5 Simple Ways to Build Strong Relationships at Work
Building strong relationships at work is essential for creating a positive environment and enhancing collaboration. Whether you’re new to your workplace or looking to deepen existing connections, Dr. Julie Pham shares these 5 simple ways to build strong relationships at work that will help foster a supportive and productive work atmosphere. These strategies are effective regardless of your role in the organization—whether you’re a leader, manager, or a team member.
5 Simple Ways to Build Strong Relationships at Work
1. Make Time for Connection
To strengthen your relationships, prioritize making time for connection. Ask open-ended questions instead of closed ones. For example, instead of asking, “How was your weekend?” you could ask, “What did you do over the weekend?” This encourages your colleagues to share specific experiences, fostering a more engaging conversation. For more tips on effective communication, check out our video on five proven icebreakers for team building.
2. Celebrate the Wins
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind, but don’t forget to celebrate your wins. Take the time to congratulate and acknowledge your colleagues for a job well done. Be specific in your praise, as this makes your acknowledgment more meaningful.
3. Ask for Help
Don’t hesitate to ask for help, especially from those who aren’t obligated to assist you. This can increase opportunities for collaboration and shows that you are willing to be vulnerable. It can be difficult to ask for help, but doing so can strengthen your relationships. For additional insights, check out our video on reframing asking for help as a way to deepen relationships.
4. Share What Influences You
Whenever relevant, share what influences your approach to work. For instance, you might say, “I grew up in an immigrant household where wasting resources was discouraged.” This context can help your team understand your perspective, especially during discussions like budgeting season.
5. Give Constructive Feedback
While it may seem counterintuitive, giving constructive feedback can actually strengthen relationships. When delivered with the intention of improvement, feedback shows that you care about your colleagues and want everyone to succeed.
We hope you find these tips helpful in building stronger relationships at work. If you did, please click like and share this post!
Drawing from her experience running her family’s newspaper during the Great Recession, to managing her own small business with a remote team, Dr. Julie Pham knows how to make the most of limited resources. Here she shares 5 budget-friendly gift-giving ideas at work.
The spirit of gift-giving during the holiday season is all about demonstrating appreciation for employees’ hard work. Gifts can also strategically reinforce company culture and values, foster a sense of belonging, encourage curiosity, and facilitate sharing.
However, for many small business owners, company-branded swag, big bonuses, and fully catered meals are often out of reach. If you have a limited budget, here are 5 budget-friendly gift-giving ideas at work to support your team, regardless of its size.
5 Budget-Friendly Gift-Giving Ideas at Work
1. Make Time for Intentional Connection
Set aside time during the workweek for team members to connect. This is particularly effective for remote teams or as an alternative to an in-person holiday party. Consider sending gift cards so everyone can grab something to eat or drink during this time together. A simple 60-minute virtual session with breakout rooms can prompt deep discussions and meaningful connections.
2. Host a Potluck
If you prefer an in-person meal, organize a potluck. Sponsor the drinks and the main dish, and ask everyone else to contribute other items based on their budget. This not only showcases culinary skills but also sparks conversations around the dishes brought. Be sure to welcome store-bought contributions as well.
3. Organize a Stuff Swap
Instead of Secret Santa or White Elephant exchanges, which require employees to spend their own money, consider a stuff swap. Employees can bring new or gently used items that their coworkers might enjoy. Any unclaimed items can be donated to charity, making it a great green gift-giving strategy.
4. Donate to Charity
Make a donation to a charity of each employee’s choice. Instead of providing a list of charities, allow them to decide where their dollar goes. This can be any amount, as every contribution is meaningful. Encourage employees to share their chosen charity, helping you learn what matters to them, whether it’s the Humane Society, their temple, or their children’s PTSA.
5. Use Credit Card Points for Gifts
Utilize your credit card points to purchase gift cards. This method can reinforce company values. For instance, Dr. Julie uses her points to give Amazon gift cards, allowing team members to support something they want to try out or learn. One team member even used hers to buy calligraphy materials for practicing lettering.
6. Ask Your Team for Ideas
Don’t feel you have to come up with all the solutions alone. Share your budget with your team and ask for their input. When Dr. Julie did this, one team member suggested organizing a virtual escape room and took care of the research and booking.
We hope you find these simple, budget-friendly work gift ideas helpful. If you did, please click like and share this video!
#8 How do you lead with curiosity in a fast-growing nonprofit?
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In this episode of Curiosity at Work, Dr. Julie Pham chats with Joe Sky-Tucker, CEO of Business Impact Northwest, to explore how curiosity shapes leadership and culture in the nonprofit world. Joe shares stories from his journey—moving from a micromanager to a leader who deeply listens to his team and finds creative ways to say “yes” whenever possible.
Joe talks about the power of promoting from within, trusting people to step into leadership roles, and why it’s important to admit when we don’t have all the answers. Julie and Joe also dive into the challenges of maintaining curiosity when everyone is swamped with deadlines and how finding time to pause and reflect can make all the difference.
If you’re interested in creating a workplace where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued, you’ll want to listen in. This conversation is full of practical advice and real talk on how to lead with empathy, especially when things get tough.
Listen to this episode and let us know in the comments: How do you keep curiosity alive in your work? Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share with anyone who could use a dose of inspiration.
4 Leadership Lessons from Family-Owned Businesses: Insights from Dr. Julie Pham
We often seek business advice from CEOs of large companies, assuming that their revenue and employee numbers add credibility. However, there are valuable leadership lessons from family-owned businesses. These businesses often boast decades of experience, high employee retention, and loyal customers, providing a wealth of insights.
In this video, Dr. Julie Pham shares four leadership lessons she learned from running her family’s Vietnamese language newspaper. These principles have shaped her approach at CuriosityBased, and they can work for any organization, large or small.
1. Prioritize the Collective Over the Individual
In family-owned businesses, owners often make sacrifices for the team, especially during tough times. Unlike large company CEOs, who might avoid salary cuts during layoffs, family business owners ensure the team’s well-being, sometimes at their own expense. Dr. Julie witnessed her parents forgo their salaries to make payroll. Reflect on whether you’d be willing to make similar sacrifices. How would you feel working in a place where the collective is prioritized over the individual?
2. Do Work You Love
Many family business founders blend their passions with their work, often making it a natural part of their daily lives. Dr. Julie frequently discussed community service with her parents over meals. Ask yourself if you’re doing work you love—work that doesn’t feel like a chore, but something you’re passionate about.
3. Give and Expect Loyalty
Loyalty is foundational in family-owned businesses. It fosters trust, stability, and safety within the organization. Supporting each other through challenges and helping underperformers improve is crucial. Loyalty doesn’t mean neglecting performance standards but creating a supportive environment for growth. Do you prioritize giving and receiving loyalty in your workplace?
4. Take Pride in Your Work
Family-owned businesses take immense pride in their work, often seeing it as a part of their identity. It’s concerning when people hesitate to discuss their work outside their field. Consider whether you’re doing work you’re proud of, work you’d happily share with others.
These leadership lessons are not strict rules but guiding principles that can help you foster a strong company culture. If you found this post helpful, please like and share it.
I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t want to think of themselves as a curious person and yet their know-it-all attitude suggests otherwise. Here are some signs of a learn-it-all, or those who practice curiosity regularly in their lives.
For three years, I ran a 6-month fellowship program. I noticed some people did really well and other people really struggled and it took me a while to figure out what differentiated the two. And then I landed on curiosity. By the third cohort, we started interviewing for that. Curiosity helps people persevere when times are difficult, it helps them be resourceful when facing a challenge, or to be empathetic to other people, because they want to know.
There are some people who are so focused on getting to a particular outcome or result that they would be the naysayers and they didn’t wanna move forward. For the longest time, I thought curiosity was a trait. Now I think of it as a practice, because I realize that when you have more people on a team who are practicing curiosity, they can actually uplift the morale of everyone else. And when you have people who just care about the outcomes and not the process, then they can actually take down the morale. Here are some signs of someone who is a learn-it-all:
Here are the 17 signs of a learn-it-all:
Is comfortable with not knowing all the answers, and admitting “I don’t know”
Admits that they are not a perfectionist
Asks questions to clarify, not to show off how much they know
Listens to understand, not respond
Likes to try new things
Talks more about “learning” than about “knowing”
Talks about what they want to learn, instead of what they want to accomplish or what the results are going to be
When they talk about mistakes they’ve made, they talk about the lessons they learned, instead of talking about what they would’ve done to avoid those mistakes
Has a diverse group of friends (However you can define “diversity”)
Talks about the people that they learn from
Reads books, listens to podcasts, or pursues hobbies that don’t have anything to do with their job or profession
Tries to learn things that they know there is a chance they might never excel at it
Listens to different genres of music
Watches different genres of films
Reads both fiction and nonfiction
Looks up things to learn more, not to check if they were right or wrong
Thinks more about the journey than the destination
Now, you don’t have to have all these signs to be a learn-it-all. I certainly don’t.
This is just the starter list. I’d love to hear your suggestions as well. I want to add to this list.
What I learned in managing expectations with others and with myself
Feb 1, 2022 to Jan. 21, 2023 marked the Year of the Tiger. This is a display at Wing Luke Museum.
In my second year as an entrepreneur, I learned a lot about how to manage expectations with others and especially managing my own expectations of myself.
Managing expectation is a never ending exercise in clearly articulating our needs, wants, and hopes. It requires activating all three elements of practicing curiosity: self- awareness, relationship building, and communication.
Here’s what I learned to help me navigate the dynamics of managing expectations that I’ve applied to both my personal and professional life.
Don’t expect people to change, yet believe them if they do change
Changing behavior is difficult for those who want to change, and impossible for those who don’t want to change. I’ve learned not to expect people to change. At the same time, people can change and I have to let go of grudges and old expectations to believe that they have changed. This has been especially true in my personal life. I’ve seen my mom change after my dad passed, in positive ways I didn’t expect. Just as I want others to see that I am capable of change, I have to be willing to believe others can change too, even if I shouldn’t expect it.
Explicitly describe what people can expect from me
I have to constantly remind myself that people can’t read my mind and I have to be more explicit. In regards to their own expectations, some people think in terms of what they will gain and benefit. For my clients, I describe what they will get with specific examples. For my team, I try to anticipate their questions and concerns. This is especially important now as people worry about layoffs. For my friends, I let them know what kind of support I can provide.
Explicitly describe what people shouldn’t expect from me
Other people think in terms of what they might lose or won’t get, so I also list what I won’t be doing and what they will not get, so that I can manage their expectations. For example, I often tell people my 7 Forms of Respect framework will NOT teach them how to be respectful, that it’s not like 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. For my team, I’ve made it clear that until we become consistently profitable, I can’t increase hours or provide more benefits. For my friends, I let them know when I can’t provide support in the ways they asked of me.
Accept that people will have expectations of me I can’t fulfill
It’s natural for people to make assumptions about me that lead to certain expectations. I have found that people often think because I’m a woman of color in leadership development, my work will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) when it doesn’t. I don’t get upset by this expectation; I just explain that I’m not a DEI expert.
Name incorrect expectations
Painful learning experiences made me learn how to name incorrect expectations before I reset their expectations. For example, I now sometimes start workshops with, “You may think this is racial justice training and it’s not. This is what we’ll be doing instead and why.”
Ask people to manage my expectations by managing theirs
In being clear that expenses outpaced revenue this past year, I tell my team that I understand they have to consider their individual financial needs because I don’t know when I can provide higher salaries. I just ask them to keep me updated if they do search for work elsewhere. When a team member left for a great career opportunity, I was not surprised. My expectations were managed.
Differentiate between expectations and hope
Entrepreneurship requires optimism. I was wildly overly optimistic in my revenue projections coming into my second year. I realized expectations should be based on my previous experiences to believe what is realistic and possible, not from strangers’ success stories I read on the Internet!
Don’t compare myself to others in creating expectations for myself
This is a hard one to admit that I do. I constantly have to remind myself not to compare. I have
close friends who are also authors of wildly successful books. As a self-published author without a long track record of prestigious publications or public speaking, I can’t apply the same expectations for success to myself. If I only look at those who I think have more, I will always feel I don’t have enough. So, I can’t compare.
Continue to do things I love even if they don’t meet my expectations
There are so many things I love doing, such as writing essays like this, that don’t meet my expectations of desired outcomes. I often remind myself that I don’t write because I expect a lot of views; I write to have an impact, even if that impact is limited to a few readers. Think about what things you love to do and that you would do no matter what, even if they don’t live up to your expectations. This lesson is also connected to the one on differentiating between expectations and hope (see lesson #7).
Lower my expectations to “good enough” so I can experiment faster
I sometimes slip into perfectionist standards. This past year, I pushed myself to create content with less and sometimes no outside editing before I post. I’ve been surprised by how my raw content can resonate with people, like my 2021 reflections on managing my energy instead of my time or my Instagram reel that went viral when I made fun of myself. This lesson is one I will lean into even more in 2023.
I’ve learned to accept that managing expectations is an iterative process in which I have to be asking questions and listening carefully to both others and to myself.
The author sits with two leaders who constantly inspire her with how they practice curiosity: Robert Britten (left), executive director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, and Dr. Suzy Ames, president of Peninsula College (right).
I liken practicing curiosity to meditation – it looks easy, but it’s really hard. There are some days it’s easier to practice curiosity than other days. And yet when leaders practice curiosity, we can set the conditions for creativity, innovation, resourcefulness, resilience, and empathy for our teams.
I’ve worked in and with companies that ranged from three employees to more than 100,000. Something that any size company has in common is that culture is set from the top. Those in power determine what’s acceptable behavior. Leaders, keep in mind that your team members are watching what you do. They will follow what you do, not what you say you do.
Here are some tips on how leaders can practice curiosity themselves, which will have ripple effects in your organization. These tips are based on mistakes I have made, things I’ve learned in meetings and in everyday interactions.
1. Speak last in meetings
Often a leader’s opinion can have outsized impact, and can influence what other people feel comfortable sharing. I often declare that I’m going to give my opinion last, so that others can share theirs first, especially when we are brainstorming or giving feedback.
2. Let other people facilitate team meetings
There is an expectation that the team leader always has to run the meetings. By accident, I flipped this my first year in business because someone on my team wanted to practice facilitation. I said that she could set the agenda and facilitate our weekly team syncs. Having someone else set the agenda will encourage them to talk to other people on the team to find out what should be discussed. And they get an opportunity to shine. There are actually many meetings I don’t facilitate at all, when I don’t have a discussion topic to lead. I love this! Another approach is rotating the facilitator role, especially among those who might not be in leadership positions.
3. Admit when you’re wrong
When I make a bad decision or mistake, I own up to it. I had to do that recently because a team member wanted to institute a new project management tool. Because I didn’t want to learn a new tech tool, I said I wouldn’t use it but everyone else could. Five months later, only half the team was using the tool. I realized my resistance undermined my colleague’s efforts to streamline work processes. I apologized to her and I committed to using the tool. I could tell she was appreciative that I admitted I was wrong.
4. Show what you don’t know
Leaders don’t have to pretend to have all the answers because, in reality, we don’t. I often get asked, “What should we do?” and I reply, “I’m not sure. What do you think we should do?” Early on in my career, I thought I needed to have all the answers. I was so relieved when a boss modeled for me he didn’t always know and he would ask me to suggest solutions. Asking clarifying questions is also a way for leaders to model that it’s okay not to know the answers. I often ask “Can you give me an example of that?” “What does that word mean?” When you think others don’t know a concept, even if you do, ask for an explanation so that it benefits everyone.
5. Be aware of the possible impact of your questions
Power dynamics means that sometimes people see questions from leaders as directives. A friend of mine told me she serves on a nonprofit board. She described when she asked the executive director (ED) of that nonprofit some questions, that ED responded defensively. I pointed out to her that the ED may have interpreted the question as an order because she as a board member is technically her boss. It can be helpful to preface a question with, “I’m asking this to understand, not because I want you to change anything or do something different.”
6. Make time to care
I talked about this in an earlier essay about managing my energy vs. my time. At the beginning of every meeting, our team members share our personal highs and lows. We get to be curious about others and let them be curious about us; this reciprocity is critical to relationship building. I’ve shared my struggles with maintaining a prediabetic diet, how I miss my late father, and other things that are pulling me down. Studies even show that teams that share their personal lows are able to be more honest with one another when it comes to the work.
7. Ask questions when you’re upset
Feeling anger, resentment, fear, annoyance can become curiosity killers. I have to be extra intentional about asking questions when I’ve got those feelings, because my gut reaction is to assume bad intentions. A friend told me that he was upset with someone on his team for not following his directions. He felt deeply disrespected. I suggested he ask that colleague, “What’s your process for your work?” to understand how they approach work. Then follow up with, “What do you think about the process I’m asking you to do?” Curiosity can be the antidote to assuming bad intentions just perpetuates.
I hope you’ll try some of these tips. Let me know how it goes.
We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by Americans of Asian Pacific Islander (API) heritage. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order.
Sigh, Gone: A Misfits Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
Living for Change by Grace Boggs
Where the Past Begins: Memory & Imagination by Amy Tan
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Anchee Min
Out of the Gobi: My Story of China & America by Weijian Shan
Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi
Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy
An American Family: A Memoir of Hope & Sacrifice by Khizr Khan
Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream by Deepak Chopra & Sanjiv Chopra
Hawaii’s Story by Liliuokalani
Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake by Diane C. Fujino
See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur
Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story by Mazie K. Hirono
How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of my Family by Sonora Jha
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal
The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays by Wesley Yang
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
Fault Lines: A Memoir by Meena Alexander
Eat a Peach: A Memoir by David Chang
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (TED Books) by Pico Iyer
The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit
The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim Kwik
Postcolonial Leadership, A: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges by Hee An Choi
Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness by Richard Lui
Legal Heroes in the Trump Era: Be Inspired, Expand Your Impact, Change the World by Tahima Watson
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella
All In by Jerry Yang
Radical: Fighting to Put Students First by Michelle Rhee
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi
Unprecedented: The Masters and Me by Tiger Woods
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Sharon Lee
Unsung Hero: The Col. Young O. Kim Story by Woo Sung Han
You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen by Eric Liu
Holding Serve: Preserving on and Off the Court by Michael Chang
Great Asian Americans: Michelle Kwan by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Ellison Onizuka by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Tammy Duckworth by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Patsy Mink by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Yo-Yo Ma by Stephanie Cham
To The Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei by George Takei
Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self by Alex Tizon
I love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL by Dat Nguyen
Courage: The backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee and Diane Elliott-Lee
Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First lady of Physics Research by Tsai-chien Chiang
It Takes Moxie by Maureen Francisco
Finding the Edge: My Life On The Ice by Karen Chen
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Still Life with Rice by Helie Lee
I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
When Invisible Children Sing by Chi Cheng Huang
Creating the Digital Future: The Secrets of Consistent Innovation at Intel by Albert T.c. Yu
Boundaries by Maya Lin
The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim
Leadership and Crisis by Bobby Jindal
Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai
A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States by Gordon K. Hirabayashi
Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American by Peter M. Jamero
The Silent Master: Awakening the Power Within by Tae Yun Kim
The Black Widow’s Guide to Killer Pool: Become the Player to Beat by Jeanette Lee
My Forty years as a Diplomat by Feng-Shan Ho
You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn
Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion by Feng-Hsiung Hsu
Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty…And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, & Unapologetically Being Yourself by Dr. Aziz Gazupura
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris
Impressive First Impressions: A Guide to the Most Important 30 Seconds (And 30 Years) of Your Career by Vu H. Pham
With Schwarzkopf: Life Lessons of the Bear by Gus Lee
Purpose Mindset by Akhtar Badshah
You Are A Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do it Now by Tiffany Pham
The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace by Ruchika Tulshyan
Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less – Here’s How by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
Come into my Office: Stories from an HR Leader in Silicon Valley by Mai Ton
AugmentAsian: Strategies and Tools for Asian Pacific American Professional & Leadership Success by Asian Upward & Elevate Teams
Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage by Laura Huang
American Dreamer: How I Escaped Communist Vietnam and Built a Successful Life in America by Tim Tran
Glue: How Project Leaders Create Cohesive, Engaged, High-Performing Teams by Anh Dao Pham
Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering The Challenges of Business and Life by Chin-Ning Chu
Uplifted: Journeys of Abundance, Community, and Identity by Geena Chen
Sheer Determination: Swimming Upstream in a Downstream World by Kay Hire
Reflections of Seattle’s Chinese Americans: The First 100 Years by Ron Chew
Show Your Worth: 8 Intentional Strategies for Women to Emerge as Leaders at Work by Shelmina Babai Abri
Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Create a Culture of Belonging at Work by Ruchika Tulshyan
Invitation to Lead: Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders by Paul Tokunaga
The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aime Nezhukamatahil
The Visibility Mindset: How Asian American Leaders Create Opportunities and Push Past Barriers by Bernice M Chao & Jessalin Lam
This is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, A Culture, A Community – A Life in Streetwear by Bobby Hundreds
It’s Always Sunny Above the Clouds: Getting the Next Generation Into the Cockpit by Nick Tran
Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong by Dawn B. Mabalon, PhD & Gayle Romas
Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Internet Strikes Back (Oh Myyy!)by George Takei
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir by Tammy Duckworth
Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress by Judy Tzu-hun Wu & Gwendolyn Mink
The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
7 Forms of Respect: A Guide to Transforming Your Communication and Relationships at Work by Julie Pham, PhD
The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehoods in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston
America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee
Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity In North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home by Laura Ling & Lisa Ling
Power Your Purpose: A Leader’s Guide to Creating a Better Life and a Better World by Shian Chuan
The Asian American Achievement Paradox by Jennifer Lee & Min Zhou
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For: Now What? 21 Days to Confidence and Clarity by Dr. Sweta Chawla
Energize: Make the Most of Every Moment by Simon Alexander Ong
The Art of Gathering: How We Come Together and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians by Jane Hyun
Perfect Enough: How to Be Happier and More Productive by Letting Go of Perfectionism by Judy t. Dang
The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change by Michelle MiJung Kim
The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang
Why Not Me? By Mindy Kaling
Healing Resistance: A RAdically Different Response to Harm by Kazu Haga
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim
Love For Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfectionism by Haemin Sunim
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Bitter Fruit: The Politics of Korean-Black Conflict in New York City by Claire Jean Kim
Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Liv es of Asian Americans by David Eng
Authentic Inclusion: Drives Disruptive Innovation by Frances West
Innovation Starts with I: Increase Your Influence. Ignite Your Impact. By Saleema Vellani
Talk it Up! A Guide to Successful Public Speaking by Mr. David Suk Brown
Conquering the Chaos by Ravi Venkatesan
Women Who Lead: Timeless Life, Career, and Business Secrets from Inspiring Women Around the World by Izdihar Jamil
The Confidence of Yes: How to Harness the Energy of Opportunity by Izdihar Jamil
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we created this list of books authored by people who identify as women. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked and are listed alphabetically.
[Un]framing the “Bad Woman”: Sor Juana, Malinche, Coyolxauhqui, and other rebels with a cause by Alicia Gaspar de Alba
#Not Your Princess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale
#Values by Dr. Betty Uribe
101 Reasons to Get Out of Bed by Natasha Mine
50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership by Kathey Porter
A House of My Own: Stories From My Life by Sandra Cisneros
A Mythic Life: Learning to live our greater story by Jean Houston
A Passion for the Possible: A guide to realizing your true potential by Jean Houston
A to Z: Your Navigator to Success by Chin-Ning Chu
Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa Febos
Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader by Herminia Ibarra
After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love by Alexandra Elle
Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by Bell Hooks
All Bout Love by Bell Hooks
All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King
All the Leader You Can Be by Suzanne Bates
Almost a Woman byEsmerelda Santiago
American Indian Stories by Zitkala-Sa
And A Voice to Sing With: A Memoir by Joan Baez
And Now We Are Going to Have a Party: Liner Notes to a Writer’s Early Life by Nicola Griffith
Annapurna: A Woman’s place by Arlene Blum
AOC: The Fearless Rise and Powerful Resonance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes by Lynda Lopez
Apocalyptic Best Practices: A unique approach to fear and change by Dr. Elisebeth VanderWeil
As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Ask For It: How women can use the power of negotiation to get what they really want by Linda Babcock & Sara Aslchever
ASL Saved My Life… Until it Didn’t by Jenni Kleinman Berebitsky
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brene Brown
Awakening Compassion at Work by Jane Dutton & Monica Worline
Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Debora Miranda
Balancing Work and Life: The Nia Guide for Black Women by Sheryl Huggins & Cherly Mayberry McKissack
Bamboozled: How God Tricked Me into the Life of My Dreams by Yvonne Orji
Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Sharon Lee
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Believe Bigger: Discover the Path to Your Life Purpose by Marshawn Evans Daniels
Being Heumann: an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist by Judith E. Heumann
Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think, and dobyJennifer Eberhardt
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Bird of Paradise: How I became a Latina by Raquel Cepeda
Black Futures by Kimberly Drew, Jenna Wortham
Black Indian: A memoir by Shonda Buchanan
Black Power Inc.: The New Voices of Success by Cora Daniels
Blaze Your Own Trail: An Interactive Guide to Navigating Life with Confidence, Solidarity, and Compassion by Rebekah Bastian
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chefby Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Ocean Strategy by Renee Mauborgne
Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiz by Gloria Anzaldúa
Boss Bride: The Powerful Woman’s Playbook for Love and Success by Charreah Jackson
Boundaries by Maya Lin
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Branding Pays by Karen Kang
Bridge Builders by Maria Keckler
Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing by Erin Jones
Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boy’s Club of Silicon Valley by Emily Chang
Business as Unusual by Anita Roddick
Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education by Nel Noddings
Climb: Taking Every Step with Conviction,Courage, and Calculated Risk to Achieve a Thriving Career and a Successful Life by Michelle Gadsden-Williams & Carolyn M. Brown
Come into My Office: Stories from an HR Leader in Silicon Valleyby Mai Ton
Common Fire: Leading lives of commitment in a complex world by Sharon Parks, et. al.
Confidence by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Courage: The Backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee & Diane Elliott-Lee
Crazy Brave: A Memoir by Joy Harjo
Critically Sovereign: Indigenous Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies by Joanne Barker
Crux: A cross-border memoir by Jean Guerrero
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
Dancing at the Edge of the World: thoughts on words, women, place by Ursula LeGuin
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brene Brown
Darling, You Can’t Do Both by Janet Kestin & Nancy Vonk
Dear Female Founder: 66 Letters of Advice from Women Entrepreneurs Who Have Made $1 Billion in Revenue by Lu Li
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
Disarm Your Limits: The flight formula to lift you to success and propel you to the next horizon by Jessica Cox
Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller
Double Down: Bet on Yourself and Succeed on Your Own Terms by Antionette M. Clarke, Tricia Clarke-Stone
Dream Big by Deborah Rosado Shaw
Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters are Making History in Congress by Linda Sánchez
Driven by Intention: Own Your Purpose, Gain Power, and Pursue Your Passion as a Woman at Work by Michelle Gadsden-Williams
Drop the Ball: Achieving more by doing less by Tiffany Dufu
Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World by Linda Hogan
Eat, Pray, Love: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage by Laura Huang
Elegy for a Disease: A Personal and Cultural History of Polio by Anne Finger
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal
Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai
Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity by Peggy Holman
Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive by Dorie Clark
Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts & Veronica Chambers
Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success From a Wall Street Vet by Carla A. Harris
Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing up Mexican American by Rose Castillo Guilbault
Fault Lines: A Memoir by Meena Alexander
Feeling Power: Emotions and education by Megan Boler
Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace by Mikaela Kiner
Feminist Queer Crip by Alison Kafer
Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child by Emma Gonzalez
Fierce Conversations: Achieving success at work & in life, one conversation at a time by Susan Scott
Find Another Dream by Maysoon Zayid
Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams
Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity by Paola Ramos
Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valarie Jarret
Finding Our Way: Leadership for uncertain times by Margaret Wheatley
Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice by Karen Chen (sports)
Force Majeure: A Futurist’s Guide to Boldly Thriving on Your Terms in the Future of Work by Dr. Terri Horton
Frida by Barbara Mujica
FutureProofed: How to Navigate Disruptive Change, Find Calm in Chaos, and Succeed in Work & Life by Natalia Peart
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur by Cara Alwill Leyba
God is Red: A Native View of Religion by Vine deLoria, Jr.
Great Asian Americans: Ellison Onizuka by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Michelle Kwan by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Patsy Mink by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Tammy Duckworth by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Yo-Yo Ma by Stephanie Cham
Grit: The power of passion and perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Groundswell by Charlene Li
Haben: The deafblind woman who conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
Hawaii’s Story by Liliuokalani
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story by Mazie K. Hirono
Hermanas: Deepening our identity and growing our influence by Natialia Kohn Rivera
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There by Morra Aarons-Mele
Hispanic Women Seeking Higher Leadership Roles in Business by Syliva C. Motta, PhD
Hood Feminist: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Hot Sports by Lynda Gratton
How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life by Joanna Barsh
How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power by adrienne maree brown
How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of My Family by Sonora Jha
How to Wow by Francsis Cole Jones
How Women Rise: Break the 12 habits holding you back from your next raise, promotion, or job by Sally Helgesen (& Marshall Goldsmith)
Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life by Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
I Am Schizophrenic: Poetry from a beautiful brain by Kerenza Ryan
I Got This: To Gold and Beyond by Lauren Hernandez
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve by Kate White
I’d Rather Be In Charge by Charlotte Beers
I’m Judging You: The do-better manual by Luvvie Ajayi
I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
In a Different Voice: Psychological theory and women’s development by Carol Gilligan
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist prose by Alice Walker
In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs by Grace Bonney
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
In The Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado
In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine by Donna M. Loring
In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman
Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating of Culture of Belonging at Work by Ruchika Tulshyan
Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace by Daisy Auger-Dominguez
Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace, & The Will To Change by Jennifer Brown
Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!: Make Your Million-Dollar Idea into a Reality by Lori Greiner
Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gómez
Isabel’s Hand-Me-Down Dreams by Isabel Lopez
It Takes Moxie by Maureen Francisco
It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
It’s About Time: The Art of Choosing the Meaningful Over the Urgent by Valorie Burton
It’s Not Rocket Science: 7 Game Changing Traits for Uncommon Success by Mary Spio
Journey to the Future: A Roadmap for Success for Youth by Ltc. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch
Just as I am by Cicely Tyson
Key to Yourself by Dr. Venice Bloodworth
Know What Makes Them Tick: How to successfully negotiate almost any situation by Shonda Rhimes
Know Your Value: Women, Money, and Genting What You’re Worth by Mika Brzezinski
Lakota Woman by Mary Brave Bird
Latina Empowerment Through Leadership: Mindful Stories from Inspiring Women by Catherine Munos Garces, Monica Rivera, et al
Latinas in Aviation by Jacqueline S. Ruiz
Latinas Rising Up in HR: Inspirational Stories of Human Resources Professionals Leading, Thriving, and Breaking Barriers by Priscilla Guasso
Latinos in American Society: Families and Communities in Transition by Dr. Ruth Enid Zambrana
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
Leadership and the new Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World by Margaret Wheatley
Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way: Timeless strategies from the first lady of courage by Robin Gerber
Leading by My Ponytail by Karen M. Walker & Judy Ducharme
Leading so People Will Follow by Erika Andersen
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Niño
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough
Leaving Little Havana: A memoir of Miami’s Cuban ghetto by Cecilia M. Fernandez
Legal Heroes in the Trump Era: Be Inspired. Expand Your Impact. Change the World. by Tahmina Watson (lawyer, writer)
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland
Limitless: The Power of Hope and Resilience to Overcome Circumstances by Mallory Weggemann
Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women by Otegha Uwagba
Living for Change by Grace Boggs
Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi
Mad at School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life by Margaret Price
Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First Lady Of Physics Research by Tsai-chien Chiang
Marbles: Mania, Depression Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney
Martina by Martina Navratilova
Mean by Myriam Gurba
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward
Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs Who Want to Go Big by Julia Pimsleur
Mindset: The new psychology of success by Carol Dweck
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
Miss Jessie’s: Creating a Successful Business From Scratch — Naturally by Micho Branch
More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys
More than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth
More Than Pretty: Doing the Soul Work that Uncovers Your True Beauty by Erica Campbell
More than Ready: Be Strong and Be You… and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise by Cecilia Muñoz
Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter by Liz Wiseman
Muscogee Daughter: My sojourn to the Miss America Pageant by Susan Supernaw
My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive by Julissa Arce
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi (business)
My Life: Queen of the Court by Serena Williams
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mary Hartnett, Wendy Williams
My Time to Speak: Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race by Ilia Calederon
Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make that Sabotage Their Careers by Lois P. Frankel, PhD
Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative by Ignatia Broker
Nimble, Focused, Feisty: Organizational Cultures that Win in the New Era and How to Create Them by Sara Roberts
Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake by Diane C. Fujino
Nooping: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Notorious BIG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements by adrienne maree brown
Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by María Hinojosa
One Life by Megan Rapinoe & Emma Brockes
Open Leadership by Charlene Li
Option B by Sheryl Sandberg
Own It: The Power of Women at Work by Sallie Krawcheck
Own Your Phenomenal Self: A Guide on Character, Success, & Leadership by Rita P. Mitchell
Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real by Mariana Atencio
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
Poet Warrior: A Memoir by Joy Harjo
Portage Lake: Memories of an Ojibwe Childhood by Maude Kegg
Postcolonial Leadership, A: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges by Hee An Choi
Power Moves: How Women Can Pivot, Reboot, and Build a Career of Purpose by Lauren McGoodwin
Presence: Bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges by Amy Cuddy
Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes by Billie Jean King
Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. González
Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Profit from the Positive by Senia Maymin & Margaret H. Greenberg
Purpose Driven Leadership: Building and fostering effective teams by Brigette Tasha Hyacinth
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Radical : Fighting to Put Students First by Michelle Rhee
Radical Candor: Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity by Kim Scott
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation by Rev Angel Kyodo Williams
Reality Is Broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world by Jane McGonigal
Recovering the Sacred: The power of naming and claiming by Winona LaDuke
Redefining Realness: My Path To Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
Representation Matters: How Victory Fund, Victory Institute, and LGBT Leaders are Transforming America by Karen Ocamb
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao
Resonate by Nancy Duarte
Right Within: How to Heal From Racial Trauma in the Workplace by Minda Harts
Rising Strong: How the ability to reset transforms the way we live, love, prent, and lead by Brene Brown
Rising to the Challenge, My Leadership Journey by Carly Fiorina
Rita Moreno: A Memoir by Rita Moreno
ROAR: How to Build a Resilient Organization by Sandy Asch
Rookie Smarts by Liz Wiseman
Run: Lessons in Leadership for Women Changing the World by Stephanie Schriock & Christina Reynolds
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a multicultural age byJuana Bordas
See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur
Self Made: Becoming Empowered, Self Reliant and Rich in Every Way by Nely Galán
Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
Serving in Silence by Margarethe Cammermeyer
Show Your Work by Jane Bozarth
Show Your Worth: 8 Intention Strategies for Women to Emerge as Leaders at Work by Shelmina Babai Abji
Silencing Gender, Age, Ethnicity and Cultural Biases in Leadership by Camilla A. Montoya, Julieta V. García. et al.
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
Slide-ology by Nancy Duarte
Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use by Amanda Seales
Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Speedbumps: Flooring it through Hollywood by Teri Garr
Stand Out: How to find your breakthrough idea and build a following around it by Dorie Clark
Staring: How We Look by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Still Life with Rice by Helie Lee
Strategize to Win: The New Way to Star Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career by Carla Harris
Successful Women Think Differently: 9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier & More Resilient by Valorie Burton
Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
Swimming with Sharks in Dark Waters by Athene Brinson
Take Charge of your Brand: Quick and simple techniques to help you own and manage your personal brand for professional and personal success by Guisselle Nuñez
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the practice of freedom by Bell Hooks
Thanks for the Feedback by Sheila Heen & Douglas Stone
That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (And Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together by Joanne Lipman
The 100 Year Life by Lynda Gratton
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying by Suze Orman
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
The Black Widow’s Guide to Killer Pool: Become the Player to Beat by Jeanette Lee
The Book of Awesome Black Americans: Scientific Pioneers Trailblazing Entrepreneurs, Barrier-Breaking Activists and AFro-Futurists by Monique jones
The Buena Salud Guide to Understanding Depression and Enjoying Life by Jane Delgado
The Change Masters by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know by Katty Kay & Claire Shipman
The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Anchee Min
The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt
The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality In The Workplace by Ruchika Tulshyan
The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir by Samantha Power
The End of Competitive Advantage by Rita Gunther McGrath
The Far Away Brothers: Two young migrants and the making of an American life by Lauren Markham
The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader (Latin America Otherwise) by Gloria Anzaldua
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
The Holly Woodlawn Story: A Low Life in High Heels by Holly Woodlawn
The Holy Intimacy of Strangers by Sarah York
The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez
The Latina Guide to Health: Consejos and Caring Answers by Jane Delgado
The Leadership Shift: The Strategic Positioning of Latino Business Leaders by Dr. Nilda Perez
The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed As You Are by Alicia Menendez
The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown; Marsha Haygood; Angela Burt-Murray
The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks To You by Julie Zhuo
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen
The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
The Moonshot Effect by Kate Purmal & Lisa Goldman
The New IT: How Technology are Enabling Business Strategy in the Digital Age by Jill Dyche
The New Social Learning by Marcia Conner
The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School by Selena Rezvani
The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead End-Work by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart
The Obsessive Joy of Autism by Julia Bascom
The One Week Budget by Tiffany Aliche
The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, inclusion, and contribution by Juana Bordas
The pretty one: on life, pop culture, disability, and other reasons to fall in love with me by Keah Brown
The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the political uses of race by Melanye Price
The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond by Lillian Lincoln Lambert
The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions by Paula Gunn Allen
The School Days of an Indian Girl, and an Indian Teacher Among Indians by Zitkala-Sa
The Shift by Lynda Gratton
The Signals are Talking by Amy Webb
The Silent Master: Awakening the Power Within by Tae Yun Kim
The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende
The Tao of Raven: An Alaska Native Memoir by Ernestine Hayes
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
The Transformational Consumer: Fuel a lifelong love affair with your customers by helping them get healthier, wealthier, and wiser by Tara-Nicholle Nelson
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris
The Turquoise Ledge by Leslie Silko
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Conejo Villavicencio
The Virtuous Circle: Restore Your Confidence, Bounce Back, and Emerge Stronger by Gaby Natale
The White Album by Joan Didion
The World I Live In by Helen Keller
Thick Face, Black Heart: The warrior philosophy for conquering the challenges of business and life by Chin-Ning Chu
Think Like a Negotiator by Eldonna Lewis Fernandez
Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington
Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life by Harriet McBryde Johnson
Truth or Dare: Encounters with power, authority, and mystery by Starhawk
Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter
Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding social mysteries through autism’s unique perspectives by Temple Grandin
Upper Hand: The Future of Work for the Rest of Us by Sherrell Dorsey
Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled by Nancy Mairs
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil
Werk 101: Get Your Life Together Guide by Koereyelle DuBose
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
What Will it Take to Make a Woman President? by Marianne Schnall
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
Where the Past Begins: Memory and Imagination by Amy Tan
Whiteness Visible: The meaning of whiteness in American literature and culture by Valerie Babb
Wiping the War Paint off the Lens: Native American Film and Video by Beverly Singer
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game by Abby Wambach
Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons by Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators by Susanne Tedrick
Women’s Ways of Knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind by Mary Field Belenky, et. al.
Year of Yes: How to dance it out, stand in the sun, and be your own person by Shonda Rhimes
You Are a Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do It Now by Tiffany Pham
Your Next Level Life: 7 Rules of Power, Confidence, and Opportunity for Black Women in America by Karen Arrington
The Color of Courage: Crushing Racism in Corporate America by Cindi Bright
The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility: Thriving Organizations – Great Results by Marilyn Gist, PhD
In support of Black History Month, we’ve compiled a list of leadership books written by Black authors in the United States. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked in any particular order.
In Search of Our Mother’s Garden: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker
Purpose Driven Leadership: Building and fostering effective teams by Bridgette Tasha Hyacinth
The Transformational Consumer: Fuel a lifelong love affair with your customers by helping them get healthier, wealthier, and wiser by Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
Unprecedented: The Masters and Me by Tiger Woods
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts & Veronica Chambers
This is the Fire: What I say to My Friends About Racism by Don Lemon
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
White Girls by Holton Als
Nothing Personal by James Baldwin
Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey by Alvin Aily & A. Peter Bailey
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown
We Will Not Cancel Us by Adrienne Maree Brown
Love and Rage by Lama Rod Owens
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown
How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power by Adrienne Maree Brown
It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing & Hope by Kamaro Brown
The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy
Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance by Tony Dungy
The Secrets to Success: When you want to Succeed as Bad as You Want to Breath by Eric Thomas
Produced by Faith: Enjoy real success without losing your true self by DeVon Franklin
Super Rich: A guide to having it all by Russell Simmons
It Worked for Me: In life and leadership by Colin Powell
Reach: 40 Black men speak on living, leading, and succeeding by Ben Jealous & Trabian Shorters
Black Faces in White Places: 10 game-changing strategies to achieve success and find greatness by Randal Pinkett & Jeffrey Robinson
The Gatekeepers are Gone: Hustle + Technology = Success by Lamar Tyler
Know What Makes Them Tick: How to successfully negotiate almost any situation by Shonda Rhimes
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X & Alex Haley
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
The Misadvantures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
The One Week Budget by Tiffany Aliche
I’m Judging You: The do-better manual by Luvvie Ajayi
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie
The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
Drop the Ball: Achieving more by doing less by Tiffany Dufu
Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think and do by Jennifer Eberhardt
Stamped from the Beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Lovesong: Becoming a Jew by Julius Lester
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the political uses of race by Melayne Price
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson
Black and White: The Way I See It by Richard Williams
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story by Raphael Warnock
Professional Troublemaker: The Fear Fighter Manual by Luvvie Jayi Jones
Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
More than Enough: Claiming Space for Who Your Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth
My Life: Queen of the Court by Serena Williams
Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use byAmanda Seales
Bamboozled: How God Tricked Me into the Life of My Dreams byYvonne Orji
After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self Love by Alexandra Elle
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
The Mind of a Winner by Steve Canal
All Bout Love by Bell Hooks
The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood & Angela Burt-Murray
Your Next Level Life: 7 Rules of Power, Confidence, and Opportunity for Black Women in America by Karen Arrington
Playing the Game Without a Coach: How Courage, Resilience and Forgiveness Helped One Man Seize the American Dream by Benjamin Raymond
The Wealth Choice: Secret Success of Black Millionaires by Dennis Kimbro
Beating the Odds: Eddie Brown’s Investing and Life Strategies by Eddie Brown
Strategize to Win: The New Way to Star Out, Step Up, or Start Over Your Career byCarla Harris
Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life byDaymond John & Daniel Paisner
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina byMisty Copeland
The Work: Searching for a Life that Matters by Wes Moore
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership by Kathey Porter
Black Business Secrets: 500 Tips, Strategies, and Resources for the African American Entrepreneur by Dante Lee
Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires by Shomari Wills
Black Power Inc.: The New Voices of Success by Cora Daniels
Climb: Taking Every Step with Conviction, Courage, and Calculated Risk to Achieve a Thriving Career and a Successful Life by Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Carolyn M. Brown
Boss Bride: The Powerful Woman’s Playbook for Love and Success by Charreah Jackson
Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics, and Leadership by Ed Gordon
Double Down: Bet on Yourself and Succeed on Your Own Terms by Antionette M. Clarke & Tricia Clarke-Stone
Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success From a Wall Street Vet by Carla A. Harris
It’s About Time: The Art of Choosing the Meaningful Over the Urgent by Valorie Burton
Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women by Otegha Uwagba
Miss Jessie’s: Creating A Successful Business from Scratch – Naturally by Micho Branch
Mo’s Bows: A Young Person’s Guide to Start-up Success: Measure, Cut, Stitch Your Way to a Great Business by Moziah Bridges & Tramica Morris
More Than Pretty: Doing the Soul Work that Uncovers Your True Beauty by Erica Campbell
The Book of Awesome Black Americans: Scientific Pioneers Trailblazing Entrepreneurs, Barrier-Breaking Activists and Afro-Futurists by Monique Jones
The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table by Minda Harts
The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the building of a Financial Empire by Robert E. Weems
Balancing Work and Life: The Nia guide for Black Women by Sherly Huggins & Cheryl Mayberry McKissack
The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond by Lillian Lincoln Lambert
You Got This!: Unleash Your Awesomeness, Find Your Path, and Change Your World By: Maya Penn
Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators by Susanne Tedrick
Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward by Valarie Jarret
Believe Bigger: Discover the Path to Your Life Purpose by Marshawn Evans Daniels
Swimming with Sharks in Dark Waters by Athene Brinson
FutureProofed: How to Navigate Disruptive Change, Find Calm in Chaos, and Succeed in Work & Life by Natalia Peart
Own Your Phenomenal Self: A Guide on Character, Success, & Leadership by Rita P. Mitchell
Werk 101: Get Your Life Together Guide by Koereyelle DuBose
Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits by Emmanuel Acho
Impolite Conversations: On Race, Politics, Sex, Money, and Religion by Cora Daniels & John L. Jackson Jr.
Driven by Intention: Own Your Purpose, Gain Power, and Pursue Your Passion as a Woman at Work by Michelle Gadsden-Williams
Right Within: How to Heal From Racial Trauma in the Workplace by Minda Harts
Gracism: The Art of Inclusion by Dr. David A. Anderson
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
All Bout Love by Bell Hooks
Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by Bell Hooks
You’ve Got to Be Hungry: The Greatness Within to Win by Les Brown
The Art of Ronin Leadership by Mike Howard
Hood Feminist: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Upper Hand: The Future of Work for the Rest of Us by Sherrell Dorsey
Will by Will Smith
More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home by Bayo Akomolafe
Black Futures by Kimberly Drew & Jenna Wortham
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation by Rev Angel Kyodo Williams
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic by Sonja Thomas & Lilly Workneh
How to Be an Antiracist byIbram X. Kendi
Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing by Erin Jones
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by Andre Braugher, James McBride, Lainie Kazan
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution by Ellie Mystal
Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles Blow
The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto by Charles Blow
Speaking Truth to Power by Anita Hill
Writings on the Wall: searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Up from Nothing: The Untold Story of How We (All) Succeed by John Hope Bryant
The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation by John Hope Bryant
Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in A Fear Based World by John Hope Bryant
The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Standing Above the Crowd by James Donaldson
The Extraordinary Power of Leader Humility: Thriving Organizations – Great Results by Marilyn Gist, PhD
2021 American Indian and Native Alaskan Authored Leadership Books
In celebration of American Indian and Alaskan Native heritage Month, we’ve compiled a list of leadership books written by American Indian and Alaskan Native authors to be read, explored, and studied. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked in any particular order.
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
Recovering the Sacred: The power of naming and claiming by Winona LaDuke
Braiding Sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Tao of Raven: An Alaska Native Memoir by Ernestine Hayes
Black Indian: A memoir by Shonda Buchanan
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian manifesto by Vine deLoria Jr.
Where White Men Fear to Tread: The autobiography of Russell Means by Russell Means and Marvin J. Means
Prison Writings: My life is my Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier
The School Days of an Indian Girl, and an Indian Teacher Among Indians by Zitkala-Sa
The Man Made of Words: Essays, stories, passages by N. Scott Momaday
Muscogee Daughter: My sojourn to the Miss America Pageant by Susan Supernaw
Life of Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak: Dictated by himself by Black Hawk
Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenoious Resistance by Nick Estes
Code Talker: The first and only memoir of the original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez
Abandon Me: Memoirs by Melissa Febos
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Crazy Brave: A Memoir by Joy Harjo
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
God is Red: A Native View of Religion by Vine deLoria Jr.
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
Lakota Woman by Mary Brave Bird
#Not Your Princess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (editors)
The Turquoise Ledge by Leslie Silko
Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward
Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World by Linda Hogan
Bad Indians: a Tribal Memoir by Deborah Miranda
Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative by Ignatia Broker
Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller
Portage Lake: Memories of an Ojibwe Childhood by Maude Kegg
Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer
The Assassination of Hole in the Day by Anton Treuer
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Nooping: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction by Robert Warrior
Tribal Secrets: Recovering American Indian Intellectual Traditions by Robert Warrior
Like a Loaded Weapon by Robert A. Williams Jr.
Bear Island: The War at Sugar Point by Gerald Vizenor
The Third Space of Sovereignty by Kevin Bruyneel
Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law: A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance by Raymond D. Austin
Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England by Jean O’Brien
X-Marks by Scott Richard Lyons
Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition by Glen Sean Coulthard
The Queerness of Native American Literature by Lisa Tatonetti
Speaking of Indigenout Politics: Conversations with Activists, Scholars, and Tribal Leaders by J. Kehaulani Kauanui and Robert Warrior
Standing with Standing Rock: Voices from the #NoDAPL Movement by Nick Estes and Jaskiran Dhillon
Hungry Listening: Resonant Theory for Indigenous Sound Studies by Dylan Robinson
Written by the Body: Gender Expansiveness and Indigenous Non-Cis Masculinities by Lisa Tatonetti
Remembering Our Intimacies: Mo’olelo, Aloha ‘Aina, and Ea by Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osario
Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong by Paul Chatt Smith
Red Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation by Nick Estes, Melanie K. Yazzi, Jennifer Nez Denetdale, and David Correia
Wiping the War Paint off the Lens: Native American Film and Video by Beverly Singer
The People Shall Continue by Simon Ortiz
Poet Warrior: A Memoir by Joy Harjo
The Four Hills of LIfe: Ojibwe Wisdom by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri
The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions by Paula Gunn Allen
Critically Sovereign: Indigenous Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies by Joanne Barker
For indigenous Eyes only: A Decolonization Handbook by Waziyatawin and Michael Yellow Bird
Mark My Words: Native Women Mapping Our Nations by Mishuana Goeman
The Beginning and End of Race: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America by Sarah Deer
When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz
A History of my Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt
Starvation Mode by Elissa Washuta
The Roots of Ticasuk by Ticasuk (Emily Ivanoff Brown)
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
2021 Authors with Disabilities Leadership Book List
In support of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), we’ve compiled a list of leadership books written by authors with disabilities in the United States. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked in any particular order.
Disarm Your Limits: The flight formula to lift you to success and propel you to the next horizon by Jessica Cox
The White Album by Joan Didion
Chef Interrupted by Trevis Gleason
Fall Down, Laughing: How Squiggy caught multiple sclerosis and didn’t tell nobody by David Lander
Speedbumps: Flooring it through Hollywood by Teri Garr
And Now We Are Going to Have a Party: Liner Notes to a Writer’s Early Life by Nicola Griffith
To Know As We Are Known: Education as Spiritual Journey by Parker Palmer
The World I Live In by Helen Keller
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot by John Callahan
Haben: The Deafblind Woman who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation by Eli Clare
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding Social Mysteries Through Autism’s Unique Perspectives by Temple Grandin
Marbles: Mania, Depression Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney
Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse by Shane Burcaw
I Am Schizophrenic: Poetry from a Beautiful Brain by Kerenza Ryan
Apocalyptic Best Practices: A Unique approach to fear and change by Elisebeth VanderWeil
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
Being Huemann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith E. Heumann
The Pretty One: On life, pop culture, disability, and other reasons to fall in love with my by Keah Brown
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Diabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment by James I. Charlton
I Am Not a Label by Cerrie Burnell
Limitless: The Power of Hope and Resilience to Overcome Circumstances by Mallory Weggemann
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Life in the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education by Katie Rose Guest Pryal
Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution by Judith Heumann
The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt
When the Chant Comes by Kay Ulanday Barrett
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s by John Elder Robison
Be Different by John Elder Robison
Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening by John Elder Robison
Moving Violations: Warzones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence by John Hockenberry
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space by Amanda Leduc
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism byTemple Grandin
Calling all Minds: How to Think and Create Like an Inventor by Temple Grandin
The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger’s by Temple Grandin
Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships: Decoding social mysteries through autism’s unique perspectives by Temple Grandin
Golem Girl by Riva Lehrer
Find Another Dream by Maysoon Zayid
Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life by Harriet McBryde Johnson
If at Birth You Don’t Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny by Zach Anner
Fading Scars: My Queer Disability History by Corbett O’Toole
Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Staring: How We Look by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Elegy for a Disease: A Personal and Cultural History of Polio by Anne Finger
Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled by Nancy Mairs
In the Province of God by Kenny Fries
The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin’s Theory by Kenny Fries
Body, Remember: A Memoir by Kennie Fries
Mad at School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life by Margaret Price
The Obsessive Joy of Autism by Julia Bascom
Blind: A Memoir by Belo Cipriani
Count Us In: Growing Up with Down Syndrome by Jason Kingley and Mitchell Levitz
Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation by Adrienne Maree Brown
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown
Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling With Cure by Eli Clare
Feminist Queer Crip by Alison Kafer
ASL Saved My Life…Until it didn’t by Jenni Kleinman Berebitsky
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
The 7 Forms of Respect (7 FoR).™ tool builds mutual trust and understanding by giving people a vocabulary to describe what matters to themselves and others. Respect is relative. What is important to one person might not be important to someone else.
In this post, we will be going in-depth on “Consideration” as a form of respect. The 7 forms include: procedure, punctuality, information, candor, consideration, acknowledgement and attention. Consideration focuses on anticipating someone’s needs and wants and acting accordingly.
How Consideration shows up in everyday life
Imagine you just came back to work after a long family leave. You find it difficult to adjust to the new schedule. You’re tired, stressed, and overwhelmed and you’re vocal about how you feel with your co-workers. You find out that one of your peers got assigned to an exciting new project and you weren’t asked if you wanted to work on it.
Do you feel relieved that your boss recognized that you are not ready to work on a time-consuming project even though it would have been fun?
Or do you wish you’d been given the option to decide for yourself even if you would have most likely said no?
Imagine if you had been asked, would you have felt respected that you had the option to say no? Or would you have felt annoyed that your boss asked you to do something that would have made your already stressful situation more dire? If you wanted your boss to recognize your situation and assume you’d be unavailable for the project then you prefer respect in the form of Consideration.
If you want your boss to ignore your signs of stress and ask you anyway, assuming that you’d prefer to decide on your own then Consideration is not a form of Respect you prefer.
This example illustrates how the ways we want to get and give respect are not universal and can change depending on the individual’s preferences.
Consideration can look like:
Anticipating what others want and need and interacting with them based on your beliefs
Surprising people with gifts you think they’ll like
Avoiding asking them to do things you don’t think they’ll like
Avoiding asking questions or bringing up topics you think will be uncomfortable for them to share
Lack of Consideration as a form of respect looks like:
Expecting people to express what they need
Asking people what they want instead of surprising them
Asking someone to do something they may not like or be capable of because you think it’s up to them to say no
Asking them questions and topics that may be viewed as personal or uncomfortable because you believe they will decline if they prefer not to answer
How Consideration can be interpreted differently
There are many different personal and professional reasons why someone would care about giving and/or getting Consideration as a form of respect. Understanding your forms of respect starts with asking yourself, why does this matter to me? Many people in our research talked about their families and childhood. Others focused on the demands of their current job function and company culture.
FoR provides a shared language to describe what you need. You’ll be able to use this language to navigate conflict and address misunderstanding. This can come up when you want a particular FoR of respect and you aren’t getting it. You can then share why the FoR matters to you.
Scenario 1:
Susan is in charge of employee engagement at her company. She loves surprising people with special gifts, like meaningful trinkets and tickets to special events that she thinks the team would like. She just found out that there are team members who don’t like to be surprised and they would rather be asked what they’d like. Then there are some colleagues who tell her how much they like her thoughtfulness, even though they don’t personally use the gifts. “Consideration” as a form of respect can include surprising people with the intent to delight them. Susan likes to give consideration. Some people like to get it and some don’t. Susan’s father surprised her with many gifts as a child and Consideration was modeled for her. One person who doesn’t like surprises revealed his parents love giving him gifts that he doesn’t need and he then has to find a way to dispose of them. Two people can have a similar childhood experience and have different reactions.
Scenario 2:
Casey works at a consulting firm that compensates her for her billable hours. Casey is semi-retired and works for fun, not because she needs the money. She noticed her boss, Evie, assigned more work to two consultants who already have a lot of work to do. She asks her boss, “Why aren’t you giving me more work when I have more availability?” Her boss replies, “Lu is saving to buy a house and Kerry has a family to support.” Casey realized Evie was taking into consideration employees’ personal financial situation in terms of allocating work. Evie also believed that since Casey chose to be semi-retired, Casey didn’t want to work as much. They talked about it. Evie was showing respect to Lu and Kerry with Consideration. Evie explained that as the oldest child in a large family, from a young age, she took care of others. Casey reflected on why she didn’t want Consideration as a form of respect because she preferred to be given the choice. She grew up with parents who made a lot of decisions for her and she didn’t like it.
Our preference for certain Forms of Respect are rooted in our past experiences. Explaining those experiences builds empathy with others. Whenever you work with someone who doesn’t share your same forms of respect, you can use FoR to talk about it. Ask them about their past experiences and who influenced them.
Consideration is a form of respect that anticipates other people’s wants and needs and allows you to interact with them accordingly.
To learn more, visit our website. CuriosityBased is also available to hold workshops with your company or team about applying the 7 Forms of Respect to improve communication, collaboration and trust.
We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by those who identify as Hispanic, Latino, and/or Latinx. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order.
The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader (Latin America Otherwise) by Gloria Anzaldúa
Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa
Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julie Alvarez
Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing up Mexican American by Rose Castillo Guilbault
The Power of Latino Leadership: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution by Juana Bordas
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age by Juana Bordas
Autentíco: The definitive guide to Latino Career Success by Robert Rodriguez
Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity by Robert Chao Romero
Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing Our Influence by Natalia Kohn Rivera
Isabel’s Hand-Me-Down Dreams by Isabel Lopez
Leaving Little Havana: A Memoir of Miami’s Cuban Ghetto by Cecilia M. Fernandez
Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda
[Un]framing the “Bad Woman”:Sor Juana, Malinche, Coylxauhqui, and other rebels with a cause by Alicia Gaspar de Alba
Always Running: La Vida Loca – Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez
Cruz: A Cross-Border Memoir by Jean Guerrero
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League by Dan-el Padilla Peralta
The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life by Lauren Markham
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Latina Empowerment Through Leadership: Mindful Stories from Inspiring Women by Catherine Munos Garces, Monica Rivera, et al
An Organizer’s Tale by Cesar Chavez
My Time to Speak: Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race by Ilia Calederon
Rita Moreno: A Memoir by Rita Moreno
American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise by Eduardo Porter
My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive by Julissa Arce
The Virtuous Circle: Restore Your Confidence, Bounce Back, and Emerge Stronger by Gaby Natale
Self Made: Become Empowered, Self Reliant and Rich in Every Way by Nely Galán
Latino Leaders Speak: Personal Stories of Struggle and Triumph edited by Micky Ibarra and Maria Pérez-Brown
Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Niño
The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende
In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado
Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America by María Hinojosa
More than Ready: Be Strong and Be You…and Other Lessons for Women of Color on the Rise by Cecilia Muñoz
Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real by Mariana Atencio
Take Charge of Your Brand: Quick and Simple Techniques to Help You Own and Manage Your Personal Brand for Professional and Personal Success by Guisselle Nuñez
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
Frida by Barbara Mujica
Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity by Paolo Ramos
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Conejo Villavicenci
AOC: The Fearless Rise and Powerful Resonance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes by Lynda Lopez
Latinx: The New Force in American Politics by Ed Morales
Mexican Enough: My Life Between the Borderlines by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Being Brown: Sonia Sotomayer and the Latino Question by Lázaro Lima
An Unlikely Journey: Waking up from My American Dream by Julián Castro
Hispanic Women Seeking Higher Leadership Roles in Business by Sylvia C. Motta, PhD
Wild Tongues Can’t be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora edited by Saraciea J. Fennell
The Leadership Shift: The Strategic Positioning of Latino Business Leaders by Dr. Nilda Perez
¡Rise up, Mi Gente! A Roadmap for Latinos to Achieve Success in Corporate America by Jesse A Mejia
Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gómez
The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders: Unleashing the Power of Us All coauthored by Andrés Tapia
When We Make It by Elisabeth Velasquez
I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchéz
Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain, and Develop Hispanic Professionals by Robert Rodriguez
Silencing Gender, Age, Ethnicity, and Cultural Biases in Leadership by Camilla A. Montoya, Julieta V. García. et al.
Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace by Daisy Auger-Dominguez
Latinas Rising Up in HR: Inspirational Stories of Human Resources Professional Leading, Thriving, and Breaking Barriers by Priscilla Guasso
The Secret Principles of Genius: The Key to Unlocking Your Hidden Genius Potential by I.C. Robledo
I Got This: To Gold and Beyond by Lauren Hernandez
The Engine of America: The Secrets to Small Business Success from Entrepreneurs Who Have Made It by Jane Delgado
The Latina Guide to Health: Consejos and Caring Answers by Jane Delgado
Field Mice: Memoirs of a Migrant Child by Emma Gonzalez
Los Amos del Mundo Están al Acecho by Cristina Martin Jimenez
Growing American Roots by Bob Menendez
Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters are Making History in Congress by Linda Sánchez
Healing Journey: Surviving Domestic Violence by Lupe Valdez
La Nueva California: Latinos from Pioneers to Post-Millennials by David Hayes-Bautista
El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition by David Hayes-Bautista
Latinas in Aviation by Jacqueline S. Ruiz
Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from a Migrant Farm Worker to brain Surgeon by Alfredo Quinones-Hinjosa
The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light by Carlos Santana
Take a Stand: Lessons from Rebels by Jorge Ramos
The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez
Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market by Jorge Perez
The Buena Salud Guide to Understanding Depression and Enjoying Life by Jane Delgado
Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows: Learn How to Inspire Others, Achieve Greatness , and Find Success in Any Organization by Charles P. Garcia
Persevere with Power: What Heaven Starts, Hell Cannot Stop by Samuel Rodriguez
In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror by Anthony D. Romero
One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History by Ted Cruz
Still Dreaming: My Journey from the Barrio to Capitol Hill by Luis Gutiérrez
An American Son: A Memoir by Marco Rubio
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
A House of My Own: Stories from My Life by Sandra Cisneros
Spirit Run: A 6000 Mile Marathon Through America’s Stolen Land by Noe Alvarez
Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
The Latino Advantage in the Workplace by Mariela Dabbah and Arturo Poiré
Dream Big by Deborah Rosado Shaw
Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement by Carlos Munoz Jr.
Mean by Myriam Gurba
Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, and Carmen G. González
Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother by Sonia Nazarrio
A Passion for Politics (Mission Bells) by Anita Perez Ferguson
Latinos in American Society: Families and Communities in Transition by Dr. Ruth Enid Zambrana
Journey to the Future: A Roadmap for Success for Youth by Ltc. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch
Homeless my Choice by Roy Juarez Jr.
The Story of Latinos and Education in American History by Dr. Abdín Noboa-Ríos
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Deepest Roots: Finding Food and Community on a Pacific Northwest Island by Kathleen Alcalá
Más Allá de la Justicia by Maria de lourdes Victoria
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
This is our third installment of an introduction to the 7 Forms of Respect (FoR),™a tool that provides a vocabulary to describe what matters most to you and others. The 7 FoR tool builds mutual trust and understanding by giving people a vocabulary to describe what matters to you and to others. Respect is relative. What is important to you might not be important to someone else.
In this post, we will be going in-depth on “Information” as a form of respect. The others include: procedure, punctuality, candor, consideration, acknowledgement and attention. Information as a form of respect can be described as access to unedited information.
How Information shows up in everyday life
Imagine you’re the CEO of a company engaging in discussions about pay equity. You have always prided yourself on fostering a transparent culture. Some of your senior leaders have suggested that the company publish everyone’s salary as a way to help ensure pay equity. You know there are many people uncomfortable with that suggestion.
Do you publish everyone’s salary? Or does that feel like it’s an invasion of privacy? Sharing salary is legal. And, if you publish, you are giving respect in the form of Information to your employees.
If you don’t publish, you are giving Consideration as a form of respect to those employees who you suspect would not want their salary shared.
This example demonstrates the complexity of creating respectful policies, because people have different expectations or what respect looks like.
Information can look like:
Offering a lot of extra context and background information
Inviting people to meetings even when they have no clear role to play
Copying people on emails just so they are informed, not because they need to do something with the information
Giving people open access to files so they can look through them themselves
Lack of Information as a form of respect looks like:
Only sharing information on a need to know basis
Only inviting people to meetings who have a clear role to play
Removing people from the copy line of emails if you feel they no longer need to be included
How Information can be interpreted differently
There are many different personal and professional reasons why someone would care about giving and/or getting Information as a form of respect. Understanding your forms of respect starts with asking yourself: why does this matter to me? Many people in our research talked about their families and childhood. Others focused on the demands of their current job function and company culture.
FoR provides a shared language to describe what you need. You’ll be able to use this language to navigate conflict and address misunderstanding. This can come up when you want a particular FoR of respect and you aren’t getting it. You can then share why the FoR matters to you.
Scenario 1:
Mona was a project manager working in small and medium nonprofits before she was offered a job at a large tech company. Her coworkers started inviting her to so many meetings and adding her to the copy line of their emails. Her Inbox exploded. She thought they were just trying to get her up to speed. After two months, she told her manager how the volume of emails and meetings made her feel overwhelmed . She was instructed to replicate the behavior. To copy other people on emails even if they were only tangentially related to the project. “Aren’t I wasting people’s time by sending them things to read that aren’t related to the work?” She asked her manager.” We show respect here by giving Information. We let people decide what to do with the information. It’s important to keep them in the loop,” her manager explained.
Scenario 2:
Eric and Leo are peers on a team together and they report to the same manager. Eric shared guidance on a project to Leo over email. Leo had some questions about Eric’s guidance and responded over email and copied their manager. Eric got upset that Leo added their manager to the email chain. He answered Leo’s question and removed their manager from the “reply all.” Leo responded and added their manager back on the copy line. Eric then called Leo, “Why do you keep adding our manager on the email? She’s busy and you’re wasting her time and you’re making me look like I don’t know – how to do my job in front of her.” Leo said, “She told us she likes to be given visibility on our communication. She said she likes to get Information as her form of Respect. I’m not trying to get you in trouble. I’m just trying to do what our manager asked for!” Eric then understood Leo was prioritizing their manager’s needs, not trying to disrespect him.
Our preference for certain Forms of Respect are rooted in our past experiences. Explaining those experiences builds empathy with others. Whenever you work with someone who doesn’t share your same forms of respect, you can use FoR to talk about it. Ask them about their past experiences and who influenced them.
Information is a form of respect focused on offering free access to information and data without the other person having to ask for it. It does not require guiding others to do something with the information. It is giving information for the sake of giving information. If you don’t care about Information as a form of respect, it doesn’t mean you’re disrespectful. It just means you may value privacy and targeted information sharing over transparency.
To learn more, visit our website. CuriosityBased is also available to hold workshops with your company or team about applying the 7 Forms of Respect to improve communication, collaboration and trust.
We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order.
(Download the PDF version of this list in the link above)
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive by Dorie Clark
Seriously…I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
Shut Up, I’m Talking!: Coming Out in Hollywood and Making It to the Middle by Jason Stuart
All In: An Autobiography by Billie Jean King
An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings by Harvey Milk
Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color by Gilbert Baker
The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words by Freddie Mercury
GuRu by RuPaul
The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper & his mom Gloria Vanderbilt
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough
Pride Leadership: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Leader to be the King or Queen of Their Jungle by Steven Yacovelli
Fit to Serve: Reflections on a Secret Life, Private Struggle, and Public Battle to Become the First Openly Gay U.S. Ambassador by James C. Hormel & Erin Martin
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror by Anthony D. Romero
Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir by Adam Rippon
Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level by Leander Kahney
The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal Marijuana Policy by Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Rep. Jared Polis
Forever Young: The Story of Troye Sivan by Alana Wulff
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen
Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
Raf Simons by Sunny Chanday
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts & Veronica Chambers
Dear White People by Justin Simien
Michael Kors by Sunny Chanday
This is the Fire: What I say to My Friends About Racism by Don Lemon
Binge by Tyler Oakley
Tom Ford by Tom Ford
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
White Girls by Hilton Als
Oh Myyy!: There Goes the Internet by George Takei
They Called Us Enemy: Expanded Edition by George Takei
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps to You Can Stop Worrying by Suze Orman
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
Trust: America’s Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future by Pete Buttigieg
Nothing Personal by James Baldwin
Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey by Alvin Ailey & A. Peter Bailey
In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine by Donna M. Loring
Me by Ricky Martin
And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir by Joan Baez
The Holly Woodlawn Story: A Low Life in High Heels by Holly Woodlawn
The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader (Latin America Otherwise) by Gloria Anzaldúa
I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game by Abby Wambach
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
We Will Not Cancel Us edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
Love and Rage by Lama Rod Owens
I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl’s Notes from the End of the World by Kai Cheng Thom
Martina by Martina Navratilova
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power edited by Adrienne Maree Brown
The Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World by Andrew Reynolds
Representation Matters: How Victory Fund, Victory Institute, and LGBT Leaders are Transforming America by Karen Ocamb
Serving in Silence by Margarethe Cammermeyer
Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage by Barney Frank
Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes by Billie Jean King
Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work by Tim Gunn
Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love Your Life by Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk & Karamo Brown
My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope by Karamo Brown
Naturally Tan by Tan France
Over The Top by Jonathan Van Ness
71. One life by Megan Rapinoe & Emma Brockes
It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace, & The Will to Change by Jennifer Brown
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia
Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
Creating new relationships through peer coaching calls
As an entrepreneur who started my business during the pandemic, enlarging my network presents special challenges. I’ve found the pandemic also present opportunities. I’ve learned the value of the peer coaching call.
When I talked to Christy Johnson, founder of Artemis Connection, about joining her Project Ascendance for women launching new programs, I told her I wanted to be part of a cohort. I knew the value of the cohort model having created and led other cohort- based learning opportunities.
Halfway through the two-month program, I got an email from a classmate, Lizzie Mintus of Here’s Waldo Recruiting, asking to connect. As part of the program, we were given a database of our classmates’ names, phone numbers, specific asks for help as well as skills they could offer to others. We were encouraged to reach out. I hadn’t found the time to reach out to anyone up until Lizzie reached out. We ended up talking for an hour on Mother’s Day morning about her website and my new communication tool.
I was so inspired by our conversation that I reached out to five other women from the class who I’d worked with in breakout groups. Almost all of them responded to my Calendly to set up a time within the next two weeks. After that I decided to reach out to another five women from the class. And then to the remaining four women who I didn’t have any direct contact with. Most of the women responded. Each classmate thanked me for reaching out first. Someone has to be the first to ask for a connection in a new relationship.
As we are slowly emerging and preparing for post-pandemic life, I don’t want to go back to my old life of running from meeting to meeting. While I still have to expand my network, I realize that a phone call or a Zoom meeting are great substitutes for in-person meetings. I also realized having a few 1:1 meetings that are meaningful is better than going to meetings with one big meeting where I don’t get to actually know anyone.
Tips on reaching out
I’ve previously written about the value of deepening relationships during the pandemic because I felt like strengthening already existing ties was much easier than creating new connections without the serendipity of chance meetings at in-person events. This recent experience changed my mind. Virtual networking works.
Here are some tips:
Follow-up and ask for a meeting. I have been part of so-many meet and greets and networks where no one follows up. Here’s a template: We met through this group_ (in case you think they might not remember). Would you be interested in having a follow-up conversation about (whatever you talked about) or I would like to talk to you about (name a topic that you anticipate but will be mutually beneficial)
Offer a variety of times to meet. Some people are working full-time jobs, so have evening and weekend times available as well as daytime spots. Link to a self-scheduling tool (Calendly is my favorite) to make it easy to identify a time.
Have a clear ask. Strangers may want to know, “What do you want? Are you trying to sell something to me?” Alleviate their concerns by making it clear what you want. “I’d like your advice on… “ and also make it clear that you’d like to help them as well.
Setting the agenda
With Lizzie, I suggested we schedule an hour, half of the time for her questions and the other half for mine. We got to practice our elevator pitches and give each other feedback. The format worked so well that I made the same suggestion to others in the class. I got to review pitch decks, talk through business structures, and discuss how to prototype products. I asked my classmates to do a user test of a new assessment tool I was refining.
The format makes the purpose of the conversation very clear. Some might not like the transactional nature of it. As someone who spends a lot of time relationship building, I see this particular format as a fair way to determine if there’s chemistry and potential for future conversation . It’s refreshing to know that each person gets half the time and there is no trying to politely segue to another topic. It has reduced the instances when I listen to someone talk for 50 min about their problems and I get 10 min to talk. This happens because I like to think of myself as a good listener and I don’t want to interrupt someone. This format helps me express my needs.
I find people appreciate simple directness. You get time and I get time. We help each other by listening. Sometimes, people may hesitate to ask for help because they feel they have nothing to offer in response. I’ve been surprised by how helpful I can be to those in totally different fields. Don’t underestimate the power your fresh perspective can bring to someone else’s problem.
This agenda reduces the stress of ambiguity. People generally want to be polite. We don’t always come to the conversation with the same expectations. Stating the intention for the conversation takes the guesswork out of trying to read facial expressions and verbal cues. Mind you, I do this for strangers or new acquaintances, not with established relationships. To be honest, I think if I had started some relationships off this way, there would be more reciprocity in conversation.
I think this explicitly reciprocal approach can protect yourself from “takers”. Some people, particularly over LinkedIn, want to arrange a time to chat with me about something they’re working on. I now suggest this reciprocal agenda, which shifts it to a peer- coaching session. Some people never respond to this suggestion. I protect myself from pure takers who aren’t willing to give me some of their time in exchange for theirs.
Decide who to contact
After successfully using this approach, I want to bring this model to another circle of entrepreneurs I will join this summer. I might even reach out to my older networks.
People will either want to participate or they won’t. You won’t know until you try.
I’ve really valued hearing from different perspectives. Whenever I ask for someone to react to something I’m working through, I get to learn about how someone thinks and approaches things, often very differently from how I do it. Instead of small talk, which is often trying to find points of consensus, I’m looking for something I don’t know yet and I’m explicit in asking for that. While validation is nice, I would rather learn about my blind spots.
I am interested to see if this model will help me engage with groups of people I never truly tapped into. To see if I can create new relationships from old networks of acquaintances. I’ll let you know how it goes.
As a nonlawyer, I didn’t know if Legal Heroes in the Trump Era by Tahmina Watson, Alex Stonehill (Editor), Caroline Doughty (Editor) would resonate with me. To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the slim book packed with stories of mostly ordinary lawyers stepping up to do extraordinary things.
Disclaimer: I first met the author in 2015 when we collaborated to advocate for more visas for immigrant startup founders. Considering our previous relationship, I’m putting extra effort in highlighting not only the strengths, but also the weaknesses, of the book. Watson didn’t ask me to do a review and I first purchased the book as a regular consumer, with no intention of reviewing it.
Back to the review. The book highlights the stories of 14 lawyers, all “legal heroes”, who have “responded to the crisis of the Trump era in innovative and inspiring ways.” Many are ordinary lawyers working in private practice, though she also includes the stories of the head of Washington state ACLU, a retired judge, and the Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who also introduces the book. Watson herself is an immigration lawyer with her own private practice. Watson also shares her own story of feeling moved to cofound a nonprofit, Washington Immigrant Defense Network (WIDEN). She is passionate about both immigration policy and her legal profession.
Here’s what I particularly enjoyed about the book:
The personal stories of each Legal Hero Watson goes into each person’s family background, what inspired them to go into law, and the event that sparked them to take action. I got a sense of not just what these legal heroes do, but who they are as people. The 14 individuals represented a diversity of approaches to activism, including writing a children’s book about immigration and creating a multilingual website to identify lawyers in case they get detained at the airport. Each story was just 5 to 6 pages long, which meant 14 stories did not feel tedious.
Talking about the law in simple English I appreciated the absence of legalese. Watson writes in a clear, engaging manner and explained the world of lawyers to a nonlawyer. In the process, I got to learn about interesting policies without getting bogged down in the details. I particularly enjoyed being introduced to different legal cases, such “as a class action suit challenging the secret federal program called controlled application review and resolution program (CARRP), which blocks certain immigrant application through malevolent stalling.” (22) I felt more informed.
The evolution of a grassroots movement told from the perspective of lawyersI got to see the mobilization of activists entirely through the eyes of lawyers. In an effort to be inclusive in recounting history, many writers try to capture the multitude of different perspectives and angles and the result is a thin spread of everything and little depth anywhere. Watson has a refreshingly unapologetic passion for her fellow lawyers and pride in what the profession can do to help the world.
Here’s what I the book could have done differently:
The author’s story is absent Considering the richness of the personal details in the profiles, there is a surprising lack of information on the author herself in the book. The rare glimpses are buried in a few mentions and in the acknowledgment section. I want to have a better understanding of Watson as a person, perhaps revealing some of the same kinds of details that she shared about the legal heroes themselves, especially since she is not just a writer, but one of the key instigators.
Needs less “Trump,” more “Trump era” For the most part, Watson focused on describing “Trump administration” policy but there are times that she slips into criticizing Trump himself, assuming the readers are also anti-Trump. It would have been more true to the title to refer to the deep political rifts that the Trump administration symbolized but did not entirely cause. The book could have acknowledged of how the policies the legal heroes fought against reflected growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the US and around the world, not just the views of the Trump administration.
Focus on immigration stories With the exception of the profile on the environmental justice lawyer, all of the stories are around those lawyers focused on immigration or civil rights with a strong connection to immigration. The environmental justice work deserves to be acknowledged, but in this context, the one outlier felt distracting. Or the book could have been enlarged to include more stories of environmental justice and civil rights lawyers to have a more even distribution of topics.
I also got three insights from the book that I can apply to life in general.
The private sector can contribute to social change I’ve talked to many well meaning people working in the private sector who believe that positive social change is limited to government or nonprofits and that their role is limited to providing funding, through taxes and philanthropy. I appreciated the profiles of those who were able to create change from within the private sector, such as the Lawyers for Racial Justice Initiative, as well as those who volunteered working for nonprofits or ended up creating their own, like Lawyers for Good Government. The profiles demonstrate that there is a meaningful, non transactional, role for the private sector to contribute to social change.
Innovation can be approaching something from a different angles There are many examples of innovative approaches and new partnerships and only one example using technology. I loved the example about Margaret O’Donnell who created legal dramas out of Powerpoint workshop presentations to build empathy for those going through immigration court. It gave me ideas for communicating differently.
Curiosity enabled resourcefulness Lawyers, like doctors, specialize in different aspects of the law and usually don’t venture outside their traditional practice areas. The premise for WIDEN was there weren’t enough immigration lawyers to give pro bono services and there were thousands of non-immigration lawyers who wanted to be able to help. Those non-immigration lawyers had to be curious enough to learn from immigration lawyers so that they could be sufficiently trained to meet the demand for legal aid.
This is inspirational, quick read not just for lawyers but for anyone asking, “What can i do to help?”, not just now, but in the future as well. Be wowed by those stories of those who asked the question and then answered it with their own form of activism.
Making the Moment Matter: How Anti-Asian Hate Surfaces Perceptions of Asians Inside and Outside the Asian Community
Our nation has seen a marked increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence, especially against Asian women, with the recent killings in Atlanta as the most heart-breaking example.
This is a personal matter for me as an Asian woman leading a team of all-Asian women. Though we come from different parts of Asia – Vietnam, China, Myanmar and Korea – many people don’t understand those distinctions. “Asians” are seen as a monolithic group. This inability to recognize our individual cultures stems from a lack of exposure to Asians – of knowing us and understanding our communities. Instead, we are known as, and resented for, being the “model minority.” This stereotype casts Asians as high achieving, hard working minorities who won’t complain and will passively accept abuse. What’s more, some might say, we have suffered far less than Black and Brown people, so what do Asians really have to complain about?
How can we use this current moment to challenge this perception? And how do Asians also change this sentiment among ourselves?
I talked to an Asian American girlfriend recently about people reaching out to check in. “I know it’s bad, but what we are experiencing isn’t as bad as what Black people have suffered,” she said.
I understood what she meant. I have felt this guilt myself. As if I don’t deserve to feel bad, so I should not say anything. That’s part of our problem.
Last month, I facilitated numerous workshops on Exploring Race-Related Assumptions. In one session, an Asian American man told me he’d assumed the facilitator was going to be white or Black – he was surprised I was Asian. He shared that he’d been taught not to initiate hard conversations or create controversy by Asian elders. I so appreciated his candor. His comment reinforces how Asians, particularly women, are seen as not willing to speak out and how this perception is internalized even within our Asian communities.
His comment also underlines why we must challenge assumptions of what leaders look like. We must see Asian women beyond the stereotypes of the silent work horses, tigers moms or submissive sexual objects.
Aside from wanting to foster more curiosity in the world, I founded my company to celebrate and contribute to the diversification of leadership – to challenge how we lead and provide an alternative to the dominant narratives that are largely constructed by white men in the US. I respect many of those men. I also think there’s room for other voices. Increasing exposure for Asians is critical to fighting stereotypes and expectations of passiveness.
America has a short attention span. That means the mic is being passed around to raise awareness to any given cause. It was #metoo movement yesterday, it could be Black Lives Matter again tomorrow. Today it’s anti-Asian hate.
Asians have to take the mic when it’s given to us. If we don’t, we reinforce the perception that even Asians don’t think our pain matters or at least, that it matters less than the pain of others who face prejudice based on the color of their skin. We then perpetuate the idea that we are a stoic, model minority willing to take the blows. And we don’t give others a chance to stand in solidarity with us, to console us, when we need them.
I appreciate all of my non-Asian friends who have reached out to check in on me and who are standing in solidarity with my community. The first friend to let me know he was thinking about me was a Black man from the American South. It was through our friendship he started understanding the different Asian cultures; he said he grew up referring to all Asians as “Chinese.” Through exposure, our perceptions of one another changed. I am also grateful I have my team and other Asian friends to commiserate with. I feel seen and heard.
I know that Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, and Paul Andre Michels did not die in Atlanta in vain. Their lives will serve as a reminder that even Asians need to step up and take the mic to loudly and publicly decry hate. And a reminder that we won’t be standing alone when we do.
Stacey Abrams’ leadership manual is for all leaders
I am in awe whenever I hear US politician and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams speak. I knew I’d be inspired before I even started Abrams’ Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change. But, I didn’t expect the part-memoir, part- leadership manual to be so practical, approachable, and relatable. Despite our very different backgrounds and life experiences, I could strongly identify with Abrams’ stories of self-doubt and anxiety.
There are few “how-to guides” to help those of us who are “other” or in the minority to become the ones in charge. She defines “minority leader” as “anyone who exists outside the structure of traditional white male power.” “Power and leadership are hard, and it’s especially difficult for those who start out weighed down by stereotypes and lack of access,” Abrams wrote in the introduction of the book. She goes on to say this is “a handbook written for our experiences and challenges -a means to become the minority leaders who own our power and change our worlds.”
There are topics and aspects of the book that have universal appeal and leadership application, not just for minority leaders. I’ll quote liberally from Abrams’ book to spare you from my paraphrasing.
Work Sheets
Every chapter ends with a worksheet of questions to answer. My favorite is the worksheet entitled “trying again” in which you have to note “when you have been tempted to pretend you know the answer.” The worksheets pose probing questions that make people reflect deeply on what they want.
Money Matters –
I found the chapter where Abrams shares how much she didn’t understand about managing her finances, even after graduating from law school and earned a high salary to be vulnerable and relatable. . In a country where most people don’t have more than $400 in savings, it’s not just Abrams’ advice that is valuable. Her admission of shame about money also matters. She wrote, “To get ahead of the problem, explore your personal relationship with money and the explicit and silent claims made on your resources.”
Limited resources
Abrams encourages creativity when faced with limited resources. I call this being “scrappy.” Abrams turns the lack of resources into an advantage: “one of the best things about being in the minority is the fact that limited resources often lead to extensive creativity.” “We can become conditioned to believe we must have the same assets, or worse, that whatever we have at hand is inherently inferior. But the creative ability of minority leaders lies in excavating the valuable in what is available.” No matter who you are, you can feel like you don’t have enough or you could use more. This lesson can apply to anyone, regardless of their resources.
Aside from these universal lessons, I found the book refreshing and deeply relevant to my own experience as a “minority leader.” As a Vietnamese-American woman and a refugee, there were so many parts that resonated with me deeply. I keep rereading passages because Abrams articulated how I and so many of my minority leader friends feel, in such clear, jargon-free prose.
Acknowledging ambitions
The need to express our ambitions is a constant theme of the book. Abrams writes, “It’s crucial to understand and internalize our very right to even be ambitious. Because, for too many of us, we are stopped in our tracks before we begin because we don’t believe we deserve to want more. And it is by wanting that we begin.” Abrams keeps her goals on a spreadsheet, as a way of “acknowledging in print.” Abrams talked about being asked about her future political aspirations by a reporter while running for governor in 2017. She knew she wasn’t “supposed” to openly say she aspired to become president and yet she decided to say it aloud. There was initial backlash about her audacity, but it was followed by public support. This chapter made me reflect on how often I refrain from saying what I want aloud out of fear I will sound too audaciously ambitious.
Minority fear– I have read a lot of good leadership books by white men and they don’t address or acknowledge what Abrams refers to as “minority fear,” presumably because it doesn’t exist for the majority of these writers. Abrams writes, “Fears about how our differences are perceived, about stereotypes that kept us back, about how our success begets more responsibility will never die. But once we are aware of them, we can work with them” (48). These words felt especially true: “the complexity of minority fear cannot be dismissed by saying ‘don’t be afraid’ or ‘let it go.’ Our trepidation is often grounded in stories we’ve heard (35).” There were so many times that all my other minority leader friends and I could do was commiserate and comfort one another in this shared fear. Even Abrams admits that she encourages people to be fearless in inspirational speeches. In this chapter, she fully acknowledges the normalcy of minority fear instead of being swept away as if it were trivial. The fear is the “permanent companion eating away at confidence, ambition, relationships, and dreams.”
Let your-light shine-Abrams writes about minority leaders having to “confront..a tacit call for meekness, to hide our light lest we become too noticeable and change the discussion” (135). To fit in, I have had to dim my light so that others don’t feel threatened, I’ve had to shrink unconsciously. I’ve talked to many friends who were the “only” or the “minority” in their workplace who had to dim their light to make other people feel comfortable. Abrams talked about an Advanced Placement English teacher who didn’t want her to use advanced vocabulary words in class, even though she was using the words correctly, lest it make other students feel bad.
Abram’s book shows how when you build something for a minority group, it can actually benefit the majority. Her book is an example of the curb cut effect, in which features designed for a minority then benefit a much larger group than the people they were designed for. The “curb cut” refers to how ramps were cut into the sidewalk for wheelchairs and now these curb cuts are part of standard sidewalk design.
The book was originally titled “Minority Leader” in the first edition. It makes a lot of sense that it was renamed to” Lead from the Outside” in the later edition. Even though it was built for “outsiders”, I can imagine insiders and those within the majority will find valuable leadership lessons and insight into what those who are outsiders have to face.
I hope Abrams’ book also inspires other “outsiders” to share their leadership lessons so that the general public can benefit.
Leadership lessons disguised as kitchen tales from a self-described asshole
Review of David Chang’s Eat a Peach
Leadership, Identity, and Breaking the Model Minority Myth: Reflections on Eat a Peach by David Chang
I didn’t read David Chang’s memoir, Eat a Peach, because I’m a die-hard fan of Momofuku. I read it because there are so few memoirs by Asian Americans published by major houses. It took Chang four years to finish a book he first thought would be a “self-help manual on leadership.” Only after he accepted that he was writing a memoir could he complete it.
Any memoir written by a leader becomes, by default, a book on leadership. Chang, who helped reshape how Americans eat, stands as a pioneer in a mostly white-led restaurant industry.
This reflection explores the themes in Eat a Peach that resonated with me as an Asian American and the leadership lessons Chang conveys through his story.
Challenging the “Model Minority” Myth
In many ways, Chang’s memoir rejects the stereotype of Asians as “model minorities” — law-abiding, hard-working, highly educated, high-income earners who remain quiet, uncreative, and apolitical. He challenges the belief that Asians excel only as individual contributors or middle managers rather than as leaders.
Throughout the memoir, Chang expresses disbelief at his own success. At first, he thought he was suffering from imposter syndrome. Later, he recognized it as survivor’s guilt — the feeling that he succeeded while others did not. Few survive the brutal restaurant industry. He did, and he built his own platform.
That sense of survivor’s guilt mirrors how many Asian Americans feel after pushing back against parental and cultural expectations. Chang describes his father’s “distinctively conditional” love — a familiar form of tiger parenting that prizes achievement. Surviving both family pressure and systemic barriers makes the phrase “survivor’s guilt” fitting in more ways than one.
Craving More Asian American Voices
As a Vietnamese American, I crave more voices like Chang’s — raw, reflective, and deeply personal. His stories feel both familiar and distinctively Asian American. They evoke pride, yet also raise uncomfortable questions about identity and belonging.
Work as Identity and Addiction
Chang writes openly about workaholism, calling it a “socially acceptable addiction.” His work intertwined with his Korean identity. He admits, “I wanted not to be me… work made me a different person; work saved my life.”
He built Momofuku around challenging how Americans perceive Asian food. Working alongside his father — his first investor and business partner — became “the closest thing to therapy.”
Many Asian Americans can relate. I certainly can. After finishing my PhD, I returned to Seattle to work with my family’s Vietnamese newspaper. Like Chang, I knew working together would mean more time — and deeper connection — with my parents.
When Chang wrote that work saved him, it struck me. Is that passion? Fear? Or healing? Perhaps work, for many Asian Americans, becomes both a burden and a form of therapy.
Authenticity, Racism, and Asian Cuisine
Chang recalls classmates mocking the Korean food he brought to school. He says he’d rather see a white person want to make kimchi than dismiss it as strange.
In the culinary world, debates around authenticity and cultural appropriation appear constantly. Chang dismisses them as “boring,” but he also points out their racial bias. For example, diners may gladly pay $25 for Italian pasta yet refuse to pay the same for Asian noodles — even though they’re essentially the same dish.
That double standard runs deep, even among Asian Americans. Many will pay more for European cuisine but expect Asian food to be cheap. This raises a hard question: is that internalized racism? And do Asians need non-Asians to validate our food before we value it ourselves?
Romantic Relationships and Cultural Expectations
In the chapter “Grace,” Chang explains why he married another Korean American. His explanation made me pause. Why do so many Asian Americans feel the need to justify who they choose as partners?
Within the community, partner choices often become statements of identity. Marrying someone of the same ethnicity signals cultural pride. Dating outside the ethnicity — especially another person of color — can be seen as defiance or solidarity. Meanwhile, choosing a white partner is often viewed as assimilation.
These dynamics reveal the complex expectations Asian Americans face. Personally, when people assume my partner isn’t Asian, I feel a quiet satisfaction correcting them. It’s a small act of reclaiming identity and disrupting assumptions.
Leadership Lessons from Eat a Peach
Beyond identity, Chang models leadership through vulnerability and growth. His memoir offers lessons every leader can use:
Apologize with accountability. Chang admits to the anger he directed at his staff. He writes with remorse, acknowledging that forgiveness isn’t owed to him. True leadership accepts that others decide whether to forgive.
Be transparent. He doesn’t hide his evolution. Chang includes old correspondence to show how his thinking changed. For example, he admits that most of his references are about men, writing, “It’s my truth… but I wish some of it were different.”
Take risks. As a chef and entrepreneur, Chang constantly experimented. When launching a new restaurant, he wrote, “The only unifying thread was that we were nervous about every single dish we served.” Risk fueled innovation.
The Value of Imperfect Role Models
The memoir ends with “33 Rules for Becoming a Chef,” which read like life lessons. Yet what makes Eat a Peach powerful is its imperfection. Chang admits his flaws — his rage, ambition, and contradictions.
I appreciate that honesty. We need Asian American memoirs that allow room for imperfection. Letting Asian American “assholes,” as Chang calls himself, publish their stories expands what audiences see as possible. It opens space for complex, multidimensional portrayals of Asians in America.
In rejecting the model minority myth, Chang proves there are many ways to be a successful Asian American — while still embracing cultural identity.
Final Reflection
Chang never set out to be an Asian American role model. Yet by sharing his life so publicly, he became one. As an Asian in America, I hope my leadership also resonates beyond my community. We need more Asian leaders whom non-Asians look up to as well.
Chang proves that it’s possible — whether he intended it or not.n-Asians look up to as well.
Chang proves it’s possible, whether he wanted to or not.
We created this list to promote leadership narratives written by Americans of Asian Pacific Islander (API) heritage. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are not ranked or listed in any particular order.
(Download the PDF version of this list in the link above)
This Is One Way to Dance by Sejal Shah
My Forgotten Seattle by Ron Chew
Sigh, Gone: A Misfits Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
Living for Change by Grace Boggs
Where the Past Begins: Memory & Imagination by Amy Tan
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Anchee Min
Out of the Gobi: My Story of China & America by Weijian Shan
Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir by Padma Lakshmi
Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy
An American Family: A Memoir of Hope & Sacrifice by Khizr Khan
Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream by Deepak Chopra & Sanjiv Chopra
Hawaii’s Story by Liliuokalani
Nisei Radicals: The Feminist Poetics and Transformative Ministry of Mitsuye Yamada and Michael Yasutake by Diane C. Fujino
See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur
Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story by Mazie K. Hirono
How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of my Family by Sonora Jha
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal
The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays by Wesley Yang
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
Fault Lines: A Memoir by Meena Alexander
Eat a Peach: A Memoir by David Chang
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change by Ellen Pao
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (TED Books) by Pico Iyer
The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit
The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim Kwik
Postcolonial Leadership, A: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges by Hee An Choi
Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness by Richard Lui
Legal Heroes in the Trump Era: Be Inspired, Expand Your Impact, Change the World by Tahima Watson
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella
All In by Jerry Yang
Radical: Fighting to Put Students First by Michelle Rhee
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi
Unprecedented: The Masters and Me by Tiger Woods
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Sharon Lee
Unsung Hero: The Col. Young O. Kim Story by Woo Sung Han
You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen by Eric Liu
Holding Serve: Preserving on and Off the Court by Michael Chang
Great Asian Americans: Michelle Kwan by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Ellison Onizuka by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Tammy Duckworth by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Patsy Mink by Stephanie Cham
Great Asian Americans: Yo-Yo Ma by Stephanie Cham
To The Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei by George Takei
Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self by Alex Tizon
I love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kingston
Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL by Dat Nguyen
Courage: The backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee and Diane Elliott-Lee
Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First lady of Physics Research by Tsai-chien Chiang
It Takes Moxie by Maureen Francisco
Finding the Edge: My Life On The Ice by Karen Chen
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Still Life with Rice by Helie Lee
I’m the One That I Want by Margaret Cho
When Invisible Children Sing by Chi Cheng Huang
Creating the Digital Future: The Secrets of Consistent Innovation at Intel by Albert T.c. Yu
Boundaries by Maya Lin
The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim
Leadership and Crisis by Bobby Jindal
Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai
A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States by Gordon K. Hirabayashi
Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American by Peter M. Jamero
The Silent Master: Awakening the Power Within by Tae Yun Kim
The Black Widow’s Guide to Killer Pool: Become the Player to Beat by Jeanette Lee
My Forty years as a Diplomat by Feng-Shan Ho
You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn
Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion by Feng-Hsiung Hsu
Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty…And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, & Unapologetically Being Yourself by Dr. Aziz Gazupura
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris
Impressive First Impressions: A Guide to the Most Important 30 Seconds (And 30 Years) of Your Career by Vu H. Pham
With Schwarzkopf: Life Lessons of the Bear by Gus Lee
Purpose Mindset by Akhtar Badshah
Conquering the Chaos by Ravi Venkatasan
You Are A Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do it Now by Tiffany Pham
The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace by Ruchika Tulshyan
Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less – Here’s How by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
Come into my Office: Stories from an HR Leader in Silicon Valley by Mai Ton
AugmentAsian: Strategies and Tools for Asian Pacific American Professional & Leadership Success by Asian Upward & Elevate Teams
Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage by Laura Huang
We are continually adding to this list. If you have any recommended additions please send us an email at info@curiositybased.com so we can add it here.
