TRF READS 2025: The Power Code by Katty Kay & Claire Shipman

More Joy. Less Ego. Maximum Impact for Women (and Everyone) 

For 2025, TRF selected The Power Code, a bold and necessary redefinition of power by journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. Known for The Confidence Code, Kay and Shipman now take on the bigger question: What does power look like when women claim it on their own terms—and reshape it entirely? 

What It’s About 

The Power Code challenges the traditional, patriarchal model of power and introduces a new blueprint—one that prioritizes collaboration over competition, impact over status, and joy over ego. 

Through extensive interviews with women in politics, business, diplomacy, and more, the authors reveal how women around the world are shifting not just how they lead—but how they define leadership altogether. They explore how power can be more accessible, meaningful, and life-affirming when detached from outdated structures of dominance. 

What It Says About Power 

The book’s core argument is that power doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. In fact, the most effective and sustainable power is generative. It builds things. It includes others. It transforms institutions rather than preserving hierarchies. 

Kay and Shipman advocate for a version of power that is flexible, communal, and deeply rooted in authenticity. In this model, power becomes a tool for joy and change—not control. 

Leadership Quote to Remember 

“Power is not about control—it’s about impact.” 

How The Power Code Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

If ever there was a manifesto for how The Rudnicki Firm operates, The Power Code is it. 

We don’t lead with ego—we lead with effectiveness. We don’t chase titles—we chase results. And we don’t climb over others to get to the top—we build the whole damn staircase for the next woman coming up. 

We redefine power every time we walk into a courtroom and command it without raising our voices. We wield power through preparation, presence, and purpose. And we use that power to uplift—not just our clients, but our team, our profession, and the lawyers watching us work. 

At The Rudnicki Firm, power is never about posturing. It’s about impact with integrity—and doing it with joy. 

TRF READS 2024: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. 

For 2024, TRF leaned into courage with Dare to Lead, a transformative guide from researcher and bestselling author Brené Brown. Drawing from her two decades of work on vulnerability, shame, and connection, Brown brings her sharpest insights into the leadership arena—and challenges us all to lead with more heart, not less. 

What It’s About 

Brown’s thesis is simple: the future of leadership belongs to the brave. But bravery isn’t about being the loudest in the room. It’s about choosing courage over comfort, showing up with vulnerability, and fostering trust—even when it’s messy. 

She introduces key frameworks like rumbling with vulnerability, living into your values, and building brave cultures—ones where people can speak truth, take risks, and belong without burning out. 

What It Says About Power 

Brown rejects the idea that power comes from control or invulnerability. Real power, she says, is rooted in trust, empathy, and emotional clarity. Daring leaders don’t armor up—they open up, creating space for others to grow, contribute, and lead in return. 

Power is no longer “power over.” It’s “power with, power to, and power within.” 

Leadership Quote to Remember 

“Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” 

How Dare to Lead Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

At The Rudnicki Firm, we don’t lead with bravado—we lead with clarity, courage, and conviction. Brown’s call to “rumble with vulnerability” mirrors the way we prepare for trial: unflinchingly honest, deeply collaborative, and unwilling to hide behind empty posturing. 

Whether we’re guiding clients through high-stakes litigation or mentoring our team, we prioritize candor over comfort. We speak hard truths when they need to be spoken—and we do it with respect, not ego. 

Just like Brown teaches, we know that building trust isn’t soft. It’s strategic.  

We’re not afraid to lead with whole hearts. That’s what makes us dangerous. 

TRF READS 2023: The Comfort Book by Matt Haig

Words of Hope, Wisdom, and Calm for Tough Times 

For 2023, TRF chose something different—a book that doesn’t look like a leadership manual, but quietly delivers some of the most important leadership lessons of all. The Comfort Book by Matt Haig is a beautifully curated collection of reflections, quotes, and reminders that speak to resilience, humanity, and hope. 

What It’s About 

This isn’t a book you read cover-to-cover in one sitting. It’s the kind of book you keep within reach—on your desk, by your bedside, or in your briefcase—for the moment you need to be reminded that you are enough, that discomfort doesn’t last forever, and that rest is not weakness. 

Haig’s reflections are deeply personal, often raw, and incredibly wise. He touches on grief, failure, doubt, anxiety, and the quiet strength that emerges from surviving them all. 

What It Says About Power 

Haig redefines power in the most radical way: as softness. As being fully human. As choosing kindness when you’re hurting, hope when you’re exhausted, and compassion when you feel overlooked. 

Power isn’t loud in The Comfort Book. It’s resilient. It’s quiet dignity. It’s the decision to keep going when everything in you says stop. For leaders, that’s often the most important kind of power there is. 

Leadership Quote to Remember 

'“Nothing is stronger than a small hope that doesn’t give up.” 

How The Comfort Book Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

At The Rudnicki Firm, we know that leadership doesn’t always look like commanding a courtroom or delivering a closing argument. Sometimes, it’s showing up on a hard day. Sometimes, it’s encouraging a teammate who doubts herself. Sometimes, it’s allowing space for grief, for mistakes, or for silence. 

The Comfort Book speaks directly to the heart of our firm’s culture: we lead with humanity. We push hard, but we care harder. We know that being a strong advocate starts with being a grounded, whole person. 

Resilience is in our bones. And this book reminds us that even in the hardest season, we still have something to give—because we never give up.

TRF READS 2022: Good Power by Ginni Rometty

Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World 

In 2022, TRF took on a book that challenges traditional leadership from the very top—Good Power by Ginni Rometty, the former CEO of IBM and one of the few women to lead a Fortune 500 company. Part memoir, part leadership manual, Good Power offers a grounded, principle-based approach to creating meaningful impact. 

What It’s About 

Rometty shares her personal story—from growing up with a single mother in a working-class home to becoming the first woman to lead IBM. But Good Power is not about personal triumph—it’s about using influence to improve systems, lift others, and lead with integrity. 

The book introduces five principles of “good power,” including building belief, knowing what must change and what must endure, stewarding trust, and being in service of others. 

 What It Says About Power 

Rometty defines “good power” as the kind of power that creates—rather than destroys—trust, opportunity, and progress. It is deliberate, inclusive, and ethical. Power isn’t inherently good or bad—it’s how you use it. The leaders who leave a lasting mark, she argues, are those who build others up, empower their teams, and stay rooted in service. 

Power isn’t about charisma or control—it’s about responsibility and results. 

Leadership Quote to Remember 

“Growth and comfort never coexist.” 

How Good Power Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

The Rudnicki Firm operates on the exact principles Rometty champions. We don’t wield power for its own sake—we use it to protect our clients, elevate our team, and push for accountability in every courtroom we enter. 

Just like Rometty, we believe that good power is built on earned trust. That’s why we over-prepare. It’s why we mentor. It’s why we stay calm under fire. Our power doesn’t come from volume or bravado—it comes from results, delivered with precision and purpose. 

We’re not just practicing law. We’re reshaping what it means to lead in this profession—and we’re doing it without compromising who we are. 

TRF READS 2021: When Women Lead by Julia Boorstin

What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them

In 2021, TRF dove into When Women Lead, a sweeping, data-driven exploration by journalist Julia Boorstin into how women are redefining leadership across industries—from tech startups to legacy institutions. Boorstin interviewed more than 100 female CEOs, founders, and executives to uncover what makes women’s leadership not just different—but distinctly powerful.  

What It’s About 

Boorstin takes a myth-busting approach to women in leadership. Rather than framing female traits as “less than,” she shows how qualities like empathy, adaptability, vulnerability, and collaboration lead to superior outcomes. These are not soft skills—they are strategic advantages. 

She also addresses the systemic obstacles women face, and how many succeed not by overcoming the system, but by reimagining it altogether. 

What It Says About Power 

 Power, according to Boorstin, isn’t about control or dominance. It’s about credibility, connection, and vision. Female leaders often draw their power not from positional authority but from relational trust. They tend to lead with transparency, authenticity, and resilience—traits that build lasting influence and organizational loyalty. 

This is leadership rooted not in ego, but in impact. 

Leadership Quote to Remember 

 “Authenticity isn’t a liability—it’s a leadership superpower.”  

How When Women Lead Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

The Rudnicki Firm lives the leadership lessons in When Women Lead every day. 

We don’t succeed in spite of doing things differently—we succeed because of it. Just like Boorstin’s profiles of women who built high-growth startups and navigated male-dominated spaces, our firm thrives by leaning into emotional intelligence, strategic collaboration, and unshakable grit. 

We don’t posture—we prepare. We don’t grandstand—we connect. And like the women in Boorstin’s book, we believe the power of leadership lies in showing up as you are, not as someone else told you to be. 

Our strength is in our clarity, our confidence, and our commitment to rewriting the rules of legal leadership. 

TRF READS 2020: Wolfpack by Abby Wambach

How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game 

In 2020, TRF kicked off our leadership reading journey with a battle cry: Wolfpack by two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion Abby Wambach. Inspired by her viral commencement speech, this compact manifesto is more than a call to action—it’s a permission slip to lead differently. 

 What It’s About 

Wolfpack challenges the traditional rules that women have been told to follow—rules about staying quiet, being grateful but not demanding, and competing instead of collaborating. Wambach flips those on their head and replaces them with eight new rules that center on boldness, community, and trust. She urges women to break from the old pack mentality and build a new one—together. 

 This book is for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider in leadership spaces or who’s been told to wait their turn. Abby’s message is clear: Don’t wait. Lead. 

 What It Says About Power 

Wambach redefines power as collective, not competitive. She dismantles the myth that power is a scarce resource. Instead, she presents power as something expansive—something that grows stronger when shared. For Wambach, true power is rooted in unity, and leadership means pulling others up with you. 

Power is not dominance. It’s community. And it’s yours to claim. 

How Wolfpack Applies to The Rudnicki Firm 

At its core, Wolfpack is about rewriting outdated leadership rules, building a culture of courage, and amplifying the voices of women and outsiders. That ethos is deeply aligned with what The Rudnicki Firm stands for. 

 1. We Don’t Ask for a Seat—We Build the Table 

Abby Wambach tells women to stop asking for permission. The Rudnicki Firm embodies that every day. We are trial lawyers who own the courtroom, not because it was handed to us, but because we took it—and we prepared harder than anyone else to stay there. 

 2. We Lead With Our Pack, Not Against It 

Wambach’s vision of collective power is echoed in our team-first, women-forward culture. We don’t climb over one another to reach the top—we rise together. Whether mentoring junior lawyers, supporting working parents, or standing shoulder to shoulder at counsel table, we lead like a pack. 

 3. We Turn Failure Into Fuel 

One of Wambach’s “new rules” is to make failure your fuel. That’s trial work in a nutshell. We learn, iterate, and push forward, knowing that every setback is a setup for the next win. Our strength is in our resilience—and our willingness to adapt. 

 4. We Redefine What Power Looks Like 

At The Rudnicki Firm, power doesn’t mean fitting into old molds. It means showing up fully—prepared, passionate, and unapologetically ourselves. Like Wambach, we believe power is something to share, not hoard. That belief informs our leadership, our litigation style, and our relationships with clients. 

 Quote That Defines Our Vibe 

 “Be grateful for what you have. And demand what you deserve.” Abby Wambach, The Wolfpack  

That’s not just a quote. That’s how we negotiate. That’s how we advocate. That’s how we win.