The Alchemy of Fear: How to Break the Corporate Trance and Create Your Company's Successful Future [Paperback]

Kay Gilley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1997

The dramatic effects of downsizing, mergers, and reengineering have created a climate of fear in the workplace, fears that generally go unacknowledged. The Alchemy of Fear teaches us how to accept our emotions in order to become empowered and to take back our power over these fears. Our emotions are rich with information which could make our organizations run effectively, while freeing creativity, energy, and joy into our workplaces.

The Alchemy of Fear is a handbook for action. Drawn from the author's extensive experience, it examines workplace fear, what emotional competence looks like at work, how we handle fears at work, and the love and energy that result when we do these things. Nothing improves a group's effectiveness or their spirit more quickly than changing the relationship members have with fear.

Kay Gilley brings nearly 30 years experience working in general and human resource management to her current work as a leadership and organizational development consultant, specializing in guiding the development of leaders and what she calls "intentional organizations."

· Increased effectiveness by learning to work with fear
· Empowerment through regaining the power of love
· Emotional competence in the workplace

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gilley encourages managers and employees to bring emotions out into the open and use them as a stepping stone to positive action. -NAPRA Review

From the Publisher

Selected by New Age Journal as one of its "Best Books of '97," one of only three business books so selected. Selected by The Executive Program book club as its alternate selection for March '98. To be featured by The Business Digest, Paris, France, in a spring '98 issue.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann (November 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750699094
• ISBN-13: 978-0750699099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,903,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Magic for the New Organization, January 11, 2000

By 

Gerry Ganong (Tulsa, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alchemy of Fear: How to Break the Corporate Trance and Create Your Company's Successful Future (Paperback)

Kay Gilley has transformed my ideas about love and fear in the workplace. In "Alchemy of Fear", it became clear to me that in most workplaces, the foundations on which services and attitudes are built are primarily fear-based and serve the corporate structure rather than the human heart. Our programming demands that, as experts and successful companies, we know all the "right" answers and be able to spit them out cleanly and efficiently in order to maintain our status in this culture. The fear of "not knowing" blocks creativity and closes our minds to a diversity of options. Facing this fear and the resulting chaos this unleashes, and transforming them into energy which holds us in "not-knowing", creates opportunity for amazing growth when combined with clear and soulful intent. This book is required reading for all corporate alchemists who want to practice the new magic of success.

5.0 out of 5 stars Desire to grow spiritually/personally? Read this book!, June 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Jean Ann Wright (Medford, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alchemy of Fear: How to Break the Corporate Trance and Create Your Company's Successful Future (Paperback)

I have been stagnent in my life for years. I felt trapped by circumstance. I blamed life and everyone in it for my feeling of being unfullfilled. After reading Ms. Gilley's book I realized that I was afraid, afraid to step out of being who my family thought I was and into the person I knew I was. Ms. Gilley may have written this book for the business world but I feel like she wrote is just for me. It spoke volumns to me and as I followed the path Ms. Gilley laid out my world started changing for the better. I smile and laugh now and the unhappy person that I once was is gone. Bless you Ms. Gilley and God for giving you the words!

5.0 out of 5 stars Open heart, open-ended possibilities, May 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alchemy of Fear: How to Break the Corporate Trance and Create Your Company's Successful Future (Paperback)

Kay Gilley has done it again. She has cut to the bone of the corporate malaise and shown us how to lead by inspiration and intrinsic rewards, a far cry from the traditional approach to management. If we think of corporate culture as a collective hallucination that is generally subscribed to by employees, then here's a formula for waking up to a more functional reality. We can not only do better business, but lead better lives as well. Isn't that why we work in the first place? If you work for a company, buy this book. It will help you make it a healthier place. If you can't change the culture of the company you work for, you may find yourself thinking about finding a more human place to work. If you run a company, it will likely change how you think about and do leadership. Kay is one of our most valuable business thinkers and has the academic credentials and practical experience to back it up. Buy this book now. You'll be glad you did.