What We Are Reading

Simplero's culture strongly supports staff development and personal growth. 

We are a group of people who read, watch, explore and discuss.  Whether it's something intellectual, something funny, something challenging or something affirming, we love to share what we encounter.  In fact, we sometimes give each other assignments ("read this, let's talk about it") when we come across something really good. 

So it occurred to us to share with you as well.  We're going to make this a regular thing, probably every quarter.  We will each share a book, video, website, audio file or whatever it is that is inspiring or challenging us right now. 

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
I love poetry.  I also hate poetry.  Some of it goes right over my head, to be honest and I get grumpy when I don't understand it.  That happens sometimes with Mary Oliver, but mostly I am just flat IN AWE of her brain, her linguistic craftsmanship and her ability to show me things I'd never seen before.  This book is a compilation of her best work from 1963 through 2015. - Beth

On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
I've started writing a book on leadership myself, and so I figured I'd go read what one of the "masters" has to say on the subject. I actually bought the book years ago, but never managed to get past the introduction. Now that I've finished it, I understand why. While I agree with Bennis' premise completely, it's written in a way that puts me asleep. It just feels too safe, too obvious. Oh, and he repeatedly uses John Sculley as a case, possibly the worst leader Apple ever saw and Steve Jobs' biggest mistake. Guess I'm just going to have to write my own... - Calvin

Beyond Mars & Venus by John Gray
Understanding the male and the female, their differences and their relationship, has been on my mind a lot lately. I recently finished reading The Boy Crisis, and when I got to the parts written by John Gray, I was blown away by his level of insight, so despite my negative impression of "the Mars & Venus guy", I decided to pick this one up. It is absolutely fantastic! I think this should be required reading for any human alive today. Our misunderstandings about male and female energies is probably the number one cause of harm in the world, whether in relationships, at work, in politics, or in society at large. Read it. Please. - Also Calvin

Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur by Cara Alwill Leyba  
Girl Code is a fantastic read for any woman, not just entrepreneurs!  Leyba shared that instead of feeling defeated by or jealous of other women and their success, we should learn from them.  The highlight of the book for me was about learning to let all the beautiful parts of ourselves shine.  Mistakes, chaos and imperfections are part of finding your authentic self and learning to let it shine. No one else is going to share your gift the way you can!  It is great to hear first hand from many women how they faced their fears, and made their dreams reality. - Deanna

Tribes by Seth Godin 
We all want to have personal connections and be in community, but we also hear the arguments against social media and how technology has taken us away from those personal connections. I loved this book because he talks about how the use of technology can actually support and launch us into being leaders of communities that reach far beyond what they once could. At Simplero, our vision is for all our customers to be leaders and having thriving communities.  This book was an encouragement to me, inspiring me to see that we can all achieve these both individually and collectively (sorry no practical how to's in this book). - Sherrie 
 
Relationship With Money Video Mini-Course by Marisa Peer.
Marisa Peer is known for her skills at doing hypnosis.  She has worked with both celebrities and the Royal family in the United Kingdom. Warning! Do not listen to this while you are driving! Running a business is not just about selling products or services. You need to build a good economy to run a successful business. That success lies in your mindset. This video will strengthen your money mindset. - Siif

The Hero with 1000 Faces by Joseph Campbell
Ray Dalio recommended this book in his book (Principles). I'm a HUGE Dalio fan and loved his book so I figured this would just blow me away. So far it is slow going. The author speaks in a way that makes everything he's saying difficult to understand. The topic is interested, his ideas are interesting, I just need him to stop trying to be a poet. I think there's a marketing lesson in there for all of us. Simplicity is key. :-)   - Kasim

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C Martin
Clean Code describes approaches and principles of writing code so that other people would be able to maintain it. Not only does it describe architecture design patterns but it also explains why we need to do it this way and explains why one approach is better then the other. And though there probably isn't too much new in this book it really made me think differently about some stuff. Sooner or later somebody else will continue what we have started, so let's be clear enough in our intentions and spend some time on it now so we can be understood. - Eugene

War and Peace - by Leo Tolstoy
This is the most impressive book I've ever read. It makes you think, makes you feel the problems of the characters, and gives you some non-standard ideas about history, management and life sense. If you want a fresh idea about how things are working, what is the reasons of some global changes, or just don't know what to do in the evenings - this book is definitely for you. One notice from me - the first ten pages may seem boring, you need to overcome it. - Andrey

Radiance! by Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks
I keep returning to this book over and over. It is filled with transformational wisdom and exercises that can support you in getting into your body and unlocking your body wisdom. Getting into the body - embodying yourself - is a journey, that I feel all people should travel, no matter their age, profession or passions. One of my favorite quotes from the book goes like: 
'There is no need to soar heavenward while dragging the body behind as a burden… Use the body itself as a means of transcendence. The healing journey is into the body, not out of it! As we return to the body, we learn about who we actually are.' - Nomi

We'd love to hear your thoughts! What would you recommend we read to EXPAND?