Winner
Building Women: How everyone in construction can win
Faye Allen
Building Women is helping people by driving real, measurable change across the sector. At its core, the book empowers women to thrive in a traditionally predominantly male field; offering practical tools to overcome barriers such as discrimination, pay gaps, and lack of flexibility. Through the voices of over 1,000 women, it provides invaluable insight into the lived experiences behind the statistics, while presenting tangible solutions for everyone to build inclusive workplaces. Building Women doesn’t just benefit women, it helps businesses retain top talent, close skills gaps, and boost productivity. It equips male allies and industry leaders with actionable steps to foster a culture where everyone can succeed. By tackling the root causes of inequality, Building Women supports long-term career progression, innovation, and a stronger, more sustainable construction sector. It’s not just a call for fairness, it’s a roadmap to a more successful and future-fit industry for everyone.
Winner
The Leadership We Need: A New Mindset for a Brighter Future
Maria Brinck
There are many books on leadership and how to become a better leader, but very few on the urgent need to evolve our leadership culture. The Leadership We Need argues that masculine leadership qualities such as competition, the survival of the fittest, and tribal mentality, won’t solve the lack of employee engagement in business nor the existential challenges we face. It contrasts traditional, male-centric leadership approaches with the incredible work and wisdom of leaders, many women, whose names few have heard of and their humble, nurturing and caring leadership qualities with an unwavering will to lead in collaboration and in service of others. This book champions the inclusion of women and the acknowledgment of our entire human family, incorporating leadership skills and insights from non-Western traditions to enrich our understanding of leadership.
Finalist
Financial Leadership Fundamentals: How to become a CFO in a startup or scaleup
Alysha Randall
Financial Leadership Fundamentals helps ambitious finance professionals step up into a leadership role particularly in fast-paced startup and scaleups where expectations are high, but guidance is often missing. The book breaks down the transition from qualified accountant or finance manager to strategic finance leader, showing readers how to stop firefighting and start influencing. It helps people build confidence, think like a CFO, and understand how to add value beyond the numbers.
Through practical tools, relatable stories, and real-world examples, the book shows how to manage founder relationships, own the finance function, and contribute at board level. It’s especially powerful for women and underrepresented professionals in finance who are ready to move from being “the one who does the reports” to someone who shapes business strategy. It’s helping readers secure promotions, lead with confidence, and redefine their role within growing companies.
Finalist
Deliberately Different: Fifty Years. Two Generations. Leading in a Changing World
Judith M. von Seldeneck
Aileen K. Alexander
This is not your typical leadership book.
It’s the story of two very different women, Judith M. “Judee” von Seldeneck and Aileen K. Alexander, who built their careers in two very different eras. Each started out in public service—Judee on Capitol Hill in the ’60s and Aileen in the military in the ’90s. Each had a front row seat to observe leaders through challenging and historic times. And they share a common purpose: widening the circle of leaders for a changing world.
Presented as an open and engaging dialogue between the authors, this book is full of entertaining and uplifting anecdotes that will be useful for executives in any industry, any generation, and any context. Their forward-thinking wisdom sets a new standard of excellence for the leaders who will shape our future—including you.