Work Matters

Work is complicated: It can be fulfilling and exciting, or disappointing and disruptive. We spend most of our adult lives at work; it shapes our identities and provides a context for our creativity and talents. It can be the source of great pleasure - and of profound distress.

Francesca Cardona is an organizational consultant and teacher of consultancy and coaching in the Tavistock tradition. Italian by birth, she has been based in London since the mid-eighties. She works in a variety of organizational and cultural contexts, helping leaders and organizations to face issues of change, transition and the emotional dimension of organizational life.She has previously contributed essays to both the first and second editions of The Unconscious at Work edited by Anton Obholzer.

Part 1: The Context of Work: A love affair - the meaning of work in a changing worldPart II: Organizational Consultancy in the Tavistock Tradition1. The Team as a Sponge: how the nature of the task affects the behaviour and mental life of a team 2. Vulnerable Leadership: consultancy to management in transition 3. Organizational and Personal Shame: the devastating effect of feeling a failure or being exposed as one 4. The Grey Area: consulting at the interface between the personal and the professional 5. The Challenge of Succession: leadership dynamics and conflicts in different contexts 6. The Manager's Most Precious Skill: the capacity to be 'psychologically present' 7. Consulting to the Boss: leadership beyond the textbooks Part III: The Consultant's Role: an antrhopologist at work 8. The Complexity of Entry: seduction and potential collusion in negotiating a contract with a new client 9.The Consultancy Stage: the 'third' dimension in the engagement between client and consultant 10. Who is the Boss? Balancing power and vulnerability in the client-consultant relationship 11.Ending and Regeneration:reflections on the emotional experience of ending a consultancy assignment Conclusion