Breaking Free

Explore the spiritual side of business

The best-selling author of Healing the Wounds writes another prescription for our transition-induced ailments. Here he addresses the self-defeating ways people and organizations react to rapid, seemingly relentless change, and advocates a steady diet of learning as the surest way to break free. Associating various responses to change with four character types -- The Overwhelmed, The Entrenched, The BSers, and The Learners -- the author holds up The Learners as the attainable ideal...and shows how to help those in the other categories pursue the learning path. The ultimate goal: to facilitate transition to a more flexible, self-directed workplace. STRUGGLING WITH THE NEW REALITY.

The Quest for Glue.

DEALING WITH CHANGE: THE R-FACTOR TYPES.

The Overwhelmed.

The Entrenched.

The BSer.

The Learner.

RELATING INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL R-TYPES.

Assessing Organizational R-Types.

Facilitating the Learning Response.

LEARNING TO LEARN.

Liberation Leadership.

Angling Lessons.

Breaking Free.

Appendix A. A Frame of Reference.

Appendix B. R-Factor Geneology. "Let's face it--the old way of corporate life is gone. As David Noer so candidly notes, nowadays "we are all temps." This book provides a new way of looking at the world of work. The strategies offered in Breaking Free can help us be true to ourselves, serve others, and ultimately be more productive members of our organizations." --Marshall Goldsmith, a founding director, Keilty, Goldsmith and Company DAVID M. NOER is vice president for training and education at the Center for Creative Leadership. He has consulted extensively both in the United States and abroad, particularly in Northern Europe. David Noer, bestselling author of Healing the Wounds and the undisputed expert on the psychological effects of downsizing, prescribes a new cure for job insecurity?offering today's nervous workforce guidance on how to take control of their current jobs and future careers. He examines the environment in which organizations such as AT&T, IBM, and Boeing continue the trAnd of massive layoffs? and describes four categories that characterize how individuals as well as organizations respond to change.Drawing from hundreds of examples, Noer defines the realities, boundaries, and undiscovered opportunities of the new employer-employee pact and offers practical steps for succeeding in today's changing workplace. Valuable for anyone from senior executives to recent college graduates, Breaking Free encourages us to let go of the familiar and look to a self-directed future with openess and excitement.