«Як начинити гадюку салом», «Емоційний інтелект» та інші книги, які радять PR-спеціалістки
Today, there is a wide range of tools for professional development, from podcasts to social media communities. However, books still remain important. We asked PR specialists from well-known Ukrainian companies (IT and others) about the books published in recent years that have influenced their professional lives.PR and communication specialists from Netpeak Group, SKELAR, «Esculab», robota.ua, Brainstack_, Kormotech, and other companies shared their book recommendations.
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Daria said that she mostly read fiction for relaxation, and supported her professional development with constant learning. However, there are books she recommends to her PR colleagues. The first one is «How to stuff a viper with bacon» Alexandra Fidkevich, former director of Yevhen Klopotenko
«In it, she discusses the formation of the successful Klopotenko project, built around a personal brand. Oleksandra cites many cases and life stories, emphasizes the importance of communication, and it was really interesting to read», — the expert explained.
The first Ukrainian book about personal brand — «Personal brand book» Denis Kaplunov. This is a practical guide that contains more than a hundred tools for promoting a personal brand
Both books are available in paper and electronic formats.
Read also: What to read in the spring: the most anticipated novelties by Vivat, «Lab», and other publishers
Victoria recommends a book The Good Enough Job Simone Stoltsova — on why work has become a measure of success for many people.
«Since high school, I wanted to build a career, read interviews and books about success. I had Netflix and the Culture of Innovation by by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings, How Google Works by Eric Schmidt, and Take and Make by Richard Branson. For a long time, the meaning of my life was to find a great company with a good salary and rapid career growth. Simone says that when your career overshadows all other parts of your life — it’s time to ask yourself if you are able to turn off your work at home and focus on your family, hobbies, or other areas of life? I had a negative answer and tried to reconsider my priorities,» the specialist explained.
She clarified that the author draws on the American experience, but that this can be seen in Ukraine, especially in the PR industry «Colleagues begin to tie their self-esteem to work. If I am not successful at work, then I am not good enough», — Victoria added.
The author of the book asks what is «good job»? Maybe it’s one that pays a certain amount of money, or one where there is career development, or one where you work with people, or one that ends at 3 p.m. so you can pick up your child from school. At the end of the day, a job —is an economic contract, an exchange of labor for money. There are many different ways to build your life, where work is not the center around which everything revolves, but a part of a whole, the expert added.
«I would recommend The Good Enough Job to those who want to understand whether they are doing their job well enough (spoiler alert – I’m sure they are). Although there is no recipe for what to do and how to succeed, I think it will help you realize that you should invest your time in other areas outside of work before they disappear», — summarized Victoria.
Among the professional books of recent years, Natalia noted the work of Victoria Bereshchak «Communication strategy in business. How to maximize communication with the audience».
«I wish I had had such a full-fledged manual with tasks, tables, graphs, life hacks, and examples at the beginning of my professional career», — added the PR specialist.
She recommends reading this book to colleagues in the field, especially those who are writing a communication strategy or thinking about the effectiveness of an already implemented one
«Everything is very clear and without water. The book is useful for both beginners and experienced PR professionals. You will 100% return to certain pages (especially with KPIs, metrics, and anti-crisis). Special love — cues on pages», — Natalia noted.
She also advises channel Victoria, where the author talks about building effective communications in business and the public sector.
Maryna shared that she was very impressed by Witold Szablowski’s book «Kitchen of Terror, or How to Build an Empire with a Knife, Ladle and Fork». To explain the recommendation (in particular for PR professionals), she quoted the description of the book itself.
«Don’t understand how food can serve as propaganda? In the country called the Soviet Union, it was served in every fried cutlet and every Soviet canteen from Kaliningrad to the North Pole, from Moldova to Vladivostok. Politics, unfortunately, was present in what the First Secretary ate, and in what an average citizen of a large totalitarian utopian state ate or did not have to eat», — the description says.
Marina also advises How To Manage To Get It Done — the forthcoming book by Netpeak Group founder Artem Borodatiuk, which will soon be published and made available to the public. The book is based on — an internal course for managers. He’s the goal was to enable Netpeak Group managers to «do everything in such a way that everything would eventually work out» after only 30 hours of training, not hundreds of hours of meetings, dozens of hacks and several years of workMaryna explained.
«These are now training materials that I am already applying in practice. Over time, they will turn into a book that will be useful because you can understand it after reading it, How to set clear goals for the entire team. How to build a strategy that aligns with your goals and values, how to hire and fire, etc, — added the PR specialist.
Evaluating what she has read and heard over the past year or two, Olha was most influenced by a series of lectures by Maryna Starodubska on «Cross-cultural interaction and communication»
«I hope that Maryna will publish a book based on this material, because this material — a great opportunity to ask important questions of yourself and the company, and to approach entering new markets in a more balanced and critical way», — The specialist explained.
She added that this is exactly the kind of knowledge and skills that Ukrainian businesses critically need to develop in new markets. The materials provide answers to the questions of what values people in different countries have and why they have them, what causes this, the attitude to humor, and corporate culture. Why and how the approaches to building communication with stakeholders and project management differ in different countries, how to build cooperation, what will affect its success, etc.Marina can be followed on social media and has columns in the media.
Alyona advises reading The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity and Confidence Atkins’ Dew
In this book, the author gives practical advice on how to communicate and interact with different people based on his many years of experience at the BBC
«He supports his advice with stories from his practice, which is usually the most valuable thing for me in books of this genre», — She added.
Alina shared that she mostly reads books published more than 10 years ago. But more recent publications are also among her recommendations. Thus, the expert recommends the book Dmytro Kuleba «War for Reality»(updated third edition)
«A book that I started reading more with the stereotypical question “how did they use another pr tool to build a personal brand here?” But I frankly found something else. I got a lot of bookmarks for cool quotes, thoughts, and at the same time moments with which I may not agree», —Alina explained
From the notes — The specialist still wants to test the theory of Danbara’s number. According to it, 150 — the maximum number of people with whom you can maintain stable relationships and communication (online and offline). And to continue to understand the chemistry of the basis of communication — C8H11NO2 — dopamine, which is mostly the basis of human attachment to social networks and the Internet in generalAlina also recommends the book Susan Kane «The Power of Introverts. Quiet people in a world that cannot be silent»«A lot of interesting things about the myths about charismatic leaders and the emergence of “your guy,” about whether temperament is destiny or not, etc.
Yulia advises reading a bestseller Daniel Goleman «Emotional Intelligence». The book is about why being smart — is not the same as being successful. The author immerses the reader in his or her working life, giving many examples of defeats and victories, as well as convincing arguments that the level of emotional intelligence affects your level of success. The book motivates to develop a person continuously as a personality and an expert.
«I am more impressed with the consumption of professional content through podcasts, events, interviews, articles, research, and networking meetings. That’s because the world is very dynamic: what was relevant yesterday may already be outdated today,», Yulia added.
«It may sound strange, but I’m going to recommend a book that I haven’t read yet (but I’ve started!). But this is a recommendation from one of my SKELAR colleagues. Yes, I really trust our super-powerful network, I know that this book will cover my professional needs 100%», — Oleksandra said.
She shared that she is currently unfocused because she works in a large number of contexts and diverse large-scale tasks. She believes that Essentialism. The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Greg McKeown will help you understand how to prioritize wisely and do exactly what you need to do.
Myroslava advises reading a book by Alen Bobrov that is relevant in our time «Propaganda 2023. Information wars during the Russian aggression».
«It tells about the impact of propaganda on our lives. The author analyzes how propaganda affects our emotions and actions. The book reveals various manipulations and techniques used by enemies Reading this book will help you better understand how propaganda works and how to counter it, and will help you understand the importance of information literacy and critical thinking», — the specialist explained.
Valeria recommends reading the book Victoria Bereshchak «Communication strategy in business. How to maximize communication with the audience». The expert explained that the book offers practical advice on optimizing communication processes in business. It also helps to understand how to communicate effectively with the audience, build relationships with customers and partners, and achieve maximum results through well-planned communication strategies.
«At the time, this book gave me many effective tools for my work on creating an employer brand strategy. I recommend reading this book to my colleagues, as it provides valuable tools and methods for building successful communication strategies in business», — Valeria added.
In this book, the author shares practical tips and examples that help to understand how to effectively interact with the audience, create a positive image of the company and achieve business goals through properly designed communication strategies.
Alina has a degree in history, so since her student years she has been «holding» books not so much from the field of professional nonfiction, but those that «open the lid» and allow her to comprehend the very nature of man, society, and culture. That’s why she loves literary, historical, and cultural studies.
«I like to delve into the human phenomenon and explore the nature of decision-making, stereotypes, motivation, dreams, and expectations,», — the specialist explained.
One of the last things that impressed her was a book by British historian Nicholas Sturgeon «A mobilized nation. Germany 1939-1945» (published in 2015, but popular in Ukraine today for obvious reasons). Alina explained that the book, using personal and public sources, lifts the veil of everyday life in Nazi Germany and suggests that there was much wider, though not as obvious, support for the regime «by ordinary people» than has been assumed until now.
«You can guess the parallels with the present — they are sometimes so obvious that it gives you chills. At the same time, this is useful knowledge, also for effective information confrontation with the enemy today», — Alina summarized.
Maria advises reading novel by Anastasia Levkova «There is land beyond the Perekop». She shared that she belongs to the generation that still had a Crimean summer.
«At first, we used to go with my parents to Feodosia or Yevpatoria every year, and later — I started going to a children’s camp in Crimea. And these are probably some of the most valuable memories I have. But, as it turned out, my memories are very one-sided (no matter how funny and strange it may sound), and the friendly, sunny Crimea I remembered was more multifaceted and not always so happy,» the expert said.
Maria noted that this book, like a puzzle, complemented the picture of how the history of modern Ukraine has developed and changed.
«I would say that this book distorted my memories in a certain way, but at the same time I realized that I had experienced some things myself, but I did not focus on them because I was too young. That’s probably why Anastasia Levkova’s story made such a strong impression on me,» Maria explained.
Olesia recommended two books about entrepreneurship. The first one is — «The Founders. The Story of PayPal and Silicon Valley», by Jimmy Soni
«What do Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman, and several other influential tech entrepreneurs have in common? They started with PayPal, an international electronic payment system. After being rejected, they founded such well-known companies as Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn,» the expert added.
So to create a story about PayPal’s development, the author used internal documents and conducted hundreds of interviews.
Olesya also recommends the book Tetyana Vodotyka «Challenge, chance, change. The history of Ukrainian entrepreneurship».
«Writer Tetiana Vodotyka started working on the history of Ukrainian entrepreneurship in 2021. She continued her work in 2022, when businesses were adapting to radically new conditions, and made adjustments to the layout of the almost finished publication while traveling between Kyiv and Berlin. “Vodotika is researching the history of Ukrainian entrepreneurship and looking for commonalities between modern businesses and entrepreneurs from the past,” the communicator added to the description.
Victoria said that she hardly ever reads nonfiction, and she hasn’t read much professional literature lately. This year she was influenced by the book Daniel Keyes «Flowers for Algernon»
«It vividly shows how the growth of intelligence changes communication with society, loved ones, and the perception of oneself. The protagonist recalls his childhood, his parents, and gradually realizes that neither he nor the world is as he thought it was before. It’s a very instructive story about how words affect those around us,» the expert explained.