Does working help or hurt your health? Or does it have no impact at all (unless you work in a dangerous profession)?
Jeffrey Pfeffer makes a good case that it can have a major negative impact on your health. The book presents a great deal of data that is hard to ignore. One such data point is that stress can adversely impact productivity and costs U.S. employers $300 billion annually.
Probably the scariest thing I read in the book was a quote from Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller who said "according to the Mayo Clinic, the person you report to at work is more important for your health than your family doctor."
Now do you see why I am dedicated to creating great managers! It helps the company and helps the individual.
Can we eliminate all the stress situations that the book covers as the biggest impacts? No. There will be layoffs and firing for poor performance for at least the near term, if not forever.
This is an eye-opening read, even if you believe that some of the stats are overblown. It raises some great questions and I highly recommend taking some time to read it and see how your management style should change.
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