Some books can be even more than life changing...they can be life and career changing! Here's one that inspired me to move to New Zealand from the UK, and quit my life in the corporate world.

What one book has made the most power difference in my life?

Absolutely, completely and utterly without a doubt was the book How to Get a Job You'll Love, by John Lees. I had just been through a tough six months in the corporate world where I had to make myself and my team redundant. I wanted a book that would help me to evaluate my life and fine tune my career plan. In completing the exercises and reflecting on the results I suddenly realised that I didn't just want to use John's book to create my own career I wanted to BE John Lees and help others do the same. That realisation was the moment that I began to create the concept for my business, and I am now in the privileged role of helping to coach others to define and implement their dream careers.

What was the key message I took from the book?

Self Action is the key to pretty much everything in life...it's all very well reading about it, swotting up on it and talking to others about it...but what are you actually going to DO in order to see results?

Why did the book mean so much to me?

The main reason that this has been such a life changing book was because it was central to growing my courage to see that I had spent my corporate life gaining all of the tools and resources required to be a great career coach. It helped me to pull the threads together and actually create a picture of where my skills and experiences could lead - I had been an internal recruiter interviewing thousands of applicants each year and training managers in how to interview, I had developed career frameworks and taught managers how to inspire their teams to use them, I had been a project manager exploring the reasons that people join (and leave) organisations...all of my paths lead to this place.

Who should read this book?

You should read this book if you're at a career crossroads and you're uncertain or contemplating what to do next. You should also read this book if you're in a position of leadership and you'd like to understand more about how to engage your team by helping them to plan their own career...of course if you've been made redundant and you're wondering what to do next I would also recommend my own book called How to Keep Your Cool if You Lose Your Job, which I'm excited to say has been endorsed by John Lees himself!

About the author

I trained with the Oxford School of Coaching in 2005 (UK) and have supplemented this with further training in NLP Business Basics, DISC behavioural profiling and specific Career Development training in the last three years. I am committed to supporting the development of professionals generally and am the lead member of Professionelle, a NZ network of professional women. Please contact me to find out more, and I'd be delighted to share the recommendations from executives I've already worked with.