Be BIG challenges each of us to show up more fully as individuals in the work place and dares us to do our best work together. Too many people have decided that the safest way to get through life is to be small. They try not to attract attention to themselves, just tending their own safe little garden. They've decided it's too dangerous to think big, to speak out, to take risks. They might get shot down. Or look foolish. People will think they're just not good enough.

But, particularly today, organizations need people to step up and be BIG. We need new ideas, new products, new processes. People have to bring more of themselves to the workplace, to contribute more, and to have a bigger impact on the success of the organization.

This inspiring illustrated book challenges all of us to show up more fully as individuals and in our interactions with others and to find ways to be BIG together. In straightforward, incisive language, Judith H. Katz and Frederick A. Miller help us understand all of the many, sometimes subtle ways we make ourselves small. They show how we make others small as well and how these same attitudes can keep us from working together effectively. And they encourage us to nourish new attitudes that will make us, our coworkers, and our organizations bigger.

Be BIG invites us to bring more of ourselves to each situation—whether working independently, with another individual, or with a group—so that we can do our best work together.

Daring to Do Our Best Work Together

Too many people have decided that the safest way to get through life is to be small. But organizations need people to step up and Be BIG. People have to bring more of themselves to the workplace, to contribute more and have a bigger impact. Be BIG challenges each of us to show up more fully as individuals and in our interactions with others and to find ways to Be BIG together.

“There exist hundreds of books that aim to coach the individual (me) in the workplace: even more are written to help managers and leaders bring the best out in their employees (you). And a few books touch on the subject of the we of a company, organization, or group. The gem you are holding brings me, you, and we together into one small miracle of a book that has BIG implications for you, your job, and your workplace. I recommend Be BIG to anyone ready to step into a livelier, more fulfilling, and more generous way of being.”

— Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder, Omega Institute, and author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow and The Seeker’s Guide

Read more about Be BIG below, or click here to purchase the book. For an excerpt from the book click here.

Be BIG

Part One
ME

Is about the ways we have learned to act small and the messages we tell ourselves that keep us small.

Life has taught many of us how to be small by

not having dreams that are too ambitious.
not acting too bold.
not reaching too high.
not standing out too much!

And yet, many of us want to Be BIG by

adding value every day.
expressing who we are.
engaging ourselves fully.
stepping up to new challenges.
stepping out and trying new things.
being bold and sharing our voice.

Part Two
You

Is about the many ways we intentionally or unintentionally keep those around us small.

Many of us are aware of how we are diminished by others, by circumstance, by personal history, or by "the system."

Some of us are aware of how we diminish ourselves.

But few of us are aware of the ways in which our behaviors and assumptions may limit and diminish others.

It is not just that others have the potential to Be BIG; they may already exhibit a BIGness that our own smallness cannot see.

I must be daring enough to take my blinders off.

To trust in who YOU are today and who YOU can be tomorrow.

To see the BEST in YOU.

To see the BIG YOU.

Part Three
WE

Is about the ways we avoid working together. Or, to be more accurate, working together successfully. It takes a positive connection to create a WE.

It is challenging to be a BIG me. It is even more challenging to see others as BIG.

But it is most challenging to dare to Be BIG together.

We keep us small in many ways.

Ways in which we fail to make a connection, fail to Step Up together, fail to Step Out into new territory together, fail to take Bold actions together.

And yet, if WE are daring enough to create a new WE, WE can do our best work together, achieving more than WE could separately and more than WE ever dreamed of.

So how do we start?

Step Up:

To the challenge of being BIG.

To new responsibilities.

To the opportunities for growth and partnership.

Step Out:

Of old routines.

From your small self and seeing others as small.

Into the light, where you can be seen and see others.

Be Bold:

By speaking up rather than remaining silent.

By identifying places where it is safe to be you BIG self. Or making places safe enough to risk being BIG.

By finding others who are being their BIG selves from whom to learn and grow.

DARE to:

Stand for yourself.

Consider new ideas.

Make mistakes.

Encourage others to contribute.

Create new thoughts, new dreams, new possibilities.

The challenge is yours.

Are you willing to be bold enough, daring enough as an individual and with others so that you can live among GIANTS?

Because if you do, "I promise you a richer and more exciting life"—for you and for us all.

“If you don’t bring your full self to work, then it is impossible to develop, learn, and grow. Judith and Fred have written the ultimate guide to career development. A perfect book to create a dialogue with peers, direct reports or friends.”

— Beverly Kayne, CEO/Founder, Career Systems International and coauthor of Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay

“Illustrates how greater voice and partnership will drive each person and team to do their best work and collectively achieve the goals of the organization.”

— John Bader, Vice President, Customer and Enterprise Services, Allstate Insurance Company