Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter1: When Work Holds No Passion

• Not All Who Wander Are Lost
• What Happens After a Wrong Turn
• Answering the Call
• A Matter of Perspective
• Self-doubt Guards the Treasure
• Taking on Your Passion Challenge

Chapter 2: When the Pressure Threatens to Overwhelm

• Moving to the Driver's Seat
• Opening Night with a New Script
• Without Limits
• Drawing the Line
• The Tipping Point
• Taking on Your Pressure Challenge

Chapter 3: When Your Mistake Feels Colossal

• Promising the Impossible
• Caught in the Headlights
• The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow
• Recovering from a Whopper
• The Day it Hit the Fan
• Still Standing
• Taking on Your Mistake Challenge

Chapter 4: When Your Performance Review Whacks You

• It's Not Funny
• I'm OK, and You're OK Too
• The Gift of Unfairness
• The Brutal Facts
• With a Little Help from My Friends
• Taking On Your Review Challenge

Chapter 5: When People Don't Come on Board

• A Fish Out of Water
• Winning Over the Skeptics
• In His Shoes
• Listening Like You Mean It
• Sharing the Burden
• Taking On Your People Challenge, Part I

Chapter 6: When You're Working with an Office Villain

• The Jerk Who Threw a Tantrum
• The Monster Who Turned Gold into Dust
• The Mean Girl Who Interfered
• The 24/7 Critic
• The Boss with a Bad Rap
• Taking On Your People Challenge, Part II

Chapter 7: When You Need a Sponsor

• But for the Love of Sponsors
• The Master Apprentice
• Will You Be My Rabbi?
• Breaking Up is Hard to Do
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place
• It Takes One to Know One
• Taking on Your Sponsor Challenge

Chapter 8: When You Dare to Challenge

• At a Loss for Words
• Shattering Career-Limiting Silence
• Standing Up for Yourself
• The Rewards of Independence
• Thinking for Yourself
• Taking On Your Leadership Challenge

Chapter 9: When Risk Taking Feels Like Jumping Off a Cliff

• Heading Gladly into the Unknown
• After the Fall
• Living and Working in Technicolor
• A Fighter and an Underdog Walk into a Bar
• Failing for a Living
• Taking on Your Risk Challenge

Chapter 10: When You Have to Be a Superhero

• The Quiet Hero
• The Citizen Leader
• The Cowboy Sheriff
• Crisis Avenger
• The Demon Slayer
• Taking On Your Superhero Challenge

Chapter 11: When Everything Sucks

• Preparing for the Day
• A Simple Twist of Fate
• Putting Out the Fires
• Bringing Your A Game to Plan B
• Escaping the Black Hole
• Taking On Your Suck Challenge

Chapter 12: When Work Doesn't Feel Worth It

• Should I Stay, or Should I Go
• Stuck on Perma Hold
• Breaking the Cycle
• Waking Up
• Time to Go
• Taking on Your Work Challenge

Endnote

Index

About the Author

Joanna Barsh is a Director Emerita at McKinsey & Company, where she's worked for 32 years, as well as the Executive Chairman of FORTUNE Women's Leadership Council. She is an in-demand speaker and presenter, both nationally and internationally, and has worked closely with Lean In, the International Council of Women's Business Leaders, and other proactive groups.