Do Good At Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing

A delightful do-it-yourself guide to igniting meaning in any job. Most jobs lack a compelling purpose. Research finds that this workplace deficiency makes people sluggish, disengaged, careless, disloyal, unhappy and unhealthy. Fortunately, there is a way to be free from the modern trap of meaningless labor without switching careers or quitting jobs. The scientifically-validated practice of job purposing, which consists of surprisingly modest acts that anybody can do, elevates ordinary work to a fulfilling venture. Do Good At Work is a delightful, do-it-yourself guide to igniting meaning in any job and, consequently, becoming more successful, fulfilled, and happy. Unlike existing books which focus on helping executives with the corporate purpose statement that adorns the lobby, speaker and consultant Bea Boccalandro equips the individual worker to do work that matters regardless of their position. Serving as president of VeraWorks, a global consulting firm specializing in workplace purpose for over 20 years, Bea has helped companies such as Aetna, Disney, FedEx, IBM, PwC, Toyota, and others obtain job purpose. She explains why most workers face a painful purpose void when they walk into work and guides readers through specific steps to fill that void, even including a list of 50 simple job purposing tactics to get readers started. Do Good At Work makes it possible for anybody to go home proud of their workday-every day.

About the Author :
Bea Boccalandro advises business leaders on igniting social purpose in the workplace and helps workers end their workweek knowing they made a difference. As founder and president of VeraWorks, a business purpose advisory firm, Bea has two decades of experience making customer interactions more human, products more inclusive, meetings more meaningful, operations more environmentally sustainable, marketing more charitable, and otherwise igniting purpose in the workplace. Her clients include Bank of America, Caesars Entertainment, Disney, CVS Health, Eventbrite, FedEx, HP, John Hancock, IBM, Levi's, PwC, TOMS Shoes, Toyota and Western Digital. Her work has been featured on FOX TV, Business Digest, Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Bea also has 15 years of experience teaching business purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR) at Georgetown University, Boston College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Furthermore, her speeches across more than 50 countries have inspired tens of thousands of people to make their work more meaningful. She lives with her husband in San Clemente, California, where she frequently embarrasses herself as a beginner surfer. Learn more at www.BeaBoccalandro.com.

Review :
“Actionable and fun to read.” —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Think Again, Originals and Give and Take and host of the TED podcast “WorkLife” “Unique, original, practical, inspiring, Do Good at Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing is unreservedly recommended as a life changing, life enhancing read for anyone having difficulty with their present employment.” —Midwest Book Review “Written in a light, humorous style and dotted with pen and ink illustrations by the author, Do Good at Work is an easy read that offers terrific, very practical advice on how to make your work life more meaningful.” —Forbes “You can’t get what’s here anywhere else. The author, an expert in her field, creates a deeply affecting work of art combined with thoroughly researched findings, personal narrative and her own portrait sketches. A lot more makes it unique. Ms. Boccalandro fully shows the central importance of bringing social purpose to work, brings dozens of examples shown with a novelist's eye, deals with resistance and objections and the reality of work pressures and, after all that, invites the reader to be in contact with her if they can’t find a way to implement what she’s writing about. I don’t know any other author who’s done that. The author also addresses the essential point that the actions we take turn us into the kind of person we are. Every day, by the actions we take or resist taking, we become someone closer to our authentic self—or someone more distant. She makes a powerful case, a stupendous invitation: participate in transforming the world through everyday small activities and become who you really are by doing so. Almost everyone can take up this book and be informed, supported and inspired. Read it yourself and recommend it to others. Remember seeing or reading The Color Purple or hearing Aretha Franklin for the first time? This book is like that.” —James Flaherty, founder of New Ventures West, co-founder of Integral Leadership LLC and author of Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others “Do Good at Work is both a riveting and vital read for corporate leaders, especially now. The events of 2020 have demonstrated that companies need to play an increasingly larger role in the broader society. Bea Boccalandro guides us to this future. Using engaging writing and sound research, she shows us that it’s possible to infuse every employee’s work with purpose in a way that benefits society, employees and the business. Do Good at Work is transformative: It turns its readers into inspired leaders.” —Jan Jones Blackhurst, member of the Caesars Entertainment Board of Directors and former Mayor of Las Vegas "I would put Do Good at Work as among the best business books ever—for both managers and non-managers. It's inspiring yet practical, eye-opening yet digestible and soundly researched yet deeply engaging. Its advice is so practical one wonders why it has taken so long for the word to get out." —Cynthia Currin, Vice President, JBS International “I fell in love with this book! It touched me in a personal way. Its self-effacing style makes it fun and super accessible. As a scientist, I run into a lot of books where I wonder ‘where’s the science in this?’ Not this one! In fact, I kept flipping to the back thinking ‘Whoa! She has another awesome reference.’ Do Good at Work is also replete with practical real-world people and real-world companies. It’s simply a really, really good book!” Vic Strecher, Professor, University of Michigan Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Founder and CEO of Kumanu and author of Life on Purpose and the graphic novel, On Purpose "As a professor and organizational/leadership development consultant, I have learned that to be a great, agile and future-ready organization or leader, we must be focused on lifting with purpose. We must do good at work. There is no better person to deliver this message than Bea Boccalandro. Do Good at Work should be on every leader's shortlist of books to read this year. I am excited for all of the good that will come to this world because of it." —Ryan Gottfredson, author of Wall Street Journal and USA Today national bestseller, Success Mindsets “Do Good at Work is a wonderful read that will inspire frontline workers, managers and leaders to enhance the work environment to create higher purpose and effect positive outcomes. In turn, this will provide value to employees, owners and communities—a win-win-win strategy. The author uses both quantitative research results and memorable anecdotes to make a compelling case for why we should all work to evolve and transform the workplace.” —Tom Mutryn, CFO, CACI International and former CFO, US Airways "I LOVED Do Good at Work! Its insightful writing provides compelling stories and characters throughout the book that drive home the impactful message that our jobs can provide us with more than just an income; they can provide us with a sense of purpose. Interesting, funny, and engaging, it is also packed with data-driven evidence and strategies to help workers at any level within their organization make their work more meaningful. I encourage everyone to pick up this book and make the investment in themselves; you'll be immensely glad you did." —Chris Lacey, Founder and President, Autism ALERT, Inc.