The World's Best Book Summaries
Why is it important to balance work, rest, and play? How can you overcome the pressure to be productive? In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown explains that embracing rest and play is a crucial part of living Wholeheartedly. Refusing to engage in play and rest can lead to depression and has been linked to serious health conditions. Learn why you should leave “hustle culture” behind and learn to balance work, rest, and play.
Are we living in the age of a knowledge worker? What type of work is considered “knowledge work”? Knowledge workers as those who use the knowledge acquired through formal education to produce results—in other words, people who think for a living. According to Peter Drucker, knowledge workers are, in effect, executives because, whether or not they supervise others, they make the same types of decisions as managers as opposed to following orders. Read about the rise of the knowledge worker and its implications for the economy at large.
What are three to five time-wasting activities that affect your day-to-day work? Can you think of ways to reduce the amount of time you spend on them? Wasting time on things that don’t produce results is unfortunate but unavoidable. In his book The Effective Executive, management consultant Peter Drucker offers four-step advice on how to minimize time-wasting activities and free up time for tasks that yield real, tangible results. Follow these four steps to root out your time-wasters.
Do you feel passionate about the work that you do? Do you ever get so into your work that you lose track of time? If you answered no to those questions, then you should either learn to adapt to new opportunities or find new work. We spend a large amount of our lives working and if you can’t find flow at work, it can greatly affect your quality of life. Here are some things you can do to find flow at work.
How do you find an ideal employee to fit the position that you need filled? What traits and talents would your ideal employee have? It’s not easy to find the ideal fit for a job, especially during the hiring process. While you can’t change the way people present themselves, you can clearly define the talents that describe the ideal worker for the position you’re trying to fill. Think about the following tips as you’re creating your ideal employee profile.
What do jobs pose a paradox to flow? How can we enter a flow state doing work that we don’t enjoy? In his book Flow, Csikszentmihalyi performed a study to determine whether we entered the flow state more at work or during leisure time. As it turns out, participants enjoyed their leisure time more even though they entered the flow state more often at work. This is the paradox jobs pose. Continue below to learn more about Csikszentmihalyi’s findings.
Is micromanagement always a bad thing? Can overseeing every little detail of employees’ workflow ever be good? Micromanagement is a common practice in modern workplaces. Most of the time, micromanagement is toxic in that it hinders employee performance. However, there are occasions when micromanagement is the way to go. Here’s why managers think they must oversee every detail and when that can actually be helpful.
What does employee performance management entail in your organization? What are the characteristics of a good performance management routine? Employee performance management consists of meetings and conversations that help you to focus on the progress and performance of your employees. An effective performance management routine must be simple, regular, future-focused, and tailored to each individual employee. Here are some things to think about as you design a performance management routine for your organization.
How do you foster a good relationship with your manager? Is there a right and wrong way to deal with management? Relationships with managers can be tricky to navigate. The way you deal with management depends on your position within the organization. In this article, we’ll explore how to work with managers from an employee and leadership perspective.
Why is it harder to find mentorship for women? Can women succeed without a mentor? While men have an easy time finding and maintaining mentorship, for women, it is much more difficult to come by. But having a mentor is critical for career progression. Here is why to find mentorship, women need to take a different approach than men.