Your Signature Path: Gaining New Perspectives on Life and Work - Hardcover

Bellman, Geoffrey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1576750043 ISBN 13: 9781576750049

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1996

Synopsis

Simply by living, each of us makes a path on the earth. Whether we blaze new trails or walk worn roads, all the things we touch and do leave an impression as unique and individualized as a signature.

Your Signature Path begins with the assumption that each of our paths makes a difference in the world and that each of us cares about the kind of difference we make. Written by a consultant to business who is familiar with the dilemmas inherent in the world of work, it is a book for individuals who are struggling with, celebrating, defining, or reconsidering their life's direction in the midst of great changes in the workplace, society, and the family. It offers these seekers thought-provoking insights and practical tools for evaluating who they are, what they are doing, and where they want their path to lead.

Focusing on three elements-Your Self, Your World, and Your Path-Bellman guides you in assessing your attributes, understanding your roles in the organizations and communities you interact with, and acting with purpose and clarity. Bellman shows that you have the power to define your own path. Through probing text and numerous practical exercises, he will help you:
See yourself and your life path in a new light
Understand why you do what you do
Shape the many roles you play in the world, and find the deeper meaning inherent in those roles
Honestly examine your passion (or lack of) for your work
Reach for work goals that are life-fulfilling, and more

Bellman offers a fresh, empowering vision of the individual's place in the world; he explores ways which help your life and work make a positive difference. He illuminates the integral role of work in a fulfilling life, and shows how to align your work with the life path you have chosen.

Written for people who reflect and act upon what their lives are about, who intend to have a hand in their own destiny, who aspire to become their better selves; Your Signature Path offers guidance for life's most important challenge: Creating yourself while contributing to the world.

About this title

About the Author

Geoffrey M. Bellman spent the first fourteen years of his career on the inside of three Fortune 500 companies (Ideal Basic Industries, AMOCO Corporation, and G.D. Searle). Now, as an organizational consultant, he works with corporations on the effective use of human talent as they undertake major change. In this capacity, he has worked with more than 100 corporations, including GTE, TRW, and Shell Oil. He is the author of Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge, Your Signature Path, The Consultants' Calling, and The Quest for Staff Leadership, which won the National Book Award of the Society for Human Resource Management.

From the Back Cover

Your path through this world makes a difference, and you care about the difference you make. These are the assumptions made by author Geoff Bellman, a consultant to people and organizations, who is familiar with the life dilemmas inherent in the world of work. This is a book for individuals who are struggling with, celebrating, defining, or rethinking their life's direction. In the midst of great changes in the workplace, our society, our communities, and the family, these people are considering what their lives are about. Bellman offers a fresh, empowering vision of the individual's place in the world; he explores ways which help your life and work make a positive difference. He illuminates the integral role of work in a fulfilling life, and shows how to align your work with the life path you have chosen. Written for people who reflect and act upon what their lives are about, who intend to have a hand in their own destiny, who aspire to become their better selves; Your Signature Path offers guidance for life's most important challenge: Creating yourself while contributing to the world.

Reviews

Geoff Bellman has, with extraordinary insight and straight talk, given us thoughtful guidance for finding our path through life and work. His book goes beyond philosophy to include self-development exercises in every chapter. In effect, Bellman has written a workbook for life itself.

Your Signature Path gracefully poses the simple yet powerful questions that allow readers to reaffirm or discover the central patterns in their lives. Once in place, this understanding helps them find the courage and skill necessary to speak up about important issues-at work and at home.

Where are you going? What is really important in your life? The author helps us reflect on such basic questions, using the metaphor of a path and telling us that everything we touch continues that path. No two people take exactly the same path, and thus it becomes our unique signature in the world. We define ourselves by how we move along our path and become the sum of the decisions we make; the author provides perspective to help us make those decisions readily and intuitively. He emphasizes the importance of work in our lives and suggests that good work and good love combine to make life meaningful. The book is organized around three essential elements of a person's path, your self (body, mind, public, and private), your world (accessed through the senses, all the "stuff" out there), and your path (every point where you touch the world). Mary Whaley

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1576750043
• ISBN 13: 9781576750049
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184