Workplace Motivation

When you care enough to champion others, the workplace becomes happily infectious and the organization benefits in more ways than one.

Working with difficult people can reduce your morale, threaten your productivity, deplete your energy, and waste your time. But you don't have to be helpless in the face of other people's craziness! Knowing how to handle coworkers' disruptive behavior is one of the most important career skills you can have, allowing you to become a more valuable employee and a more self-reliant person.

Once upon a time, a clan of meerkats lived in the Kalahari, a region in Southern Africa. After years of steady growth, a drought has sharply reduced the clan's resources, and deadly vulture attacks have increased. As things keep getting worse, the harmony of the clan is shattered. The executive team quarrels about possible solutions, and suggestions from frontline workers face a soul-crushing response: "That's not how we do it here!"

We all need to think more like entrepreneurs. Seeking and seizing opportunities, boldly taking risks, quickly changing course - achieving success today requires the kind of action-first, fake-it-'til-you-make-it ethos celebrated in the tech industry. This formula is not typically a female one. Women tend to be cautious. We overthink our next moves, become paralyzed by fear, and simply don't act. We might be safer...but we're also stuck.

The New York Times says Robert J. Kriegel "spurred a revolution in performace practice" with his studies of productivity and the psychology of change. In How to Succeed... he debunks the commonly held belief that working harder is always better, and offers a saner alternative to the 100-hour work week.

In this timely and essential guide, McKinsey alumni Gaurav Bhatnagar and Mark Minukas present a proven approach to workplace anxiety that reduces stress, boosts well-being, and overcomes blocks that get in the way of success. It begins with changing our relationship with fear and then developing strategies that improve outlook and performance, leading to greater profits, sustainable growth, and personal rewards. It’s only possible with a culture of unfear.

Far too many people in contemporary culture feel they don't have enough time to "get it all done". The stress of this chronic overwhelm creates a disorganized mind that leads to a chaotic life. Based on her highly acclaimed "Energy Management" workshops and drawn from over 25 years of counseling and coaching experience, professional trainer and speaker Jackie Woodside shares her breakthrough methods that lead to becoming the least stressed, most productive person you know!

Carla Harris is one of the world's most senior Black women in global finance. Highly successful and respected, in her first audiobook Expect to Win she shares advice, tips, and strategies for surviving in any workplace environment. While climbing the corporate ladder, Harris had her own missteps and celebrated numerous victories. She vowed that when she reached senior management, and people came to her for advice, she would provide them with the tools and strategies honed by her experience.

In Contagious Culture, Anese Cavanaugh proved that it's possible to create an energized and engaged organizational culture that spreads from person to person. Now, in Contagious You, she hones in on the individual, showing us how each of us is contagious in our own way and stressing the importance of leading with intention to achieve positive results.

What if you didn’t have to change everything in your career to change your life at work? There’s a fresh answer to help you make better career decisions without resorting to the drastic measures of changing careers, finding a new job, starting a business, or bowing to an early and unwanted retirement - and without settling or sacrificing your health, family life, and well-being. Darcy Eikenberg shares simple, practical ways to reset how you think, revise what you say, and rescue your career without quitting, feeling stuck, or changing everything in your life.

Her husband died in a car accident six months ago. Burying her pain, Stephanie Hall focused on managing their software company and raising their twelve-year-old twin girls. During a visit to her father in St. John, she meets Neil Cooper, a lawyer. Attraction sizzles between them, and Neil manages to befriend her difficult daughters. The vacation ends too soon. Back in Atlanta, in the middle of a snowstorm, Stephanie decides to reorganize her company and allow herself family time. While cleaning her late husband’s office, she discovers painful secrets that destroy her peace of mind. Neil ...

Tim Stevens traveled an alternative road—leaving high school and immediately joining a national non-profit organization. He rose quickly through the ranks of leadership, but nine years later left it all behind to help an upstart church get its footing. During the 20 years Stevens served as Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Indiana, the ministry grew from a congregation of 300 to more than 5,000; from a staff of five to more than 130; with a preschool, restaurant, three campuses and more than 1,800 new churches planted in southern India.

For women over 50, this invaluable guide combines practical advice, exercises, and no shortage of sass that will inspire listeners to beat ageist limitations and own their careers.

Paul Williams and Andreas Krebs take a no-punches-held look at the stories we tell ourselves about business success. The rags-to-riches tale is tempting, but we don’t have to search far to see that most organizations rise for a time, only to experience a dramatic fall from grace. Just look at some of the companies that used to be household names: Nokia, AOL, Pan Am, Woolworth, and Blockbuster. The Illusion of Invincibility examines the why of success and failure. It’s a smart, funny, and radical look at how to build and sustain a great organization.

Getting your employees to do their best work has never been easy. But it is a particular challenge for knowledge workers, who must attend to many different tasks and whose to-do list is often ambiguous, requiring outside-the-box thinking. Lists of dos and don'ts are rarely effective. Instead, your best bet is to align their interests with your own - the heart of motivation - and set them free to use their own drive and creativity on their, and your, behalf.

That is the challenge that all leaders face. This challenge grows more intense every day. Lead with Speed is the answer. This problem of speed is often disguised by other symptoms, such as "my projects cannot make an accurate prediction of when they will be done" or the stated need of "my teams need to take more risks." The real need is not reckless risk-taking that will lead to even more problems and finishing even later. The real need is for speed.

How many people find senses of purpose in their jobs? Unfortunately studies show that most do not. Their bodies may put in long hours, but their hearts and minds never punch in. And that's a terrible dilemma for organizations trying to motivate their workforces to do more with less.

Richard Branson, one of the world's most famous and admired business leaders, argues that it's time to turn capitalism upside down - to shift our values from an exclusive focus on profit to also caring for people, communities and the planet. As he writes: "It's a vibrant and definite sea change from the way business was always done, when financial profit was a driving force. Today, people aren't afraid to say, Screw business as usual!-and show they mean it."

How to Go to Work is a practical guide to equip you with everything you need to know to choose and achieve the career you want. The world of work is changing faster than ever before and it can feel overwhelmingly competitive out there. That's why Lucy Clayton, a founding CEO, and Steve Haines, an education policy advisor, have compiled and distilled the most valuable advice you can get on how to jump-start your career and shortcut the competition.

How do you deal with a difficult boss who is always unavailable? How should you handle a coworker who never completes their portion of a project on schedule? How can you establish a strong work-life balance when starting a new job? The workplace can be full of challenging situations and no matter how passionate, frustrated, excited, or downright angry you feel, it’s important to stay polite and professional. Whether you struggle with finding the right words or simply aren’t sure how to approach a topic, Do This, Not That: Career is here to help!