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Take a page from the super-wealthy and successful by reading the books they wrote. Insider compiled a list of 30 books to help you learn how billionaires found success. The list includes "Shoe Dog" by Nike's Phil Knight and "Onward" by ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Whether they want to launch an empire or become the best in their field, there's no better resource than books by people they aspire to be. Whether you or someone you know has set a goal to become a billionaire in the next year, these 30 books can provide some insight and lessons to what it's like to be at the top.

☆ Inside the over 30-year friendship of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who didn't even want to meet at first but now have each other on speed dial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Debanjali Bose | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Buffett's contributions to Gates' foundation from 2006 through 2022 total $45 billion, when taking into account the appreciation of the Berkshire stock over time. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, right, speaks to Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, as they appear to speak on the Fox Business Network with Liz Claman, in Omaha, Neb., on May 8, 2017. Nati Harnik/AP"I believe this is the largest gift ever given, and thinking about it fills me with awe and gratitude and a sense of responsibility to make sure it is spent well," Gates wrote in an post on his blog, Gates Notes, in December 2022. "Our secret weapon, which should not be secret at all, is the incredible generosity of Warren Buffett."

☆ Elon Musk continues to foster chaos at Twitter. It's a terrible playbook for leaders following an acquisition.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has conducted mass layoffs and reportedly ordered 84-hour workweeks. Musk's reign at Twitter, which began when he took ownership of the platform in late October, has been chaotic. Most Twitter employees would be able to get another job relatively easily. "If you're technical talent, you're still going to be in demand if you're good," said Steve Cadigan, who runs Cadigan Talent Ventures and previously worked on mergers and acquisitions at Cisco. Even though the self-dubbed chief twit's path isn't clear to observers, Cadigan said Musk typically knows what he's doing.

☆ What could GOP control of the House mean for U.S.-China tensions?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

McCarthy also says he plans to create a House select committee on China, the first since the late 1990s. House Republicans will also investigate the origins of the coronavirus and “the CCP’s role in the spread,” the blog post said, although it is unclear whether that investigation would be part of the select committee. Tensions were further inflamed in August by Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, the first by a sitting U.S. House speaker since 1997. The most volatile issue in U.S.-China relations is the status of Taiwan, which Beijing has not ruled out seizing by force. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, Taiwan on Aug. 3, 2022.

☆ Parental leave is the greatest benefit workers don't take
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The share of US workers who have access to family leave, including parental leave, is increasing. Like many women, Amanda Krupa took less parental leave than she was allowed in order to protect her career and income. The rate of women taking maternity leave hasn't changed since the '90sThe US is the only industrialized country that doesn't guarantee paid parental leave. Some employers offer short-term-disability insurance to help cover workers' parental leave, but it doesn't always replace all wages. Today, all employees there are eligible for 16 weeks of paid parental leave.

☆ Compass CEO Robert Reffkin's memo on how to dump poor performers was good, but here's how it could have been better
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Robert Reffkin, the CEO of Compass, asked his leadership team to help root out underperformers. The message is compelling but doesn't tell leaders what employees must do to succeed at the company. The memo arrived after two rounds of layoffs, in June and October, at Compass, which has been struggling financially. But the Compass memo, while giving strong examples of what workers shouldn't be doing, didn't offer as much guidance about what the company needs from employees right now. But Galinsky said the memo lacked details about what exactly employees need to do in order to succeed at Compass right now.

☆ Half of US employers are planning layoffs. Here's how to start 'career cushioning' so that you aren't screwed if you lose your job.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It helps to be prepared — to "career cushion" — so you're not blindsided if you lose your job. Start by updating your LinkedIn profile, networking more creatively, and thinking about your goals. Knowing you're prepared for whatever comes next can help mitigate some of that terror. Update your social-media profilesHeitmann said the first — and potentially easiest — thing to do is update your LinkedIn profile. "It's always helped me to really think through how to be prepared," Heitmann said.

☆ CNN gave its staff 24 hours to worry and stress about looming layoffs. Some experts say it's actually the right thing to do.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Their divergent reactions suggest that perhaps there isn't a great way to let employees know you're getting rid of them. In the memo, CEO Chris Licht called the process of conducting layoffs a "gut punch." "I think employees appreciate advance notice that layoffs are coming," said Jaime Klein, the CEO of the human-resources consultancy Inspire HR. "That's really, really important," he added, because it shows that leadership is being relatively transparent and has some empathy for employees. If you ever want to rehire some of the employees you're letting go, it helps to leave a good impression.

☆ I choose the Rockefeller Christmas tree every year. Here's how I spot the perfect spruce and get it ready for NYC.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Taayoo Murray | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Erik Pauze is the head gardener at Rockefeller Center, and he chooses the Christmas tree each year. I also have another major responsibility: I choose the perfect tree for Christmas every year. There's one major attribute that I look for when searching for the perfect tree: a tree you would want in your living room, but on a much larger scaleThe 2021 Rockefeller Christmas tree. This year's tree is a Norway Spruce that's 82 feet tall, 50 feet in diameter, and weighs approximately 14 tonsThe 2022 Christmas tree arriving in Rockefeller Center. Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe 2022 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was donated by the Lebowitz family of Glens Falls, New York, from their property.

☆ 100 UK companies are scrapping the 40-hour workweek. Here's how the standard work schedule became so popular in the first place.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Marguerite Ward | Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

100 companies in the UK are adopting a four-day workweek without cutting pay for their employees. Here's a timeline of how the US adopted the five-day, 40-hour workweek. Indeed, the pandemic accelerated public discourse over whether the 40-hour workweek still makes sense for some employees. Here's a look back through the history of the 40-hour workweek and how we got to where we are today. How the 40-hour workweek has evolvedDespite the long work it took to make the 40-hour workweek a reality, research shows people do continue to log longer work hours.

☆ I almost left a great job because I didn't know to ask these 4 questions before calling it quits
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Shana Lebowitz Gaynor almost quit her job at Insider. Don't Call It Quits: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Love by Shana Lebowitz Gaynor. It's critical to identify these less-loathsome parts of your work experience and how exactly they made you feel. Shana Lebowitz Gaynor is a correspondent for Insider, where she covers career development and workplace culture. Adapted with permission from the book Don't Call It Quits: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Love by Shana Lebowitz Gaynor.

☆ Start looking at job listings now — even if you're happy with your current role.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Business InsiderThe authors of "The New Rules of Work" suggest browsing job listings before you're ready to quit. Now is still a good time to look at job openings — the US had 10.7 million of them in September. Remember, too: The authors say it doesn't matter if you're perfectly content in your current role. At some point, you'll want a promotion, or at least a new challenge — even if it's within the same company. Once you've identified those skills you'll eventually need, you can work on gaining them — by taking a course, going to conferences, or volunteering to work on a new company project.

☆ Out with the new and in with the old: Why companies from Starbucks to Disney are bringing back their old CEOs to run the companies again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There are perhaps hundreds of qualified candidates for the job of Disney's CEO. After all, returning CEOs have mixed track records. Iger was Disney's CEO for 15 years — presumably, he won't need much onboarding. In the best-case scenario, the returning CEO has learned more in the time since leaving the post. Indeed, there's always the risk that a returning CEO leans too heavily on their former experience.

☆ Bob Iger is back at Disney. He can't rely on the same old script.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney is looking to Bob Iger to lead the company and to find another successor — again. It's critical for returning CEOs to approach the job as if it were their first time. Disney shares jumped as much as 10% on Monday after the company announced that Iger would replace his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek. The researchers didn't study the reasons why returning CEOs performed worse, but wrote in a 2020 article that many returning CEOs "barely recognize the company upon returning." Being "mindfully alert" as a returning CEO, Kauffman said, means you are "not bringing judgments to the table, but trying to keep an open mindset."

A top reason people quit their jobs is because of toxic workplace cultures, per MIT. Elon Musk's recent "extremely hardcore" ultimatum is an example of bad leadership. If you don't quit, there are some ways to mend your relationship like trying to find common ground. "A bad boss won't just jeopardize your career growth — they'll also negatively impact your personal life," says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert, author, and leadership coach. It's important to know whether you've got a bad boss on your hands so you can "take measures to mitigate the stress and own greater power in the relationship" as soon as possible, she adds.

☆ Inside the marriage of Elaine Chao and Mitch McConnell, a political power couple who met later in life
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Talia Lakritz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Mitch McConnell and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao are a GOP power couple. Chao has starred in campaign ads defending McConnell's record on women's issues. In November, McConnell voted against protections for interracial marriages despite his own. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up!

☆ Tech workers who just lost their jobs are prime targets for recruiters right now. Here's how to stand out and get the job you really want.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Layoffs are sweeping tech, leaving thousands of people at the likes of Twitter and Meta out of work. If you've lost a job, here's how to attract recruiters who can place you in roles you want. If you've recently been let go — and even if you haven't — you might already be fielding messages from recruiters. But it helps to know how to attract the attention of recruiters who can place you in the positions you really want. The more time you spend thinking about what kind of role you'd want next, the easier it will be to direct any recruiters who get in touch.

☆ Elon Musk's demands to make Twitter workers put in 'long hours at high intensity' is actually what many employers want, but won't say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Musk emailed Twitter employees Wednesday telling them they could either work all the time or quit. The email shows the stronghold that the concept of the "ideal worker" has on corporate America. "We will need to be extremely hardcore," wrote Musk, who became the owner of Twitter in October. Musk often flaunts his commitment to his workThe transition to "hardcore" work, Musk wrote in the email, "will mean working long hours at high intensity. The ideal worker is always available to meet the needs of a boss or a client.

☆ It's not just Elon Musk. Your boss probably wants you to put in 'long hours at high intensity' too.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The email shows the stronghold that the concept of the "ideal worker" has on corporate America. On Wednesday, Elon Musk emailed Twitter employees with new expectations for them. "We will need to be extremely hardcore," wrote Musk, who became the owner of Twitter in October. Musk often flaunts his commitment to his workThe transition to "hardcore" work, Musk wrote in the email, "will mean working long hours at high intensity. The ideal worker is always available to meet the needs of a boss or a client.

☆ Layoff memos from tech companies illustrate how leaders need to show authentic regret over job cuts — and how damaging it can be when they don't
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Rachel Durose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Job cuts are never easy, but leaders' actions can lessen the sting of layoffs. Cuts at Meta, Twitter, and Stripe offer examples of what works — and what doesn't. Those contrite statements stand in contrast to a November 3 email that went to some 3,700 laid-off Twitter employees, about half of the company's workforce. Instead of apologizing, Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, doubled down on his claims that the business was losing too much money to avoid workforce cuts. Twitter didn't tell employees why they were losing their jobsThe email to laid-off Twitter employees didn't explain the rationale behind the job cuts, though HR experts said that kind of clarity around what businesses sometimes call a "reduction in force," or RIF, is important.

☆ The startup founder's guide to letting people go efficiently and compassionately, if you have no other choice in a time of crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"The more you share earlier, and [the more] you involve people along that journey, you're going to gain some trust there," he said. That's what Keystone does when it works with companies conducting layoffs, Varelas said. Deliver the news with integrityVarelas said it's important to show respect for the employees you're letting go. "You just let go of 10 of your hardest working colleagues and you're going out and you're celebrating." They're going to start losing faith and confidence in your leadership."

☆ Paying workers unfairly will backfire. Pull back the curtain on compensation decisions instead.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But for many people, salary negotiations are hard to navigate. Brian Armstrong is the CEO of Coinbase, which recently announced that it was banning salary negotiations. If salary negotiations are prohibited, they said, there have to be other measures in place to ensure that every worker is paid fairly. Salary negotiations will always be challenging for some — if not most — of usRestructuring salary negotiations won't necessarily make the act of asking for more money easier right away. Still, she understands that salary negotiations can get contentious, and she emphasized that the positive dynamic between employer and employee is important to preserve.

☆ Elon Musk is whipping up chaos at Twitter. It's a terrible playbook for leadership following an acquisition.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has fired execs and reportedly asked for 84-hour workweeks. Musk, who rarely sticks to a leadership script, doesn't seem intent on winning employees' trust or providing clarity about the company's future. Most Twitter employees would be able to get another job relatively easily. "If you're technical talent, you're still going to be in demand if you're good," said Steve Cadigan, who runs Cadigan Talent Ventures and previously worked on mergers and acquisitions at Cisco. Even though the self-dubbed chief twit's path isn't clear to observers, Cadigan said Musk typically knows what he's doing.

☆ Returning to an old employer can be a solid move. Use this script from an HR exec to ask for your job back.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

HR executive and author Angela Champ shared a brief script for expressing interest in returning. More than 47 million US workers left their jobs during the Great Resignation, some of them transitioning from banking to trucking or from dance to public relations. At a previous job, Champ and her team ran a successful initiative to re-recruit former employees and reduce turnover in her division. Champ shared a script you can use when you email HR or a manager you've kept in touch with to ask about job openings. For example, I've taken [X course] and I've improved my skills in [X area].

☆ Here are the best ways to convince your boss to let you work from home forever
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

For the past two years, remote work has been in a state of will they or won't they. We asked Greenberg and other career experts about the best ways to convince your boss to let you work remotely. Make a strong business caseConvincing your boss to let you work remotely is like convincing them of anything else. "Oftentimes you're more productive and effective when you're working remotely because you're better able to focus," Reynolds said. Pitch remote work as an experimentLet your boss know you're willing to reevaluate and adjust your work circumstances as necessary.

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