Greetings -  

I hope you, your family and friends are all well and enjoying the early days of another new year! 

Josh's Bersin's latest book, Irresistible, is the featured read in this edition. Rich in data, analysis and insights, Bersin describes, in pragmatic terms, what and how the best organizations create incredible experiences for their employees. His seven principles offer a powerful narrative and blueprint for the future of work; a future where success is predicated on the culture you cultivate, the people you attract and retain and the values you espouse, both internally and externally. 

He notes that "in today's economy, where innovation, service, and brand matter more than ever, you should always be thinking about how you can energize, empower and support your people.

A shift from 

- hierarchy to teams will unleash energy, belonging, and commitment.

- jobs to work will empower people to reinvent themselves and to always bring their best. 

- boss to coach will give people and management a sense of growth and development.

- rules to culture will bring people together and attract great candidates. 

- promotion to growth will create collaboration, development, and skills. 

- profits to purpose will create more energy, passion, and commitment

- output to employee experience will propel employees forward on a journey of mutual value...

This is not the end but the beginning of a perpetual discussion."

I am also including an array of other reading and listening. Diverse in content and sourcing, these pieces offer a variety of perspectives that piqued my curiosity and desire to learn more. In particular, the Articles section delves deeper into facets of career transitions, which are both timely and potentially useful, given the significant (and growing) upheaval in the labor market. 

As always, happy reading and listening! 

Be well, take good care of your families and community.
-kj

Articles 

Harvard Business Review: Rethink Your Employee Value Proposition. "Approaching employee attraction and retention as a system helps avoid a race to the bottom, makes a company’s employee value proposition harder to imitate, and helps create a clear narrative that reduces us-versus-them tensions between managers and their reports. It allows your organization to move from reacting to the demands of the moment—whether they’re for signing bonuses or remote work—to creating an environment that enables people to reach their full potential. And that is the key to building an organization that thrives over the long haul."

Glassdoor: Best Places To Work 2023. "What a difference a year makes! A white-hot job market lost some of its heat, but hiring remained tight despite economic uncertainty — and employers dug deep to win over top talent. According to employees, these companies outshined the rest, providing a positive culture, strong pay and benefits, flexibility, and much more. See the winners of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2023."

Harvard Business Review: How to Evaluate a Potential Employer in a Downturn. "With rising interest rates, high inflation, political issues, and war all contributing to a roller coaster global economic outlook, it’s hard to know whether to stay in a stable job — no matter how unhappy you are — or make a move when it’s unclear how changing economic conditions could affect your employment. While you can’t eliminate the risks entirely, here are some ways to lower them when making a move."

Forbes: Distant Connections May Help People Find Jobs Better Than Close Friends. "Weaker social connections may be more helpful in finding new employment opportunities than close friends, according to a new study published in the journal Science, which conducted a large-scale experiment among more than 20 million LinkedIn users around the world over the course of five years."

Harvard Business Review: How to Tell If a Prospective Employer Values Psychological Safety. "Understanding the characteristics of psychologically safe organizations, identifying potential red flags from the hiring team, and knowing the questions to ask during a job interview to uncover a company’s values will help you find the right cultural fit."

Gartner: What Will HR Focus on in 2023? "To help HR leaders better manage and lead during these times, Gartner conducted an annual survey of more than 800 HR leaders and identified the top 5 priorities for HR in 2023. Top of the list is leader and manager effectiveness, but many HR leaders will also prioritize change management, employee experience, recruiting and future of work."

The New York Times: For Tech Companies, Years of Easy Money Yield to Hard Times. "Rock-bottom rates were the secret engine fueling $1 billion start-ups and virtual attempts to conquer the physical world. But in 2023, reality bites."

Blog Posts & Opinions

Farnam Street Blog: 2022 Personal Annual Report. "7 Simple Questions To Help You Reflect on the Past Year and Make the Next Year Unstoppable."

The Atlantic: Your Career Is Just One-Eighth of Your Life. "Five pieces of career advice, shaped by economics, psychology, and a little bit of existential math."

Seth's Blog: Our Dreaming Opportunity. "The dreams we need to teach are the dreams of self-reliance and generosity. The only way for us to move forward is to encourage and amplify the work of people who are willing to learn, to see and to commit to making things better."

Podcasts 

Hidden Brain: You 2.0: Decide Already. "...We bring you a favorite conversation with Harvard researcher Dan Gilbert. He explains why we’re bad at predicting our future happiness, how that affects our decision making, and why we’re actually happier after making a decision that feels irrevocable."

Brené Brown: Songs of Surrender and Carrying the Weight of Our Contradictions, Parts 1 and 2. "A magical, spiritual conversation with the U2 front man, activist, and author of the new memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story."

Arts, Music, Culture, Literature & Humor Corner

Eater San Francisco: This Hidden Back-Alley Dive Is Now a Haven for Audiophiles and Vintage Record Lovers. "Bar Fluxus is no more. Say hello to Harlan Records."

The New York Times: What Comes Next for the Most Empty Downtown in America. "Tech workers are still at home. The $17 salad place is expanding into the suburbs. So what is left in San Francisco?"

The New Yorker: Fiction. "A Sack Full of Seeds."

The New Yorker: Shouts and Murmurs. "Life Is Too Short."

Reflections

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.'" — Alfred Lord Tennyson

“‘What is the secret of your serenity?’ Said the Master, ‘Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable.’”— Anthony de Mello