Career Self-Management Bibliography

 January 17, 2005


Interested in learning how to be more effective in self-managing your life and your career?  Here's a reading list that may provide a useful place to start.  It's a compendium of some of the resources I've found most useful over the years.  A majority of the books below directly treat issues related to career management in the new world of work.  The remainder address related issues that tangentially impact that challenge.  Happy reading!

This list is notably different from my list of 50 books that have most influenced me, as you'll note, though not surprisingly there is some overlap between the two lists.


Ambrose, Delorese.  Healing the Downsized Organization.  New York:  Harmony Books, 1996.

Amen, Daniel.  Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.  New York:  Times Books, 1998.

Asker, Stephanie.  Plan B:  How To Get Unstuck From Work, Family, and Relationship Problems.  New York:  Perigee Books, 1999.

Barkley, Nella, and Sandburg, Eric.  Taking Charge of Your Career.  New York:  Workman Publishing, 1995.

Bennis, Warren. Leading People is Like Herding Cats.  Provo, UT:  Executive Excellence Publishing, 1997.

Bolles, Richard Nelson.  The Three Boxes of Life and How To Get Out of Them.  Berkeley, CA:  Ten Speed Press, 1978.

Bridges, William.  Job Shift:  How to Prosper in a World Without Jobs.  Reading, MA:  Addison-Wesley, 1994.

Bridges, William.  Managing Transitions.  Reading, MA:  Addison-Wesley, 1991.

Bridges, William.  Surviving Corporate Transition:  Rational Management in a World of Mergers, Start-Ups, Takeovers, Layoffs, Divestitures, Deregulation and New Technologies.  New York:  Doubleday, 1988.

Briggs, Isabel M.  Gifts Differing.  Palo Alto, CA:  Consulting Psychologists Press, 1990.

Buckingham, Marcus, and Clifton, Donald O.  Now, Discover Your Strengths.  New York:  Free Press, 2001.

Burton, Mary L., and Wedemeyer, Richard A.  In Transition.  New York:  Harper Collins, 1991.

Butler, Timothy, and Waldroop, James.  Discovering Your Career in Business.  Reading, MA:  Perseus Books, 1997.

Covey, Stephen R.  The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Thorndike, ME:  G.K. Hall, 1997.

Crystal, John C., and Bolles, Richard N.  Where Do I Go From Here With The Rest of MyLife?  Berkeley, CA:  Ten Speed Press, 1974.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly.  Finding Flow.  New York:  Basic Books, 1997.

De Bono, Edward.  Six Thinking Hats.  Boston:  Back Bay Books, 1999.

De Bono, Edward.  Six Action Shoes.  New York:  Harper Business, 1991.

De Bono, Edward.  Lateral Thinking.  London:  Ward Lock Educational, 1970.

Dempcy, Mary H., and Tihista, Rene.  Dear Job Stressed.  Palo Alto, CA:  Davies-Black, 1996.

Dent, Harry S., Jr.  Job Shock:  Four New Principles Transforming Our Work and Business.  New York:  St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

Drucker, Peter F.  The Age of Discontinuity:  Guidelines to our Changing Society.  New York:  Harper & Row, 1968.

Edwards, Paul and Sarah.  Finding Your Perfect Work.  New York:  G. P. Putnam, 1996.

Embree, Marlowe C.  Self-Managing Your Career:  An Interactive Career Workbook.  Victoria, BC:  Trafford Publishing, 2003.

Farren, Caela.  Who’s Running Your Career?  Austin, TX:  Bard Press, 1997.

Finzel, Hans.  Change is Like a Slinky.  Chicago:  Northfield Publishing, 2004.

Florida, Richard.  The Rise of the Creative Class.  New York:  Basic Books, 2002.

Frankl, Viktor.  Man’s Search for Meaning.  Boston:  Beacon Press, 1963.

Friedman, Thomas L.  The Lexus and the Olive Tree:  Understanding Globalization.  New York:  Anchor Books, 2000.

Gross, Andrea.  Shifting Gears:  Planning a New Strategy at Midlife.  New York:  Crown Publishers, 1991.

Harary, Keith, and Donohue, Eileen.  Who Do You Think You Are?  San Francisco:  Harper Collins, 1994.

Harkness, Helen.  The Career Chase.  Palo Alto, CA:  Davies-Black, 1997.

Hawken, Paul.  Growing a Business.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1987. 

Hyatt, Carole, and Gottlieb, Linda.  When Smart People Fail:  Rebuilding Yourself for Success.  New York:  Penguin Books, 1993.

Jackson, Tom.  Not Just Another Job.  New York:  Random House, 1992.

Jacobs, Jane.  Dark Age Ahead.  Toronto:  Random House Canada, 2004.

Jaffe, Betsy.  Altered Ambitions:  What’s Next In Your Life?  New York:  Donald I. Fine, 1991.

Johnson, Spencer.  Who Moved My Cheese?  New York:  Putnam, 1998.

Kanter, Rosabeth M.  The Change Masters.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1983.

Keeffe, Carol.  How to Get What You Want with the Money You Already Have.  Boston:  Little-Brown, 1995.

Keirsey, David.  Please Understand Me II.  Del Mar, CA:  Prometheus Nemesis Press, 1998.

Knowdell, Richard L.;  Branstead, Elizabeth;  and Moravec, Milan.  From Downsizing to Recovery:  Strategic Transition Options for Organizations and Individuals.  Palo Alto, CA:  Consulting Psychologists Press, 1994.

Krumboltz, John D., and Levin, Al S.  Planned Happenstance:  Making the Most of Chance Events in Your Life and Your Career.  Atascadero, CA : Impact Publishers, 2002.

Levine, Mel.  A Mind At A Time.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2002.

Lore, Nicholas.  The Pathfinder.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1998.

Miller, Adrienne, and Goldblatt, Andrew.  The Hamlet Syndrome:  Overthinkers Who Underachieve.  New York:  Morrow, 1989.

Noer, David M.  Healing the Wounds:  Overcoming the Trauma of Layoffs and Revitalizing Downsized Organizations.  San Francisco:  Jossey Bass, 1993.

Oldham, John, and Morris, Lois.  The Personality Self-Portrait.  New York:  Bantam Books, 1990.

Patterson, Tom.  Living the Life You Were Meant to Live.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson, 1998.

Potter, Beverly.  The Way of the Ronin:  Riding the Waves of Change.  Berkeley, CA:  Ronin Publications, 2001.

Ramsey, Dave.  The Financial Peace Planner.  New York:  Penguin Books, 1998.

Schein, Edgar.  Career Anchors.  San Diego:  Pfeiffer and Co., 1993.

Sheerer, Robin A.  No More Blue Mondays.  Palo Alto, CA:  Davies-Black, 1999. 

Sher, Barbara.  Wishcraft:  How To Get What You Really Want.  New York:  Ballantine Books, 2004.

Smith, Kenwyn K.  “Philosophical Problems in Thinking About Change.”  In Goodman, Paul S., et al., Change in Organizations.  San Francisco:  Jossey Bass, 1982.

Sternberg, Robert J.  Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.

Strauss, William, and Howe, Neil.   The Fourth Turning:  An American Prophecy.  New York:  Broadway Books, 1997.

Tieger, Paul, and Barron-Tieger, Barbara.  Do What You Are.  Boston:  Little Brown, 2001.

Toffler, Alvin.  Future Shock.  New York:  Random House, 1970.

Van Oech, Roger.  A Kick in the Seat of the Pants.  New York:  Harper and Row, 1986.

Winter, Barbara J.  Making a Living Without a Job.  New York:  Bantam Books, 1993.

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