The Progress Principle

9

Tending Your Own Inner Work Life

THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK, we have focused on how events in the workday affect inner work life. By now, you know what role inner work life plays in performance and the impact that specific events can have on inner work life. You also know that these principles apply to each person inside an organization, because everyone has an inner work life. That includes you. If you are a manager, you must tend the inner work lives of your subordinates by supporting them and their progress every day. But don’t neglect yourself. Managers perform best when their own inner work lives are positive and strong.

Anne Mulcahy, who headed Xerox corporation from 2000 to 2009, understood the importance of tending inner work life—not only ...