Tracy Brower - Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations

First published by Bibliomotion, Inc.

39 Harvard Street

Brookline, MA 02445

Tel: 617-934-2427

www.bibliomotion.com

Copyright 2014 by Tracy Brower

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brower, Tracy.

Bring work to life by bringing life to work : a guide for leaders and organizations / Tracy Brower.

pages cm

Summary: Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work is your go-to guide to work-life support, providing easy-to-read strategies for building and implementing your organizations strategies to harness work-life supports, increasing positive impact to your bottom line Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62956-003-8 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-62956-004-5 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-62956-005-2 (enhanced ebook)

1. Quality of work life. 2. Work environment. 3. Personnel management. I. Title.

HD6955.B738 2014

658.3'12dc23

2014020199

This book captures one of the most important challenges facing companies today. No matter the size of the company, the engagement of the employee base is critical to success. Tracy Brower expertly explores how leaders can look at all aspects of the work/life conundrum and how they can create solutions that have great impact on people, the workplace, and the ultimate positive return that can be produced. This should be recommended reading for anyone who is truly interested in having an engaged employee population.

Lisa Brummel, chief people officer, Microsoft

As the industrial corporate ladder gives way to a digital-age lattice, resetting the career-life fit agenda is essential. Brower sharpens our grasp of this elusive though vital topic, offering pragmatic, accessible solutions.

Cathy Benko, vice chairman and managing principal, Deloitte LLP, and best-selling author of Mass Career Customization and The Corporate Lattice

Tracy Bower asks us the most important question we can imagine about our work: Can our work be brought to life? The simple answer, of course, is yes, and we do it by bringing our life to work and honoring both. But simple is never easy. Know that by applying the lessons in her book, you are contemplating one of the most arduous journeys, and perhaps the most rewarding.

Richard Sheridan, CEO and chief storyteller, Menlo Innovations, and author of Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love

Brower has nailed it with very clear ideas, compelling stories, and a wonderful combination of theory, research, and practice. Brower brings together unique knowledge and experience for great impact. This is a must-read.

Xavier Unkovic, global president, Mars Drinks

Everyone experiences blurring boundaries of work and life. Brower cleverly and clearly shows that integration of work and life through abundance, alignment, and adaptation will be good for people, organizations, and communities. Her ideas are fresh and recommendations grounded. Her work helps leaders lead, architects design, and employees work in the integrated organization of the future.

Dave Ulrich, PhD, Rensis Likert professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, member of the board of directors of Herman Miller Inc., and author of twenty-five books on human resources

This is the next great advance in management: work-life integration. Tracy Browers powerful insights provide a clear and implementable guide managers can use to put employees first and improve organizational performance.

Paul J. Zak, PhD, professor of economics, psychology and management, Claremont Graduate University and author of The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity

Tracy Browers new book is a tour de force of inspiring, yet practical ideas for bringing humanity to your workplace. It is guaranteed to make you rethink the way that life and work can be integrated. Hint: If you are a CEO or HR leader, you ignore this book at your peril! You probably wont survive the decade without adding these ideas to your repertoire.

Dan Denison, PhD, professor of organization and management, IMD Business School, Lausanne, Switzerland, and co-author of Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations

Tracy has an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience that she has captured and synthesized into a highly readable and thought provoking book. This is not just another book that inspires you but leaves you wondering how to apply what you have learned. It is the perfect blend of theory and practical strategies to help you cope with the changing world of work.

Cynthia Kay, author of Small Business for Big Thinkers: Unconventional Strategies to Connect With and Win Big Business, and owner of Cynthia Kay and Company

Tracy has the rare ability to deliver profound uncommon sense in an increasingly hectic world full of supposed quick fixes and silver bullets. We dont so much have a work life and a personal life we have a life. And Tracy clearly shows how to add as much value to our lives and by extension, the lives of the people were fortunate to work with. Tracys book should be required reading for everyone entering the business world.

Kevin Knebl, international speaker, author, trainer, and coach

Tracy has provided a clear roadmap and makes the business case for a new way of managing that will help leaders bring a more civilized environment to the workplace. Her book isnt just a philosophical treatise on todays work-life demands, but is based on extensive research with hundreds of executives. In the clutter of new wave business books, this is one to read and use.

Karen Bates Kress, president, Yellowstone Park Foundation

Work-life integration and time poverty are global challenges. Browers clear ideas and compelling stories provide both direction and inspiration for companies across the globe. Her pragmatic recommendations allow you to tap into energy, enthusiasm, and abundance to transform your organization and drive performance. This is a pioneering book that delivers.

K. H. Moon, president, New Paradigm Institute of Korea, member of the Drucker Institute advisory board, former member of the Korean National Assembly, and past chairman and CEO of Yuhan-Kimberly

This is a great playbook for leaders that want to build high performing organizations through cultures leveraging work life supports and driving exceptional employee engagement. This is not just theory. We put into action many of the ideas outlined in this wonderful guide during a significant office tower makeover. Our results were outstanding and we succeeded in bringing work to life.

Sue Ortenstone, SVP and chief human resources officer at CenterPoint Energy and previously EVP and chief administrative officer at El Paso Corporation

The way we work is constantly changing. And as we look at the role Design plays in creating productive environments that promote health, engagement, and well-being, evidence must be central to the decisions we make. Tracys research is helping ASID to showcase the impact and value of those decisions. This book helps to tell that story.

Randy Fiser, president and CEO of ASID, American Society of Interior Designers

Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work shows how work-life integration is not some touchy-feely concept or a nice add-on to have once a company attends to the more nitty-gritty parts of its business. Rather, work-life integration is absolutely essential if organizations are to get the most from the key resource in our knowledge agetheir peopleand thrive in todays fast-changing corporate world. Tracy Brower has managed to make all of this abundantly clear by deftly balancing serious scholarship with elegant simplicity, historical context with practical insights, and deep research with telling anecdotes.