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Why CEO’s Fail: The 11 Behaviors That Can Derail Your Climb to the Top and How to Manage Them. By David L. Dotlich and Peter Cairo. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. 2003. Why
This book takes a unique approach by looking at the dark side of executive leadership and illuminates which character traits most commonly sink CEOs.
view more view lessThe authors are two executive coaches who use examples from their own coaching careers as well as high profile cases to illustrate derailing character flaws. They cover flaws like arrogance, mischievousness, eccentricity in each chapter and each and every chapter is a worthwhile read in its own right. This book is brilliant and the novelty of the analysis makes this the most worthwhile read I’ve come across in a long time. It also offers a strong cautionary message–executives must engage in deep and contemplatory self-reflection that will allow them to connect connect the dots between stress, their derailing flaws, and their failures. Furthermore, the authors encourage CEOs to throttle back on the excesses of personality indulgences that get them into trouble and focus more on team-building in the hopes of cultivating a loyal and honest staff.
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Winning `Em Over: A New Model for Management in the Age of Persuasion. Jay A. Conger. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Winning ‘Em Over does an excellent job of addressing the art of persuasion and its role in the workplace.
view more view lessWe can all recognize how important it is to both motivate your employees and communicate effectively and persuasively, but we don’t necessarily understand how to actually put these ideas into action. This book does a great job teaching the skills necessary for turning these ideas into action. The examples are very relevant and up-to-date, the exercises are excellent, and the book is witty and fun to read.
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Leadership from the Inside out: Become a Leader for Life. By Kevin Cashman. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 2008.
I strongly recommend this book for everyone, though it’s geared towards leaders in the workplace.
view more view lessThe premise of this book is that to achieve personal and interpersonal success as a leader, every person needs to embark on a process of self-discovery. The book carries you through a step-by-step process of self-discovery by posing questions that lead to deep contemplation. To be a great leader, it’s not enough to have expertise in your line of work, you also need to develop excellent interpersonal skills as well as personal skills like resilience. This book does an excellent job of teaching you those skills. The book is also grounded in a lot of scientific research, so it makes for an interesting and illuminating read.
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Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard. By Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Broadway Books, 2010.
This book provides a really interesting look at change and why in some situations it’s extremely easy to go through a big change–like getting married or having a child–and in other situations, it’s extremely difficult to change–like getting rid of an old habit or sticking to a new diet.
view more view lessThe authors analyze how change is easy to bring about when your rational and irrational minds are in line with each other. Similarly, change is extremely difficult when your rational mind and your emotional, irrational mind are at odds with each other. This book is very clever and provides ingenious information on how to modify our behaviors and businesses, making it a must-read for executives.
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The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company. By Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, and James Noel. Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001.
Written by three experts in management development (one of them helped design GE’s deservedly famous succession-development process), this book illustrates in painstaking detail how to cultivate their managers to successfully transition through the “pipeline” and up the rungs.
view more view lessThe book outlines the six transition phases of the pipeline that exist in every large organization. To succesfully move through the “pipeline” and not clog it up, leaders must learn new skills and values at each transition phase before moving to the next. This book offers great models and practical advice how to best cultivate these requisite skills and values–whether you want to cultivate these in yourself, or whether a higher-level manager is considering cultivating these in his underlings. I believe this book is very promising and has the potential to help organizations successfully move a whole generation of managers through the leadership pipeline, rather than just a chance one or two.
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Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way From Confrontation to Cooperation. William Ury. Bantam Books, 1993.
Written by the same author as Getting To Yes, William Ury, this book serves as a helpful companion to that book and is geared towards dealing with especially difficult negotiations. It provides strategies for defusing anger in a conflict, turning an antagonist into a cooperative partner, and reaching compromises that satisfy both parties. A good resource to have at your side.
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Innovation Management: Strategies, Concepts and Tools for Growth and Profit. By Shlomo Maital and D.V.R. Seshadri. Response Books, 2007.
This book looks at innovation from all angles: why innovate? how to innovate? who innovates?
view more view lessThe authors posit that successful management of the innovation process is the key to competitive growth and profit in the marketplace. This book will be most helpful to those business that seek expert advice in how to move an innovative idea to the marketplace.
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Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness. Robert K. Greenleaf. Paulist Press, 2002.
Robert Greenleaf has long been respected in the business world, serving as an AT&T executive for several years and lecturing on the importance of service among leaders.
view more view lessThis book looks at “servant leadership” across the board—from leadership in the worlds of education, foundations, churches, businesses, bureaucracies, and nations. This tome on leadership is very inspiring to me and will hopefully encourage the current generation of leaders to transform global capitalism from a self-serving system to one that better serves humanity and the planet as a whole.
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Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. By Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, & Sheila Heen. Penguin Books, 2000.
I found this book to be a very insightful analysis of the difficult conversations we have in our life.
view more view lessThis book is also the result of research by the Harvard Negotiation Project and, like the other books that have come out of this group, provides very constructive advice on how to have the toughest conversations in life more successfully. We all experience stress and other strong emotions in the course of a difficult conversation and this book offers practical skills on how to manage our emotions and not become defensive. Most importantly, this book teaches us how to keep conversations constructive, no matter how the other person responds. This books deals with everyday life examples and is a helpful resource to anyone and everyone.
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Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. By Roger Fisher & William Ury. Penquin Books, 1991.
This book is both brilliant and very concise. It offers step-by-step, clearly laid out strategies to achieve conflict resolution in any situation, be it a conflict between tenant and landlord or a conflict between bosses and employees.
view more view lessThe strategies are based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, which has done really interesting work looking at all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. I highly recommend it to anyone who deals with conflict on a frequent basis, especially those who are having difficulty resolving conflict with people who refuse to play by the rules and play dirty.
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If Aristotle Ran General Motors. By Tom Morris. Henry Holt and Company, Inc. 1997.
I love this book because it is all about reinvigorating the corporate spirit with wisdom from antiquity–such a beautiful and elegant concept.
view more view lessThe author is a professor of philosophy and in his book brings to life the four transcendent verities of Greek philosophy: truth, beauty, goodness, and unity. He shows us how these four verities can be applied toward the corporate life, breathing new soul into our everyday work. If you want an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace, you should strongly consider reading this book.
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The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance. By Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.
This book revolutionizes the workplace by encouraging leaders to re-examine the way they provide feedback to their employees.
view more view lessBy reading this book, leaders will learn the wisom of leading with the carrot, not the stick. Based on one of the most in-depth management studies ever done, the book contends that frequent and effective recognition is a powerful way to motivate your employees. In turn, a company with meaningful recognition of its employees will reap the benefits of greater customer satisfaction, productivity, and retention of employees. The book covers case histories of big companies like Disney and Pepsi and the information in the book is relevant to leaders and managers in both big corporations as well as smaller companies. I personally believe deeply in leading with the carrot and am fond of this book for doing a fantastic job of making a scientific case for its importance in the workplace.
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ABC’s of Successful Leadership. By Raymond L. Wenderlich. Success Builders, 1997.
The ABCs of Successful Leadership is a how-to book on leadership based on practical, field-tested principles. This exciting new leadership book is unique, easy-to-read and designed for busy people currently in leadership positions or striving to obtain a leadership position.
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Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing. By Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002.
This book shows us how the true heroes of today are the unsung heroes in the workplace who keep the world humming–from factory workers, to traders, to health care workers.
view more view lessThe quiet heroes are the ones who have learned how to successfully negotiate difficult dilemmas inconspicuously and with grace and integrity. The book provides us with eight counterintuitive guidelines to understand the success of these quiet heroes and apply it to difficult decisions we need to make in the workplace. Leading Quietly lays out the design for a new model of leadership that is based on careful thought, pragmatism, and an honest confrontation with the true complexity of seemingly simple dilemmas.
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What Happy Companies KnowWhat Happy Companies Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Company for the Better. Dan Baker and Cathy Greenberg, Collins Hemingway. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.
The premise of this book is simple—happiness is the cause of a business’ success, not the result of it.
view more view lessThis book brings the relatively new science of applied positive psychology to the workplace and discusses how to create an organization that is both happy and successful. From my work with many different organizations, I have gotten a sense of how true this tenet is—a successful workplace is one that is also happy and owes its success in large part to its healthy and positive environment. I think the new science of positive psychology is very powerful and transformative and is a great tool to learn about and apply to your everyday life, as well as your to organization. I highly recommend this book.
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The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels. By Michael Watkins. Perseus Distribution, 2003.
This book is a very useful “road map” for new managers who want to succeed in their first few months of the job, thereby paving the way for continued and ensured success.
view more view lessWritten by Michael Watkins, a professor at Harvard Business School, this book offers very practical tools for new managers, including comprehensive self-assessment checklists and very detailed guidelines on how to have conversations with employees and bosses. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is transitioning to a leadership role for the first time.
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Six Thinking Hats. Edward De Bono. Back Bay Books/Little Brown & Co., rev. 1999.
This book reminds us that thinking is a skill that we can all learn to improve upon. A major obstacle that we run into is jumbling together the many thoughts we have on an issue.
view more view lessThis unfortunately leads us to mix together a confusing jumble of emotions, information, logic, hope, and creativity. This book’s approach is to teach us how to unscramble our thoughts by role-playing with six different hats. You can become a better thinker no matter your age, and learn how to make better decisions as a result. I think this book is very applicable to anyone in the management world.
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Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. By Daniel Goleman, , et al. HBS Press, 2002.
This book is ground-breaking. One of the authors, Daniel Goleman, is a renowned psychologist who has written extensively on emotional intelligence, arguing its importance to our success in life.
view more view lessIn this book, we learn how crucial emotional intelligence is to leaders in the workplace. The book talks about one of my favorite concepts—resonance—which basically describes how the emotional style of a leader in the workplace has the strength to bring co-workers into emotional alignment with him or her. If the leader has high emotional intelligence and cultivates positive communication with his/her employees, this positivity will resonant throughout the workplace and impact how effectively business is done. On the flip side, if a leader has low emotional intelligence and interacts with coworkers negatively, this negativity will have reverberating ramifications through the workplace. This book is a must-read for anyone who is a leader in their workplace.
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Just Promoted! How to Survive and Thrive in Your First 12 Months as a Manager. By Edward Betof and Frederic Harwood. McGraw-Hill, 1992.
Just Promoted! arms the new manager with hundreds of practical and proven approaches to the challenges of the first critical year on the job.
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Executive EQ – Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Organizations. By Robert K. Cooper and Ayman Sawaf. Penguin Group, 1997.
A study positing the position that emotional intelligence can improve any business through the use of such virtues as integrity, trust, and understanding also provide effective techniques for instituting these virtues in a corporate environment.
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Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. By Stephen C.Ludin et al. Hyperion, 2000.
Drawing from the example of the world-famous Pike Place Fish market in Seattle, this parable unearths the wisdom necessary to invigorate employees and transform a workplace.
view more view lessEveryone wants to work in an environment that is filled with energy and passion and vitality, and this book offers extremely simple lessons on how to actually make that work environment a reality. Because the lessons come from the real-life fishmongers of Pike Place Fish market–a highly successful business–this book is grounded in reality and offers extremely valuable wisom, not just the empty platitudes that other self-help books resort to.
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The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers. By James M. Citrin and Richard A. Smith. Three Rivers Press, 2003.
This book from 2003 includes a Spencer Stuart (Global Executive Recruiters) “job survival guide.”
view more view lessIt is an inspired book written by seasoned executive recruiters, surprising in its broad and thoughtful view of career success factors. It uncovers patterns of achievement that distinguish the merely succesful from the extraordinary executive. The book does a good job of distilling what the authors have uncovered into five differentiating principles, the first of which, for example, is “understanding the value of you.”
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Breakthrough Management for Not-for-Profit Organizations: Beyond Survival in the 21st Century. By Howard H. Brown and Donald L. Ruhl. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003.
This comprehensive guide to managing in the not-for-profit sector is a twofold resource.
view more view lessThe first part is a user-friendly textbook examining what is involved in producing mission-driven goods and services, how to manage the relationships of nonprofits with the private and public sectors, and how to operate in both external and internal environments. The second part is a practitioner's ready-reference handbook, complete with survival tips and action items.
Mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations pose unique challenges to leaders and managers. These challenges differ tremendously from the profit-driven requirements of the corporate world, and are even greater when budgets are tighter. This comprehensive guide to managing in the nonprofit sector is a twofold resource. The first part is a user-friendly textbook examining what is involved in producing mission-driven goods and services, how to manage the relationships of nonprofits with the private and public sectors, and how to operate in both external and internal environments. Six case studies and end-of-chapter reviews facilitate learning in this expanding field. The second part is a practitioner's ready-reference handbook, complete with survival tips and action items.
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Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination. By Jane Magruder Watkins and Bernard J. Mohr. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001.
Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of Appreciative Inquiry offers OD and HR professionals a user-friendly resource for discovering how they can tap into the power of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process.
view more view lessAn innovative process, AI is an effective way to work with a company as an organic system whose success depends on a holistic approach to connect that organization's human, technical, and organizational functions.
This new edition meets the challenge of making the AI process accessible and updates three key areas of the process: the theoretical basis, fundamental assumptions and beliefs, and the basic processes. It includes step-by-step guidelines on how to apply AI in a variety of organizational situations and shows how it can be used with a wide range of initiatives, such as coaching, leadership development, strategic planning, and teambuilding.
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Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership. By Laurie Beth Jones. Hyperion Press, 1996.
Following the example of Jesus, a "CEO" who built a disorganized "staff" of twelve into a thriving enterprise, a handbook for corporate success details a fresh, profound approach to motivating and managing others that translates to any business.
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Focus on Leadership: Servant-Leadership for the 21st Century. By Larry C. Spears and Michele Lawrence, Eds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001.
This collection of inspiring essays focuses on the practice of servant-leadership in organizational and business settings. Focus on Leadership addresses how servant-leadership is now increasingly recognized as being on the forefront of emerging leadership thinking.
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Leadership and the New Science. By Margaret J. Wheatley. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1999.
A bestseller--more than 300,000 copies sold, translated into seventeen languages, and featured in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Fortune.
view more view lessShows how discoveries in quantum physics, biology, and chaos theory enable us to deal successfully with change and uncertainty in our organizations and our lives; Includes a new chapter on how the new sciences can help us understand and cope with some of the major social challenges of our times We live in a time of chaos, rich in potential for new possibilities. A new world is being born. We need new ideas, new ways of seeing, and new relationships to help us now. New science--the new discoveries in biology, chaos theory, and quantum physics that are changing our understanding of how the world works--offers this guidance. It describes a world where chaos is natural, where order exists ''for free.'' It displays the intricate webs of cooperation that connect us. It assures us that life seeks order, but uses messes to get there. Leadership and the New Science is the bestselling, most acclaimed, and most influential guide to applying the new science to organizations and management. In it, Wheatley describes how the new science radically alters our understanding of the world, and how it can teach us to live and work well together in these chaotic times. It will teach you how to move with greater certainty and easier grace into the new forms of organizations and communities that are taking shape.
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Co-Active Coaching: New Skills for Coaching People Toward Success in Work and Life. By Laura Whitworth, Henry Kimsey-House, and Phil Sandahl. Davies-Black Publishing, 1998.
Discover what's new in this classic work that helped define the field of coaching.
view more view lessWith the first edition of Co-Active Coaching, Laura Whitworth and her pioneering co-authors set the stage for what has become a cultural and business phenomenon, and helped launch the professional practice of coaching. Their flexible Co-Active Coaching model has stood the test of time as a transformative communication process that co-workers and teammates, managers, teachers, and students can use to build strong and collaborative relationships.
In this new edition, the authors reflect today's reality of how coaching has moved beyond its initial focus on life skills to become an integral part of an organization's toolkit for developing leaders. Already used as the definitive resource in dozens of corporate and professional development programs, Co-Active Coaching has been updated to include the latest terminology and a variety of fresh coaching examples drawn from the authors' firsthand experiences with thousands of international coaching trainees and clients. The power-packed Coach's Toolkit has been expanded to include more than 35 exercises, questionnaires, checklists, and reproducible forms. And a CD containing sample audio coaching sessions, and printable forms from the Toolkit, have been added to make these proven principles and techniques practical.
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Coaching Corporate MVPs: Challenging and Developing High-Potential Employees. By Margaret Butteriss. Wiley, John & Sons, 2008
Corporate MVPs are the high-achievers in your organization. Only five to ten percent of your workforce, they are the key top performers who deliver extraordinary value to your business.
view more view lessThey can be an any level in the organization, they produce dramatic and tangible results, challenge the status quo, serve as role models for others, and are team players and talent magnets who attract other high-potential individuals.
The future of your business depends on developing a pipeline of Corporate MVPs, but too often they are not effectively managed or developed. Good management is the key to success in attracting and retaining these high-value performers, but how do you manage them effectively?
The answer for many organizations lies in coaching and mentoring: creating personalized,individual development plans designed to meet the specific needs of high-performing employees.
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Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success By Rick Brandon, Ph.D. and Marty Seldman, Ph.D. Free Press, 2004
A great guide to negotiating organizational politics using emotional intelligence, ethics and integrity with step-by-step methods to identify political styles, protect yourself against sabotage, build key networks and increase team impact.
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By Carol Dweck, Ph.D. Ballantine Books, 2007
One of my favorite books! It makes a compelling case for flexibility and keeping an open mind.
view more view lessEven though a mindset seems to be just that, set, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck believes that it is possible to adapt a fluid, or growth mindset that can affect your personal and professional success. She gives techniques to realize that “rigid thinking benefits no one, least of all yourself, and that a change of mind is always possible.”
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Who: The A Method for Hiring By Geoff Smart and Randy Street, Ballantine, 2008
Amazon says:
“In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls “the single biggest problem in business today”: unsuccessful hiring."
view more view less“The silver lining is that “who” problems are easily preventable. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs, Who presents Smart and Street’s A Method for Hiring.”
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The Leader’s Voice: How your communication can inspire action and get results! By Boyd Clarke and Ron Crossland. The Tom Peters Press, 2002.
In this provocative and instructive book, The Leader’s Voice: How your communication can inspire action and get results!, business executives and others can acquire the much-needed skills effective leaders use to manage change in turbulent times.
view more view less"To say language is everything to a leader is no understatement. It’s a fact," says Tom Peters, America’s Number One business guru. Clarke and Crossland, executives at tompeterscompany, show how others can use leadership principles to discover the power in their voice. The authors define the core principles of effective leadership communication. In a volatile business climate like today's, the ability to communicate authentically and powerfully is the crucial leadership competence. Unfortunately, the complexity of the current workplace has muted the voices of many leaders.
Ever wonder how John F. Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher and Martin Luther King, Jr. commanded through communication? Read this book and apply the principles. You’ll discover the power in your voice!
The Leader's Voice is backed up by twenty years of communication research. Reviewing over 1,100 examples of leadership communication, and studying the inferences of modern neurological science has led the authors to a simple, stimulating leadership communication model. Leaders, at their best, communicate simultaneously on three channels: Factual, Emotional and Symbolic (FES). Clarke and Crossland demonstrate how FES can be used in public presentations, one-on-one meetings and even via email to enhance a leader’s effectiveness and ability to move his or her constituency to greater conviction, consciousness and competence.
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Zen Lesson: The Art of Leadership. (Cleary, Thomas, translator). Shambhala Publications, 1993.
This guide to enlightened conduct for people in positions of authority is based on the teachings of several great Chinese Zen masters.
view more view lessDrawing on private records, letters, and long-lost documents of the Song dynasty (tenth to thirteenth centuries), Zen Lessons consists of short excerpts written in language that is accessible to the reader without any background in Eastern philosophy. This book serves as a guide to recognizing the qualities of a genuine Zen teacher; it also serves as a study of the character and conduct necessary for the mastery of any position of power and authority—whether religious, social, political, or organizational.
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Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement. By Aubrey C. Daniels. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
The classic bestseller on performance management is updated to reflect changes in today's working environment.
view more view lessWhen an employer needs to know how to gain maximum performance from employees, renowned behavioral psychologist--Aubrey Daniels is the man to consult. What has made Daniels the man with the answers? His ability to apply scientifically based behavioral stimuli to the workplace while making it fun at the same time.
Now Daniels updates his ground-breaking book with the latest and best motivational methods, perfected at such companies as Xerox, 3M, and Kodak. All-new material shows how to: create effective recognition and rewards systems in line with today's employees want; Stimulate innovations and creativity in new and exciting ways;
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And Dignity for All: Unlocking Greatness with Values-Based Leaders. By Jim Despain, Jane Bodman Converse, and Ken Blanchard. Financial Times Prentice Hall (Pearson Education), 2003.
And Dignity for All is about leading with values, leading by example, and - in so doing - unleashing the astonishing commitment and innovation that are buried within your organization right now.
view more view lessDiscover how Jim Despain and his colleagues used values-based management to transform Caterpillar's Track-Type Tractors Division into one of the firm's key profit centers. Jim's honesty and ability to rise from the ashes of his mistakes are inspirational. His respect for the common worker and personal search for dignity and self-worth lead him to a new kind of leadership. And his transformation of a struggling organization provides a powerful blueprint for transforming your own - you can make it happen, too.
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Retooling on the Run By Stuart Heller, Ph.D and David Surrenda, Ph.D., North Atlantic Books, 1995
Amazon says:
"Retooling on the Run is a profound reminder that while we may be executives, managers, doctors, or teachers we are also human beings whose own well-being is a precondition for global evolution."
view more view less"Heller and Surrenda show how to move through life's challenges and changes. Retooling is a blueprint for enhancing personal effectiveness at work."
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Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate. By Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro. Viking, 2005.
In Getting to Yes, renowned educator and negotiator Roger Fisher presented a universally applicable method for effectively negotiating personal and professional disputes.
view more view lessBuilding on his work as director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, Fisher now teams with Harvard psychologist Daniel Shapiro, an expert on the emotional dimension of negotiation. In Beyond Reason, they show readers how to use emotions to turn a disagreement-big or small, professional or personal-into an opportunity for mutual gain.
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Last Word on Power: Reinvention for Executives Who Want to Change the World. By Tracy Goss and Betty Sue Flowers, eds. Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1995.
Today's leaders are reinventing everything but themselves, and this is why so many attempts to revolutionize business fail.
view more view lessThe last word on power is the key method in reinventing executives so they can take on "a mission impossible" based on a course designed and run exclusively for the past fifteen years by Tracy Goss. Do you want to do work that is worthy of your time and talent? Do you want to make your mark on your company, industry, community? Are you dissatisfied with the fact that reengineering, quality improvements, and other changes never make a lasting impact? Then you need to go beyond the techniques of improvement and learn the skills of being extraordinary. The power to be extraordinary is not one we are born with. It's not the power to fix what's wrong or improve what's right. It is a power one learns in a course that for the past fifteen years has been designed and run exclusively for top executives by consultant Tracy Goss. For the first time, Goss makes her coursework available to the general reader in The Last Word On Power. Goss's unique methodology shows how "you can put at risk the success you have achieved for the 'possibility' you can be." She positions executives to take on the future they dream about. She teaches how to behave differently so you can be free of constraints from the past. She shows how you can be at home in an environment in which you are constantly surrounded by threats, and how to transcend the ordinary so that you can make the impossible happen. Her work has resulted in important life changes and organizational reinventions throughout the world.
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Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading. By Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky. Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life.
view more view lessIt requires putting yourself on the line, disturbing the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership authorities Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "taken out" or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether parent or politician, CEO or community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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Type Talk at Work. By Otto Kroeger, et al. Delacorte Press, 1992.
Are you one of those organized people who always complete your projects before they are due? Or do you put off getting the job done until the very last possible moment?
view more view lessIs your boss someone who readily lets you know how you are doing? Or does she always leave you unsure of precisely where you stand? Do you find that a few people on your team are incredibly creative but can never seem to get to a meeting on time? Do others require a specific agenda at the meeting in order to focus on the job at hand?
Bestselling authors Otto Kroeger and Janet Thuesen make it easy to recognize your own type and those of your co-workers in Type Talk at Work, a revolutionary guide to understanding your workplace and thriving in it. fully revised and updated for its 10th anniversary, this popular classic now features a new chapter on leadership, showing you how to be more effective on the job. Get the most out of your employees—and employers—using the authors’ renowned expertise on typology. With Type Talk at Work, you’ll never look at the office the same way again! -
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. By John C. Maxwell and Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1998.
What would happen if a top expert with more than thirty years of leadership experience were willing to distill everything he had learned about leadership into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It would change your life.
view more view lessJohn C. Maxwell has done exactly that in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He has combined insights learned from his thirty-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. The result is a revealing study of leadership delivered as only a communicator like Maxwell can.
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Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High. By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Learn how to keep your cool and get the results you want when emotions flare.
view more view lessWhen stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or read Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:
- Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique
- Make it safe to talk about almost anything
- Be persuasive, not abrasive
- Keep listening when others blow up or clam up
- Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want
Whether they take place at work or at home, with your neighbors or your spouse, crucial conversations can have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.
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Leadership that Matters: The Critical Factors for Making a Difference in People’s Lives and Organizations’ Success. By Marshall Sashkin and Molly Sashkin.Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.
Leadership That Matters promotes leadership that not only improves productivity and performance but also makes a positive difference in the lives of organization members.
view more view less""Transformational leadership"" is based on three personal characteristics, as well as on the organization's culture. The authors discuss how to develop the required characteristics and construct an appropriate culture to bring about desired changes.
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Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness By Frederic Laloux Nelson Parker, 2014
Brilliant book that inspires real hope about how some organizations have broken the mold to reach high levels of collaboration and success.
view more view lessAmazon says:
“ In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness in the past, it has invented a whole new way to structure and run organizations, each time bringing extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway.”
“Reinventing Organizations describes in practical detail how organizations large and small can operate in this new paradigm. Leaders, founders, coaches, and consultants will find this work a joyful handbook, full of insights, examples, and inspiring stories.”
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Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds By Carmine Gallo St. Martin’s Press, 2014
If you are like most people, engaging people’s hearts and minds with a presentation or a talk eludes you. This fascinating book describes the elements necessary for captivating your audience with lasting impressions.
view more view lessAmazon says:
“Public speaking coach and bestselling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs Carmine Gallo has broken down the top TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology and communications to get their cutting-edge insights and to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. From “Unleashing the Master Within” and “Delivering Jaw Dropping Moments” to “Sticking to the 18-minute Rule," Gallo provides a step-by-step method that makes it possible for anyone to create, design, and deliver a TED-style presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.”
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Have a Nice Conflict: How to Find Success and Satisfaction in the Most Unlikely Places By Tim Scudder, Michael Patterson and Kent Mitchell, Jossey-Bass, 2013
Amazon says:
“From the publishers of the popular Strength Deployment Inventory, Have a Nice Conflict follows one man's fight to rescue his sinking career."
view more view less“Sales manager John Doyle would consider his career a success—he's his company's top revenue driver, and his take-charge attitude gets the job done. However, when he is passed over for promotion—again—after losing two direct reports, who cite his abrasive style as their reason for leaving, John is forced to reassess how he approaches his relationships. With the help of Mac, an expert in the art of Relationship Awareness Theory, John learns the three stages of conflict, and how he reacts in each. Anyone can profit from the tools in this book to understand and take control over conflict.”
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Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter By Liz Wiseman and Greg Mckeown, HarperBusiness, 2010
Amazon says:
“A thought-provoking, accessible, and essential exploration of why some leaders (“Diminishers”) drain capability and intelligence from their teams, while others (“Multipliers”) amplify it to produce better results. Including a foreword by Stephen R. Covey, as well the five key disciplines that turn smart leaders into genius makers, Multipliers is a must-read for everyone from first-time managers to world leaders.”
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The Leadership Dojo By Richard Strozzi-Heckler and Richard Leider, Frog Books, 2007
Amazon says:
"The Leadership Dojo is based on three questions: What does a leader do? What are the character values most essential to exemplary leadership? How do you teach these values?"
view more view less"Drawing on the wisdom of ages from Plato to the Bhagavad-Gita, from Thucydides to the Abidharma, the book asserts that understanding and answering these questions holds the key to superior leadership skills. Strozzi-Heckler teaches with real-world examples based on his wide experience training decision-makers at companies like AT&T and Microsoft. The book’s multifaceted approach helps readers establish a powerful Leadership Presence, a platform from which they can take ethical action with compassion and pragmatic wisdom."
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The Dictionary of Corporate Bullshit: An A to Z Lexicon of Empty, Enraging, and Just Plain Stupid Office Talk By Lois Beckwith, Three Rivers Press, 2006
Amazon says:
The Dictionary of Corporate Bullshit is a hilarious guide to the smoke-screen terms and passive-aggressive phrases we traffic in every day."
view more view less"Each entry begins with a straight definition followed by a series of alternative meanings that are, of course, what is really meant. Just remember to read this only at COB (close of business) to avoid being busted (caught idling by your boss)."
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Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life By Marshall B. Rosenberg, Puddledancer Press, 2003
Amazon says:"
"Do you hunger for skills to improve the quality of your relationships, to deepen your sense of personal empowerment or to simply communicate more effectively?"
view more view less" In this internationally acclaimed text, Marshall Rosenberg offers insightful stories, anecdotes, practical exercises and role-plays that will dramatically change your approach to communication for the better. Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts and heal pain. Revolutionary, yet simple, Nonviolent Communication offers you the most effective tools to reduce violence and create peace in your life—one interaction at a time."
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The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations By James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner,
Amazon says:
"For more than 25 years, The Leadership Challenge has been the most trusted source on becoming a better leader, selling more than 2 million copies in over 20 languages since its first publication."
view more view less" Based on Kouzes and Posner's extensive research, this all-new edition casts their enduring work in context for today's world, proving how leadership is a relationship that must be nurtured, and most importantly, that it can be learned."