Executive PA Australasia April May 2018 | Seite 64

NEWS
B O OK R E V I E WS
Our EA members tell you whether these top titles are worth a read
BOOK REVIEWER BOOK REVIEWER
DEBE COE SASHA COVINGTON
The Boss Factor Confident Data Skills
I’ve been a PA for 29 years and tasks that once
were challenging and encouraged my career
development have become mundane, leaving me
feeling a little stale. I was hoping this book would
give me a fresh view of my career, what I want
from a job and where I want it to take me.
I’ve read leadership books before and they
can be quite tedious and a little pretentious but
this broke that stereotype – it was an engaging
read that really made me think deeply about my
own focus, attitude and needs. Richard starts by
explaining his leadership theory and the essential
qualities of any successful relationship – ARC
(authentic, responsible, courageous). This message
runs through each of the 10 lessons, which can be
read concurrently or as standalone chapters; each
offering insights and examples to help you relate.
The book is primarily concerned with
managing-up and encourages you to look closely
at what you want from your organisation, what
you expect from a boss and how you operate
yourself. But it’s also valuable if you’re already
a leader – each lesson offers tips on using the
theory to develop those you lead.
I didn’t realise how much of an influence I
could be on my boss and those around me. I also
learned that having the confidence to challenge
my boss and question the norm is the only way I’ll
be able to align my vision with theirs and that of
the company and, therefore, achieve success. And
I realised there may be hidden factors as to why
people make the decisions that they do. I thought this may be a hard read with lots of
complicated coding and data jargon – but I was
pleasantly surprised. This book was interesting,
informative and pitched to all levels, from
students to CEOs who want to understand how
best to work with data as a business tool. 
Organisations now have access to massive
amounts of data and it’s influencing the way we
operate. The author says that to be successful we
must leverage this data to make effective business
decisions. You’ll learn how artificial intelligence
is driving organisational changes and discover
the key challenges businesses face when trying to
analyse massive data sets.
The book goes through the steps involved in
the data science journey – but it’s definitely not a
coding book and, in fact, this is exactly what the
author has steered away from. It’s very personable
and easy-to-follow with lots of interesting
in-depth case studies, including Netflix, LinkedIn,
Goodreads and Deep Blue – these demonstrate
how data (when successfully used) can inspire
and change a company’s direction and/or
structure. And there’s an interesting chapter on
data breaches and cyber security, which explains
how theft of data from an outside source can bring
an organisation to its knees in seconds.
By the end of the book you’ll have a great
in-depth knowledge of the world of data, how to
present your findings and how best you can use
this information for your career and the company
you work in.
Debe is EA to the group chairman at Hammonds Sasha is business and operations manager at JLL
by Richard Boston
64 Chief of Staff | April/May 2018
by Kirill Eremenko