Improve you work experience and environment- Read the Showkeir’s “Authentic Conversations”

Maren and Jamie Showkeir’s seminal book on improving communication in the work place, Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, recently received a glowing review in the online business zine bnet.  The link to the review of the Showkeirs’ very informative and well-written book is below. 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5383/is_200907/ai_n39231112/?tag=content;col1

I recommend this book to anyone seeking to create a successful and inspirational work environment for themselves, their co-workers and their employees. 

You can read an excerpt from their book by clicking on the link below:

Authentic-Conversations:-Moving-from-Manipulation-

You can learn more about the Showkeirs at www.henning-showkeir.com

I know that once you’ve read this serious yet accessible book you’ll feel both informed and inspired.

“… be like the moon.”

In his recounting of the tragedy of children soldiers during the civil war in Sierra Leone,  titled A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells of his descent into thoughtless violence and then his rehabilitation and re-emergence into the society of caring people.  As several reviewers stated, it is a “mesmerizing and heart-breaking” account of something that is very wrong in our world today.  Within the pages of this incredible story, Beah gives us insights into the gentle and compassionate thinking that reflected  his home culture before it was torn to it’s basest elements by unspeakable acts of inhumanity.

He quotes a village elder from Kabati who, when Beah was a small child, repeated to everyone he met that “We must strive to be like the moon.”  Beah’s grandmother explains that “the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others.  She said that people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold.  But, she said, no one grumbles when the moon shines.  Everyone becomes very happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way.  Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night.  A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines.  Those are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon.”

Every culture, each society, has similar cautionary and inspirational tales in their music, literature, poetry and art.  There are many signs  and hints for us that point to simple ways to live that result in contentment and peace-of-mind.   Look around you for those signs, sayings, musical phrases that inspire you toward more Intentional Living, and consider actually LISTENING to (and putting into practice) their message.  And remember, these ideas for gentle and peaceful living may be found anywhere.   The setting need not be one of lofty and over-powering ambiance.  As Paul Simon famously sang… “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.”

Moving toward Intentional Living strategies often takes only small yet incremental steps, taken with thoughtfulness and determination, guided by a quiet inner voice.

Book Review- “Dirty” (A Search for Answers Inside America’s Teenage Drug Epidemic)

This is not a newly published book.  In fact, it was published in the fall of 1993.  It still resonates however for parents, teachers and mental health providers who want a unique window into America’s teenage drug epidemic from a deeply personal vantage point.

Meredith Maran, a talented and prolific writer in the Berkeley-Oakland area, writes intimately about several high school teens that she followed for a year.  She documents their hopes, dreams, challenges, successes and failures from a vantage point rarely achieved by adults:  The day-to-day involvement in their lives both at and away from home.  This is a compelling book, sure to leave your own hopefulness as well as your awareness of the depth of this dilemma much expanded. 

Ms. Maran takes us on a journey that all parents wish they could take, and anyone interacting with teens should take.  

See more about Meredith Maran’s past work and pending projects at:  www.meredithmaran.com

“Authentic Conversations” by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir

“Authentic Conversations”: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment is an exciting new book by Jamie and Maren Showkeir, organizational consultants with a sound and accessible strategy for improving any organization’s bottom line through paying attention to its most valuable, and available, resources: its employees and the workplace culture in which they perform.   Using everyday language Jamie and Maren offer clear examples of typical organizational communication styles, and alternative styles that will enhance engagement and commitment.  The result they point us to is increased personal contentment, full participation though sharing both the burden of problems and the joy of innovative ideas, and success by adopting a thoughtful fidelity to organizational values and goals.

“Authentic Conversations” is important reading for anyone working in an organization and feeling that things need to improve!  Published by BK Business books, San Francisco.

www.henning-showkeir.com