5 inspirational books by leaders for women in tech
There can be no better role models for women in tech than tech leaders themselves. These books will help you navigate your life and career, and inspire you to dream big.
Let’s face it. The number of women in tech is abysmally low. According to a report from Belong, the Indian technology industry has only 26 percent women in engineering roles, which translates into one female engineer for three male engineers. The same report reveals that nearly 50 percent women engineers quit tech or move into other “easier” roles like marketing, product management, or consulting.
It’s imperative that more women are encouraged to join tech fields, and are empowered with initiatives so that they continue and grow, despite the challenges in the way. The industry needs to do more to retain the experience that skilled women bring and nurture those looking to return after a break. For this, apart from mentorship and training, women need more role models to inspire them to move forward in their careers.
Apart from the women who encourage them, they can also take inspiration from the rich experiences that women in tech have shared with the written word.
Here is a list of five books by top women in tech that will guide, inspire, and goad you to succeed.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
One of the most powerful voices for women’s empowerment, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In offers both you career and life lessons. And she cannot emphasise this enough: that women need to be so comfortable that one day the concept of a female leader will not be a “rarity” but a natural order of the world. She also believes “a truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes”. While she describes the pangs of “mummy guilt” that affects most of us as working women, she also says it’s important for us to stand up for ourselves. Some strong messages from the book include: “powerful women are likeable”, “it’s impossible to get everyone to like you, and trying will hold you back”, and “feminist is a not dirty word, but a distinguished label”. This one is a must-read if you want to go the leadership route and make a name for yourself as a woman in tech.
Female Innovators at Work: Women on Top of Tech by Danielle Newnham
Danielle Newnham is a UK-based tech writer and a serial entrepreneur. The book features 20 women innovators, including Lynda Weinman, Marth Lane Fox, and others. Newnham examines their lives and work, and how they got to the top through sheer grit and the ability to think beyond the ordinary and innovate. What challenges did they face to get to the top of their careers and the industry? Women in tech can take a leaf out of these inspiring stories and manoeuvre their own careers towards the right path.
Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives by Randi Zuckerberg
In her book, social media and technology expert Randi Zuckerberg takes us through the many influences social media has on our lives, online and offline. The former marketing executive at Facebook talks of the remarkable shift in technology, when social media started ruling our lives. She delves into the new tools for communication, engagement, and the connect we have with each other, thanks to smartphones and social media. Most importantly, she teaches us how to navigate online – social media etiquette, the power of crowdsourcing, and how to keep up with the constantly changing scenario. If you are looking at how to harness the power of social media, this book is a step in the right direction.
Be Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani
In her new book, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani teaches women an important lesson: “Be Brave, Not Perfect”. She explores how and why women are conditioned to chase perfection and why it is important for them to get out of the mould and try to be brave. She also tells women why it’s important to say “no”. She says, “Saying ‘no’ is hard at first; I wont lie. It’s one of the biggest challenges we face on our path to becoming brave, but it’s also the most gratifying. It’s remarkably empowering to claim your right to put you and your life priorities above the mandate of making nice for the sake of everyone else.” She also touches upon the need to get out of the comfort zone, take that first step, while remembering we are not perfect, embrace failure, and keep striving for success.
Thrive: The Third Metric To Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington
While money and power may be important driving forces in our lives, there is a third metric that defines success, says Arianna Huffington, the Co-founder of Huffington Post Media Group. The previous two metrics, Huffington believes have led to burnout and stress-related illnesses, decline in the quality of our relationships, and also our careers. So it’s important to incorporate the third metric into our lives, she says, and focus on our well-being, our ability to draw on our “intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving”. This book is a personal account of Huffington’s own challenges of trying to strike that elusive work-life balance and what she learnt from seeking within.
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)