The Happiness Files By Arthur C. Brooks

Credit: The Happiness Files, Arthur C. Brooks

 

Overview

Imagine if your life were a startup. How would you lead it and shape it to be most successful?  That’s the question behind The Happiness Files, a rich selection of enlightening and instructive essays by Arthur Brooks, known worldwide for his inspiring yet practical wisdom and advice in his weekly column for The Atlantic and in his bestselling books, From Strength to Strength and Build the Life You Want (coauthored with Oprah Winfrey).  The simple answer, as Brooks wisely explains, is to manage your life in a way that leads to truly valuable rewards: love, enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning—in other words, happiness. Credit: Arthur C. Brooks.

The Power of Mattering By Zach Mercurio

Credit: The Power of Mattering; Zach Mercurio

 

Overview 

Your people have a fundamental need to be seen, heard, and valued.  Increasingly, people report feeling overlooked, ignored, and underappreciated at work. Simply put, they don't feel like they matter to their leaders or organizations—and it's taking a toll. This hidden epidemic of insignificance is fueling a mental health crisis, intensifying loneliness, and, for organizations, driving disengagement, turnover, and low performance. The good news is that leaders can learn the skills to ensure that everyone around them feels valued and knows how they add value at work. Through a captivating exploration of the emerging science of mattering and drawing from hands-on work in hundreds of diverse industries and organizations, researcher and speaker Zach Mercurio reveals how mattering to others is a fundamental—yet often overlooked—requirement for thriving.

He introduces a simple yet effective framework for making daily interactions with your people more meaningful:

Noticing: the practice of seeing and hearing others
Affirming: the practice of showing people how their unique gifts make a difference
Needing: the practice of showing people they're relied on and indispensable

Filled with practical advice, helpful exercises, and inspiring real-world examples, The Power of Mattering equips leaders at all levels with the tools they need to revitalize their teams—and entire organizations—by showing people that they matter. Credit: The Power of Mattering; Zach Mercurio.

Drive by Daniel H. Pink

 

Credit: Drive by Daniel H. Pink

Overview

Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people—at work, at school, at home. It's wrong. As Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others) explains in his paradigm-shattering book Drive, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates that while the old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th century, it's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges. In Drive, he reveals the three elements of true motivation:

• Autonomy: the desire to direct our own lives
• Mastery: the urge to get better and better at something that matters
• Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

Learn more about Drive here. Credit: Apple Books.