The 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.

We 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

This 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.

This 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.

The 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.

The 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.

By 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.

The 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.

This 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.

Written 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.

This 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.

In 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.

Everyone 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.

It 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.”

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. 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.

An 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.

Shows 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.

With 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.

They 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.

Even 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.”

“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.”

"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.

Drawing 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.

When 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;

overcome problems associated with poorly educated workers; motivate young employees from the minute they join the workforce.

Discover 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.

"Heller and Surrenda show how to move through life's challenges and changes. Retooling is a blueprint for enhancing personal effectiveness at work."

Building 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.

The 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.

It 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.

Is 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!

John 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.

When 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.

""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.

Amazon 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.”

Amazon 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.”

“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.”

"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."

"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)."

" 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."

" 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."