years ago, things couldn’t have been any more different. Rejected as a teenager by his boyhood club, Jamie thought his chance was gone. But from playing pub football and earning £30 a week at Stocksbridge Park Steels, while still working in a factory, his off-the-cuff performances saw him rise.
Jamie had a wild and turbulent youth, something he doesn’t shy away from. But football became his saving grace and, once he filled his boots with goals at FC Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town, he moved to Leicester City. With a growing sense of focus, Jamie put his head in the game. After the miracle of surviving relegation, Leicester set out on their fairy-tale season. The team of unlikely outsiders bonded together to achieve the unthinkable: Jamie set the record as the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches and Leicester beat odds of 5000-1 to become champions. Defying all expectations, this is the story of the boy from nowhere who reached the top in his own unflinching, honest words.
“Even now there are moments when I shake my head at the madness of it all – going from the factory floor and playing Sunday morning pub football with my mates, to scoring for my country against the World Cup winners in Berlin. It’s the stuff of dreams. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, some doubted that I was capable, and at times I was probably guilty of not helping myself, but nobody can question my passion for football or my commitment once I set foot on the pitch.” Jamie Vardy
The Stoics’ unique blend of practicality and wisdom has been inspiring the most successful among us for centuries, from Roman emperors to Barack Obama, and most recently via Ryan Holiday’s bestselling The Obstacle is the Way. If that book introduced readers to the idea that what is in the way is the way, The Daily Stoic widens our view on the Stoic philosophy and shows that it can be applied to any problem. From how to manage failure to getting what you want, the ideas of Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and others continue to be vitally relevant to today’s doers and thinkers. Here, in bold new translations, language is stripped down to reveal powerful aphorisms that cut straight to the heart of our day-to-day challenges.
Presented in a page-per-day format, this daily resource of Stoic inspiration combines quotations with calls to further reflection and action. Arranged topically, this guide features twelve principles for overcoming obstacles and achieving greater satisfaction. It introduces readers to a new daily ritual and new orientation that will bring them balanced action, insight, effectiveness, and serenity.