« Daniel Pink's "Drive" »

Last year as the book "Drive" by Daniel Pink was being released, I read the advanced copy sent to me and it was as if my professional world was morphing from black and white to technicolor.

Reading this book made me realize all the thoughts that had popped up in my head over time about corporate culture and being passionate about what I do were finally articulated in this thoughtful, empowering book.

Sometimes you can't tell a book from it's cover, but "Drive"?  The book's tagline on the cover says it all: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. 

What motivates you? A huge salary?  Perhaps.  Stock options?  Maybe. For a lot of us, that's what we grew up believing.  But what truly motivates us, according to Daniel Pink, goes way beyond that.

Daniel Pink breaks it down into the following: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose...

Or to be more specific: self-direction, challenges that match our abilities, and being a part of cause that is larger than ourselves.

If you're a manager and you want to boost productivity and retention?  Read this book for a fresh perspective. No matter where you are in your career though, if you're one of those people who believes it's important to be fulfilled by what you spend most of your waking hours doing. Or you're committed to developing professionally and see no limits as far as your career path is concerned.

In other words...

If you are driven...

...you will probably find this book as life-changing as it was for me. This book brought clarity to the way that I see my own career.  I've always been ambitious and passionate about what I do.  If you are too or if you want to be but always feel like there's someting missing...read this book.

Oh, and one final note. If you're a Kindle owner like me, you'll be tempted to download the sample to get a quick fix of Pink's goodness.  Do yourself a favor and download the whole thing.  The toolkit in the back of the book is worth the price of the book all by itself. It builds on the concepts outlined in the book in actionable and impactful ways.