Reinventing Work
Encore Careers • The World at Work • Women’s Leadership • Be Your Own Boss • Self-Care at Work • Useful Tools
Encore Careers
Encore Careers: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life
Marc Freedman
By the founder of Civic Ventures, a nonprofit with a mission to help midlifers who want to make a difference in the next chapter of their lives, apply their skills to public service. Freedman describes the changing face of retirement and work for boomers. If the old notion was freedom from work, the new one is freedom to work in more flexible, meaningful ways. Besides being financially necessary, communities need our collective wisdom, experience and skills. Product Details
The Ultimate Anti-Career Guide: The Inner Path to Finding Your Work in the World
Rick Jarow, Ph.D.
A novel approach to your life’s work, suggesting it’s not a means of survival, but an extension of the life force that rises authentically from within your own body, encoded in your chakras, the energy centers that govern the flow of life and intelligence in your body. Powerful meditations help you gain direct access to the energy and information stored in your chakras, including hidden blocks, fears, joys and talents, to provide insights that transform your values into action and the meaningful work that’s calling you. Highly recommended. Product Details
Breakdown, Breakthrough: The Professional Woman’s Guide to Claiming a Life of Passion, Power, and Purpose
Kathy Caprino, M.A.
After conducting a national study, career expert Caprino found that 70% of women face a major turning point in their professional and personal lives. Especially in the middle years they find the male model of success no longer works for them, and they’re ready to trade the ladder of success, with its perks, stresses and high salaries for more meaningful work and personal time. She identifies 12 common breakdowns, or wake-up calls, that tell you that a major change in your life or work is required – and that now is the time to act. Product Details
Working Identity
Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career
Herminia Ibarra, Ph.D.
If you learn better by doing, you might want to peek into this thoughtful gem that suggests we only come to know ourselves in rubbing up against the world through our interactions with others. Yes, we need to understand who we are, what we want, and to learn from the past, but we can’t and won’t know everything up front. Ibarra offers no plan, exercises or steps, instead there are thought-provoking reflections and observations on how we learn, change and make new choices through our actions and interactions with the world. Read our review. To Purchase
Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World
Paul Ray, Ph.D. & Sherry Ruth Anderson
Do you attach importance to “helping others bring out their unique gifts?”, “dislike the modern emphasis on success and ‘making it,’ on getting and spending?”, or “want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life for our country?” A commitment to these values, a curiosity and concern for the world and its peoples, for peace and social justice, and an openness to self-actualization through spirituality and holistic practices are the hallmarks of cultural creatives. The authors, sociologists, believe we could have enormous social and political clout, if only we became aware of ourselves as a cohesive unit. Product Details
Now What?
90 Days to a New Life Direction
Laura Berman Fortgang
Berman-Fortgang is the quintessential life and career coach. If you want a systematic, concrete method to identify next steps in your working life, she’s the guide for you. She outlines weekly goals, starting with you don’t want, winding through fears, doubts, money concerns, and what to do when the book leaves off. You’ll learn what needs aren’t optional and the values that will serve to guide you. Practical, inspiring and empowering. Helps you identify not what you want to do, but who you want to be. Product Details
Follow Your North Star: Chart a Rewarding Path to Realize Your True Life’s Calling
Martha Beck
Though we undergo many changes in life, one thing that will never change is that your true nature will always urge you toward your destiny; so says this life coach and Oprah magazine columnist. In this guide for recognizing your life’s purpose, staying on course, and reaching your fullest potential for happiness, she offers simple tools for charting a life path by discovering and following the unchangeable “true north” markers of your life. Listen to excerpt. 4 CDs. Product Details
The Beginner’s Guide to Finding Your Perfect Job How to Uncover Your Real Life’s Work
Rick Jarow, Ph.D.
If you’re thinking about changing careers, aligning your outer career with your inner values is what this early Ram Dass colleague calls a career transformation – work that reflects your integrity, passion, and sense of purpose. He sets out a holistic view of this life with guided meditations, and seven principles to reframe how, why, and where we can find work that is not just a job, but a destiny. Listen to excerpt. 1 CD. Product Details
I Don’t Know What I Want But I Know It’s Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work
Julie Jansen
A no-nonsense guide that asks you to answer key questions to uncover factors contributing not just to work satisfaction, but also to deeper life values of purpose, meaning and contribution. The subtext is that while limitations can be limiting, they can also serve as a springboard and opportunity for defining new possibilities. Her self-assessments identify where you with regard to work in these categories: The Meaning seeker, Earning a living employee, The gun-shy, The bored, Entrepreneur, or Retirement worker. Product Details
THE WORLD AT WORK
Megatrends 2010: Seven New Trends That Will Transform How You Work, Live, and Invest
Patricia Aburdene, Ph.D.
This legendary social forecaster foresees the impact of consciousness in business – away from simple capitalism to a more profitable economy founded on ethics, values, and spiritual awareness. She describes how socially responsible investments and consumer choices are driving changes and how values-driven management is transforming leadership. She also suggests that this new direction is very much aligned with women’s values, priorities and talents. Includes techniques to expand spiritual practice in working life. Listen to excerpt. 2 CDs. Product Details
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
William Bridges, Ph.D.
This classic is a practical guide for dealing with the human side of organizational change. Insight into employees who carry out changes and what change does to them. The first to provide a real sense of the emotional impact of change and what can be done to keep it from disrupting the entire organization. Perspective and commentary on corporate suspicion and mistrust and how they contribute to the increasing tumult in the business world. Product Details
Talks on Spirituality and Modern Life
Marianne Williamson
With her customary spiritual perspective and insight into feminine psychology, Williamson addresses worklife issues to help you find more satisfaction in your professional life. She addresses the fear of success and how to release it, how to work harmoniously with others, and explores the relationship between spiritual life, money, and committing yourself to a path of meaningful service. 4 CDs. Product Details
Trust Your Vibes at Work and Let Them Work for You
Sonia Choquette, Ph.D.
An intuitive consultant and teacher, Choquette suggests that people who have made the decision to always listen to and trust their intuition to guide their working lives don’t experience the same kind of anxiety or stress in the midst of uncertainty. She tells the stories of people who prosper in both good economic climates and bad, and how you can develop the same skills, presence, and sense of flow and abundance. 4 CDs. Product Details
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
The Female Advantage: Women’s Way of Leadership
Sally Helgeson
This study of women leaders documents how men and women approach work in different ways, and how these differences are an advantage in running organizations that foster creativity, cooperation and innovation. Her central groundbreaking insight is that a ‘web’ leadership style, where leaders reach out around a central purpose ( not down, as in a pyramid), accounts for the success of women business leaders. Also suggests that women’s experience – as wives, mothers, friends, sisters, daughters – contribute to their success. Product Details
Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership
Lin Coughlin
40 essays by thought leaders in business, politics, the military, sports, academics, and entrepreneurs on the challenges women face as they emerge into positions of power from the Women in Leadership Summit. Insight into specific work-related goals and behaviors, such as influencing for impact, conducting difficult conversations, finding mentors and bragging constructively about accomplishments. A in-depth and comprehensive overview of how women are transforming the practice of leadership in the 21st century. Product Details
Make a World of Difference. Personal Leadership: Two Principles and Six Practices
Barbara Schaetti, Ph.D., Sheila Ramsey, Ph.D., & Gordon Watanabe, Ph.D.
The two principles of mindfulness and creativity, and the six practices of Personal Leadership help people access the creativity inherent in diversity. When we find ourselves in unfamiliar environments, in contexts that are rapidly changing, or in transition, these principles and practices help us to engage with difference from a place of inspiration, curiosity, and full intelligence, and in alignment with our highest and best. A beautifully written, profoundly inspiring and uplifting work. Product Details
Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life
Kevin Cashman, Ph.D.
This integrated leadership approach states that effective leadership begins with self-awareness, authenticity, self-mastery, and an attitude of service. A major paradigm shift and the leading edge of leadership development, it suggests that the heart of leadership is growing as a person to grow as a leader, and that power of authentic leadership comes from living your deepest purpose and values. Authentic leadership lies at the intersection of our deepest spiritual values and our greatest personal gifts. Product Details
The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age
John Heider, Ph.D.
A profound interpretation of this ancient Chinese text on how to balance the forces of yin and yang – of yielding and assertiveness, of flow and action – as they are expressed in everyday life and at work. Used as a management and leadership training text, it serves a primer for developing skills of intuition, attentiveness, observation, trust in process and wisdom in knowing when to act and when to allow processes to unfold. New and deeper insights, no matter how often you pick it up and read a verse. Product Details
The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary
Angeles Arrien, Ph.D.
This expert on Native American wisdom uses the metaphor of the Medicine Wheel as a model for four ways of being, and behaviors to develop, for balance and effectiveness in life. The way of the Warrior is the place of the leader, where we show up to take a stand and choose to be present. The way of the Visionary is where we commit to telling the truth. The Healer pays attention to what has heart and meaning, while the Teacher is the place of letting go of expectations. Used as ground rules in many organizational meetings. Product Details
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
Free Agent Nation The Future of Working for Yourself
Daniel Pink
Fast Company writer and former Gore speechwriter notes that 25 million people are self-employed in the US, and that fewer than one in ten works for a Fortune 500. Based on extensive interviews and literature review, he synthesizes a shift in attitudes and patterns of work that he sees – to that of independent worker – so that we are becoming a nation “free agents.” He describes the types of free agents – soloists, temps, and those involved in their own microbusiness – and examines the impact and implications of this psychological shift on our. Product Details
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
Daniel Pink
Former Gore speechwriter compares the upcoming “conceptual age” to past periods of intense change, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance, and suggests that expanding our right brain skills will be essential for surviving and prospering. The keys to success are in developing and cultivating what he describes as the six senses of the right brain: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Product Details
Association of Work at Home Women
This association of Work-At-Home professionals was founded on the principle that every woman should have a place of support, expert information, resources and the chance to grow their home-based business, while they balance the fine intricacies of family life. A membership community, you’ll find a massive amount of quality resources including videos, articles, teleseminars, etc. tailored to different learning styles, time commitments and business models, and you’ll find power in community. Product Details
Turn Passion into Profits
Valerie Young at Changing Course.com
Young’s great business name delivers what it promises. A ‘corporate refugee’ herself, she offers a wealth of ideas, guidance, resources and an ongoing community of people who want to live their values, find what they’re passionate about, and earn their living doing it. Includes teleclasses to generate ideas, coaching, lots of business ideas, support for starting your own business, buying a franchise or being independently employed. Helpful for how to find out what suits you best – and then put a plan into action to actualize it. Product Details
Institute for Life Coach Training
At this point in life we’ve all gathered unique skills and experience that can be invaluable to others. If mentoring and passing on wisdom to guide others is calling you, then you might consider life coach training. Its whole person, non-directive, client-centered approach is based on the best of adult development, human change, positive psychology, humanistic traditions, and systems theory, and focuses on living a fulfilling life, not just coping. Training is virtual, via teleclass (phone) and offers International Coach Federation certification. You can also incorporate coaching skills into your current work, or specialize, i.e. in a Wellness Coaching track. Product Details
Natural Healing Academy
Working with your hands, and with other people’s bodies is an enriching change for many from a professional life working with ideas or products. Many women at midlife seek to do healing work when they discover the balance and flow of meaning and connection it offers them as well as their clients. The Academy offers thorough but simple home study training for starting a healing practice using reflexology or aromatherapy. A microcosm of the body, by stimulating foot reflex points you can restore circulation and balance, relieve pain, promote detoxification and help people relax. Read our review Product Details
Aromatherapy is a holistic treatment that produces physical, spiritual, emotional and mental well-being through inhaling essential oils or massaged into the skin. Essential oils have potent therapeutic qualities that stimulate, refresh, relax and promote well-being. Advanced Aromatherapy Practitioner training courses are developed by holistic professionals. Product Details
Tibetan Bowl Sound Healing School
Using sound for healing is one of most profound ways to alter and re-balance the body’s energy system. Specific frequencies can reduce stress, promote healing from stress disorders, pain, depression, and aid in managing pain. Sounds from Tibetan Buddhism bowls are used to alter consciousness as well as healing. Beta waves in the brain active in our waking state are entrained by sound vibrations to move into the deeper alpha and theta frequencies, inducing deep meditative and peaceful states, clarity of mind and intuition. Combination home study, workshops and teleclasses offer certification in Tibetan Bowl Sound Healing. Product Details
SELF CARE AT WORK
HappyLite Mini
Ward off Seasonal Affective Disorder and Improve Concentration
Many people who work in an office all day without natural light exhibit symptoms SAD (seasonal affective disorder), or ‘winter blues.’ Due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters from lack of sunlight, you can have difficulty staying alert, crave carbohydrates, experience low energy or fatigue, and or have difficulty concentrating. This full spectrum simulated natural sunshine, recommended by doctors, is the most direct and simple way to restore balance and your mood. Use these lights at your desk for balanced light while you work. You’ll feel better, and be more alert and productive. Or use HappyLite Deluxe) for a 30 minute daily dose of light before you start your day. No harmful UV rays or EMFs. Like sunlight streaming through your personal window. HappyLite Mini
The Cricket Notebook Stand
This laptop stand elevates your screen up to nine inches for comfortable viewing, saving neck and back strain (while also improving air circulation for cooler computing.) The Cricket is lightweight and portable and adjusts to support most laptops. It folds and is small enough to fit in a briefcase. Comes in three colors. Product Details
USEFUL TOOLS
Maestro Conference Call
Interactive Conference Call Interface
The next generation of conference call service unique allows you to actually facilitate calls while presenters speak to the whole room while moderators ‘walk’ to support breakout groups. Lets you take multiple choice votes, answer requests, take volunteers, get immediate feedback and answer questions in interactive groups. Avoid interruptions when people come ‘into the room” while supporting up to 200 callers. Keep people engaged and create new learning opportunities. Product Details
TheGreenOffice.com
Align your values with action and support this green company and its vision of a workplace run exclusively on green products and sustainable practices. They offer a full line of office supplies, from coffee filters to desk organizers, display racks and cases, to copiers, printers and janitorial products. They also offer sustainability services, label and rank products by greenness, with discounts up to 75% off list for corporate customers. Check out their footprint calculator. Product Details
