THE Book I Most Recommend to Executive Clients: The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz

Prior to reading this important work, the book I most recommended to executive and leader clients was an early book co-authored by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr called The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, not Time is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. I still recommend that book an awful lot, but now there’s THIS book, which is a must read:The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance

Many executives are running a corporate marathon.  Most leaders believe that given the many demands on their time, they would be better off plodding through, working another hour to get it all done or at least move the needle forward a bit, rather than taking that hour to sleep or work out or some other recovery/ renewal period. They believe they will get more accomplished than if they didn’t work that hour.  As the authors of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working tell us, “most people continue to wrongly assume that working more continuously — hunkering down, staying the course, burning the midnight oil — is the best way to generate more productivity.”
Most organizations and leaders are interested in increasing profitability and sustainability.  THIS BOOK is the answer to how they can harness the best of their current talent, and truly get more productivity.  The answer lies in balancing high-energy demand with intermittent renewal, and for those leaders and organizations wondering how to achieve that ever-elusive balance without sacrificing the results of the business, this book provides the roadmap.  It is also very well researched, and the authors demonstrate and prove how it can be done.  People cannot operate continuously, even if the culture and environment demand it.  This counter-intuitive look at how to get more out of yourself as a leader, out of your people, and out of your organization is the key to generating lasting value.
As a leadership coach I work with top leaders in high performance, fast-paced driver environments, and this book has become my number 1 recommended read.  I’ve had senior executives report back that it has changed their lives.
The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance
by Tony Schwartz, Jean Gomes, and Catherine McCarthy, PhD.