Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: isolation

  • Karl’s Library: Vital Friends by Tom Rath

    The myth of the independent, diversely-competent, always-together person must be hunted down wherever it still reigns and destroyed once and for all.

    It’s destroying more people and all workplace cultures where its lies are still blindly obeyed.

    Human beings don’t do life alone.

    Human being can’t do life alone.

    Fortunately, Tom Rath has taken a look at friendship and work in Vital Friends: The People You Can’t Afford To Live Without.

    Would you believe, “that people who have a ‘best friend’ at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their job?!”

    Take note of the eight vital roles Rath asserts we need surrounding us:

    1. Builder
    2. Champion
    3. Collaborator
    4. Companion
    5. Connector
    6. Energizer
    7. Mind Opener
    8. Navigator 

    You don’t have to be a “warm and fuzzy” type to appreciate the value of most of these roles.

    This book is an invitation to connect with others in ways you may not yet have considered.

    This book may even be a helpful wake-up call to those of us who tend to isolate and go it alone.

    Order your copy today.

    Karl’s Library is a weekly column highlighting my favorites from my professional development library. “Always learning” is one of the pillars of my personal mission statement. Explore past columns here.

     

    If you’re a Kindle fan like I am, it is available for the Kindle.

    Don’t have a Kindle? Get one! You’ll love it.

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> The Answer to How is Yes #7: Claiming Full Citizenship

    thought-leadersThis is the chapter my soul has been waiting for.

    While the process of “growing up” didn’t sit well with Block, it describes my internal state incredibly well.

    I can feel the tension between complaining that positional leaders don’t see me on the one hand, and simply, freely, and boldly taking action on my values, convictions and ideas on the other.

    I can also feel the personal grief and internal resistance to Block’s assertion that growing up involves accepting “that living out our values and also winning the approval of those who have power over us, is an unfulfillable longing.”

    I don’t know where that “longing” comes from, but I can recognize it in myself.

    This is what I love about reading together. I get the opportunity to recognize in the vocabulary, experiences, and frames of reference of others what I have up until now not been seeing in myself.

    Block points to a different sort of maturity here. I would call is a form of poise. A centeredness. A peace about who I am and how different I am from most everyone around me.

    The significance of this poise is that suffices for taking bold action regardless of (more…)

  • Listen In -> Making Peace with Work #3: Replacing Isolation with Collaboration

    It’s easier to do some things ourselves.

    The quality is better, we’re finished sooner, and the worry is eliminated.

    But it’s never easier to do everything ourselves.

    How did we end up all alone in the midst of a sea of people?

    This week Claudia and I discuss how we inadvertently isolate ourselves at work. We also suggest collaboration as a practical and achievable alternative.

    Don’t miss this episode! Listen in now.