Anxiety at Work by Adrian Gostick Summary
Overview of Anxiety at Work
In a world where 90% of employees report burnout, "Anxiety at Work" delivers eight game-changing strategies from world-renowned leadership gurus. This Axiom Award-winning guide has transformed workplace cultures across 30 languages. What if reducing team anxiety actually increases productivity?
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The Duck Beneath the Surface: Understanding Modern Workplace Anxiety
Picture a serene lake at dawn. A duck glides across the water, perfectly composed, the very image of calm. But beneath that glassy surface, its feet are paddling furiously. This "duck syndrome"-a term born at Stanford-captures something profound about modern work life: we're all frantically treading water while pretending everything's fine. Before the pandemic hit, one in three workers reported monthly anxiety. By mid-2020, that number had exploded. Among twentysomethings, nearly half were drowning in worry. The cost? Forty billion dollars annually in lost productivity. Yet most organizations treated this crisis like an uncomfortable secret, something to be managed quietly rather than addressed openly. Workplace anxiety isn't just a personal struggle-it's an organizational epidemic. Consider Chloe, a brilliant recent graduate who landed her dream job at an investment bank. Outwardly, she was crushing it. Internally, she was crumbling. Every day brought waves of self-doubt, constant comparison to peers who seemed more accomplished, happier, more together. When she finally confessed to feeling overwhelmed, her manager dismissed it: "That's just how it is here. You're doing fine." The anxiety escalated. Panic attacks. Sunday night dread. Then one day, Chloe simply vanished-she ghosted her employer entirely, never returning or explaining. A promising talent lost to unaddressed anxiety. This pattern repeats across industries. Ninety percent of employees believe admitting anxiety to their boss would damage their careers. So they hide it. They perform while panicking. They succeed while suffering. What's particularly striking is that anxious workers are often the most valuable-86% are rated as uniquely productive. Highly intelligent people experience anxiety at twice the rate of others. We're not talking about underperformers who need to toughen up. We're talking about your best people quietly breaking down. The generational divide is stark. Seventy-five percent of Gen Z workers have left jobs for mental health reasons, compared to just 10% of boomers. Younger workers face economic realities their predecessors didn't: wage stagnation, vanishing benefits, constant job insecurity. They've watched capitalism promise prosperity while delivering precarity. Their anxiety isn't weakness-it's rational response to unstable ground. The silence was deafening, and people were suffering behind their professional masks.
Uncertainty, Transparency, and the Power of Truth
Burnout, Workload, and the Myth of Individual Resilience
Career Advancement and the New Rules of Progression
Perfectionism's Paralyzing Grip and the Courage to Be Imperfect
Healthy Conflict and the Art of Productive Disagreement
Building True Belonging: Bias, Allyship, and Human Connection
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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
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