Bøger udgivet af Berrett-Koehler

In our time of dramatic worldwide change, can business leaders meet the challenges of the marketplace and the needs of people, communities, and the planet? Merchants of Vision profiles 40 business leaders who are successfully working to do just that. James Liebig interviewed dozens of business women and men in 70 organizations from 14 countries. He found executives, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and consultants who recognize business's pervasive global influence and have found ways to use that influence to affect positive change in people's lives and meaningful growth in their businesses. In Merchants of Vision they share their beliefs, experiences, and creative actions. Visionary yet down-to-earth, these real-life portraits provide viable business strategies for: o enhancing social equity, o protecting the natural environment, o fostering human creativity, o serving higher purposes, including spiritual, service, and community values, o behaving ethically, o providing transformational leadership. Representing a variety of business enterprises in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, innovators profiled include, for example: o Elliot Hoffman, president of Just Desserts in San Francisco; o Jacqueline Cambata, president of Phoenix Chemical in Virginia; o Mara Adela Palcos, director of Rio Abierto Institute in Buenos Aires; o Marjorie Kelly, editor and publisher of Business Ethics magazine; o Eckart J. Wintzen, president of BSO/ORIGIN, computer custom software services in The Netherlands; o Joe Jaworski, head, Business Environment Section, Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd., in London, England; o Jagdish Parikh, managing director, Lemuir Group of Companies in Bombay, India; o Carol Frenier, president, The Advantage Group, Inc., specialty advertising in Vermont; o Meryem Le Saget, directeur, Institut de L'Expansion, Group Expansion, business seminars and conferences in Paris, France; o Heini Lippuner, chairman, executive committee, Ciba-Geigy Limited, chemical manufacturing in Basel, Switzerland; o Robert V. Adams, president of Xerox Technology Ventures in California. These are people of action and integrity who sustain themselves with the creative friction between their idealism and their knowledge of the real world. Their experiences-addressing issues of personal responsibility and product quality, expanding markets and shrinking natural resources, technological advancement and cultural preservation-reveal ways businesses must adapt to survive, thrive, innovate, and lead.

Business people need help reducing the impact of their companies on the environment. This book will help them identify what can be done, systematically set priorities, and create an action plan for implementing improvements. It will also help them sell an impact reduction program to their top management. In contrast to the current practice of "compliance auditing," a process focused on meeting governmental regulations, this Elmwood Institute guide shows how to conduct an "eco-audit" - a complete examination of an organization in relation to its long-term ecological sustainability. Such an audit scrutinizes every aspect of the organization and its operations, including product design and manufacture, management techniques, corporate culture, and goals. This book provides a comprehensive framework for companies that need to design their own audits. In addition, a set of thirteen checklists guide managers through the audit process, covering such topics as energy, materials, wastes, finance, marketing, transportation, and international business relations.

No More Hate! All Are Welcome! “Stigma” is a simple two-syllable word, yet it carries the weight of negative and often unfair beliefs that we hold about those who are different from us. Stigmas lock people into stereotyped boxes and deny us all the right to be our authentic and whole selves. Dr. Pernessa Seele, a longtime public health activist who started one of the first AIDS education programs in the 1980s, has crafted a proven method to address stigma. This powerful book confronts stereotype development, shows how to undo the processes and effects of stigma, and explains how we can radically change cultural thinking on the individual, interpersonal, and societal levels to put an end to stigmatization once and for all.

Times are tough. What should you do as a leader to make sure your business stays on course? Illustrated with fascinating examples drawn from interviews with some of the world's most talented business leaders, "Leading in Turbulent Times" explains how you can navigate through the eye of the storm.

From Chip R. Bell, the bestselling author of Customers as Partners , Managers as Mentors , and Managing Knock You rSocks Off Service , partnering with Heather Shea, the former president of The Tom Peters Group's training and consulting company Provides invaluable insights into the changing world of powerful partnering Offers tools, details techniques, and provides activities and resources to help you develop successful partnerships in every enterprise Partnerships are fast becoming the primary structure of contemporary business, as organizations partner with vendors, unions, customers, and even competitors to take advantage of short-term market opportunities, leverage intellectual capital, and create more flexible and innovative enterprises. In this important guide, authors Chip Bell and Heather Shea offer an in-depth look at how we can successfully manage partnerships and build them with substance-passion, quality, heart, and soul. While many other books have examined the rational, logical, analytical sides of partnership, none has fully explored the irrational, illogical, emotional sides, which are most often what cause partnerships to falter or fail. Dance Lessons is a comprehensive guide to the interpersonal side of partnerships, revealing exactly how the champions choreograph their partnership dances for show-stopping performances. It features: new perspectives to help you decide if partnership is right for you exciting tools for selecting the right form of partnership important techniques to help you get emotionally prepared to partner smart ways to accurately pick good partners engaging activities to help you practice your partnership skills effective methods for dealing with difficult partners and partnerships vital cues that let you know when the partnership is ready to end, and helpful tips on how to end it insights on how to manage external factors that effect partnership success practical resources to help you continue to learn about effective partnering Dance Lessons shows how to develop meaningful, ethical, and soulful partnerships in every interaction throughout your work and your life.

Celebrations infuse life with passion and purpose. They summon the human spirit, reattach us to our roots, and help us soar toward new visions. Celebrations touch our hearts and fire our imaginations, bonding people together and connecting us to shared myths and values. Corporate Celebration shows how the ceremony and ritual of celebration can be brought to the workplace to restore company spirit, reinvigorate employee morale, build commitment and loyalty, improve quality and financial performance, and instill work with meaning and joy. This practical guide provides advice on the what, why, and how of corporate celebration. The authors first distill what we know about the role that ritual and ceremony play in human organizations, then offer examples from multiple sectors and companies. They show how ceremonies can be used to build relationships, relieve tension, level the hierarchy, create excitement, transform losses into gains, and provide access to life's deeper lessons. In the second part, they examine a wide variety of situations where ritual and ceremony play a vital role-including recognition, triumphs, tragedies, transitions, product launches, and community outreach efforts. They detail the psychological benefits of seven types of celebrations: cyclical celebrations, recognition ceremonies, celebrations of triumph, rituals of comfort and letting go, succession rites, altruistic celebration, and play. In the third part, they observe the makings, motions, and roles of key players, drawing practical wisdom from executives, managers, and employees who have participated in successful corporate rituals and celebrations. Acknowledging the potential downside of contrived or meaningless symbolic activity, they show how intended perks can become actual perils. Finally, they provide clear guidelines for the design of meaningful, top-flight celebrations, which arise from shared vision and values, recognize individuals as heroes and heroines, and authentically reflect the corporate spirit. In a time when many organizations are suffering from eroded cultural values due to restructuring, reengineering, and downsizing, Corporate Celebration offers a refreshing approach to creating community in the workplace and revitalizing business

Though Gandhi is one of the most written-about figures of the twentieth century, this is the first book to apply lessons from his life to the practical tasks faced by contemporary leaders-from corporate managers and executives to government administrators, nonprofit professionals, educators, and others. In times shaped by colonialism, dictatorships, and two World Wars, Gandhi demonstrated that an idealist could also be a practical and effective leader. In our times of increasing cynicism about the quality of leadership we can expect and aspire to, Keshavan Nair reminds us that, "We are all engaged in leadership, in practicing it and selecting those who will lead." In A Higher Standard of Leadership, he offers a pragmatic guide based on the concepts Gandhi exemplified: o leadership is service, not a path to power and privilege; o effective goals, decisions, and strategies can be guided by moral principles; o a single standard of conduct, based on absolute values, should be maintained in both public and private life. A lifelong student of Gandhi's teachings and a businessman with more than 25 years of experience in corporate and governmental leadership development, Nair is uniquely positioned to bridge the two worlds. Using illustrative examples from Gandhi's life and writings, he identifies commitments-to conscience, openness, service, values, and reduced attachments-and describes the courage and determination necessary to work and lead by them. In simple and direct language, he explores the process of making decisions, setting goals, and implementing actions guided by the spirit of service and commitment to values that is essential to the realization of a higher standard of leadership in our workplaces and communities.

Just as canaries once warned miners of unhealthy conditions underground, women in today's corporate marketplace are sounding a caution that our business survival depends on making far-reaching changes in the business environment. This collection of provocative, timely, and encouraging essays proposes ways to transform the traditional workplace into a more wholesome and balanced environment that honors masculine and feminine traits as equally vital. The fifteen women-entrepreneurs, consultants, and corporate executives-who offer these provocative and practical essays serve as harbingers of essential business transformation. As varied as their backgrounds and perspectives may be, these women see a common need and share a common goal-to create more humane and nurturing workplaces. Truth and a willingness to risk are benchmarks of the fifteen insightful essays, as is the search for personal and spiritual freedom. The authors speak of individual responsibility and a balance among all the areas of one's life. Work becomes an arena for self-discovery. The controlling "power over" becomes life-nurturing "power to," and steps for creating a full and productive partnership between men and women are defined. In proposing new and more effective ways to succeed in business, When the Canary Stops Singing explodes the myth that feminine and masculine perspectives can't interact in harmony.

Mixing warm humor, shrewd irony, and penetrating insight, commentator David Graulich gently twits the pretensions of American business and exposes the humorous truth behind the serious facade of the workplace. Politely pointing out contradictions, unmasking absurdities, and providing badly needed perspective on the awkward situations that abound in business life, the forty-one commentaries in this book offer a humorous view of office etiquette, corporate mores, and more. Treasured as classics by Marketplace listeners, Dial 9 to Get Out! includes Graulich's pointed observations on the secrets of corporate apologies, those odd little friendships formed in the office elevator, the absurd ritual of the CEO visit, easy steps to becoming a respected guru, the universal nature of the employee lunchroom, and many more. Graulich's sharp eye for the humor in everyday interactions will appeal to anyone who has ever held a job.

"Economic insanity" describes what is happening in America and the wider world beyond its borders. The economy is out of control-out of our control-to the point that it is in control. The economy has divorced itself from the political and social ideals that define the American Dream, which has been transformed from an all-inclusive social ideal to an economic fantasy. In Economic Insanity, Roger Terry explains how and why economics has come to dominate all aspects of our lives. Basic political, social, and moral values used to hold us together as a nation. Today, it seems, the economy is all that holds us together. The most drastic effects of the rise of Economic America are the impoverishing of democracy, the loss of liberty, and the abandonment of equality. Terry shows how our present system is failing at its most fundamental task-to provide for the physical needs and wants of human beings-and concludes that the system does not need fixing, it needs to be replaced. This provocative proposal exposes the misconceptions that drive our economic system and offers systemic and revolutionary solutions. With passion and persuasiveness, Terry asserts that in order to recapture the American Dream, we must begin to subject the economy to the ideals of democracy, liberty, equality, and unity. Terry questions, and suggests we abandon, four fundamental pillars of capitalism: endless economic growth, ever-increasing productivity, accelerating technological advances, and self-interest. He shows how these basic assumptions that drive our version of the free-market system are causing a host of interrelated and deeply entrenched problems. He explores critical social dilemmas that result from our current economic assumptions, including the loss of personal freedom and democracy, the perpetual and unavoidable increase in inequality, and the disuniting of America. If we are to turn our nation from this path of folly, Terry argues, we must first abandon the faulty assumptions that drive our thinking. Terry proposes a solution that redefines the notion of capital ownership, creating a system of limited, widespread ownership in which individuals own only as much capital as they can make personal productive use of. Under this system, employees become owner/partners, power is returned to people, self-interest is defused, technology is harnessed, and meaningful equality is encouraged. Incorporating ideas from Adam Smith and Thomas Paine to Paul Johnson and Herman Daly, Economic Insanity challenges readers to stop looking for answers within the system and look instead to changing the system.

Written for those who provide care for others, this text shows how to get help, offering effective, practical ways to exchange help and share support with friends, neighbours and co-workers. It includes 200 stories from caregivers.

This is the first book to squarely face the tough emotional and relationship issues in the workplace-anger, fear, distrust, conflict, resentment-and to provide practical and proven methods for creating more productive work environments. Based on fifteen years' experience using these methods inside workplaces, Bill and Kathy Lundin show how to: o Replace anger and suspicion at work with caring, trust, and cooperation; o Unlock the goodwill, learning, and creativity of everyone in an enterprise; o Empower all employees to facilitate productive relationships at work. The "Healing Manager" that the Lundins describe is any employee-whether CEO, first-line supervisor, or hourly worker-who helps others grow emotionally and intellectually, and who cultivates caring relationships on the job. The Lundins show that such well-being is the real secret to productivity, quality, and service. The Lundins draw on counseling techniques, improvisational theater, and common wisdom to offer practical tools to help all managers and employees change their workplace behaviors, attitudes, and relationships.

While most of the business world worships size and constant growth, Big Vision, Small Business celebrates the art—and power—of small. Based on interviews with more than seventy small-business owners and on her own experiences as a successful small-business entrepreneur, Jamie Walters shows how a business can stay small and remain vital, healthy, and rewarding. If you long to run a successful, socially conscious enterprise as one element of a fulfilling personal life, Big Vision, Small Business shows you how. Covering growth options and small-enterprise advantages, inspired visioning, communication, and right-relationship, mindset issues and expectation management, and wisdom and mastery practices, Big Vision, Small Business is a must-read for every entrepreneur and futurist.

What would happen if you could achieve business success without owning any assets, but could simply enjoy the benefits of them? What if companies were able to react instantly to changing circumstances by operating in negative time? What if you didn't need management to run your business? Zero Space defines a business model in which an organization achieves success without owning assets or needing management. In a zero space organization, knowledge is the only true currency and people are the business's assets and its investors in future success. Through eight new organizational principles the authors illustrate how "zero-mindedness" is essential for the new economy. Just as organizations will have to exist in less tangible, less prescribed forms, so will thinking have to become less departmentalized, less closely guarded. This new open-mindedness or "zero mind-set" targets knowledge so that an organization applies it when and where it is really needed. The authors-two top executives at one of the "big five" accounting and consulting firms-show how to create a zero-space organization: a value-adding, quick-reacting, non-centralized, non-standardized, innovation-generating workplace for dedicated talent.

Authentic power-the power to consistently obtain what we truly desire-comes from within. Such power, the power to determine your own destiny, isn't achieved by imposing your will on others. In fact, Ross Lawford explains, power based on authority, control, strength, and status is not only ineffective, it is usually short-lived or more illusion than reality. Drawing on psychology, theology, and business, Lawford outlines a new view of power based on authenticity and provides practical pointers for achieving your deepest desires without manipulation, coercion, or intimidation. He provides strategies for applying this new view of power in every aspect of your life-including your work, your family, and personal relationships.

We are entering the 21st century in a period of great uncertainty and change. People are wary of government and have lost confidence in social institutions-from social welfare and schools to healthcare programs. That loss of confidence has undermined the community and family life that is the very foundation of our society. Self-Governance in Communities and Families shows how individuals can reconnect to and revitalize their social institutions so that they are effective in serving the needs of all. Gary Nelson identifies the existing social models we are moving away from and explores the new, emerging pattern of relationships we are shifting to in our social institutions. He reveals why open dialogue and partnerships between people and their social institutions are essential to the well-being of families and thriving communities. He describes why social regeneration is best pursued through these partnerships, with people and stakeholders within communities taking positive action to develop and protect the well-being of their families and the health of their communities. Applying both business and social science concepts to the day-to-day management of social institutions, Nelson offers a proven, practical method-community self-governance dialogues-for engaging people in the redesign and revitalization of social institutions. The author shows how-by creating opportunities for individuals and families to proactively participate in developing a strategic plan for how their institutions are managed, run, and evaluated-this dialogue method ultimately empowers people to take control of their own lives. He also reveals how active participation in these open dialogues ignites creative ideas and new energy for the redirection and reshaping of those institutions. With numerous examples and anecdotes, Nelson illustrates the values, beliefs, and principles that underlie how we learn and make decisions in a self-governing democratic culture. He provides tips for shared learning and accountability, ownership and governance, and the creation of a culture of self-governance. And he offers advice on how to maintain an ongoing engagement and partnership between the public and its social institutions. Communities and families can be strengthened when each of us takes responsibility for ourselves and works in partnership with others to restore our social institutions. Self-Governance in Communities and Families sets forth clear, doable strategies for fostering both responsibility and ownership through dialogue and collaboration between public and private sectors.

Corporate structures, products, and processes permeate our society -but what do they really mean to us in our daily lives? The bottom-line mentality that drives corporate America, say Ellen Augustine (formerly Schwartz) and Suzanne Stoddard, is creating a world unresponsive to human needs, corrosive to the democratic process, and destructive to the planet itself. Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance shows the links between our mundane everyday struggles and the global corporate economy, image-driven media, and the relentless pace which consumes us all. And it tells us how we can change things by transforming both our work and leisure. The authors use hard-hitting examples and illuminating personal vignettes about confronting fear, anger, death, family problems, and the stultifying effects of staying in the "comfort zone." They detail over 75 steps for personal and societal actions-some quick and immediate, others in-depth and long term-for retaking control of our lives. The authors include provocative questions for reflection that shock, prod, and jump-start the reader into thinking about what matters most to them. Deeply moving, outrageous, encouraging, compelling, and inspiring, Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance blends unrelenting candor with the comfort of real-life stories of hope-and ultimately shows us that choice is the most important tool we have for reviving our lives and our world.

A guide to the parallel revolutions in technology, organizations, and leadership This practical yet thought-provoking book presents a wealth of evidence to show that the two recurrent themes of democracy and enterprise are transforming our institutions. Organizations are becoming changing clusters of entrepreneurial units working together to form "internal markets," while this diversity is being integrated into a "corporate community" that unites the interests of investors, workers, clients, business partners, and the public. Even fierce competitors are cooperating. o "Serving enterprises" make customers working partners in the creation of value o "Knowledge entrepreneurs" form teams of self-managed internal enterprises o "Internal markets" and "Corporate community" harness external forces to drive continuous change o The power of "inner leadership" unites liberated workers, critical clients, and temporary business partners o "Intelligent growth" offers strategic advantage that is ecologically benign Illustrative examples, survey data, trends, anecdotes, and exercises offer original insights into the use of New Management principles. In addition, mini-case studies of MCI, Saturn, The Body Shop, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Southwest Airlines, Home Depot, IKEA, Wal-Mart and other great companies illustrate vividly how creative managers design and lead organizations in an era of global competition, constant change, and empowered people. The author also analyzes critical issues, such as the nagging old conflict between profit and society, to provide managers a comprehensive, stimulating guide to where their craft is heading. Halal argues that the transition to a New Management is almost inevitable because it is being driven not by altruism or even good leadership, but by the relentless advance of the Information Revolution. Only small entrepreneurial teams operating from the bottom-up can master today's exploding complexity, and gaining stakeholder support is now essential because a knowledge-based economy has made cooperation a competitive advantage. Rather than fussing over quick fixes, The New Management points the way toward more fundamental solutions to the massive changes that will confront all institutions as the transition to a knowledge society rolls on into the 21st century.

This business autobiography of a corporate executive relates the management and leadership lessons which Autry, a Fortune 500 executive, has learned on his way to the top. according to Autry, knowing what to do is only part of becoming a leader; the only part is knowing how to be

 Christine Pelosi presents leadership lessons from the campaign trail from a diverse array of over forty public figures, lending advice for anyone who wants to run for office, advocate for a cause, or win a public policy issue. This book draws from her leadership “boot camps” conducted in over thirty American states and in three foreign countries, working with thousands of volunteers and dozens of successful candidates for office from city council to US congress.   Campaign Boot Camp 2.0 is basic training for future leaders who hear a call to service—a voice of conscience that springs from their vision, ideas, and values—and want to translate that call into positive change. Pelosi outlines the seven essential steps to winning: identify your call to service, define your message, know your community, build your leadership teams, raise the money, connect with people, and mobilize to win. Each chapter concludes with a “Get Real” exercise so readers can personalize and integrate these ideas into individual efforts.   In this edition, Pelosi updates the book’s “Call to Service” profiles of political leaders and their calls to service; details the expanding role of social media, the Internet, and technology as message multipliers; explores challenges unique to women candidates; and expands on the power of volunteers.

America does not need an “upgrade.” For years the Right has been tampering with one of the best political operating systems ever designed. The result has been economic and environmental disaster. In this hard-hitting new book, nationally syndicated radio and television host and bestselling author Thom Hartmann outlines eleven common-sense proposals, deeply rooted in America’s history, that will once again make America strong and Americans—not corporations and billionaires—prosperous. Some of these ideas will be controversial to both the Left and the Right, but the litmus test for each is not political correctness but whether or not it serves to revitalize this country we all love and make life better for its citizens.

Privatization has been on the right-wing agenda for years. Health care, schools, Social Security, public lands, the military, prisons—all are considered fair game. Through stories, analysis, impassioned argument—even song lyrics—Si Kahn and Elizabeth Minnich show that corporations are, by their very nature, unable to fulfill effectively what have traditionally been the responsibilities of government. They make a powerful case that the market is not the measure of all things, and that a vital public sector is an indispensable component of a healthy democracy.

Are meetings taking over your life? You’re not alone. Meet Iris, a sales director so overwhelmed by meetings that she feels like a hamster on a wheel—in fact, she’s turned into one. Just in time, she meets a coach—a leading meeting efficiency expert—with a simple system that helps her regain her sanity and humanity. The coach’s secret is a laser-like focus on the five biggest meeting pain points: 1. Meeting overload: Professionals waste twenty-four days a year in useless meetings. 2. Missing success ingredients: ninety percent of all professionals attend meetings that lack a clearly stated objective and agenda. 3. Virtual-meeting chaos: Disinterested participants + endless technical glitches huge amounts of wasted time. 4. Agenda adrift: Goals are missed when meetings veer off course. 5. Action distraction: Incomplete action items result in delayed projects and missed deadlines. The coach demonstrates that these five challenges are damaging Iris’s career and costing the world over a trillion dollars each year. He provides practical new solutions that rapidly transform Iris from victim to victor. These solutions are tailored to the technology-driven world in which Iris lives—she discovers how to use e-calendars, PDAs, and virtual meetings to make her life easier, not more complicated. She applies the solutions, gets immediate results, and reclaims her life. The Hamster Revolution for Meetings focuses on a small number of high-impact best practices that really work. Included is a landmark case study that shows how 3,000 Capital One associates reclaimed ten days per year while improving meeting effectiveness by over 35 percent.

Premier CSR organization Aspen Institute offers nations first comprehensive guide to the worlds leading global MBA programs in CSRan indispensable guide for prospective students, universities, hiring companies, and libraries

Millions of working Americans talk, act, and vote as if their economic interests match those of the megawealthy, the multinational corporations, and the politicians who do their bidding. How did this happen? According to Air America radio host Thom Hartmann, the apologists of the Right have become masters of the subtle and largely subconscious aspects of political communication. It’s not an escalation in Iraq, it’s a surge; it’s not the inheritance tax, it’s the death tax; it’s not drilling for oil, it’s exploring for energy. Conservatives didn’t intuit the path to persuasive messaging—they learned these techniques. There is no reason why progressives can’t learn them too. In Cracking the Code, Hartmann shows you how. Drawing on his background as a psychotherapist and advertising executive as well as a national radio host, he breaks down the science and technology of effective communication so you can apply it to your own efforts to counter right-wing disinformation. It’s both an art and a science—as Hartmann explains, political persuasion is as much about biology as ideology, about knowing how the brain processes information and how that influences the way people perceive messages, make decisions, and form a worldview. Throughout the book, Hartmann shows you precisely how to master this technology, providing examples dating back to the time of the Founding Fathers. As you read deeply in this book, you’ll see things you hadn’t realized were there—in everything from advertising to political rants—and discover abilities you didn’t know you had. Whether you’re a politician, an activist, a volunteer, or a concerned citizen, you’ll develop a strong sense for how to reach into that part of the collective human psyche where we truly do have the power to create a new world.

Healthy compromise is necessary for accomplishing any meaningful goal with other people. But when your job presses you to betray your word, your principles, or other important commitments, it becomes profoundly unhealthy and deeply stressful. And it can happen even while working for an organization or leader you otherwise respect and admire. Elizabeth Doty offers the antidote: redefining the game. When you feel pressured to play by rules that undermine your integrity, Doty shows how you can tap into six personal foundations that will allow you to stay true to your deepest values and aspirations. Through more than fifty vivid firsthand accounts of compromise and courage in business, she provides guidance for anyone at any organizational level who wants to act with greater clarity, strength, and purpose, as well as for senior leaders striving to lead organizations that allow people to remain true to themselves. The Compromise Trap details a strategy that enables you to remain a positive force—for yourself and whatever you define as the greater good—no matter how difficult the circumstances.

Whether you are a world-weary worker juggling the demands of a hectic life or a seeker of soul-satisfying experiences, this deceptively simple book is your key to refresh, renew, rethink and recharge. From an unexpectedly arduous backpacking trip, Eileen McDargh discovers truths from the experience. Deep in grime, grit, and grace-filled mornings, she finds insights for business, for relationships, for family, for life, and for the soul. Whether musing on wild onions or mosquitoes, river crossings or thunderbolts, Eileen shares lessons for understanding the mundane and the magnificent, the difficult and the delightful, the ordinary and the extraordinary. Mountains become a lyrical metaphor for coping with life’s complexities. You’ll be reminded of what you may already know but have likely forgotten in the tension of time constraints, work worries, and family frustrations. McDargh will jar your memory, evoke new awareness, and spur you to action. Illustrated with stunning watercolor paintings, Gifts from the Mountain helps you to pay attention to the process of life and take joy in the journey.

Do you ever tell yourself that you’re not enough? Not smart enough, not rich enough, not good enough, not fill-in-the-blanks enough? Or do you worry that there is not enough: not enough time, not enough money, not enough opportunity, not enough…whatever? Consciously and unconsciously, dozens of times a day, we tell ourselves that we are lacking, that our lives are lacking, that the universe is lacking. We lull ourselves into what Victoria Castle calls the “Trance of Scarcity”—a numbed state in which we’re crippled by the pervasive assumption that lack, struggle, and separation are our unavoidable fate. But what if it is the very story we tell ourselves—both as individuals and as a society—that keeps us trapped in this limited state? Here Castle shows you how to embody a new story—one that is about abundance, inspiration, and your own innate ability to create your reality. Once you break free from the Trance of Scarcity, you’ll be able to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life.