Celeste Headlee
An Excerpt from Celeste Headlee’s Latest Book, “Do Nothing”
Excerpted from DO NOTHING copyright © 2020 by Celeste Headlee. Used by permission of Harmony Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
We answer work emails on Sunday night. We read endless articles about how to hack our brains to achieve more productivity. We crop our photos and use filters before we post them on social media to earn approval. We read only the first couple paragraphs of the articles we find interesting because we don’t have time to read them in their entirety. We are overworked and overstressed, constantly dissatisfied, and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. We are members of the cult of efficiency, and we’re killing ourselves with productivity.
The passage at the beginning of this Introduction was written in 1932, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, which caused the Great Depression. Russell’s description of the “cult of efficiency” predates World War II, the rise of rock and roll, the civil rights movement, and the dawn of the twenty-first century. More important, in my mind: It was written before the creation of the internet and smartphones and social media.
In other words, technology didn’t create this cult; it simply added to an existing culture. For generations, we have made ourselves miserable while we’ve worked feverishly. We have driven ourselves for so long that we’ve forgotten where we are going, and have lost our capacity for “light-heartedness and play.” Read More
The Biggest Danger Women Pose to the Status Quo
Start 2020 strong with Pat Mitchell, first female president of CNN Productions and PBS, co-founder and curator of TEDWomen, global advocate for women’s rights, and author of Becoming a Dangerous Woman.
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Here’s How to Be Happier Now
“So many people are so stressed out and so overwhelmed that they can’t even, and I say this from personal experience, they cannot even allow themselves to pause and recognize that they’re running at an unacceptable pace.”
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How to Manage Your Boss
“Look at who your boss is; understand how they operate—don’t judge; understand how you operate; and then assess the gap.”
—Mary Abbajay, organizational and leadership development expert and author, Managing Up
Most leadership books focus on how to manage the people who report to you. But equally important is how you manage your boss. (And we all have a boss—even CEOs of public companies have to report to a board.) In the latest episode of Women Amplified, Mary Abbajay discusses how to work with a wide range of challenging bosses—and make almost any relationship better.
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Want to Be a Better Leader? Help Your Team Stop Complaining and Be More Accountable
“Drama in the broader sense is unproductive thinking and disruptive behavior. We call it emotional waste. It is anything taking energy away from results and happiness in the workplace. It’s a subtraction.”
—Leadership expert and author Cy Wakeman
In this refreshing new conversation, leadership expert and New York Times best-selling author Cy Wakeman explains why unproductive workplace drama is on the rise—and how you can avoid it, be happier and more productive, and save yourself 2.5 hours a day.
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Dream Big. Then Do This.
“We think branding is what you do when you want likes or fans, or you want to be famous….Actually anyone who interacts with other people needs to think about branding. Your brand is how the world experiences you and what they believe to be true.”
—Personal branding expert Lida Citroën
Women tend to be more hesitant than men to think about personal branding. But once you realize it’s simply a tool to help others see you for who you really are—and want to become—it becomes a lot more important and doable. Personal branding expert Lida Citroën demystifies it all for our host Celeste Headlee in the latest episode of Women Amplified.
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Gloria Steinem on Women in 2019
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“It’s a truth-telling in the past couple of years that I haven’t seen before in the majority….the likelihood of being believed has increased.”
—Women’s rights pioneer and advocate Gloria Steinem
What would you ask Gloria Steinem if you could? This February, Steinem spoke at our Watermark Conference for Women in San Jose along with communication expert, award-winning journalist and author (and our new podcast host, but more about that later!) Celeste Headlee.
After their keynote appearance, Headlee continued the conversation so you could hear more of Steinem’s singular perspective on the state of women in the year 2019. We think you’ll enjoy their 20-minute conversation, and you’ll definitely think of Steinem the next time you get angry at work—or give your kid a hug.
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2017 Session | Managing Up: A Strategic Approach to Success in the Workplace
Did you know that employees spend an average of nearly 20 hours a week worrying about what their boss says or does? That equates to almost half of one’s work week. Imagine how much more productive (and happier) we would be if we were able to spend our time focused on hitting business goals rather than stressing about the relationship with our boss. And even if you have the best boss imaginable, everyone has bad days and rough patches. You don’t have to sit back and allow the actions of those above you derail your day or week or consume your mind. Prioritizing your relationship with your manager is not just critical to your success, but to your overall job satisfaction. It takes two to tango so why leave the quality of the relationship solely in your manager’s hands? This session is your chance to take charge and learn the tricky art of managing up. Using best practices from experts and a panel of professionals in the trenches, attendees will learn actionable tips to:
- Understand your manager’s work/behavioral style and adjust your style accordingly;
- Rethink your communication approach and share information more effectively;
- Set boundaries and know when to push back and say no;
- Maneuver the complexities of involved around gender and working with male managers;
- Influence quietly; and much more!
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Finding the Connection: Meaningful Interaction at Home & Work | Podcast
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Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. Electronic devices are partly to blame, but the erosion of our conversational skills lies with each of us. The only way forward is to start talking to each other, says Celeste Headlee, TV and radio show host and author of We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter (out in September). In 30 minutes, Headlee discusses her simple strategies for having satisfying conversations online and in person, at home and at work. Read More
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Free Teleclass | Finding the Connection: Meaningful Interaction at Home & Work
Finding the Connection: Meaningful Interaction at Home & Work
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
1:00-1:30 pm
