A Better Workplace - Recommended Books for Building a Better Workplace

Daniel Robin & Associates

Making Workplaces Work Better

Featured "Better Workplace" Reading for July - Dec. 2003

Current favorites:

Ron Rubin & Stuart Avery Gold, Success at Life: How to Catch and Live Your Dream, 176 pages, paperback (also in hardcover ), Newmarket Press; (April 14, 2003). Synopsis: A delightfully fresh reminder to live our passion, penned by two of the founding "Ministers" of the Republic of Tea, a socially conscious company (note that their corporate story is told in The Republic of Tea by Ziegler et al). Here, the authors encourage and inspire us to pursue our dream careers using a fast, easy and humorous style. Any aspiring entrepreneur will find the ideas here sassy, challenging and ultimately practical. You will be guided to break out of limitations, realize that our talents deserve expression, and understand what it actually takes to get there from here. The authors make it quite clear that the key to success as an entrepreneur is tapping into your passion. In other words, enjoying life is inseparable from living your dream. Makes sense.

The advise is based on experience, and is refreshingly upbeat, using the occasional light touch to counterbalance the intensity and importance of the subject matter: your life! There's probably nothing new or startling or even revolutionary to the "how to" content. There have been dozens (hundreds?) of books full of similar ideas ... the "success literature" in our culture could fill multiple bookstores (in fact, it does!), but this punchy little book calls forth such clarity about what's important, it gets under your skin. Conventional-sounding recommendations such as understand yourself, set goals, and find mentors takes on new meaning in the context of the authors' dynamic point of view and punchy presentation. If you have a dream to start your own business, find the career that fits you perfectly, or if you merely want to "own your life" (a Zen concept of merging sense with essence), then this book might just provide the psychological impetus and inspiration you crave. What it does not address: the nitty-gritty mechanics of how to start, finance or run a business. Details.

Rubin and Gold's Dragon Spirit: How to Self-Market Your Dream, makes a worthy companion for those who wish to take the "living your passion" thing to the next level.

Paine, Lynn Sharp, Value Shift: Why Companies Must Merge Social and Financial Imperatives to Achieve Superior Performance; 288 pages, hardcover, McGraw-Hill Trade (2003). Synopsis: Harvard Business School professor Lynn Sharp Paine had been studying and writing about "social/ethical" issues such as those that led to the recent accounting debacles at Enron and elsewhere. From the perspective of values, however, Enron seemed to have it together. So what else matters? In this book she describes an "emerging new standard of corporate performance, one that encompasses both moral and financial dimensions."

This is less of a "how to" guide for creating an ethical, principle-centered culture than it is a much-needed and in-depth report on changing corporate values, based on 20 years research and examples from a variety of corporations. She uses this experience to explain the growing emphasis on and business case for ethics and accountability, including the merits of corporate responsibility, how an enterprise-wide value system contributes to superior performance, and what it all means for managers and leaders at all levels. She ends the book with ideas for setting up organizational ethics and performance management initiatives, hiring employees whose views align with a company's value system and other tools for implementation. This is an important book for ethics-minded managers and for those who find the field of ethics and corporate social responsibility of particular interest.

From the venerable John C. Whitehead, former Chairman, Goldman Sachs: "This book presents a way of broadening the role of the corporation in our society -- an interesting and existing role. It's a good read for young leaders in all walks of life."

Mitchell, Jack Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results, 283 pages, hardcover, The Free Press (June 2003). Synopsis: Written as the antidote to passionless, casual customer service, Jack Mitchell is on to something here. No, he doesn't mean that you should literally hug every customer; he means it more as a metaphor for treating customers as individuals and "as if" they really matter. They get to know their customers and shower them with care and attention.

This is one family business that has made their philosophy work wonders in the high-end apparel industry. With just two stores (in relatively small towns of Westport and Greenwich, CT), Mitchells sells more than $65 million a year, the old fashioned way: one customer at a time. There are customer service reminders and useful strategies that apply to every member of the team, in every industry -- from "aircraft engines to beanbags" -- and are especially appreciated in the toughest competitive situations.

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