Thriving in Your Work

Peter Shaw

Sujets

• Employabilité, métiers et formations

Informations

• Publié par: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) PTE LTD
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814382632
• Langue: English

Extrait

THRIVING IN YOUR WORK
THRIVING IN YOUR WORK
How to be Motivated and Do Well in Challenging Times
Peter Shaw
Copyright 2012 Peter Shaw

Cover design by Opalworks Pte Ltd
Published in 2012 by Marshall Cavendish Business An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
PO Box 65829
London EC1P 1NY
United Kingdom
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Other Marshall Cavendish offices: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591 Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
The right of Peter Shaw to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the publisher.
The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim liability arising directly and indirectly from the use and application of this book.
All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain necessary copyright permissions. Any omissions or errors are unintentional and will, if brought to the attention of the publisher, be corrected in future printings.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 981 4382 63 2
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Mackays, Chatham, Kent
Dedicated to David Normington who encouraged me to move into a second career supporting and challenging leaders so they can thrive in their work .
CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
What is it all for?
1. Where is the destination?
2. Why bother?
3. Where does your inspiration come from?
4. Who are your companions along the way?

Keep alert to the outcomes
5. Who s got the torch?
6. Recharge your batteries
7. Spot the flicker
8. Watch against being blinded

Work as a team
9. Bury the hatchet
10. Choose your weapons
11. Bring on the cavalry
12. Protect your leader
13. Look after the wounded

Choose your impact
14. Know when to put your foot down
15. Watch where you tread
16. Watch out for the kickback
17. Recognise when you have two left feet

Develop new skills
18. Learn how to forget
19. See round corners
20. Lay still
21. Acknowledge when you are wrong

Recognise your emotions
22. Do not become a victim
23. Empty your mind
24. Box the gremlin
25. Recognise when you are about to snap
26. Watch your friendships

Build your approach
27. Cultivate your carrots
28. Prune your apple trees
29. Nurture the green shoots
30. Enjoy the bonfire

Use your time well
31. Walk ever so slowly
32. Ditch the Blackberry
33. Adjust your personal rhythms
34. Balance the see-saw

Be alert to the unexpected
35. Look for hidden treasure
36. Don t count your chickens
37. Beware of false dawns
38. Where are your snow shoes?
39. Enjoy shafts of sunlight

Beware the risks
40. Watch for sharp elbows
41. Be cautious of bright lights
42. Watch the audit trail
43. Welcome the health check

Use your energy well
44. Trust your internal barometer
45. Pound the pavements
46. Time for a knees-up
47. Notice the brick wall coming

Keep it in perspective
48. See the ridiculous
49. Be in touch with your melancholy side
50. Allow joyful moments
51. See the light at the end of the tunnel
52. Is it all a dream?

Acknowledgements

Other books by Peter Shaw

About the Author
FOREWORD
Thriving in your work and enabling others to thrive is crucial for success. Peter s approach captures the essential elements of this principle with his focus on clarity of outcome and impact, his emphasis on working as a team, developing new skills and approaches, and using time and energy well. Each section is short, clear and impactful.
At Grontmij we have a heritage of nearly a century of design and engineering consultancy based on geographical markets mainly in the Netherlands. Because of increased internationalisation and growing competition, I was convinced of the tremendous opportunities which would result from shifting our strategic focus from individual countries to market sectors across Europe.
We have now grown to a firm of 11,000 employees across Europe and beyond. We are fostering a truly European business pushing best practices and innovations across borders, attracting top quality professional engineers and new customers. We have integrated people from many cultures within one company who are addressing and overcoming challenges ranging from language barriers, different cultural backgrounds, different systems and reporting formats.
For Grontmij, transformational change has involved understanding what enables individuals to thrive at work when significant change is necessary within the organisation. We have sought to implement the new business approach and a European Grontmij culture in a positive way, without losing the strength of our inherited values and capabilities.
In several sessions for the top 50 leaders of Grontmij, Peter has helped us to slice the elephant into manageable pieces so that we have been agile in addressing daily business challenges, while ensuring that the overall long-term vision provides a consistent and inspirational context and approach. Peter has made us think in new ways and bring renewed energy in taking action forward, drawing on his wide international experience. It has given me joy and pleasure to see how much leadership teams can achieve through making a step a week together!
In Thriving in Your Work , Peter guides readers step-by-step in recognising the contribution they can make as a leader or manager in handling the changing reality in daily business, and in driving strategic change by inspiring and equipping others for a better future. Allowing yourself to reflect on each of the 52 themes in the book will bring new insights and joy both for you and for leadership teams. So much can be achieved just from making a step forward every week. This book will equip you to handle change well and thrive in everything that you do.

Sylvo Thijsen Chief Executive, Grontmij NV De Bilt, The Netherlands
INTRODUCTION
You are surviving in your work. Often you enjoy it, but at times you feel under a lot of pressure. Sometimes your work is rewarding and on other occasions, relentless.
You want to thrive in your work, but it is not always such a straightforward matter. You are reluctant to commit the time to read a management book from cover to cover, but you want the stimulus to help you do your work more effectively.
If you want to stretch your thinking and understand how you can thrive at work, this book is for you. It contains 52 short chapters looking at different aspects of thriving at work. Each chapter will share a story with you, set you thinking and pose questions for reflection.
The chapters are grouped under 12 main themes which provide food for thought over a period of one year, with the 52 chapters providing a point for reflection each week. The intention is to cover issues you face at work in an unorthodox way and give you a new angle to tackle them. Through reading this book, you will develop the ability to forget the irrelevant, see round corners, lay still and acknowledge when you are wrong. You will learn to use your energy more effectively and know when to trust your internal barometer, pound the pavements, have a knees-up and be able to see the brick wall coming.

I hope my book will provide a stimulus for thought and action by individuals, teams and groups in a range of sectors and countries. Do allow yourself to either work through the chapters sequentially over a period, or dip into whichever chapter relates to your particular circumstances. Be ready to mull over different ideas and approaches as you reflect on how best to thrive in your work.
My royalties from the book are going to the charity Feed the Minds , which funds a wide range of innovative education and literacy projects worldwide that aim to reduce poverty and build stronger communities.

Peter Shaw Godalming England
WHAT IS IT ALL FOR?
Fundamental to thriving in our work are a sense of purpose, clear reasons for endeavour, our sources of inspiration and those who accompany us on our journey.
When we are immersed in busy activities we may not often stand back to ask ourselves why we are where we are and why we work hard in the way we do. Time spent standing back can be valuable in enabling us to reflect on where we are going. The clearer we are about this, the more positive would be our approach to the future with our energy levels higher rather than lower.
This section looks in turn at where is the destination? , so why bother? , where does your inspiration come from? and who are your companions along the way? . Reasonable clarity about our answers to these questions will provide a good framework for working through the rest of the themes in the book.
WHERE IS THE DESTINATION?
Which mountain are you climbing?
On a couple of occasions I have walked across England from Arnside in Cumbria to Saltburn in North Yorkshire. The walk starts on the stone pier at Arnside and finishes at the end of the long iron pier at Saltburn. Throughout the walk, the image of Saltburn pier is a clear