[photopress:book.jpg,full,alignright]“We are the New Radicals: A Manifesto for Reinventing Yourself and Saving the World” (McGraw Hill, New York) is a new book by Julia Moulden. I first heard of it while listening to CBC radio’s Sounds Like Canada where Moulden was describing this movement of baby boomers and others that are positive, constructive and hopeful, and are choosing to give something back to the world through their work. That is that they are doing good and making a difference by doing more than simply volunteering and philanthropy. I love this idea! Not only is it a feel good story of some 30 million Americans that are part of this movement, but there is a strong business case to be made as well. As employees achieve success and move up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the needs to solve problems and be creative are more pertinent. Having a job that allows one to give back can be more engaging and rewarding than traditional work and can give companies an upper hand in the war-on-talent with higher retention rates, as well as giving them more productive employees. This book may contribute to the changing face of the workplace, especially on the CSR (corporate social responsibility) front as companies may choose to take on more ownership of their social or environmental initiatives to be able to meet the changing needs of their employees. Although it is nice to be able to do volunteer work in one’s own free time, this can sometimes be a challenge. Doing good while at work has the added benefit of making it somewhat easier to achieve work-life balance.

There will be a New Radicals Soirée April 15th in Toronto to celebrate the launch of the book, complete with food by Jamie Kennedy.