Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You [Hardcover]

Salvatore R. Maddi (Author), Deborah M. Khoshaba (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2005

Resilience is the key not just to coping with unwanted change and stressful circumstances, but to truly thriving in the workplace. Resilience at Work shows readers how to withstand problems large and small, increasing positive attitudes like commitment, control, and challenge, while decreasing those of isolation, powerlessness, and threat. Packed with practical techniques and real-life examples, the book presents resilience as a powerful skill anyone can develop in order to maximize their potential and change their life for the better.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"""Resilience at Work offers a masterfully original and practical perspective on how to enhance health, morale, happiness, and performance by learning how to build on stressful events and not be undermined by them."" -- Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine

""Resilience at Work holds the keys we need to go beyond survival to thrive in today's complex workplace. Maddi and Khoshaba build on their research and practice developing ‘personal hardiness’ to offer us sensible, practical guidelines for building a firm foundation of resilience that works on the job and in our personal lives."" -- Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Stanford University

""Unlike most self-help books, Resilience at Work is based on solid empirical research. It is refreshing to see how these two renowned psychologists are able to translate their scientific findings and theoretical concepts into an engaging and inspiring story."" -- Dr. Paul T. P. Wong, President, International Network on Personal Meaning

""A unique resource that promotes constructive coping with stress as it arises in organizational contexts. The book is psychologically sound and clearly written. Its array of relevant cases from the authors' extensive experience makes it humanly appealing."" -- M. Brewster Smith, former President of the American Psychological Association

""Maddi and Khoshaba have translated their groundbreaking research on the science of human personality into deep insights and practical guidelines that show us how to cope and flourish amid the daunting challenges we face in the workplace today."" -- Dan P. McAdams, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Director of the Foley Center for the Study of Lives, Northwestern University"

Book Description

"Why do some people remain so calm and collected in the face of looming deadlines, combative meetings, impending layoffs, and turbulent changes? And why are these seemingly unflappable people the ones who consistently get ahead in their lives and their careers?

The key to success is their resilience, according to the founders of the innovative Hardiness Institute in Newport Beach, California. More than experience or training, resilience in the face of stressful situations and rapid changes determines whether you ultimately succeed or fail in the workplace. It allows you to thrive even in tumultuous conditions, to turn potential disasters into growth opportunities.

And the good news for the legions of other workers who become overwhelmed, and even sickened, by stress is that resilience in the face of life’s problems is not an inborn personality trait, but a set of skills and attitudes that you can actually learn and develop. Resilience at Work gives you the knowledge, tools, and encouragement you need to embark on your journey to becoming a hardier, more successful person.

Based on a twelve-year study of Illinois Bell Telephone employees as they experienced immense organizational change, as well as hundreds of subsequent studies and firsthand consulting and training experience, the book shows how to enhance your capacity to succeed in even the harshest economic climates.

Packed with insightful examples, case studies, and self-assessment tools, Resilience at Work explains how to:

* Approach change as a meaningful challenge no matter how stressful the circumstances, and stay committed to your work, rather than detaching and giving up.

* Gain control by understanding the upside and the downside of change, and take actions to influence beneficial outcomes.

* Turn stressful changes to your advantage and map out sound problem-solving strategies.

* Resolve ongoing conflicts and build an environment of assistance and encouragement between you and your coworkers.

* Decrease feelings of isolation and powerlessness by understanding the 3Cs that give you the ability to thrive amid disruptive changes: commitment, control, and challenge.

Reorganization, downsizing, mergers, budget pressures, transfers, job insecurity, and more are producing today’s unpredictable, pressure-cooker conditions, and making it harder for less resilient people to achieve the success they deserve. Resilience at Work supplies insights and strategies you can use to combat your fear of change and uncover the opportunities that can be found in even the most stressful situations."

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1 edition (March 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814472605
• ISBN-13: 978-0814472606
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,108,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn hardiness from the master, February 27, 2005

By 

Lawrence A. Siebert "Al Siebert, Ph.D. author... (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You (Hardcover)

RESILIENCE AT WORK shows how to learn the core elements of hardiness that Salvadore Maddi identified in his classic research project at Illinois Bell Telephone twenty years ago. Maddi and Khoshaba explain that "the key to resilience is hardiness," and then show readers how to develop the three core hardiness attitudes:
* commitment
* control
* challenge

To these. they add two vital skills: transformational coping and social support.

RESILIENCE AT WORK reflects decades of practical experience teaching hardiness skills in corporate settings. Many real-life examples illustrate the points. A concluding chapter provides companies with guidelines for improving worker resiliency.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Stress Book, October 12, 2005

By 

Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You (Hardcover)

The negative effects of stress have challenged people for a long, long time. For years, psychologists have endeavored to offer advice and assistance to those coping with personal and professional issues. For obvious reasons, many counselors, consultants, and trainers have focused on managing stress at work. Employers want smooth operations without the potential serious consequences of stress-induced problems. Careers have been destroyed by inabilities to deal with the ongoing changes in business.

I opened this book with an expectation that I might find some new secrets...perhaps a whole new approach to how workers-individually and collectively-could function much differently. What I found was another book on stress. Others may see some new ideas, but I've read a lot in this field so my expectations are probably higher than the average reader.

The text is organized to explain resilience-essentially having the inner strength to cope because you're doing a good job at managing change. The authors describe this as developing hardiness, the foundation of their Hardiness Institute. The book reports on a 12-year longitudinal study of employees at Illinois Bell Telephone. The stress of all the change over the years caused the departure or failure of two-thirds of the workers. The survivors practiced effective stress management techniques. The keys they promote include approaching change as a challenge, developing sound problem-solving strategies, resolving conflicts, and building commitment.

Readers will find an abundance of case studies that make points for the authors, teaching techniques and offering examples to stimulate thought.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too scholarly and plain. Not very helpful indeed, May 2, 2009

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: Resilience at Work: How to Succeed No Matter What Life Throws at You (Hardcover)

I have no doubt that the authors are true scholars and done great studies on relevant subjects. However, as a struggling worker who wants to read a book that can help to increase his resiliency at work, I am far from satisfied. The three key atitudes (Committment, Control, Challenge) and the two vital skills (Transformational Coping, Social Support) of the resilient employees first developed in the author's study done over 2 decades ago still sound reasonable. However, the plenty of case studies and the research paper style of writing failed to absorb me at all. Not very helpful, IMHO. Pardon me to comment that "The Game Plan: Your Guide to Mental Toughness at Work by Steve Bull" and "Stess Reduction for Busy People: Finding Peace in an Anxious World by Dawn Groves" are much better choices.

p.s. Desite my not so positive review above, I like much the single quote wrt the 3Cs above. Please find my copy and paste of them below for your reference.

Life exacts a price for less than full participation in it. We lose touch with human values and qualities that arise naturally from a full engagement with work and life that expresses responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and cooperation. - Tarthang Tulku pg50
Lack of willpower has caused more failure than lack of intelligence and ability. - Flowers A. Newhouse pg52
our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson pg53