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Fearless at Work: Timeless Teachings for Awakening Confidence, Resilience, and Creativity in the Face of Life's Demands
Work is such a crucial part of our life, and yet we often struggle with—and feel overwhelmed by—the numerous challenges it presents us. Whether it’s job insecurity, making peace with or leaving an unfulfilling job, or dealing with office conflicts, we often experience fear and a sense of groundlessness just at a time when we want to be our most creative and resilient. Drawing on Buddhist philosophy, Michael Carroll, a longtime human-resources executive, meditation teacher, and executive coach, explains how the practice of mindfulness—full awareness of our moment-to-moment experience—can help us become more confident and open to possibility in our work life. He offers a system of potent, inspiring principles that we can use as a practice for helping us work with our insecurities and awakening our natural bravery, resourcefulness, and resilience.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2012
22 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Michael Carroll
7 books14 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Michael Carroll is the founding director of Awake at Work (AAW) Associates, a consulting group that works with organizations and individuals to help them rediscover balance and well-being while pursuing professional success. For over two decades Carroll worked as a human resources professional, holding executive positions at Shearson Lehman Brothers, Paine Webber, Simon & Schuster, and the Walt Disney Company. He is a longtime student of Buddhism and an authorized teacher in the lineage of the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa. Michael continues to work in corporate settings and has taught mindfulness meditation at the New York Open Center, the Omega Institute (assisting Pema Chödrön), and the Wharton School of Business.
Michael Carroll is the founding director of Awake at Work (AAW) Associates, a consulting group that works with organizations and individuals to help them rediscover balance and well-being while pursuing professional success. For over two decades Carroll worked as a human resources professional, holding executive positions at Shearson Lehman Brothers, Paine Webber, Simon & Schuster, and the Walt Disney Company. He is a longtime student of Buddhism and an authorized teacher in the lineage of the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa. Michael continues to work in corporate settings and has taught mindfulness meditation at the New York Open Center, the Omega Institute (assisting Pema Chödrön), and the Wharton School of Business.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 19, 2012
I just finished reading “Fearless at Work: Timeless Teachings for Awakening Confidence, Resilience, and Creativity in the Face of Life’s Demands” by Michael Carroll and wanted to share some thoughts on this book as I have read his previous book “Awake at Work” and have to say I do value the very ‘work’ that the author is doing in focusing on this element of the human condition and how Buddhism intersects with out jobs out in the world rather than the familiar subject matter of most books relating to work done on the cushion or in the meditation halls.
Since many of us spend so much time in our jobs, interacting with so many people and defining ourselves so fully through our 9-5, our workplaces can provide much of the meat for our practice and can demonstrate some of the best of the Buddha’s teachings all before we make it to the lunchroom after fantasizing over being the first to get our mitts on the veggie nuggets, only to be beat out by that miserable Brian in accounting who lacks social skills, speaks way to loud and stole the Penske file right out from under our nose.
This book centers itself around the subject matter of confidence, fearlessness, groundlessness and relates 37 lojong slogans to our work life in order to show how we can escape from habitual tendencies via both examination of these slogans as well as the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation.
Being able to related directly to our experience has great benefit to our professional lives and Carroll mentions several times in this book that wakefulness helps us to snap our of restlessness and confusion that can obscure the reality of situations we find ourselves in. While it’s sometimes fun to engage in the juiciness of drama in the workplace, it can have serious results upon both our careers as well as our mental health and spiritual growth.
“Fearless at Work” digs deep into the emotional side of our professional life and through the lojong slogans helps to bring us a bit more out of our cocoons into a more skillful manner of working with others in society. False expectations, hopes, lack of confidence, ego posturing, lying, arrogance and all of the various toxic emotions that rear their heads take us further away from our ‘human-ness’ and only cause more pain and suffering. Carrol’s book gives solid examples of many who get caught up in the trap and through his work, he’s able to coach them to viewing situations in a different manner, rather than through their own lenses.
Much emphasis is placed on mindfulness-awareness and as such, much of the book discusses the benefits of a regular practice as a means to become more wakeful, aware, able to be in the present moment and overall to help us let go of the mental chatter that binds us.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this book, however I personally would have appreciated a few more ‘case studies’ in how those how employ mindfulness-awareness in their lives see the benefits of this practice. So much of Carroll’s book relates to this practice and I would have enjoyed a few more ‘real-world’ examples of these benefits in the wild. There is also a large part of the book which drifts from ‘working life’ towards more of life in general and while this is good since there really is little to distinguish between the two, it would help to have a refined look at the sphere of work rather than the examination being of one’s life overall. It could be said that one’s home environment can influence one’s behaviour at work, but I felt that some of these kinds of recommendations stretched a bit further from the title and primary subject of the book as being ‘Fearless at Work’.
There are about 6 paragraphs of the book on the vajra view of aggression that are alone worth the cover price as they are truly that good. Truly. In addition to this, the Appendix that covers how mindfulness-awareness cultivates social intelligence is in my opinion, is where my interest was truly piqued. The author gets into an analysis of how Daniel Goleman’s book “Social Intelligence: The Revolutionary New Science of Human Relationships” and reasons how mindfulness-awareness practice supports all seven of Goleman’s postulated skills for the cultivation of healthy human relationships.
All in all, if you are a fan of Micheal Carroll’s work (as I am), geek out on sociology, human interaction or are looking for help in cultivating fearlessness and confidence in your working life, I would encourage you to check out this book.
Since many of us spend so much time in our jobs, interacting with so many people and defining ourselves so fully through our 9-5, our workplaces can provide much of the meat for our practice and can demonstrate some of the best of the Buddha’s teachings all before we make it to the lunchroom after fantasizing over being the first to get our mitts on the veggie nuggets, only to be beat out by that miserable Brian in accounting who lacks social skills, speaks way to loud and stole the Penske file right out from under our nose.
This book centers itself around the subject matter of confidence, fearlessness, groundlessness and relates 37 lojong slogans to our work life in order to show how we can escape from habitual tendencies via both examination of these slogans as well as the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation.
Being able to related directly to our experience has great benefit to our professional lives and Carroll mentions several times in this book that wakefulness helps us to snap our of restlessness and confusion that can obscure the reality of situations we find ourselves in. While it’s sometimes fun to engage in the juiciness of drama in the workplace, it can have serious results upon both our careers as well as our mental health and spiritual growth.
“Fearless at Work” digs deep into the emotional side of our professional life and through the lojong slogans helps to bring us a bit more out of our cocoons into a more skillful manner of working with others in society. False expectations, hopes, lack of confidence, ego posturing, lying, arrogance and all of the various toxic emotions that rear their heads take us further away from our ‘human-ness’ and only cause more pain and suffering. Carrol’s book gives solid examples of many who get caught up in the trap and through his work, he’s able to coach them to viewing situations in a different manner, rather than through their own lenses.
Much emphasis is placed on mindfulness-awareness and as such, much of the book discusses the benefits of a regular practice as a means to become more wakeful, aware, able to be in the present moment and overall to help us let go of the mental chatter that binds us.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this book, however I personally would have appreciated a few more ‘case studies’ in how those how employ mindfulness-awareness in their lives see the benefits of this practice. So much of Carroll’s book relates to this practice and I would have enjoyed a few more ‘real-world’ examples of these benefits in the wild. There is also a large part of the book which drifts from ‘working life’ towards more of life in general and while this is good since there really is little to distinguish between the two, it would help to have a refined look at the sphere of work rather than the examination being of one’s life overall. It could be said that one’s home environment can influence one’s behaviour at work, but I felt that some of these kinds of recommendations stretched a bit further from the title and primary subject of the book as being ‘Fearless at Work’.
There are about 6 paragraphs of the book on the vajra view of aggression that are alone worth the cover price as they are truly that good. Truly. In addition to this, the Appendix that covers how mindfulness-awareness cultivates social intelligence is in my opinion, is where my interest was truly piqued. The author gets into an analysis of how Daniel Goleman’s book “Social Intelligence: The Revolutionary New Science of Human Relationships” and reasons how mindfulness-awareness practice supports all seven of Goleman’s postulated skills for the cultivation of healthy human relationships.
All in all, if you are a fan of Micheal Carroll’s work (as I am), geek out on sociology, human interaction or are looking for help in cultivating fearlessness and confidence in your working life, I would encourage you to check out this book.
September 7, 2016
Disclaimer: the author gave me this book, so that earns it a star right there. Will I read it again? Yes, but maybe not for a few years. Why won't I give it five stars? Because I wasn't ready for it. It was rich, but possibly too rich for my digestion right now. Let's see what I have to say in the future.
Fearless at Work, is a bugaboo of a book--it won't let you define it, it won't let you alone. It is hard to guess just who would benefit from this book. Mr. Carroll himself inhabits that strange place between hard numbers guy and airy-fairy meditation guru. He has a larger than life, jovial presence, and yet in print he is delicate, insightful, compassionate and a pretty terrific story-teller. The stories that he tells with the greatest resonance are usually inhabited by animal heroes. While he has the observational skills of a nineteenth century naturalist he also clearly identifies with creatures of the wild. Perhaps he's the American, twenty-first century answer to Rudyard Kipling?
You might be shaking your head right now, and wondering what I wrote that has any relation to the book. That's the problem, how to describe this book. Is it business reading? or is it dharma ? (The format and layout follows the 11th century slogans of Atisa, which is an advanced practice for Westerners. In Buddhist monasteries, it is introduced early--a sort of a primer--to help young students removed from their home environments to learn right behavior through rote memorization. By the time most Westerners encounter these slogans we are already, most of us, adults. Mr. Carroll does a really nice job of updating the language and making it accessible.) But the problem is, how do you carry stories about sparrows acting brilliantly, or young boys' hair-raising escapes from tigers with behavior suited to the dog-eat-dog world of business?
This is the knife edge of focus in this book, and I'm still not sure if what the author set out to do is fully accomplished. The most poignant anecdote in the book regards a fat house-cat named Yankee, who fled a life of little-girl tea-parties, over-feeding and stale kitty treats to live under an abandoned shed, freezing in the winter, stifling in the summer, near starvation, fighting off predators ... Mr. Carroll would have us believe Yankee chose this life. Yeah we see it; there's a bit of Christopher McCandless in all of us. There's romance in living in the wild. The story also challenges a major preoccupation many of us have--that of avoiding becoming homeless. It is romantic to think about a cat choosing his life. It is less romantic to think about chilblains, sinus infections, frostbite and pneumonia that affects many homeless citizens.
Actually, the above sounds more like criticism and less like observation. It wasn't meant to be--Mr. Carroll is such a good writer. His anecdotes unfold effortlessly. It took me a long time to finish this book because every chapter (and there are 38, plus information rich appendices) asks to be read slowly and savored. A profound book, worthy to inhabit your book shelf.
Fearless at Work, is a bugaboo of a book--it won't let you define it, it won't let you alone. It is hard to guess just who would benefit from this book. Mr. Carroll himself inhabits that strange place between hard numbers guy and airy-fairy meditation guru. He has a larger than life, jovial presence, and yet in print he is delicate, insightful, compassionate and a pretty terrific story-teller. The stories that he tells with the greatest resonance are usually inhabited by animal heroes. While he has the observational skills of a nineteenth century naturalist he also clearly identifies with creatures of the wild. Perhaps he's the American, twenty-first century answer to Rudyard Kipling?
You might be shaking your head right now, and wondering what I wrote that has any relation to the book. That's the problem, how to describe this book. Is it business reading? or is it dharma ? (The format and layout follows the 11th century slogans of Atisa, which is an advanced practice for Westerners. In Buddhist monasteries, it is introduced early--a sort of a primer--to help young students removed from their home environments to learn right behavior through rote memorization. By the time most Westerners encounter these slogans we are already, most of us, adults. Mr. Carroll does a really nice job of updating the language and making it accessible.) But the problem is, how do you carry stories about sparrows acting brilliantly, or young boys' hair-raising escapes from tigers with behavior suited to the dog-eat-dog world of business?
This is the knife edge of focus in this book, and I'm still not sure if what the author set out to do is fully accomplished. The most poignant anecdote in the book regards a fat house-cat named Yankee, who fled a life of little-girl tea-parties, over-feeding and stale kitty treats to live under an abandoned shed, freezing in the winter, stifling in the summer, near starvation, fighting off predators ... Mr. Carroll would have us believe Yankee chose this life. Yeah we see it; there's a bit of Christopher McCandless in all of us. There's romance in living in the wild. The story also challenges a major preoccupation many of us have--that of avoiding becoming homeless. It is romantic to think about a cat choosing his life. It is less romantic to think about chilblains, sinus infections, frostbite and pneumonia that affects many homeless citizens.
Actually, the above sounds more like criticism and less like observation. It wasn't meant to be--Mr. Carroll is such a good writer. His anecdotes unfold effortlessly. It took me a long time to finish this book because every chapter (and there are 38, plus information rich appendices) asks to be read slowly and savored. A profound book, worthy to inhabit your book shelf.
July 13, 2012
A wise, winning book that's about more than the workplace--it's about living your life with elegance, courage, and dignity. Not your straight-up business or self-help book, Fearless at Work is more of a book of teachings comprised of slogans that help you with everything from seeing things more clearly to learning to gently lay down your burdens. The author's warm and convivial tone is never preachy. His experience in the corporate world gives him important insight that, unlike other authors speaking about mindfulness, goes beyond the theoretical to how you can actually use the principles of mindfulness meditation to improve your work and your home life. I highly recommend this.
March 14, 2015
This book invites complete engagement - a passive reading will undermine the potential of the writing. Asking good questions (based on the themes of the book) to ones' own approach to old problems is a terrific way to make the best of this work.
May 23, 2017
Good read about how to apply meditation and self-awareness to be fearless at work when you encounter obstacles like being laid off, fired, or are dealing with other work issues. Also helps with being a better leader and/or co-worker. Each chapter is structured as a mantra that you can meditate on, and it helps the book be very digestible.
January 24, 2021
Picked up in a bargain bin or consignment years ago and read it to move it from my “to be read” pile. I liked the concept of applying mindfulness / zen principles to work, but found the organization and writing sloppy and slow. I’ll admit to skimming the last half of 2/3 of the book just to get it over with.
December 30, 2016
One of the big problems in contemporary, poffessional philosophy is the lack of literature focused on virtue and self-optimization. This breach between philosophy, spirituality and psychology is greedely packed by hordes of self-help-books from which the most are, as we know, total garbage. In a certain sense, "Fearless at Work" falls in the same category but was nevertheless an interesting, thought-provoking read. It advantages are clear structure, digestability, easy to go for the beginner. It's disadvantages, typical for it's agenda, is not the truth of it, but rather it's presentation. Most things in here are true, very true and nearly the best code to live by. But people who are not used to self-reflection might come to different conclusions, mostly because they don't see how this should work. They don't get the implications, the sacrifices you actually have to do. On the other hand, "advanced thinkers" might toss it to the garbage too soon, because Carroll's explanation seem too shallow, too undercomplex at first sight. Certainly, a lot of implications are not made clear here. But it has been my experience that often the most profound insights are way easier said than done. Get this book, read it, DO it.
March 17, 2015
Wonderful read and amazing advice on Buddhism and becoming fearless in our lives. Sometimes I feel that he veers away from work which is sort of the main area, but the advice he offers is sound and timely in our fast paced, stressful life. Carroll comes from a place of experience and the journey he offers is something that we can attain.
March 30, 2013
The book puts the benefits of meditation and other Eastern practices to work in everyday life. I found it to be an inspiring and useful resource on my journey to figure out what's going on. And I mean that in the vaguest possible way.
April 4, 2013
I have a long way to go.
June 18, 2013
This little book is a gem. Pema gets right to the heart of how we keep oirselves from moving forward.
December 15, 2014
Outstanding! Practical advice I will be using at work each day with colleagues and in a leadership role. I highly recommend this book.
March 4, 2016
A good book to read a chapter a day to contemplate over time.
September 16, 2016
Great read. So useful.
October 22, 2013
Great tips about leadership and maintaining your own happiness at work.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews