I met Nina in the year 2000 and it was clear even then that she had a different approach to work than myself and many people around me. She benefited from having some exceptionally talented and inspiring managers over the years, who shaped her career and approach to work, but her intelligence, vision, self confidence, determination, optimism and sheer hard work are all her own qualities.

Over the last 23 years I have seen her career go from strength to strength. What I see now is that she was applying much of what she so eloquently explains in her book. It wasn’t all plain sailing. She made a number of work and life adjustments as her personal circumstances changed, always maintaining a trajectory of career progress. She stuck out tough times, sought to address her challenges and, when it was clear that she could do no more, moved on to new opportunities which more completely met her meaningful work needs at the time.

Nina genuinely lives by what she teaches; personally, as a leader in her company, as the president of her industry board and she has shaped her career to now be able to pass on the benefits of her experience to help even more people find lasting work and, by extension, life fulfilment.

Nina is an example of how productive and successful an individual can become when the factors of meaningful work align and energy is focused on pursuing a passion rather than being depleted by working in an unsatisfying job, a toxic work environment or living out of integrity with one’s own values and beliefs.

In contrast, it is safe to say that I have stumbled through my career, trying to address what I felt was missing, but lacking the benefit of the insights that Nina’s book provides.

Among my many jobs thus far I’ve had:
- A meaningful job in the ambulance service which lacked a supportive organisational culture or adequate remuneration to put down roots in London.
- A stressful, lonely position trying to achieve the essential role of adequately staffing hospital wards in Sydney.
- A role with McKinsey & Co, with a nice boss, culture and colleagues but mundane work and no career progression for someone with my qualifications and skill set.
- Degrees in Marine Biology and Renewable Energy Engineering; important, fascinating, inspiring but a period of no income and sliding further into debt.
- A fun job in a deli with great colleagues, lively social interaction but low pay and social acceptability for an adult male with a young son.

Reading “Meaningful Work” has made all of this make sense. Unfortunately, the four categories, that Nina explains are essential to us feeling that our work is meaningful, never quite aligned for me.
There was always one or more of the following factors missing; Individual, Job, organisation or Society.

I had all but given up on ever being truly fulfilled in work but the insights I have gained and the inspiring stories of the six case studies has made me believe that, even at 47, I may yet be able to find myself in truly meaningful work.

I think that this is essential reading for anyone in or entering the workforce. Anyone could save themselves a great deal of time, money and dissatisfaction by understanding how to make and keep their work meaningful. I am confident that by applying the techniques and knowledge, presented in this book, career progress and work and life satisfaction can be greatly enhanced. It does, however, require some time investment in yourself, honest self reflection and the courage to have difficult conversations or back yourself and step into the unknown.

Give it to your kids, your family, your friends, your colleagues and live by and spread the message of meaningful work. It is a handbook to revisit whenever your life circumstances change and one’s work needs tweaking or even a full scale overhaul.

Once you find it for yourself extend the benefits of meaningful work to your staff and promote it to your organisation. The very act of helping others find meaning in their work, wherever you have such influence, can be decisive in finding satisfaction in one’s own role.

There’s so much we can’t change about our world but the benefits of acting on the wisdom in this book can enhance the lives of ourselves and those close to us and ripple on through society as a whole.

We want to be happy and we want those we love to be happy, and if those people we don’t like very much were happier then maybe they wouldn’t behave in ways we find disagreeable. When a great deal of our time, energy and identity is attached to the work we do we can’t afford to neglect it. We can’t expect meaningful work opportunities to present themselves or continue without effort or the appreciation and application of the wisdom in this book.

I loved it