Books by Cy Wakeman
Cy Wakeman, NY Times Best-selling Author, Keynote Speaker and Drama Researcher
Life’s Messy, Live Happy
Things Don’t Have to be Perfect for You to be Content (2022)
By the time we become adults, most of us have joined the religion of suffering, which preaches that unless circumstances are controlled, life will be a mess. We compare ourselves to others and speculate about an impossible-to-know future, holding out hope for an improved life through getting ahead, fulfilling passion, or finding true love. But the idea that happiness comes from putting effort toward altering one’s circumstances is harmful and backward. What if we instead learned to understand that circumstances can rarely be controlled, and that life is, and always will be, messy?
From that starting point, we could learn to use our minds to create happiness despite life’s ever-changing circumstances and events. Life’s Messy, Live Happy by Cy Wakeman is about dramatically changing the level of happiness you feel in your daily life, by learning to disconnect happiness from external forces, stop worrying about the future, and realize that most of your negative feelings are about things that never even happened.
Wakeman is a credible, relatable teacher―a business owner, mother, and community member who has lived her philosophy and achieved profound happiness and success in a crazy, messy life. Filled with concrete daily practices and true stories that are hilarious, painful, and poignant, this book will change everything: your perspective, your focus, and your energy level for everyday life.
No Ego
How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results (2017)
For years now, leaders in almost every industry have accepted two completely false assumptions–that change is hard, and that engagement drives results. Those beliefs have inspired expensive attempts to shield employees from change, involve them in high-level decision-making, and keep them happy with endless “satisfaction surveys” and workplace perks. But what these engagement programs actually do, Cy Wakeman says, is inflate expectations and sow unhappiness, leaving employees unprepared to adapt to even minor changes necessary to the organization’s survival. Rather than driving performance and creating efficiencies, these programs fuel entitlement and drama, costing millions in time and profit.
It is high time to reinvent leadership thinking. Stop worrying about your employees’ happiness, and start worrying about their accountability. Cy Wakeman teaches you how to hire “emotionally inexpensive” people, solicit only the opinions you need, and promote self-awareness in your whole team. No Ego disposes with unproven HR maxims, and instead offers a complete plan to turn your office from a den of discontent to a happy, productive place.
Reality-Based Leadership
Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses Into Results (2010)
Recent polls show that 70% of workers think about quitting their jobs every day.
That number would be shocking—if people actually were quitting. Worse, they go to work, punching time clocks and collecting paychecks, while completely checked out emotionally.
In Reality-Based Leadership, Cy Wakeman reveals how to be the kind of leader who changes the way people think about and perceives their circumstances. Cy guides you to deal with the facts, give helpful and clear feedback to employees, and kindly help others focus their effort on their contribution and not the nearby drama.
Filled with dynamic examples, innovative tools, and diagnostic tests, this book shows you how to become a Reality-Based Leader. It helps you uncover destructive thought patterns within yourself and others, diffuse drama and lead the person in front of you. If you want to lead more and manage chaos less, this book will empower you to do it!
The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace
Know What Boosts Your Value, Kills Your Chances, and Will Make You Happier (2013)
A New York Times Hardcover Business Best Seller, The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace is quickly becoming a “must have” for employees and managers in organizations across many industries.
Discover the key to understanding how your manager calculates your real value—and how to boost it!
More than anything else, you need to understand exactly how your employer evaluates you, and your annual performance review doesn’t tell the whole story.
In The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace, Cy Wakeman shows how to calculate how your true value to your organization by understanding your current and future potential against your “emotional expense”—the toll your actions and attitudes take on the people around you. With Cy’s clear, straight-to-the-point advice, you can confront and reduce your emotional costliness, become an invaluable member of your team, and even learn to love your job again.