Lucky 13: Must Read Now Books on Leadership, Life, Lessons and Success

Whether you are settling down with an e-reader on your favorite screen or thumbing through pages on a beach, this summer season offers many exciting new reads from fiction to nonfiction, advice, memoir and biography by some familiar and new favorite authors.

Each summer Take The Lead recommends what you might like to dive into, share in your book club or recommend to a friend, colleague, mentor or mentee. Here are a delightful bakers’ dozen of Take The Lead suggestions (alphabetically listed because we can’t possibly rank them as we love them all), with an addendum of four irresistible Young Adult offerings you may want to share with a younger person you mentor, love and intend to inspire.

Now What? 4 Smart Ways To Navigate Post-Pandemic She-cession

It’s no secret that women have struggled to find equality with men in the workplace, both in terms of treatment and salary. Discrimination — overt and subtle, conscious and unconscious — has been common in workplaces across the country, and the wage gap has been a constant. Equal pay still isn’t a reality.

Jessica LarsonJuly 8, 2021Comment

Generation Equality: Will the Revolution Be Funded After All?

Issue 171— July 5, 2021

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates stood for a photo op with French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN Women’s Generation Equality Forum June 29-July 1, 2021 and discussed the Gates Foundation’s new commitment of $2.1 USD to women’s economic empowerment, family planning, and (Hallelujah! At last!) accelerating women’s leadership.

The SumGloria FeldtJuly 5, 2021gender equality, UN Women, Women Leaders, ParityComment

Aiming For Equal: CEO, Founder Works For Equity in Sustainability

Perhaps the seed for Lisa Ann Pinkerton’s career as founder and chair of Women In Cleantech & Sustainability has something to do with the fact that she was born in Hyden, Kentucky near the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Rethinking Britney: Protection or Patriarchy

Issue 170 — June 28, 2021

My weekly zoom with women friends who have been staying in touch through the pandemic recently focused on how hard it is to get old ideas and solutions out of their heads when a new and better one has been proven more effective.

The examples mostly came from the world of science and medicine, starting with Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis who was hounded out of the medical profession in the 19th century. Dr. Semmelweis observed that simply washing hands after treating other patients could significantly reduce maternal mortality. Despite a growing body of scientific papers that backed up his theory, most physicians refused to change their traditional practices, and eventually had Semmelweis committed to an institution where he died.

The SumGloria FeldtJune 28, 2021Patriarchy, Mental Health, ActivismComment

Designing the Future: CEO's 7 Pillars to Successful Business Creation

Seven is considered a universal lucky number for those who believe in numerology.

Seven is an essential number in designing business strategy for Pamela Ayuso, CEO of Celaque, and author of Heptagram: the 7-Pillar Business Design System for the 21st Century.

How long until justice? Juneteenth symbolizes both question and answer

June 18, 2021

Growing up deep in the heart of Texas, I learned in (segregated) school that Juneteenth was a big celebration day for Black people because it marked the date on which the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, finally reached Texas on June 19th, 1865.

This date, when federal troops arrived in Galveston to take control of the state after the Civil War, at last ended the egregious practice of legal human slavery in the United States.

Juneteenth And Beyond: Celebrating Black Women Leaders Changing The World

Michele WeldonJune 18, 2021Comment

Pride or Rainbow-Washing? Why Leaders Need To Be True LGBTQ+ Inclusive Allies

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month and while the rainbows seem to be everywhere—even in the new 346-piece “Everyone Is Awesome,” rainbow-colored Lego set—the workplace is not often a safe, welcome and fair place for LGBTQ+ employees.

It’s called “rainbow-washing.”

Forging Solid Connections: CEO, Founder, Author on The Art of Connecting

Her mother would most definitely be proud.

Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, and author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships, has spent more than 33 years since her mother’s death building a successful career built on authenticity, integrity and clear communication.

Making Change on the Court: Naomi Osaka Serves Mental Health Concerns

Issue 169 — June 6, 2021

As a girl, I loved tennis. I was never destined to be a Naomi Osaka, but I played regularly until I was 13 years old. Then my family moved to a small town where the only public tennis court was at the local high school. Soon after arriving in town, I went there with a girlfriend.

The court bordered on the street. A few minutes into our game, a carload of teenage boys parked in front of the court and shouted remarks about our physical appearance. We ignored the boys till they left, then packed up our racquets and went home. I never played tennis again.

The SumGloria FeldtJune 6, 2021implicit bias, Female Achievement, Mental Health, IntentionComment

Cruella At Work: 5 Tips to Manage Your Mean Boss In Person

It was easier perhaps to compartmentalize the effects your mean boss had on you when you were in your remote home office and only had to interact visually a few hours a day.

You could press “leave meeting.” You could delay opening an email you were dreading. You could relish the fact you were in slippers and yoga pants and any moment you could rush into the kitchen at whim, or even text a co-worker while a boss tantrum was in full bloom.

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