Making Work Matter

Business has enormous potential to create economic value and positive impact on society and the planet. Innovative employees, who see opportunities for companies to change, can be key to unleashing this potential. But how do these employees become the internal change agents or intrapreneurs that the world needs to help solve some of our toughest environmental and social challenges?

After a career as a corporate banker, Nancy McGaw joined the Aspen Institute and developed a keen interest in learning from and supporting intrapreneurs. In 2009 she launched the First Movers Fellowship, that has mentored hundreds of innovators from the world's largest companies, who are creating products, services or management practices that are good for both business and society.

In Making Work Matter: How to Create Positive Change in your Company and Meaning in Your Career, McGaw shares how innovators who were selected to be part of the program, created positive change—from Paul Dillinger who launched the Wellthread™ Collection at Levi's® to produce great looking and sustainable garments to Rahul Raj who piloted Walmart's guaranteed take-back program for electronics that enabled customers to return and buy refurbished products, effectively keeping them out of landfills while building a new, profitable revenue stream for the company.

The book combines over forty inspiring stories with the mindsets and practices you need to become an intrapreneur. McGaw shows you how to begin your own journey by reflecting on the work that matters deeply to you, exploring how to bring your innovative ideas to life, collaborate with likeminded colleagues, and stay on the changemaking path even when challenges arise.

Whether you are a manager or an individual contributor working in finance, marketing, R&D, talent management or sustainability, this book will be an indispensable guide to building a career that delivers value—to you, your company, and to society.