Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles at Work » (Unabridged)

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D., is founder of the Center for Personal Meaning, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico (www.prisonersofurthoughts.com) and a principal of The Innovation Group (www.seedsofinnovation.com). He is a passionate and engaging keynote speaker, consultant, and personal coach, helping individuals and teams find deeper fulfillment in their work and everyday lives. Alex has been a professor of public and business administration, including serving as a graduate program head. He is also a past president of Renaissance Business Associates (RBA), a nonprofit, international association of people committed to integrity in business and elevating the human spirit in the workplace.

World-renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning is one of the most important books of modern times. Frankl's personal story of finding a reason to live in the most horrendous of circumstances, Nazi concentration camps, has inspired millions. Now, Prisoners of Our Thoughts applies Frankl's philosophy to the workplace, detailing seven principles for increasing your capacity to deal with work challenges, finding meaning in your daily work life, and achieving your highest potential.

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D., a dedicated student of Frankl's thought, was urged by Frankl himself to write this important audiobook. In it, Pattakos draws on the entire body of Frankl's work, illustrating his philosophy through seven easy-to-understand principles:

• Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude
• Realize your will to meaning
• Detect the meaning of life's moments
• Don't work against yourself
• Look at yourself from a distance
• Shift your focus of...

Publishers Weekly

The late Viktor Frankl's hopeful Man's Search for Meaning emerged from his experience in a Nazi concentration camp. With Frankl's blessing, Pattakos, a cofounder of the Innovation Group consultancy and a former professor of public and business administration, applies Frankl's lessons to corporate America's workplaces. Logotherapy, Frankl's therapeutic approach, says we are free to respond to all aspects of our destiny; Pattakos argues that if we all have a will to meaning, then even if we work for unenlightened companies, we can still "connect meaningfully with others" within the workplace. Finding your sense of humor, giving to others and forgiving, and "de-reflecting" (or shifting your focus of attention) are all strategies for connection; one should consider "ten positive things" when losing a job or taking a pay cut. Pattakos ends each chapter with a "Meaning Moment" and a "Meaning Question," which can seem contrived (how exactly is your work like a "mission"?) and a lot of the advice will feel like familiar workplace etiquette that has been rebranded. Still, Pattakos's is a humane approach that allows for purpose in even the most purposeless-seeming environments, which is surely palliative care-if not a cure-for work ruts. The foreword is by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People author Stephen R. Covey. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.