Don't Bring It to Work Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success

Praise for Don't Bring It to Work "Sylvia Lafair is an amazingly acute analyzer of human behavior. She's pinpointed the patterns that can make you sink, soar, or simply muddle through your career. If you want to take your work life, your team, or your company to the next level or better yet the level beyond that, read this important work. The payoff is the elusive breakthrough you've?sought for years." Tyler Mathisen , managing director, CNBC, and host, High Net Worth "In this smart, useful, and much-needed book on how to work and play well with others, Sylvia Lafair teaches us how to recognize and change our own ineffective workplace behavior and how to help others get past the family baggage and office politics that prevent all of us from doing our best work." Daniel Pink , author, A Whole New Mind "This book will help at work and at home. There's a gem on every page!" Kevin Roberts , Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi "One of the most original and useful books on the family/work/life balance issue." Warren Bennis , Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California "In this terrific book, Sylvia Lafair tells us how to leave our nonproductive behaviors and attitudes at the office door. I especially applaud her declaration that truth-telling and open communication in the workplace will breed respect and reduce insecurities. We would all do well to heed her pragmatic advice on how to bring about a positive, productive work environment." Ed Rendell , Governor of Pennsylvania "The creative person is able to observe patterns, often when others sitting next to them see unconnected dots. If you think of these dots as people and the connecting lines as constructive interactions, sometimes representing ideas, sometimes love, sometimes concern, you will be an avid reader of Sylvia Lafair's book." Richard Saul Wurman , founder, the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conference

Don't Bring It to Work You know the type—maybe he's the office cutup, or the woman who manages to look busy but avoids work, or the guy who is the long-suffering victim—there's one in every office. Perhaps you or someone you know fits one of these profiles. These behaviors are painfully annoying and stir up conflict in the office. How can you get to the bottom of workplace behaviors that simply don't work for you or your organization? Don't Bring It to Work explores what happens when patterns originally created to cope with family conflicts are unleashed in the workplace.?This groundbreaking book draws on the success of Sylvia Lafair's PatternAware program Total Leadership Connections. Throughout the book she shows how to break the cycle of pattern repetition and offers the tools that can turn unhealthy family baggage into creative energy that will foster better workplace associations and career success. Lafair identifies the?thirteen most common patterns that correspond to characters familiar to anyone who has ever worked in an office: Super Achiever, Rebel, Persecutor, Victim, Rescuer, Clown, Martyr, Splitter, Procrastinator, Drama Queen or King, Pleaser, Denier, and Avoider. To help overcome destructive behavior problems, she maps out the three main steps for becoming aware of patterns and finding the way OUT: * Observe your behavior to discern underlying patterns * Understand and probe deeper to discover the origins of these patterns * Transform your behavior by taking action to change The book includes a wealth of real-life anecdotes and practical, workbook-style exercises that clearly show how anyone can get beyond old, outmoded attempts at conflict resolution and empower themselves to make profound differences both at work and in their personal lives.

This book is emotionally engaging and the message is fantastic. Robert Sutton , Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Author, No Asshole Rule This engaging book has a powerful core message. We re bringing family dynamics from childhood and even from our parents childhoods to work. and the results are not pretty. Packed with stories of workplace dynamics gone awry and, then, amazingly enough, transformed by Lafair s compassionate approach the book is immensely readable. You will be motivated to create change for the better. Amy Edmondson , Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School, Harvard University Wonderful insights for anyone who manages a business, works in a business, or leads a business. Read it now! Michael E. Gerber , Author, The E-Myth Books Sylvia Lafair s book brings a rare view of systems and systems thinking, is helpful to individuals and families, as well as business people working to build appreciation, cohesion and success. Frances Hesselbein , Chairman and Founding President, Leader to Leader Institute Dr. Sylvia Lafair has written a superb book on working relationships that should be on every executive's desk and used by anyone who is in the business of depending on efficient teamwork for productivity. Her reflections of how our family systems can sabotage our working lives are brilliant and totally applicable in practical terms. This is a must for all business programs, regardless of how large or small. Dr. Frank Lawlis , Author, Mending The Broken Bond Through Sylvia Lafair s astute work, you will see yourself, your co-workers and your family dynamics in an entirely new light. More importantly, this will help you change the patterns that have been keeping you from reaching your highest potential. This ranks with the best business and psychology books on the market; not only is it insightful and practical it s a great read! Anita Sharpe , CEO & Founder of GeniusSuite, Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer at The Wall Street Journal A phenomenal book! Sylvia's insights, experience and her brilliant communication style make her one of the leading experts in this field. I have had the honor of working with Sylvia over many years and can attest to the power of her methods in transforming co-workers into highly functioning team members. This really works! Eslie Dennis , MD, VP Medical Head Northeast, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Most educators feel they are standing sentry over a system under siege on all fronts. It s exhausting! Sylvia Lafair shows us effective ways to make change happen. This seminal book provides me the Holy Grail to forge a strong team on behalf of our mission to prepare children for the future. I ve been waiting for this for 35 years. Linda C. Brewer , Ed. D., Superintendent, Derry Township School District Sylvia takes a highly personalized approach to Leadership Development. She helps each person become more aware of their personal styles, their possible origins and raises behavior patterns to a conscious level. From awareness comes change. I found great value in applying these lessons both at work and home to successfully balance demanding jobs, motherhood and a 2 career marriage. Nancy Singer , Senior Director, Global Sales and Marketing Leadership Development, Merck & Co., Inc. This book helps bring a new way of doing business. It changed the way we run our company and the results are significant. This sentence says it all, It is time to get out of the sandbox of childhood and gain a deeper knowledge of the fact that we are all connected and no one wins unless we all do. This book is a must have for Supervisors all the way up to top Executives of the company. Yvonne Cangelosi , Executive VP, SPEX CertiPrep, Inc. Amazing! Sylvia Lafair tells us what every successful person already knows Business and personal lives can never be totally separate. She destroys this myth and gives us the tools to bring people together to build great companies and deliver bottom-line results. Groundbreaking work! Richard Harris , CEO, Spa Sydell Sylvia Lafair's life work is helping people reach their potential. Like many brilliant ideas, the pattern recognition process described in this book seems obvious in hindsight. Its power is the power to transform not just life in the workplace, but the total quality of human life. Vital for those working in a family business. Edwin Neill III , President, Neill Corporation Dr. Lafair is on to something that will totally change