Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

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  • Bill Heatley on Graduation and Finding Meaningful Work

    Bill Heatley never disappoints with his insightful reframing of work and success in terms of human spirituality and our relationships with God.

    Check out his recent interview with “tothesource”. (click here)

    In this interview Heatley discusses the transition from college life to work life and some of the misconceptions, myths, and empty promises that young people face. He offers the refreshing and challenging alternative that work might actually be a place to bless society and each other through meaningful participation.

    Two realms (work and religion) that most people keep compartmentalized, he comfortably integrates with language that is both accessible and helpful.

    Bill is a kindred spirit regarding the natural integration of work and faith. If you have not met Bill, you need to do so right away. 

    Bill Heatley is also the author of The Gift of Work, a helpful rethink of our workplace commitments in terms of God’s larger intentions for our well-being.

  • Karl’s Library: Building The Bridge As You Walk On It by Robert Quinn

    The perfect metaphor for describing the task of leadership today.

    With constant and rapid change being a decision-making reality, leaders no longer have the luxury of planning for futures that are either predictable or stable for any period of time.

    Robert Quinn was one of the first to address this issue in Building The Bridge As You Walk On It.

    Both visionary and practical Quinn helps us see how we can actively participate in building the future even as it emerges in many ways beyond our control.

    Eight practices characterize the leader who functions in what Quinn indentifies as the “Fundamental State of Leadership”:

    1. Reflective Action
    2. Authentic Engagement
    3. Appreciative Inquiry
    4. Grounded Vision
    5. Adaptive Confidence
    6. Detached Interdependence
    7. Responsible Freedom
    8. Tough Love 

    Each noun and its complementary adjective in the list are carefully chosen and combined.

    I use this book in my “No Excuses WORKout” coaching cohorts, and cannot say enough good things about it.

    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.

  • Loving Monday: Popcorn and Perspective

    loving_mondayOur important issues always feel big. That’s as it should be.

    Sometimes they feel bigger than everything and everyone else. That might become a problem.

    Yes, it is awful when someone burns the popcorn, and the entire office smells horrible, and you can barely keep from gagging much less get your work done.

    No, uncovering the mystery of who is the negligent and insensitive popcorn burner is is not something to interrupt a manager’s meeting with.

    I begin with a smaller and possibly silly example to point at that issues get their importance relative to the issues around them.

    Perspective derives from proximity.

    This photo of the person holding the sun is an exaggerated example in the other direction.

    From where we stand, the person is obviously bigger than the ball of light in his hands.

    Our problems, challenges and opportunities are always big because they are ours. (Let’s give ourselves that much.)

    But can we also walk over to another vantage point and look at the issue from that perspective?

    The perspective of a busy co-worker, the perspective of our supervisor, the perspective of a tight budget, the perspective of the worried client, the perspective of a competing project, etc., etc.

    The ability to walk over to a variety of vantage points and look at an issue from different angles is key to keeping our issue in perspective.

    We don’t have to make our issue smaller in order to make room for the others, but we may need adjust how, when and with whom we approach it.

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Quote to Consider: Audacious Naivety

    quote-to-consider“Nothing’s easier than believing we understand experiences we’ve never had.”

    Gwen Bristow

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #70


    Moment of silence. Broken coffee maker.

     

    Karl Edwards

  • Karl’s Library: Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie

    Both fun and helpful, Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace is a treat you should not deprive yourself.

    Organization as hairball. Does it get any clearer than that?!

    Many of us experience our corporate systems getting in the way more than helping us along. As is commonly noted, it takes seven authorizations to get a new idea approved, but only one rejection to kill it.

    From the publisher:

    “Creativity is crucial to business success. But too often, even the most innovative organization quickly becomes a “giant hairball”–a tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, traditions, and systems, all based on what worked in the past–that exercises an inexorable pull into mediocrity.”

    Gordon MacKenzie is hilarious. He shares from his own personal experience how he learned to survive and even thrive in a corporate context.

    Instead of getting entangled in the corporate hairball, learn to orbit it!

    This book is one of my favorites. Especially if you don’t care for the textbook approach that characterizes most leadership books. You’ll feel right at home laughing and learning with Gordon Mackenzie.

    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.

     

    Sadly, this book is not available for the Kindle. 

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

  • Loving Monday: The Inspiration of Friends

    loving_mondayI am lucky. I have great friends.

    I am experiencing the inspiration of friends today.

    Friends can be a lot of good things. Friends can be support. Friends can be courage. Friends can be acceptance. Friends can be play.

    Here’s the deal when it comes to a friend being an inspiration.

    They do not tell you what you need to do, but you go away wanting to do something. They do not tell you what to think, but you go away thinking more… and more honestly. They don’t draw conclusions or provide answers, but raise issues and pose questions.

    What is going on, then?

    A good friend knows you and leaves room for you to show up as yourself.

    A good friend is confident that when you show up as yourself, good things are going to happen. No… great things are going to happen.

    The inspiration of friends has the effect of you and I believing in ourselves as much as they do.

    The inspiration of friends has the effect of freeing us to act more boldly on our convictions, our decisions, and/or our hunches.

    Excuse me now. I have been inspired by a friend, and there are some things I need to do right away!

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Quote to Consider: Embracing Both Good and Bad Luck

    quote-to-consider“To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his right and left hand. He uses both.”

    Saint Catherine of Siena

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #69


    Her sarcasm answered more than questions.

     

    Karl Edwards

  • Karl’s Library: The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes & Posner

    A timeless classic you cannot afford to ignore, the 5th Edition is about to be released.

    I remember when I first read The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner an unmentionable number of years ago.

    As a young leader finding my way, it was a key resource that provided an accessible vision of leadership undergirded with substantial content.

    The book is organized around five basic responsibilities of the leader:

    1. Model the way
    2. Inspired a shared vision
    3. Challenge the process
    4. Enable others to act
    5. Encourage the heart

    As I launch this column sharing the best of my professional development library, I could think of no better book with which to begin.

    Order your copy today.

    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.