Resilience Through Grief: Beyond Layoffs to Redefined Success,

For many adults, work is central to the core of our identities. Being appreciated for a job well done gives life its meaning and purpose. When regretful transitions happen at work – losing out on a promotion or being laid off – one must endure a palpable loss and grief. Texas executive Joseph Zambrano has been in the trenches of leadership in the healthcare industry and eagerly wrote about the lessons learned from facing many challenges in his career. In his book, Resilience Through Grief: Beyond Layoffs to Redefined Success, Zambrano shares his story of discovering leadership strengths through job loss and the global pandemic. The book is structured to first delve into Zambrano's personal experiences, then to offer insights and advice, and finally to provide practical strategies for readers to apply in their own lives. His experiences show how grief can lead to lasting transformations, such as building resilience, fostering personal growth, and enhancing emotional intelligence. 

The book is a great read not only for leaders and managers in various sectors but also for professionals at different stages of their careers who are working through personal or professional challenges. Whether you're a seasoned leader with decades of experience or a young professional navigating the early stages of your career, Zambrano, who identifies as a Hispanic man, shares relevant and valuable insights. I read the book from my point of view as a leader with more than 20 years of industry experience. The author’s depiction of his bosses – the effective ones and some who are toxic – is all too relatable. Dehumanization happens too often in work environments with leaders who lack empathy and respect for their workers. Through his analysis, the author weaves in his understanding of power plays and how to sustain one's humanity while navigating company culture.

Resilience Through Grief: Beyond Layoffs to Redefined Success is a guidebook for finding strength in vulnerability and fostering leadership in the face of challenges. Beyond sharing advice for weathering workplace transitions, Zambrano offers practical insights about understanding oneself and others, underscoring the ability to shift perspective toward what truly matters. He advocates that leaders develop a shared sense of humanity in their teams and always lead with empathy. Ultimately, there is more life than the status afforded by one’s profession. Zambrano stresses the importance of perspective-taking and work-life balance in charting a new path toward healing and resilience. 

Editor's Note: This review was originally published in Reedsy Discovery.

Walking & Wayfinding

Every step toward self-awareness requires pause and intention. In “Walking and Wayfinding,” hiker, author and certified coach Lea Appleton imparts transformative knowledge she gained from preparing for the pilgrimage walk through the Camino de Santiago. Despite the pandemic altering her plans, she discovered the profound gifts of mindfulness, awe and inspiration. For instance, she shares a practice of mindful walking that she adopted during her journey, a practice that now guides her everyday life. This is just one of the many life lessons that she presents in the book, lessons that can help readers chart a path that is truly their own.

The book is a practical and meditative tool for harnessing the potency of walking. It invites the reader to create a sustainable and invigorating practice for one’s body, heart, and mind. Appleton’s experience in spirituality shines through in her intelligent and contemplative approach to wayfinding. Beyond simply a physical exercise, she makes the case for wayfinding in the inner and outer worlds.

Appleton's mastery as a coach, a role she has held for over a decade, is palpable in her writing, which seamlessly blends elements of healing and guidance. Her work revolves around self-exploration and unearthing profound questions, and this approach is mirrored in the concise essays about her musings and epiphanies that are scattered throughout the book. As a coach, she has guided numerous individuals on their own journeys of self-discovery, and this wealth of experience is evident in her writing.

Appleton's journaling prompts are not mere exercises but powerful catalysts for a transformative journey of self-discovery. They inspire readers to find their own significance in the act of walking and how it can reshape their lives, thoughts, and interactions with the world.

From my perspective and exposure to various forms of meditation, such as breathing, sitting, and walking meditation, Appleton’s distinctive voice emerges as a captivating addition. Her insights and practices have resonated deeply with me, serving as a gentle reminder to pay attention and notice both the external and the inner world.

The Intuition Bible

Trusting one’s inner knowledge requires insight, intentionality, and practice. Happy Ali breaks down the fundamental steps necessary to harness personal wisdom through “The Intuition Bible,” a guidebook that aligns with the interests of readers in spirituality, metaphysics, and personal development. Ali offers his gifts as a spiritual coach whose practices are informed by psychology, diverse spiritual traditions, and natural talents for receiving and interpreting ultra-sensory information and messages. Ali challenges the notion of our society’s biases toward rational or scientific inquiry, which leads many to neglect or abandon their intuitive abilities. Ali presents techniques and exercises for empaths and intuitives to employ and channel their potential.

Ali writes in an approachable way, mirroring their content on social platforms like Instagram and TikTok. I approached the book from my vantage point as spiritually agnostic, with some knowledge of diverse practices like prophetic dreams, understanding chakras, and clairvoyance. From my cursory knowledge of these topics, I understand there are cultural, spiritual, neuroscientific, and psychological explanations for the gift of intuition. Ali does not explicitly cite the sources for the strategies shared in the book. This is fitting for a book that challenges logical and objective thought processes for discovering personal truths. Much of intuition is trusting information from sources beyond what is physically observable and transcends the analytical mind.