Resources
Some of our favorite books, articles and videos
Working through grief
Salt Water, a blog for those who have lost someone they can’t live without and the people who want to support a friend or family member who is grieving.
OnTarget Consulting’s practical advice on how to support a grieving employee or colleague:
Superfriend’s three booklets on managing grief and loss in the workplace help employees and employers support a co-worker who has experienced a significant loss:
Austin, Ciaran and Breffni Mc Guinness, “Breaking the Silence In The Workplace: A Guide For Employers On Responding To Suicide In The Workplace,” The Irish Hospice Foundation, 2012.
Hamilton, Sheila, “When A Co-Worker Loses Someone To Suicide”, Beyond Well
Podcast, September 12, 2019.
Mc Guinness, Breffni, “Grief At Work: Developing a Bereavement Policy,” The Irish Hospice Foundation, 2007.
“How to support a grieving colleague at work,” Marie Curie, 2021
Nawaz, Sabina, “Returning To Work When You’re Grieving," Harvard Business Review, April 28, 2017.
Sweeney, Erica, “Seven Ways To Deal With Grief At Work,” Fast Company Magazine, January 15, 2020.
Buck, Stephanie, When You Like Your Job But Hate Your Office Culture, Medium.com, December 18, 2018. Professor John Kotter, executive coach Chris Edmonds and consultant Margo Fowkes weigh in on how to navigate a workplace environment that doesn't click with your personality and how to know when to leave.
Global Wellness Institute, World Workplace Wellbeing Online Summit, “Grief in the Workplace”
This Can Happen webinar, “Does the workplace understand grief?”
BizWomen, “In Her Own Words: Margo Fowkes on grieving while working”
The Compassionate Friends magazine (Spring 2023), “Grieving on the Job”
“Navigating Grief at Work,” a conversation with Dr. Mekel Harris & Janet Gwilliam-Wright of Bloomwell Partners
One Last Network podcast, “The Art of Working Through Grief”
Grieving Moms podcast, “Work and Grief”
Sacramento Magazine, “Grief at Work”
Grief Out Loud podcast, “Navigating Grief at Work”
The Mark Haney podcast, “Leading Through Loss”
The Goldman State, “Author Margo Fowkes Knows That Grief Takes No Holidays”
Wellness Within podcast, “Grief in the Workplace with Margo Fowkes”
Grief, Gratitude & the Gray In Between, “Navigating Grief at Work”
The Afternoon News with Kitty O’Neal, “Dealing with Grief Over the Holidays and at Work”
Good Grief with Cheryl Jones, “Grief at Work”
The Morning Glory podcast, “Margo Fowkes: Salt Water”
Powerful @ Work podcast, “How being a caring leader can transform your workplace culture”.
Success Engineering podcast, “Working and Writing Through Grief”.
Stories on Stage, “Twenty Twenty: 43 stories from a year like no other”.
Beyond Well podcast with Sheila Hamilton, “Margo Fowkes turned her enormous grief over the death of her son into a global force for healing”.
Death By Design podcast, “It’s not so much what you say but that you said it that matters”
Project Grief, “How to help a friend who's grieving”.
Kitty O’Neal, “Finding Comfort and Support After Surviving Loss”.
Sacramento Magazine, “Navigating Grief’s Choppy Waters”.
Style Magazine, “Giving Back On The Salt Water Website”.
Poet Maya Stein, Grief Becomes You, “Hiding in Plain Sight”.
Rotary Club of Roseville, “Don’t Look Away”.
OnTarget Consulting IN THE MEDIA
Strategy Development & Execution
Gladwell, Malcolm, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.
Gladwell explores and illuminates the tipping point phenomenon – that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire.Collins, James C. and Jerry I. Porras (1996). “Building Your Company’s Vision”. Harvard Business Review. 74:5, pp.65-77.
Rumelt, Richard (2011). “The Perils of Bad Strategy”. McKinsey Quarterly, (1), 30-39.
Strategy Development & Execution (nonprofit)
Barry, Bryan W., Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations. New York: The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, 1999.
Practical, step-by-step guidance and worksheets to develop a strategic plan.
Drucker, Peter F., The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment Tool: Participant Workbook. Saint Paul, Minnesota: The Amherst Wilder Foundation, 1997.
Clarify your mission, client expectations, strategy and performance goals.
Howe, Fisher, The Board Member’s Guide to Strategic Planning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997.
Howe’s practical, no-nonsense approach demystifies the strategic planning process while demonstrating how it can generate interest, enthusiasm and pride in the organization’s performance.
Talent Retention & Development
Buckingham, Marcus and Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016.
Learn how great managers attract, hire, deploy and retain their most talented employees.
Change Management
Bridges, William, Ph.D. and Susan Bridges, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, 25th anniversary edition. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2016.
Provides a clear, concise understanding of what change does to employees, what employees in transition can do to an organization and how to minimize the distress and disruptions caused by change.Seligman, Dr. Martin, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New York: Vintage Books, 2006.
Examine your “explanatory style” – how you explain your problems and setbacks to yourself. Learn how to identify and change unhealthy habits of pessimistic thinking.
Conflict Resolution
Patterson, Kerry, Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When The Stakes Are High. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Stone, Douglas, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. New York: Penguin Books, 2010.
Understand what makes conversations challenging and learn a step-by-step approach to engage in those tough conversations more effectively and with less anxiety.
Board Development & Governance
Howe, Fisher, Welcome to the Board: Your Guide to Effective Participation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.
Written in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language. Answers the most common questions and concerns of prospective board members and explains their rights and obligations.Meier, Susan S., The Board Building Cycle: Nine Steps to Finding, Recruiting and Engaging Nonprofit Board Members, Third Edition. Washington, D.C.: BoardSource, 2019.
The definitive guide to identifying, cultivating, recruiting, engaging and retaining prospective board members.Kissman, Katha, Taming the Troublesome Board Member. Washington, D.C.: BoardSource, 2006.
A blueprint for avoiding and resolving the challenge of disruptive board members. Learn to identify the root of troublesome behaviors and address problems quickly and gracefully.Taylor, Barbara E., Richard P. Chait and Thomas P. Holland (1996). “The New Work of the Nonprofit Board”. Harvard Business Review. 74:5, pp. 36-8, 40, 42-6.
Leadership Development
Deal, Jennifer J. and Alec Levenson, What Millennials Want From Work: How To Maximize Engagement In Today’s Workforce. New York: McGraw Hill, 2016.
Millennials have been burdened with a reputation as spoiled, lazy and entitled, but the reality behind the stereotype is far richer and more complex. Who are Millennials and what do they really want?
Hoffman, Bryce G., American Icon: Alan Mulally And The Fight To Save Ford Motor Company. New York: Random House, 2012.
The epic, inside story of one of the greatest turnarounds in American business history
LaBarre, Polly, “Grassroots Leadership: USS Benfold”, 23 Fast Company 115-126 (1999).
Neff, Thomas J. and James M. Citrin, You’re in Charge – Now What?. New York: Crown Business, 2005.
An eight-point plan that will lay the foundation for success in a new organization or new positionWeiss, Alan, Raising the Bar: A Handbook for Managers on Innovation, Creativity and Continuous Improvement as a Way of Life. East Greenwich, Rhode Island: Las Brisas Research Press, 1995.
Anticipate, recognize and exploit opportunity, whether on the job or in your personal life.Zenger, John H. and Joseph R. Folkman, The New Extraordinary Leader, Third Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2019.
Learn what makes a great leader and how to turn a good manager into an extraordinary one.
Inspirational & Personal Development
Gladwell, Malcolm, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Back Bay Books, 2005.
Drawing on cutting edge neuroscience and psychology, Gladwell reveals that the difference between good decision making and bad has less to do with how much information we process than our ability to focus on a few key details and shows how we can all become better decision makers.
Lamott, Anne, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: First Anchor Books, 1985.
One of the best books on writing ever. Lamott offers practical, timeless advice on writing, creativity and living.Pausch, Randy, The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion, 2008.
Based on an inspirational speech by Professor Randy Pausch about what matters in life and how to live a rich, full life, delivered after Pausch had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, delivered on September 18, 2007 (Pausch died of pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008) – Watch on YouTube »
Weiss, Alan, Life Balance: How to Convert Professional Success into Personal Happiness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2003.
How to blend life, work and relationships into a holistic, fulfilling existence. Engaging, readable, entertaining and full of practical, useful advice.Weiss, Alan, Thrive! Stop Wishing Your Life Away. East Greenwich, Rhode Island: Las Brisas Research Press, 2010.
Practical, proven ways to improve your well-being, relationships, prosperity and health