Resources
This page is designed to share books and articles related to the Renewal concept.
Personal and Career Renewal
Izzo, J.B. (2004). Second Innocence: Rediscovering Joy and Wonder: A Guide to Renewal in Work, Relationships, and Daily Life. Berrett-Koehler Publishers: San Francisco.
Book Description - John Izzo's concept of "second innocence" means recovering those feelings of enthusiasm, faith, presence, and curiosity associated with childhood and blending them with the knowledge and experience of adulthood. Through a series of compelling stories, he offers a collection of uncommon thoughts on common themes. The author's experience as a minister, teacher, author, corporate advisor, and leader of spiritual retreats provides a wealth of wisdom for this journey. In the spirit of Robert Fulghum and Garrison Keillor, Izzo shows that while love may disappoint, work may not satisfy, and suffering will occur, we can still transform ourselves by applying intentional focus to finding the wonder in the world and staying focused on what really matters.
Ibarra, H. (2003). Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. Harvard Business School Publishing: Boston.
From Booklist
Recent changes in the economy have left a large segment of the workforce at odds with their careers, with downsizing and disillusionment causing many to rethink their place in the corporate world or even consider abandoning a profession they no longer find fulfilling. Ibarra believes that, contrary to conventional thought, there is no "one perfect job" for each individual. We each experiment and find our way through trial and error, hopefully on the path of becoming who we really are. This book is designed to help those who are on that path but feel stuck because they feel they should be doing something completely different but don't know what it is yet. Rather than giving glib advice, Ibarra illustrates how to make radical transitions one day at a time through the examples of 23 people who have successfully made the plunge from just a career to a whole new lifestyle. This is about a transition to something more personal, more creative or spiritual, but always liberating. David Siegfried - Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Kaye, B.L. & Jordan-Evans, S. (2003). Love It, Don't Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work. Berrett-Koehler Publishers: San Francsico.
Book Description - Love It, Don't Leave It encourages employees to assume responsibility for the way their work lives work. This is not difficult, say authors Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans, who take a witty and practical approach to finding job satisfaction. Presented in an appealing, accessible A to Z format, the book includes strategies for communication, career growth, balancing work with family, and more. Chapters include "Ask: And You May Receive," "Jerk: Work with One?" "Passion: It's Not Just a Fruit," and "Zenith: Are We There Yet?" The same breezy, results-minded style that made the authors' Love 'Em or Lose 'Em a bestseller makes this follow-up a fun and inspiring read.
Kurth, K. (2003). Running on Plenty at Work: Renewal Strategies for Individuals. Renewal Resources Press: Potomac, MD.
Book Description -Running On Plenty at Work provides a roadmap for your journey on the road to renewal at work. It gives you a steady stream of simple, innovative methods for renewing your body, mind, spirit and emotions. If you follow the trip highlights you will learn how to refuel yourself regularly and experience an abundance of creative energy, passionate performance, and a heightened sense of sense of well-being.
Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. Free Press: New York.
Editorial Review From Publishers Weekly
The authors, founders of and executives at LGE Performance Systems, an executive training program based on athletic coaching programs, offer a program aimed at stressed individuals who want to find more purpose in their work and ways to better handle their overburdened relationships. Just as athletes train, play and then recover, people need to recognize their own energy levels. "Balancing stress and recovery is critical not just in competitive sports, but also in managing energy in all facets of our lives. Emotional depth and resilience depend on active engagement with others and with our own feelings. Case studies demonstrate how some modest changes can have an immediate impact. Loehr (Mental Toughness Training for Sports) and Schwartz (Art of the Deal, writing with Donald Trump) also include a chart highlighting Action Steps, Targeted Muscle, Desired Outcome and Performance Barrier and apply these tenets to individual cases. A chart analyzing the benefits and costs to taking certain action shows the impact negative behavior can have on both physical and mental well-being. However, the actual "training program" whereby readers can learn how to institute certain rituals to change their behavior is less well-defined. Managers and other employees who have attended HR seminars may find this plan easy to use, but self-employed people and others less familiar with "training" may be unable to recognize their behavior patterns and change them. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tracy, D. (2001). Take This Job and Love It: How to Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want Sourcebooks. Naperville, IL
Editorial Reviews - From Booklist
Tracy offers help for people who are unhappy at work, and by her reckoning, work is a pretty miserable place these days. Citing the Conference Board, she reports that job satisfaction has dropped to 51.2 percent for those between 35 and 44 years of age and to 46.5 percent for older workers. Tracy suggests that all the blame cannot be placed on bad managers, office politics, and poor working conditions. Instead, it is often our attitude about work that keeps us from being happy. She uses the stories of eight people who are in various career crises to explain her four-step career empowerment process. In addressing loss, denial, victimization, acceptance, letting go, and self-esteem, she uses vocabulary and techniques that parallel those of various recovery programs. When Take This Job & Love It was first published in 1994, it was subtitled A Personal Guide to Career Empowerment. The aforementioned statistics and the new title are the only detectable changes here, but Tracy's uncommon advice on taking more personal responsibility at work and changing negative attitudes still stands out. David Rouse. Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Hudson, F.M., Ph.D. (1999). The Adult Years: Mastering the Art of Self-Renewal. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.
Book Description - The Adult Years is a compelling look at adulthood as an opportunity for continual revitalization, reorientation, and positive change. In this revised edition, Frederic Hudson updates and refines his vision, reflecting the extraordinary challenges we all face in today's fast-paced, ever-changing society. Whether you are eighteen or eighty-eight, this classic best-selling guide will inspire you to unlock the power of personal renewal.
Gardner, J.W. (1981). Self-Renewal: The Individual and the Innovative Society. Penguin Books: Markham, Ontario.
This is above all a book about the individual. Individuals create societies and make them vital; and individuals bring them to moldering ruin. So this is a book about you.
Team Renewal
Carney, S. H. (2004). The Teamwork Chronicles: A Startling Look Inside the Workplace for Those Who Want Better Teamwork. Peak Performance Press: USA.
Book Description - From Ken Blanchard, renowned management expert: "The Teamwork Chronicles provides sound advice for anyone who wants to build teamwork in the workplace." In the new book The Teamwork Chronicles, Steven H. Carney chronicles his experience with various teams and companies after being a company manager for 12 years. During this career change, he became an undercover observer of startling management and team dysfunction. The Teamwork Chronicles uses many colorful examples of these problems to provide valuable insights and lessons. Principles, techniques, and suggestions are added to improve the teamwork and performance of the modern workplace. Many of these situations are contrasted with his previous experience as the team-oriented manager of a manufacturing company. The book balances "how to" and "how not to" elements to give a sometimes blunt and credible view of the modern workplace-- one that many employees will recognize. The Teamwork Chronicles will empower employees who are concerned about the lack of teamwork and wake up managers who are not true team players. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Harrington-Mackin, D. (1996). Keeping The Team Going: A Tool Kit to Renew & Refuel Your Workplace Teams. New York: AMACOM. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from NetLibrary.
Harrington-Mackin focuses on the benefits of having a renewed workplace team:
- Increased productivity and performance capability
- Improved morale through enhanced dignity, self-esteem, and job satisfaction
- Increased ability and desire to improve
- More ownership and involvement of employees in redesign
- Better perspective on the whole job
- Better understanding of how to make improvements
- Greater appreciation of others’ work
- Increased communication between management and other employees
- More control over work life and therefore less stress
Workplace Renewal
Boyatzis, R.E. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting With Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion. Harvard Business School Press: Boston.
Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com
Unlike most other books, Resonant Leadership undersells itself. With easy justification, the authors or their editors at Harvard Business School Press could have applied a more expansive moniker like "Secrets of Enduring Leaders", or "How to Deal with Burnout," or perhaps even "Being Happy at Work." The work's modest title, though, takes nothing away from its grand ambition: to explain what makes leaders effective amid unrelentingly stressful situations. --Peter Han
Thakur, K., Niloufer, A. (March 2002). A time to rethink. Educational Leadership, 59, 6. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Wilson OmniFile: Full Text Select.
The article discusses the importance of getting away from routine chores because it gives staff a chance to “contemplate their profession, share ideas, and recharge their batteries in a serene environment”. One example of this, a retreat “gives them the time and space to restate and renew the school's vision and purpose” (Thakur & Niloufer, 2002).
Wolverton, M., Gmelch, W.H., Sorenson, D. (Spring 1998).The department as a double agent: The call for department change and renewal. Innovative Higher Education, 22, 3. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Wilson OmniFile: Full Text Select.
The in this article Wolverton, Gmelch and Sorenson discuss the Pew Foundations suggestions of four prerequisites for departmental change and renewal:
- Dedication to teamwork
- Collective dialogue and enquiry about effective teaching
- Commitment to quality control and rewarding collective goals
- Leadership of a purposeful chair
Organizational Renewal
Hesselbein, F., Johnston, R. & The Drucker Foundation. (2002). On Creativity, Innovation and Renewal: A Leader to Leader Guide. Jossey-Bass: San Fransico.
Book Description - On Creativity, Innovation, and Renewal features the best thinking from top experts on strategic innovation, sparking creativity, and transforming organizations. Written in a concise style that is ideal for the busy executive with little spare time, the book presents a stellar roster of contributors. On Creativity, Innovation, and Renewal is one title in the Leader to Leader Guides, which draw from the most compelling articles that have appeared in Leader to Leader, the Drucker Foundation's award-winning journal.
Mische, M. (2001). Strategic Renewal: Becoming A High-Performance Organization. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Editorial Reviews - Book Description -- Amazon.com
This book focuses on the critical aspects and qualities that high performance companies share, irrespective of industry, and examines how these qualities can be used as a basis for strategic renewal, revitalization, and high performance. Strategic Renewal is an excellent reference on crafting strategy and organizational change for high performance. Defining High Performance and Strategic Renewal. Globalization. Workforce Diversification Mobility. Information Technology. Innovation. Strategic Leadership. Operational Excellence. Business Integration. For corporate managers in all industries.
Gryskiewicz, S. S. (1999). Positive Turbulence: Developing Climates for Creativity, Innovation, and Renewal. Jossey-Bass: San Fransisco.
Book Description - Can your company manage -- even encourage -- turbulence in ways that actually strengthen its competitive stance? Absolutely. In this work, top organizational psychologist Stanley Gryskiewicz argues that challenges to the status quo can be catalysts for creativity, innovation, and renewal and shows leaders how they can keep their company on the competitive edge by embracing a process he calls Positive Turbulence. Developed through the author's work with many of the world's leading companies over the course of thirty years, Positive Turbulence delivers proven methods for creating an organization that continuously renews itself through the committed pursuit of new ideas, products, and processes.
Moxley, R. S. (1999). Leadership and Spirit: Breathing New Vitality and Energy into Individuals and Organizations. Jossey-Bass: San Franscio.
Book Description - Learn how you can harness your inner spirit to help yourself and those around you approach work with a renewed sense of purpose and satisfaction. In this book, Moxley shows how spirit can spawn a more vital and vibrant kind of leadership-one that, in turn, promotes the creativity, vitality, and well-being of others. Here, Moxley examines various leadership practices: those that elevate people's spirits and those that cause the spirit to wither and wane. He offers specific suggestions on what each of us can do to reach a new level of awareness regarding leadership. And he demonstrates how a spirited leadership that values rituals, celebrations, and employee input creates a totally engaged workforce; one that brings the whole person-mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual-to work.
Klarreich, S. H., Editor. (1998). Handbook of Organizational Health Psychology: Programs To Make The Workplace Healthier. Psychosocial Press: Madison, CT.
Partial Contents: Pt. II. Programs for Organizational Renewal in a Changing Environment. Ch. 12. Change at Work: Why It Hurts and What Employers Can Do about It / Thomas E. Backer and John Porterfield. Ch. 13. Resiliency: The Skills Needed to Move Forward in a Changing Environment / Sam Klarreich. Ch. 14. Experiential Training for Organizational Transformation / Tim Dixon. Ch. 15. Organizational Renewal: Outcome Management - The Other Side of Process Management / John F. C. McLachlan.
Miles, R. H. (1997). Leading Corporate Transformation: A Blueprint for Business Renewal. Jossey-Bass: San Fransico.
Book Description - Expert guidance and detailed discussions on successful corporate transformations without exposure to unacceptable risk using success stories of previous large-scale corporate transformations. DLC: Corporate turnarounds - U.S - Case studies.
Tushman, M., O’Reilly, C.A. (1997). Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from NetLibrary.
The book primarily focuses on the corporate world but many strategies can be applied to other realms. The authors discuss how in many successful firms “managers encourage tight alignment among strategy, structure, people, and culture to ensure today’s success.” Successful managers also “create organizational capabilities for excelling both today and tomorrow” (Tushman & O'Reilly, 1997).
Hurst, D. K. (1995). Crisis and Renewal: Meeting The Challenge of Organizational Change . Harvard Business School Press: Boston.
Book Description - Presents a radical view of how all successful organizations evolve and renew themselves and of what managers must do to lead the revival.
Mink, O. G., Mink, B. P., Downes, E. A., and Owen, K. Q. (1994). Open Organizations: A Model for Effectiveness, Renewal, and Intelligent Change. Jossey-Bass: San Fransico.
Book Description - Provides a working framework for organization consultants, human resource professionals, and managers committed to learning, quality improvement, and change in both business and non-profit. Uses illustrations from actual in-depth case studies of such companies as The Travelers Insurance Company and Precision Grinding and Manufacturing at the organization, group, and individual levels, details specific methods of assessment, program development, and program evaluation. Provides a wealth of practical tools, instruments, and approaches for applying the Open Organization Model to any situation.