Work Behavior

With the exception of sleep, humans spend more of their lifetimes on work than any other activity. It is central to our economy, our society, and the family. It underpins our finances and our sense of meaning in life. Given the overriding importance of work, we need to recognize a profound transformation in the nature of work that is significantly altering lives: the incoming tidal wave of shadow work. Shadow work includes all the unpaid tasks we do on behalf of businesses and organizations.

On Fire at Work flies in the face of other books on workplace culture by showing that employee engagement isn't the ultimate goal - it's merely the starting point. Top-tier leaders of the world's best places to work reveal their best-practice strategies for getting employees to work harder, perform better, and stay longer. On Fire at Work features examples and original stories from exclusive personal interviews with over 25 founders/CEOs/presidents of companies like Marriott, Siemens, and many more!

A generations expert and author of When Generations Collide and The M-Factor teams up with his 17-year-old son to introduce the next influential demographic group to join the workforce - Generation Z - in this essential study, the first on the subject. They were born between between 1995 and 2012. At 72.8 million strong, Gen Z is about to make its presence known in the workplace in a major way - and employers need to understand the differences that set them apart.

Bosses, Coworkers, and Building Great Work Relationships is filled with practical advice from HBR experts who can help you answer questions like: What's the best way to have a tough conversation with my boss? How do I connect with people and make real friends at work? When should I opt into (or out of) office politics? How can I build a strong professional network?

Drawing on her 18 years of experience working remotely, plus original interviews with managers, employees, and free agents who've perfected their remote routines, Laura Vanderkam shares strategies for productivity, creativity, and health in the new corner office.

Positive mentoring relationships can change the way we lead and help us succeed. In One Minute Mentoring, legendary management guru Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz, a former Twitter executive and early employee, combine their knowledge to provide a systematic approach to intergenerational mentoring, giving listeners great insight into the power and influence of mentoring and encouraging them to pursue their own mentoring relationships.

The human brain is an impossibly complex and delicate instrument—capable of extraordinary calculations, abundant creativity, and linguistic dexterity. But the brain is not just the most brilliant of evolutionary wonders. It's also one of the most bizarre. This book shows a whole other side of how brains work—from the patient who is afraid to take a shower because she fears her body will slip down the drain to a man who is convinced he is a cat and a woman who compulsively snacks on cigarette ashes.

Friendship expert Shasta Nelson unpacks the distinct ways we can make work relationships the healthiest they can be, both for the sake of the employee and the mission of the company. She inspires listeners to see why friendship is crucial to our health and our careers, and teaches us exactly how to develop the supportive and meaningful connections we need.

Shorter tells the story of entrepreneurs and leaders all over the world who have discovered how to shrink the workweek without cutting salaries or sacrificing productivity or revenues. They show that by reducing distractions, eliminating inefficiencies, and creating time for high-quality focus and collaboration, four-day workweeks can boost recruitment and retention, make leaders more thoughtful and companies more sustainable, and improve work-life balance.

In today’s work environment, the lines between our professional and personal lives are blurred more than ever before. Whatever is happening to us outside of our workplace - whether stressful, painful, or joyful - follows us into work as well. We may think we have to keep these realities under wraps and act as if we “have it all together”. But as Mike Robbins explains, we can work better, lead better, and be more engaged and fulfilled if - instead of trying to hide who we are- we show up fully and authentically.

Why work harder than you have to? One manager kept his senior execs happy by secretly hacking into the company’s database, providing them the reports they needed in one-third the time. Hacking is a powerful solution to every stupid procedure, tool, rule, and process we are forced to endure. Benevolent hackers are saving business from itself. It would be so much easier to do great work if not for lingering bureaucracies, outdated technologies, and deeply irrational rules and procedures.

An essential resource for any working woman, What Works for Women at Work is a comprehensive and insightful guide for mastering office politics as a woman. Authored by Joan C. Williams, one of the nation's most-cited experts on women and work, and her daughter, writer Rachel Dempsey, this unique audiobook offers a multigenerational perspective into the realities of today's workplace.

There are two kinds of managers in the world, those who have supervised non-team players and those who will. Those who have had this experience know how a non-team player can single-handedly kill a team’s productivity, focus, and morale. Most managers are woefully unprepared to work through these situations but it doesn’t have to be that way.

In Go Together, workplace positivity expert Shola Richards suggests replacing divisiveness and incivility with a commitment to living, working, and leading together to positively change the world. Go Together begins with the story of an impactful keynote speech Richards gave at a conference on workplace civility and a powerful concept: Ubuntu. A transcendent African philosophy, Ubuntu represent the power of human connectedness, compassion, kindness, and togetherness. It was the central theme of his speech on that day, and it also serves as the central theme of this book.

Virtual working - also known as remote working, telecommuting, flexible working, or homeworking - is an important and growing trend in the global employment landscape. Its popularity has increased due to globalization and outsourcing. However, unlocking the benefits of virtual work depends largely on the organizational culture, management, and leadership to support it. Virtual Leadership identifies the challenges of virtual work and explains how to develop the facilitative leadership mindset to effectively manage people remotely.

The German shorthaired pointer, or GSP, is an exceptionally versatile hunting dog that was bred in Germany in the 19th century. Like all pointer breeds, GSPs are very capable of spotting and quietly drawing attention to their quarry. Included with breeds like bloodhounds and English pointers, however, GSPs are also excellent trackers that are both fast and agile when pursuing game.

What is the work ethic? Does it justify policies that promote the wealth and power of the One Percent at workers' expense? Or does it advance policies that promote workers' dignity and standing? Hijacked explores how the history of political economy has been a contest between these two ideas about whom the work ethic is supposed to serve.

Active listening is the doorway to increased belonging, loyalty, profitability, innovation, and so much more. It is the difference between thinking we understand what people want and knowing what they want. Want to build stronger relationships, avoid misunderstandings, and anticipate problems before they surface at work? All you have to do is listen.

As we struggle to keep up in a knowledge economy that never sleeps, we arm ourselves with life hacks, to-do lists, and an inbox-zero mentality, grasping at anything that will help us work faster, push harder, and produce more. There’s just one problem: most of these solutions are making things worse. Creativity isn’t produced on an assembly line, and endless hustle is ruining our mental and physical health while subtracting from our creative performance.

One of the most important reasons people today choose to stay—or leave—a job is the culture of the company. As people become more socially conscious; focus more on wellness, self-care, and work-life balance; and seek jobs where they feel a real connection, it’s more important than ever to think about the elements of a job between the work itself. But how do you create a culture that people enjoy while staying productive and successful? In Happy at Work, you’ll first learn a bit more about why a happy workplace is so important and how it can benefit both employees and the company as a whole.