Growing Influence: A Story of How to lead with Character, Expertise, and Impact

Growing Influence: A Story of How to lead with Character, Expertise, and Impact

By Ron Price and Stacy Ennis

Brief Synopsis: This book isn’t written like your typical personal development book. It’s written as a story about Emily, a career-driven, mother and wife, who is looking to make an impact as a leader in her company. The story illustrates her struggles of being passed over several times for promotions she felt she had deserved, the fear of being seen as “just a mom” yet loving being a mother to her son, and the feeling of being lost on how to move forward. The authors relay incredible amounts of information, exercises, and tips on impactful leadership through the character Emily meets and befriends at a local coffee shop, David, and their interactions together. This book offers several practical ways to improve leadership skills and influence within the workplace. It even illustrates some helpful ways to navigate workplace conflict and the balance of career and motherhood.

My thoughts: This is one of my favorite books I have read all year! I love personal development books in general, but sometimes they can be dry and loaded with information that takes time to process, making for a slow read. Since this book was written as a story, I found myself breezing through it within a week! I also noticed that I retained a lot more of the information automatically. I have applied several of the concepts in this book to my workplace and have found them super helpful!

Trigger warnings: Death, gender inequality.

Rating: 5/5