Richard A. Moran is the President of Menlo College, a private college in the heart of the Silicon Valley. He is a noted business leader, venture capitalist and author of eight best selling business books. Rich and his wife also the owners and operators of the family owned vineyard, Moran Manor.
As the ninth book published by Moran, The Thing About Work is the consummate guide to navigating the modern day workplace. In it, readers find anecdotes and advice on everything from how to create a meaningful workplace culture, how to uphold a work-life balance, how to derive a sense of purpose, and settles just what “business casual” means.
Drawing from his experiences in academia, venture capital, and consulting, Moran says that the book is the culmination of years of being an observer of the workplace, “from these I gleaned what is really important and have found myself in the position to prescribe how to change things for the better”.
The Irish Technology Leadership Group sat down with Rich Moran, a long-time member and author of the new book The Thing About Work, Showing Up and Other Important Matters.
The book comes at a time when the nature of work is at an inflection point, transformed rapidly by technology and global expansion. The consequence of this, Moran describes, is that the once clear boundaries of office and home are frequently blurred, resulting in a physical blow to work/life balance .The Thing About Work does its part to redress the permeation of work into home life and how to strike the right balance. At the same time however, technology is an indispensable tool, Moran emphasizes, that is necessary to both thriving in the modern day workplace and can be used at any time as an instrument of reinvention when changing careers.
Ultimately, The Thing About Work gets to an important matter in the lives of professionals- finding meaning and purpose from our work. Moran makes sure to address what can often be an arduous experience instead as an adventure through stories and anecdotes of rockstars like Bruce Springsteen and U2 to your colleague next door. “Each of us wants to walk out into the parking lot and say ‘damn, I did something important today,” Moran says, “it’s something each and every one of us is chasing”. Moran delves into how to find meaning, how to grow and build in our roles, how to cultivate supportive workplace relationships, and when to raise the question “should I find the new job?’.
The Thing About Work is a resource for professionals at any stage in their careers- whether at retirement, reinvention, or in need of a pep talk. With levity and lexicon of a workplace ‘sociologist’, Moran identifies the challenges and issues we are faced with at work but which are not addressed in conversation and certainly not mentioned in employee training handbook.