My colleagues and I, Myra Hart and Patti Greene are working on a new book about ways aspiring women can better manage career and family.  As part of our research, we interviewed more than 30 women in all phases of life and career.  It often comes up that certain books were helpful in seeking information, making decisions, or inspiring action.  For instance, some were inspired by biographies of successful women entrepreneurs and leaders, while others pick self help books, and still others select those on general entrepreneurship and leadership. 

Looking back, one of the earliest books published for women about leadership was The Managerial Woman, by Margaret Henning and Anne Jardim (1977).  This book was pathbreaking not-only because of it's focus on women, but also because of the stories that showed women's experiences in moving to top levels were different than men's.  They found that women entered the business world with similar goals, but had different assumptions and approaches to achieving these goals.

By 1990, Sally Helgesen's research showed that women actually had an advantage. Her book, The Female Advantage: Women's Ways of Leadership, replicated the same methodology as earlier research on male leaders by Henry Mintzberg. Helgesen spent weeks studying the activities of five women leaders in detail.  Some of her conclusions were that women leaders structured their organizations more like a web, they managed interruption and discontinuity well, and maintained a complex network of relationships with people outside their of their organizations.

Today Carly Fiorina, Anita Roddick and Oprah Winfrey have best sellers describing their rise to the top of organizations and there are a vast array of self-help books on everything from how to negotiate, Her Place at the Table (Deborah Kolb) to the Old Girls Network (Sharon Whiteley, Connie Duckworth, Kathy Elliott), to our book about raising money for fast growing ventures, Clearing the Hurdles.

In talking with my colleagues at the Center for Women's Leadership, we wondered what your favorite books were?  What autobiography or biography has inspired you? Which self-help book offered the best tips?  Or which book provided the best information for guiding your business or career?  Let us know your must reads!