The Consultants Calling: Bringing Who You Are To What You do

Geoffrey Bellman's book is superb, and deserves a wider audience than the title might suggest. It is “about consulting” in the same way that Shakespeare's Hamlet is “about Denmark”: the scenes are set in the world of consulting but the message is more widely applicable. The twenty or so chapters describe how work becomes more rewarding, and how we become more effective at doing it, when we treat it as a human activity (not a financial transaction), and one that reflects our own human needs, desires, and failings.
Congruence, integrity, love, fear, boundaries, power, money, and transformational change are all discussed in the context of organisations and the people who work in them. Reading it challenges us to look deeply at ourselves, to understand what we want from our work, and to consider whether we are bringing ourselves to what we do, or acting out a role.
It's not often that I write a review of something I've read (it's certainly been a long time since the last one!) but I found this book special and can strongly recommend it.