Work Is Love Made Visible: A Collection of Essays about the Power of Finding Your Purpose from the World's Greatest Thought Leaders - Hardcover

by Frances Hesselbein (Author), Marshall Goldsmith (Author), Sarah McArthur (Author)

Channel happiness and find your purpose with stories from the world's leading minds

Work is Love Made Visible offers the insights of some of the world's greatest thought leaders as they tackle one of life's most difficult treasure hunts: finding purpose. The word "purpose" is big. Very big. And heavy. It carries the weight of a lifetime of work and struggle; the weight of legacy, and the mass of days spent not doing something else. It's something we all grapple with at some point--some of us find our purpose, others spend a lifetime searching. A lucky few grow to realize they've been working their purpose all along. Most of us aren't quite that lucky; often, fulfilling your purpose requires some kind of change--career, lifestyle, habits, family--and what then? Are we selfish for the upheaval, or are we fulfilling destiny? Once we know our purpose, how do we pursue it?

This book asked those very questions of people who have followed their purpose and succeeded on a global scale. Their un-distilled answers are here, lending you the wisdom of their experiences, their examples, inspiration, and motivations as they:

• Tackle the universal struggle with individual purpose and meaning
• Illustrate how personal thought patterns contribute to real-world action
• Move challenges into the opportunities of their lives

• Reveal how they arrived at their life's purpose, and what they sacrificed to get there

We all want a meaningful life. We want to work together for a brighter future, we want to celebrate our differences and commit to good. We want to inspire others, nurture their talents, and help them grow. We want to look back one day on a life well-lived, and leave something behind that matters to the world. Work is Love Made Visible shows you how some of us have succeeded, and offers you insight and guidance so that you can do the same.

Front Jacket

Discover Your Purpose

"Work Is Love Made Visible comes at a time in human history when working together towards a cooperative future is critical. We recognize that such working together requires us to share our insights into what we see as our greatest challenges and opportunities as a global society and how we can address these issues going forward. Working together requires us to look out the window and see what is not yet seen by others, to share what we see with our fellows, to listen to others as they share their views, and from this build a healthy, functioning global society based on inclusion and cooperation."
--From the Preface

Praise for Work Is Love Made Visible"Work Is Love Made Visible is a work of love--a genuinely moving exploration of the meaning and significance of work. Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, and Sarah McArthur have assembled an extraordinary group of contributors who enrich the conversation on the power of purpose by taking the reader on deeply personal journeys into themes of character, service, defining moments, fellowship, and the future. Work Is Love Made Visible is a not a book that you read, however. It's a book you ponder over, sit with for a while, and to talkbout with friends and family. In fact, this is really not a book at all; it's an enriching and engaging experience."
--Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the best-selling The Leadership Challenge and the Dean's Executive Fellow, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

"This wonderful compilation--who's who of the world's top management thought leaders-- presents a bold vision and practical ideas for how we can develop personal purpose in our lives and work. A must read for anyone looking to bring the spark back to their life's work."
--Herminia Ibarra, The Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School

"Frances Hesselbein is one of the truly great role-model leaders of our time. She inspires all who know her and her work to commit to leading in a spirit of noble purpose, guided by her life's philosophy: To Serve is to Live!"
--Jim Collins, author Good to Great

Back Jacket

Today's world seems more divided than ever. How can we as a global society work together toward a bright future for all, despite our differences? Work is Love Made Visible offers original essays that are filled with insights from some of the world's greatest thought leaders (and leaders of the future). These extraordinary leaders explore some of life's most difficult questions. How do we recognize our purpose and how do we contribute this gift to society?

The idea for this book was born when Frances Hesselbein asked the provocative question "What is it you see when you look out the window that is visible but not yet seen by others?" In this remarkable collection, the leaders reveal what they see that is invisible to us and how their unique vision shapes their lives, their decisions, and their contributions.

The essays examine the fundamental question about finding our true purpose that is firmly grounded in Frances Hesselbein's leadership philosophy. In their writings, the contributors address the character of great leaders, the responsibility of service, defining moments that shaped their lives, sharing a positive vision of the future, and finding solutions to today's challenges.

As individuals, finding our purpose, understanding our calling, grappling with and committing to what we inherently know that others do not and to serving that purpose, can be the challenge of our lives. It can also be the opportunity of our lives. Work Is Love Made Visible looks to those who understand their purpose and who have made it their life's work, to role model for us what it is to live a life that has meaning.

Work Is Love Made Visible teaches us how to ask Frances's question of ourselves and thus discover our purpose, passion, and calling and helps to illuminate the inherent gifts that each of us has so that we may contribute our talents to the advancement and healthy functioning of our global society.

Author Biography

FRANCES HESSELBEIN is the author of three autobiographies and the co-editor of 30 books in 29 languages. Frances Hesselbein is considered one of the country's greatest leaders. She served as the CEO of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and was recognized as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her work as "a pioneer for women, volunteerism, diversity and opportunity."

MARSHALL GOLDSMITH is the only two-time winner of the Thinkers 50 Award for #1 Leadership Thinker in the World. He is author/editor of 39 books, including three New York Times bestsellers that have sold over 2.5 million copies and been listed bestseller in 12 countries.

SARAH McARTHUR is COO of Marshall Goldsmith Inc. and founder of *sdedit, a boutique writing and editing firm. Co-author/editor of numerous books, including Coaching for Leadership, her fields of expertise are management, leadership, and executive and business coaching.