Work Stronger: Habits for More Energy, Less Stress, and Higher Performance at Work

by Pete Leibman

As author and high performance coach Pete Leibman demonstrates in this eye-opening book, stronger hours (not longer hours) are the key to feeling and performing your best over the long term.

Work Stronger provides a step-by-step, science-based approach for increasing your energy, decreasing your stress, and taking your performance to a higher level. This book also features practical tips and powerful insights from private interviews that Leibman conducted with more than twenty-five prominent leaders. The group includes Chip Bergh, the president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., Dick Costolo, the former CEO of Twitter, and Janine Allis, an investor on Shark Tank.

You’ll learn how to form stronger habits in four key areas (nutrition, exercise, focus, and renewal) that are highly correlated with greater health, well-being, and performance. You can also get a free assessment of your current habits, and you can download a free copy of The Work Stronger Workbook at WorkStronger.com.

Genres: Business, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Audiobook

232 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2018

About the author

PETE LEIBMAN, despite being told it would be “impossible,” networked his way into a job with the NBA’s Washington Wizards right out of college and was promoted to management when he was only 23. Today, he is a popular keynote speaker, and the founder of Dream Job Academy, a career-training program for young professionals.

Reviews

[Karren Hodgkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about improving your performance by changing your behaviour. The author suggests that at times we are successful despite some of the habits we have picked up along the way. He recommends making simple, small changes at an individual level before looking to make a change at a broader or, organisational level. It’s about changing beliefs first because your beliefs impact on your behaviour. He gives you practical tools to assess the changes you are looking to make and cautions that changing our behaviour takes longer than you think, yet reassures you that this is just the nature of changing your behaviour.

Much has been written about how interruptions and distractions reduce productivity and the author echoes these sentiments and, for example, advises that checking email less frequently can reduce our stress levels!

The POWER triangle is a key paradigm for changing behaviour, and here he outlines the importance of Purpose, Optimism, Way (The Way), Environment and Reinforcement to enabling change.

I loved the holistic approach to improving work performance, for example:
that health and well-being were not seen as an afterthought, but rather essential to improving performance,
the encouragement to surround myself with healthy, positive people in order to reinforce ideal behaviours,
the value of Yoga (a personal favourite of mine) and meditation.

I enjoyed this book and believe many others will gain valuable insights by reading it.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I didn't find a lot of new information here. On the other hand, author gives a lot of practical advice.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

// Netgalley ARC provided by The Publisher in exchange for an honest review //

I feel like this book makes some strong points. It is an easy and short read with clear topics and summaries on those topics, which can be great if you are looking for a condensed, almost textbook approach to getting your life together.
That being said, I also feel like the tone of the author can be quite self-congratulatory at times and a big chunk of the content is nothing new. It is the sort of book you will feel empowered and productive reading, but you do not effectively take into real life. Because most of it is made up of common sense statements and things you deep down already know but do not practice anyway. And I do not feel like this book is the thing that will prompt you up to tackle those issues in real life. I think that is partly due to a bad management of examples throughout the manuscript. The author will pinpoint what he considers to be a successful people that apply what he is talking about in said chapter or subchapter, but those testimonies are so generic and lack context in such a way all these successful names end up merging into one big blob of forgettable average humans (not that there is anything wrong with being average).
I believe some editing and some rewriting would do the author some good, not necessarily to make his points clearer or shorter, but actually to make them more substantial and memorable.

[Kalindi Fonda]

one more of the same audiobook-dudes telling me to be positive, sleep more and have focus.
But it's good to have these reminders (as I am sleeping more, trying to be more positive and having more focus) so I'll keep pouring these same-sames down my ears.

It's like having a friend who's maybe not your best friend, but they have good routines and you leave them with a relatively positive vibe and a tinge of I'll do this a lil better tomorrow.

(except their "basic" kitchen has more stuff than you ever wanted in your "fully maxed out" kitchen)

[Anastasia Alén · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how practical this book was. Instead of telling you to fix your diet or exercise or work life, it gives concrete examples on what to do and how to achieve the changes. How important it is to encourage total wellness in the team and that will cause any team to succeed. Simple and clear instructions. Also I was stunned by this obvious truth:
"Motivate employees naturally (don’t bribe, threaten, or punish"
It still doesn't seem to be the case at most work places.

[Brad Lockey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on a biohack binge it seems, looking to tighten as much about processes and effective time management as I can.
That being said, Work Stronger speaks to many different areas of the work-life balance.
Filled with tonnes of helpful little tips about exercise, productivity, stress management, food ingested, etc... a highly recommended listen that is well written in an easy to understand manner.

[Maksim Kiryanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in Russian translation, but I think the book did not lose in quality from this.

I'm interested in how to make my routines into habits.
In this book I got step by step guide (see POWER) and bunch of advices for start pack habits. I love systematic approach.

The book is already concise summary. You can just take and do.

[LittleKippie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. But it is just another title with a person telling you stories about his "real" friends, who were in some incredible situations, where good habits helped them.
The book does contain some good strategies on how to keep to the habits, however it is more of "eat healthy, go to gym, wake up early" kind of book.

[Brenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It definitely felt like a book written by a white, male, executive so some things felt a little unrelatable, but there were some practical suggestions and reflection questions that’s got me thinking about small changes I can make to be healthier and feel better in work and life in general.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are healthy minded than this book is not for you

I bought this book thinking it was going to be about leadership, but it was more about changing habits to be more healthy. It’s true that being healthy will impact your leadership style but it wasn’t really for me.

[Lyn Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read with practical advice and supporting resources as well. I listened to the audio version of this book which was perfect to listen to for my journey to and from work. This helped me to consume and consider parts of the advice and tips before I went onto the next section of the book

[Pía López Copetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good tips on how to better focus and manage your time, but also quality information on healthy habits and the impact of sleep deprivation.

[Seamus]

Fantastic book to add additional time management tools to your kit!

[Ruksana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A self help book to working smarter not harder. In a world were we want everything to happen now it's a good place to start with some good hacks to start on the right foot. Good read.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio book and enjoyed it. Great simple insights to working stronger jobs longer.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing super interesting or unique

[Mathijs Aasman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book on success principles. Much of it is probably known to anyone who has read books in these spheres though it is good to have a refresher to hypnotize one's self into good habits. If you adopt one good habit as a result of reading a book, that is excellent value.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of specific, evidence-based advice for improving productivity and reducing stress via focus, time management, sleep, diet, and exercise.

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author explores daily and simple habits that lead to higher performance and improves productivity at work. The tone of writing is active and you cannot help but feel as though, 'once you're done reading, get up and do this,' and I liked that. The book also includes the transformation experiences from CEOs and Top Level Executives who changed how they worked and embraced the working stronger lifestyle. I also noted that the author draws a lot from fitness and strength training in reinforcing this lifestyle. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC, this has given me insights on how to shake things up at work.

[roxi Net · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the last few years I've begun physically strength-training and while I love it, I never thought how we need to strength-train for work.. My only focus in work was how to be more effective and how to use defense mechanisms to keep my stress levels as low as possible. The author immediately got my attention of why read his book: "You can be so much stronger than you realize. However, today's world can easily make you weaker -- physically, mentally, and psychologically. This is due to three key reasons...". Those reasons are the ones that have subconsciously (or consciously) add to daily frustrations/stress. Having a psychology and sports background, Mr. Leibman kept my interest in how to become a higher-performing employee while at the same time becoming a physically and mentally stronger person all around.