21 Century Worklife

Below is a list of cutting edge thinkers, books, websites, and articles that we think speak to 21st Century Worklife and which can assist you in becoming a Self-Leader and Career Entrepreneur.

Please join our Community of Genius and let us know if you have recommended reading and resources to share!

Recommended Thinkers and Their Websites

Brene Brown: Brene is an author, researcher, and speaker who has spent the last ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. Her books are great, her TEDx Talks are great (you can access them from her website). She’s amazing. She asks:

“How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?”

Jan Phillips: ‘The Art of Original Thinking’. Phillips challenges us to allow ourselves to think in new ways:

“…Originality in thinking, in being requires a heightened state of alertness, a bridging of the poles, a show of fearlessness and willingness to forfeit the known for the unknown, the learned for the experienced.”

Susan Piver:  Susan came onto the literary scene in 2002 with her book ‘The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say “I Do”’ and has gone on to stand out as a Buddhist practitioner, a follower of the awareness of the present moment, and a believer in ‘The Wisdom of a Broken Heart’ (the title of her most recent book). In her words:

“I believe in supreme gentleness, agenda-less curiosity, outrageous self-expression, and, most of all, that walking the path of kindness is the ultimate expression of intelligence. I believe in an open heart.

The power of kindness can give us the world we dream of living in. Much more than being “nice,” kindness is a skillful means of the highest order. To be truly kind, we have to be truly aware. We have to be able to see clearly. Then we can change the world.”

Seth Godin: ‘Linchpin’. Godin zeroes in on the power that we all have as individuals:

“You are a genius. If a genius is someone with exceptional abilities and insights to find the not so obvious solution to a problem, you don’t need to win the Nobel Prize to be one. A genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck. Now we’re facing a full-fledged revolution…..[and] the ability for you (for anyone) to make an indispensable contribution to something you care about.”

Dan Pink:  ‘Free Agent Nation’, ‘Drive’, and more.  In ‘ A Whole New Mind’, Pink describes the new worklife landscape that we are inhabiting:

“A seismic shift [is] now underway in much of the advanced world. We are moving from an economy and a society built on the logical, linear, computerlike capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and a society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what’s rising in its place, the Conceptual Age.”

Pema Chodron: Pema is rightly regarded as one of the most insightful thinkers on incorporating meditation into everyday life. She is an ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun and author of many books including the wonderful ‘When Things Fall Apart’.

“The other thing is knowing that it’s very important to grieve. As painful as it is, it’s a healthy, full hearted loving response to something very, very, very sad. Grief is really important and grief is healing, ultimately… Having said all that, first of all, it’s not going to be easy… it’s always touching in, on areas that are hard to go to. As a species we have a very, very low tolerance for discomfort, even the slightest the comfort like heartburn. Let alone when something really pulls out the rug in life and it falls apart.”

Recommended Websites and Talks

Tedtalks.com is also a phenomenal place to go to hear from some thinkers and doers at the forefront of their fields across multiple disciplines around the world.

‘Be Your Own Therapist’ The Buddhist nun tour-de-force known as Robina Courtin delivers one heck of a talk on how neurotic our minds can be.

‘Starting a Movement’ (the movement doesn’t start with the leader…) and ‘Weird, or Just Different?’ (whose right is entirely subjective) both by Derek Sivers are brilliant talks about, well, movements and that which may not make sense on the surface. He’s a wonderfully engaging speaker and manages to pack a serious amount of insight into a few minutes.

Recommended Articles

But Will It Make You Happy? (NY Times, August 2010):

“On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.”

Managing Yourself: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want (Harvard Business Review, June 2010):

“According to a recent survey of 5,000 U.S. households by The Conference Board, only 45% of those polled say they are satisfied with their jobs—down from about 60% in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. If you’re in this situation, and changing roles or companies is unrealistic given the tough economy, what can you do? A growing body of research suggests that an exercise we call “job crafting” can be a powerful tool for reenergizing and reimagining your work life. It involves redefining your job to incorporate your motives, strengths, and passions.”