Gifts for Grads
The diploma has been handed out, the hands have been shaken, the tassel has been moved to the other side of the mortarboard…now what? Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do next. Fortunately, we have books to help graduates with the next steps in their journeys, whether that means focusing on career, mental health, personal growth, or leadership.
CAREER
Without credentials or connections, community college student and advocate Deesha Dyer navigated her imposter syndrome, landing one of the most exclusive positions in the White House. Michelle Obama calls Undiplomatic “smart, funny, and endlessly inspirational.”
From the most unlikely person to end up as a senior official to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama comes a candid, incredible, and inspiring story. Moved by the election of the country’s first Black president, Deesha Dyer applied for a White House internship in 2009 as a thirty-one-year-old part-time community college student, taking a leap that carried her into a permanent full-time position, followed by three promotions landing her at the epicenter of politics.
In spite of the little voice in her head telling her she didn’t deserve to be there, Deesha thrived and rose to the highly coveted role of White House social secretary, giving her a front-row seat to defining moments in history while curating some of the flyest parties 1600 Pennsylvania has ever seen. Yet, with humor and realness, she peels back the curtain, revealing the hard truth about why she spent years trying to hide behind it. Undiplomatic is a deeply personal narrative about combating self-doubt while being on top of the world. Deesha reflects on how imposter syndrome threatened her self-esteem, proven aptitude, and survival until she realized that it was neither her fault nor her responsibility.
In this vivid portrayal from a true “around the way girl” on the personal impact of the Obama presidency, Deesha shares her road map from imposter to impact. In Undiplomatic, she invites you on a journey of self-discovery where she overcame doubt, unearthed true love for herself, and learned that your unique worth is not something to be earned, but something inherently deserved. Uplifting, funny, and sincere, Deesha’s story shows you about authenticity at all costs, and the joy and freedom that awaits on the other side.
This important book focuses on how women of color, children of immigrants, and other minoritized groups are predisposed to workplace imposter syndrome—and charts a path forward for self-advocacy and advancement.
For women of color and children of immigrants, who are the “the other” at work, there’s a different threshold of belonging that creates a false feeling of inadequacy. It can lead to being overwhelmed, overworked, and overlooked. The Other shatters the unspoken expectations for you to stay in your lane and gives you the tools to build unshakable confidence and a career that excels–on your own terms.
Bestselling author and MSNBC reporter Daniela-Pierre Bravo spent many years undocumented and in the shadows as an immigrant from Chile, working odd jobs to pay her way through school. Like many other women of color she became an expert shape shifter in order to chameleon her way around professional environments that felt out of reach. When Daniela became a DACA recipient, she finally felt that she’d made it, rising through the ranks in her career. But she quickly realized that no matter how much success she achieved, she always felt she had to prove her worth as “the other.”
In The Other, Daniela shares her journey and those of other women to help you recognize your power in the workplace outside of the white gaze. She drives you to reshape the way you think about career advancement without losing your sense of identity and helps you see how to use your differences as an advantage. Smart, revealing, and loaded with practical steps, The Other is a framework for how to effectively advocate for yourself, become your biggest believer, claim the spaces in your career that are rightfully yours.
“An actionable guide to leading a balanced life.” — Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again
Pouring yourself into a single full-time job is the riskiest move you can make. Your parents’ advice to focus on one career path? It doesn’t work anymore, for reasons ranging from recessions to student loan debt, the gig economy, climate disasters, and a global pandemic (to name a few). We need a dramatically different relationship with work, one that allows us to define ourselves beyond our paid labor.
The answer? A Portfolio Life. An anti-hustle, pro-rest approach to work-life balance, a Portfolio Life is built on three tenets:
- You are more than any one role or opportunity.
- Diversification will help you navigate change and mitigate uncertainty.
- When (not if) your needs change, you can and should rebalance.
In The Portfolio Life, Harvard professor, serial entrepreneur, and self-described “human Venn diagram” Christina Wallace adapts tried-and-true practices from the business sector to help you eschew the cult of ambition and experience the freedom of building the flexible, fulfilling, and sustainable life you want. Drawing on research, case studies, and her own experience, she walks you step-by-step through the process of designing a strategy for the long haul. Because you deserve rest, relationships, and a rewarding career—not someday, but today. After all, you only live once.
MENTAL HEALTH
From the beloved host of Good Morning America and New York Times bestselling author Robin Roberts, a guide to instilling hope and optimism into readers’ lives, infusing their days with positivity and encouragement.
Over the last 16 years as the esteemed anchor of Good Morning America, Robin Roberts has helped millions of people across the country greet each new morning, gracing our screens with heart and humility. She has sought to bring a bit of positivity into each day, even in the most trying of times. Now, she shares with readers the guidance she’s received, her own hard-won wisdom, and eye-opening experiences that have helped her find the good in the world and usher in light—even on the darkest days.
Drawing on advice and knowledge she gleaned from conversations with loved ones, spiritual practices, and life experiences, Robin offers a window into how she feeds her own mind, spirit, and soul and invites readers to do the same. With a deeply personal touch, she explains that just like any skill, optimism requires practice and demonstrates how we can shift our mindsets and give ourselves permission to let our best intentions take root and be true.
Full of profound insight and the compassion to meet readers wherever they are on their journey, this contemplative and uplifting read is a breath of fresh air that will bring a dose of joy into your daily life.
Want to quit? Good. Learn to shape your life without fear—at work, at home, in relationships, and beyond.
“Compelling,” (Cal Newport) “Liberating,” (Amy Dickinson) and “as entertaining as it is important” (Steven Levitt).
Simone Biles quit the Olympics. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit The Firm. Millions of people have quit their jobs, seeking happiness and defining success on their own terms. Is it a mistake? As Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Julia Keller found out, it’s not. And, in fact, it might even save your life.
Diving into ‘the neuroscience of nope’ and the cultural messages that drive our reluctance to throw in the towel, Keller dismantles the myth of perseverance once and for all. Because grit isn’t always great. Sticking it out doesn’t always pay off. And quitting can be an unexpected act of self-love.
Quitting: A Life Strategy reminds us that, in order to live meaningful, satisfying lives, we have to be able to say “no”—full stop. With Keller’s guidance, readers will learn:
- The art of the quasi quit.
- How quitting makes space for key breakthroughs.
- Why bootstrapping is a lie.
- How to manage guilt and shame.
Weaving cutting-edge scientific research with incisive pop culture commentary and conversations with people who have made profound change in their own lives, Keller gives readers the confidence they need to pull the plug.
“If you’re thinking about quitting a job or leaving a marriage, don’t—at least not until you have read this book.” ―Joseph T. Hallinan, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of Why We Make Mistakes
Maximize your potential for connection, healing, and personal growth with this “timely bridge for our divided world.” (Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential)
If you’ve felt alienated and alone in recent years, you’re in good company. Whether it’s a rift in your family, polarization at your workplace or just a sense that society isn’t as connected as it once was, many of us feel painful chasms in our connections. Internationally-recognized curiosity expert and bridge builder Scott Shigeoka knows that there’s only one cure: Deep Curiosity.
In Seek, Shigeoka blends cutting-edge research with vulnerable storytelling to teach readers their signature DIVE model. With his guidance, you’ll learn more than a dozen practical strategies to:
·Detach — Let go of your ABCs (assumptions, biases, certainty),
·Intend — Prepare your mindset and setting,
·Value — See the dignity of every person, including yourself,
·Embrace — Welcome the hard times in your life.
Seek is a revolutionary playbook to heal division, estrangement, hatred, and our most urgent societal challenges.
“We’ve been hiding from each other for far too long. Seek offers us an empathic, practical, and heartfelt road map forward.” ―Seth Godin, author of The Song of Significance and Tribes
PERSONAL GROWTH
The Defining Decade has changed the way millions of twentysomethings think about their twenties—and themselves. Revised and reissued for a new generation, let it change how you think about you and yours.
Our “thirty-is-the-new-twenty” culture tells us the twentysomething years don’t matter. Some say they are an extended adolescence. Others call them an emerging adulthood. In The Defining Decade, Meg Jay argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized the most transformative time of our lives.
Drawing from more than two decades of work with thousands of clients and students, Jay weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings themselves. The result is a provocative read that provides the tools necessary to take the most of your twenties, and shows us how work, relationships, personality, identity and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood—if we use the time well.
Also included in this updated edition:
- Up-to-date research on work, love, the brain, friendship, technology, and fertility
- What a decade of device use has taught us about looking at friends—and looking for love—online
- 29 conversations to have with your partner—or to keep in mind as you search for one
- A social experiment in which “digital natives” go without their phones
- A Reader’s Guide for book clubs, classrooms, or further self-reflection
For more than four decades, A Whack on the Side of the Head has been a consistent leader in stimulating creativity and innovation. Translated into over twenty languages, Roger von Oech’s bestselling classic is back—and better than ever! Completely revised, enlarged, and supercharged with new ideas, this definitive edition offers more stories and exercises to bring its famous innovation boosters to a new generation.
- Learn how to overcome the ten biggest mental locks and unleash your full creative potential.
- Use the four roles of the creative process—Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior—to generate and apply new ideas.
- Exploit the power of discontinuity, constraints, and “playing the Wise Fool” to find the “second right answer”!
In many immigrant households, money isn’t often a topic of discussion, so financial education can be minimal—especially when a family is just trying to survive the day-to-day. The Latino community still faces cultural and systemic barriers that prevent them from building wealth. As a first-generation Latina, Jannese Torres knows these unique challenges well. She set out to pursue the traditional American Dream, becoming the first woman in her family to graduate from college, climb the corporate ladder, and secure a six-figure paycheck, only to find herself miserable and unfulfilled.
She soon realized that everything she’d been taught about money and success wasn’t as it seemed. After discovering the true meaning of wealth, Torres resolved to pave her own path, leaving the life she was told she should want for one of entrepreneurship and autonomy.
In Financially Lit! Torres offers you culturally relevant and relatable personal finance advice that will allow you to finally feel seen, heard, and understood. With the warmth and the no-nonsense wisdom of someone who’s been there before, Torres will teach you how to:
- set boundaries with your dinero
- protect yourself from financial abuse
- navigate the complicated relationship between amor and money
- invest like a white dude
“Should be read by every leader in America” —Wall Street Journal
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university’s slogan, “What starts here changes the world,” he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life—lessons that would help change themselves—and the world—for the better.
Admiral McRaven’s original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life’s darkest moments.
“Powerful.” —USA Today
“Full of captivating personal anecdotes from inside the national security vault.” —Washington Post
“Superb, smart, and succinct.” —Forbes
LEADERSHIP
“The tools you need to step up, play bigger and increase your impact.” —New York Times Bestselling Author Liz Wiseman
Hailed by CNBC as a “top 5 non-fiction book everyone should be reading about work,” Becoming a Changemaker is a call to action, showing how leading change from where you are can transform your career, community and even the world. Alex Budak, a celebrated UC Berkeley faculty member, distills the essence of successful changemakers in this accessible guide, unveiling the essential mindsets and leadership skills needed to spark change and create impact across roles, sectors, and hierarchies. Through a powerful blend of data-driven insights and diverse, relatable case studies, Budak builds a compelling case, one that frames being a changemaker as an inclusive, aspirational identity for everyone.
Inspired by the lessons and philosophies from Budak’s wildly popular course of the same name, which he created at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Becoming a Changemaker will show you how to:
- Develop your own unique voice as a changemaker, to lead effectively, empathetically, and authentically in any setting.
- Transform setbacks into stepping stones and uncover the art and science of turning failures into powerful catalysts for growth and innovation
- Influence without authority to inspire and mobilize others towards your vision – even when you’re not in charge.
- Create a sustainable action plan to turn your aspirations for change into reality with the Changemaker Canvas tool and its tangible, manageable steps.
- Pursue Your Purpose and learn to harness your individual strengths and passions to drive meaningful change from wherever you are, in a way that’s true to who you are.
To begin leading change, you don’t need a fancy title, or a perfectly polished idea. But you do need to start. This book is your first step.
From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Make Your Bed—a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL.
The title “Bullfrog” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty. Admiral McRaven was honored to receive this honor in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command. When McRaven retired in 2014, he had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women at every level of the special operations community. In the ensuing four years, he served as Chancellor to the entire University of Texas System, with its 230,000 students and 100,000 faculty and health care workers.
During those four decades, Admiral McRaven dealt with every conceivable leadership challenge, from commanding combat operations—including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the raid for Osama bin Laden.
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog draws on these and countless other experiences from Admiral McRaven’s incredible life, including crisis situations, management debates, organizational transitions, and ethical dilemmas, to provide readers with the most important leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his forty years of service.
Each chapter provides a Make Your Bed-like parable, rich with insights about the specific leadership traits required to be at the top of your game. The Wisdom of the Bullfrog is Admiral McRaven’s clear-eyed treatise on the leadership qualities that separate the good from the truly great.