The World's Best Book Summaries
How important is work-life balance? Does work-life balance lead to fulfillment? According to Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham, the authors of Nine Lies About Work, maintaining a work-life balance can actually burn you out and make you unhappy. Instead, they suggest finding a job that you love so you won’t feel drained. Here’s why work-life balance is overrated.
What is Marcus Buckingham’s and Ashley Goodall’s Nine Lies About Work about? What are the main points you should take away from the book? In their book Nine Lies About Work, Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall expose the flawed workplace norms that are often misconceived as the traits to success. They sum up these norms into nine lies and explained why they’re so damaging to businesses. Below is a brief overview of the key themes.
Do you often walk away from a meeting feeling like you’ve wasted precious time? Does your agenda often get hijacked by people rambling or going off-topic? Have you ever left a 2-hour meeting feeling like you could have gotten just as much done in 30 minutes? If any of this sounds relatable, you need to understand the best practices for meetings. This guide will explore why meetings are so dreaded and, more importantly, what you can do about it. Keep reading for a guide to the best practices for meetings that every leader should follow.
What do oxytocin and cortisol have to do with leadership? How does cortisol hinder collaboration and cause division amongst employees? In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek explains how cortisol and oxytocin affect leadership. Cortisol creates a toxic work culture where employees see each other as competitors rather than collaborators. Oxytocin, on the other hand, fosters empathy and trust, which encourages collaboration and inspires innovation. Here’s how cortisol and oxytocin affect the workplace culture in your organization, according to Sinek.
Why is it important to foster empathy in the workplace? What are the consequences of a lack of empathy in an organization? According to management theorist Simon Sinek, empathy in the workplace fosters a supportive environment by combating abstraction through the release of oxytocin. When empathy is absent, people see each other as abstract concepts rather than people. As a result, they focus on their own benefits, rather than the common goal. Read about the importance of empathy in the workplace, according to Sinek.
What is a “circle of safety” in Sinek’s conceptualization? How do you develop a circle of safety in your organization? According to Simon Sinek, a “circle of safety” is a company culture where employees’ needs are prioritized above the company’s profits. By putting your employees’ needs first, you create an environment where they feel safe to collaborate and innovate. Here’s how prioritizing your subordinates’ needs drives collaboration and innovation, according to Sinek.
What are the signs of toxic workplace culture? How does toxic work culture affect your employee’s performance and willingness to collaborate? Toxic workplace culture is a breeding ground for the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol stifles the release of oxytocin, the neurochemical which fosters empathy and trust. When employees lack empathy and trust toward one another, they’re much less likely to collaborate, seeing each other as competitors and threats to their own success. Here’s how a lack of empathy creates a toxic workplace culture.
Are your employees unwilling to collaborate? What can you, as a leader do, to encourage collaboration in your organization? The key to fostering collaboration in your organization is to nurture a higher purpose. When you and your subordinates are devoted to fulfilling this kind of purpose, the possibility that you’ll fail to do so becomes enough of a threat to encourage collaboration and strengthen the supportive environment. Here’s how having a higher purpose unites teams.
Is putting pressure on yourself a bad thing? Do people perform better under pressure? Surprisingly, some people actually do work better under pressure. Putting pressure on yourself can help you manage stress and anxiety, while also making you relentless to succeed. Here’s what Tim Grover, author of Relentless, says about the benefits of pressuring yourself.
Do you feel like your organization has a supportive work environment? What can you, as a leader, do to cultivate a supportive work culture in your organization? In a supportive work environment, employees feel that you see them as people, rather than mere assets to increase profits. In his book Leaders Eat Last, management theorist Simon Sinek suggests three strategies to strengthen your supportive environment and encourage trust and collaboration. Let’s explore Sinek’s strategies for cultivating a supportive environment in the workplace.