It’s that time of year—you’re thinking about what gifts to get your team. With the holidays approaching, maybe they’ll have a little time off for reading and relaxing. We partnered with Innovation Women to fill up a gift bag of books for each of your C-suite executives.
A little something for your CFO
Let’s start with the Chief Financial Officer. You rely on your CFO to oversee every aspect of your organization’s financial activities, including being responsible for the finance, accounting, reporting and budgeting functions. Your CFO is an important partner and serves in a strategic advisory role for the entire C-suite. We’re also sure your finance person doesn’t want you to break the bank… so keep it restrained.
If your company is heading out on the funding trail, consider Tiffany Wright’s book, “The Funding Is Out There!: Access the Cash You Need to Impact Your Business” or Jenny Kassan’s “Raise Capital on Your Own Terms: How to Fund Your Business Without Selling Your Soul”. Throw in a leadership book or two. How about Tarra Mitchell’s “The Yoga of Leadership: A Practical Guide to Health, Happiness, And Inspiring Total Team Engagement”?
Gifts for the marketing guru
Creative and multi-talented CMOs are responsible for planning, developing, implementing and monitoring your overall business marketing strategy. CMOs oversee market research, pricing, product marketing, marketing communications, advertising and public relations. Woo—that’s a lot. Your marketing person deserves a big bag of loot this holiday season. Start off with Kathy Klotz-Guest’s “Stop Boring Me!: How to Create Kick-Ass Marketing Content, Products and Ideas Through the Power of Improv”, drop in copies of Orly Zeewy’s “Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups” and Elyse Flynn Meyer’s “Mastering Inbound Marketing: Your Complete Guide to Building a Results-Driven Inbound Strategy” or maybe a book from Christina Inge on market metrics. There’s always the classic: Samantha Stone’s “Unleash Possible: A Marketing Playbook that Drives Sales”. Now, she also offers a Plan Preview.
How about the Chief Operating Officer?
The COO oversees the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of a business. Maybe your COO would be interested in Bella Rush’s book, “The Innovative Executive”, or Laura Burford’s “Project Management for Flat Organizations: Cost Effective Steps to Achieving Successful Results” or J. Elise Keith’s “Where the Action Is”.
What do you get for the Chief People Officer who has everything?
CPOs are responsible for building and maintaining a company culture—they oversee all aspects of HR. CPOs are responsible for hiring, learning and development, and improving employee retention. Fill up your CPO’s stocking with books like Nicole Anderson’s “HR is SEXY!: Revolutionizing Human Resources” or Julie Water’s “HR Explained: A Practical Guide to Human Resources for Small Businesses.”
Everyone working remotely? How about Mari Anne Snow’s “The Remote Work Handbook: The Definitive Guide for Operationalizing Remote Work as a Competitive Business Strategy”?
Don’t forget the Chief Diversity Officer!
CDOs were typically responsible for compliance with equal employment opportunity regulations, affirmative action obligations and harassment investigations. Today, you can find Chief Diversity Officers involved with all kinds of programs driving inclusion and belonging. Your CDO might be interested in a book like Patricia Lenkov’s “Time’s Up: Why Boards Need To Get Diverse Now” or Deanna Singh’s “Actions Speak Louder: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming an Inclusive Workplace.”
Gifts for your top salesperson—The Chief Revenue Officer
CROs are responsible for generating revenue and are the connective tissue between different revenue-related functions, from marketing to sales, customer success, pricing and revenue operations (RevOps). Your CRO would probably love Diane Helbig’s “Succeed Without Selling: The More You Think About Selling, the Less You Will Sell”, Mary Brodie’s “Revenue or Relationships? Win Both: A Customer Experience Primer to Shift Your Perspective of Business” or Farnoosh Brock’s “The Serving Mindset: Stop Selling and Grow Your Business”.
Gifts for your CTO: Chief Technology Officer
These days it seems like every company is a technology company. A CTO is responsible for developing, implementing, managing and evaluating the company’s technology resources. The goal of a CTO is to examine short- and long-term needs while using capital effectively to aid the organization in reaching its goals. Your CTO might like Teresa Jurgens-Kowal’s “The Innovation ANSWER Book”, Laura Madsen’s “Disrupting Data Governance: A Call to Action” or Amy Simpkins’ “Spiral: A Catalyst for Innovation and Expansion”.
Adding a new member to the C-suite: Your Chief Inspiration Officer
Even the most kick-ass team sometimes needs a little extra oomph. How about adding a Chief Inspiration Officer? Gift them with Val Ries’ book, “Chief Inspiration Officer: How to Lead the Team Everyone Wants to Be On.”
Gifts for you, the CEO? Of course.
The weight of the entire organization hangs on you. As the CEO, you also deserve a gift or two. Slip into YOUR stocking books like: LeeAnn Mallorie’s “Guts and Grace: A Woman’s Guide to Full-Bodied Leadership”, Farzana Chohan’s “Leadership IN Women: Thrive” or Waajida Small’s “Our Leadership Journey: Shared Stories, Lessons, and Advice for Women of Color.”
And something for everyone else too
And don’t forget that books make great gifts for the entire extended team. Books are a great way to get everyone on the same page. Start a corporate book club or encourage team leads to pick out a book for their team!
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