The Haunted Land, her searing work on how Eastern Europe faced the crimes of Communism, garnered both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In Join the Club, she identifies a brewing social revolution that is changing the way people live, based on harnessing the positive force of peer pressure. Her stories of peer power in action show how it has reduced teen smoking in the United States, made villages in India healthier and more prosperous, helped minority students get top grades in college calculus, and even led to the fall of Slobodan Milosevic. She tells how creative social entrepreneurs are starting to use peer pressure to accomplish goals as personal as losing weight and as global as fighting terrorism. Inspiring and engrossing, Join the Club explains how we can better our world through humanity's most powerful and abundant resource: our connections with one another.

    In Decoding Greatness, award-winning social psychologist Ron Friedman illuminates a powerful third path—one that has quietly launched icons in a wide range of fields, from artists, writers, and chefs, to athletes, inventors, and entrepreneurs: reverse engineering. To reverse engineer is to look beyond what is evident on the surface and find a hidden structure. It’s the ability to taste an intoxicating dish and deduce its recipe, to listen to a beautiful song and discern its chord progression, to watch a horror film and grasp its narrative arc. Using eye-opening examples of top performers—from Agatha Christie to Andy Warhol, Barack Obama to Serena Williams—and groundbreaking research on pattern recognition, skill acquisition, and creative genius, Friedman reveals the staggering power of reverse engineering and teaches you how to harness this vital skill for yourself. You’ll learn how to take apart models you admire, pinpoint precisely what makes them work, and apply that knowledge to develop novel ideas, methods, and products that are uniquely your own. Along the way, you’ll meet the culinary detective who exposes top-secret recipes, the burglar who can visit a bank and recreate its blueprints, and the celebrated artist who reverse engineered his way to the top of his profession without any formal education. You don’t have to be a genius to achieve greatness, but you do need a method for getting there. Bursting with unforgettable stories and actionable strategies, Decoding Greatness is an indispensable guide to learning from the best, improving your skills, and sparking breakthrough ideas.

      We have been spoon-fed the notion that creativity is the province of genius -- of those favored, brilliant few whose moments of insight arrive in unpredictable flashes of divine inspiration.  And if we are not a genius, we might as well pack it in and give up. Either we have that gift, or we don’t.  But Allen shows that simply isn’t true.  Recent research has shown that there is a predictable science behind achieving commercial success in any creative endeavor, from writing a popular novel to starting up a successful company to creating an effective marketing campaign.    As the world’s most creative people have discovered, we are enticed by the novel and the familiar. By understanding the mechanics of what Gannett calls “the creative curve” – the point of optimal tension between the novel and the familiar – everyone can better engineer mainstream success.    In a thoroughly entertaining book that describes the stories and insights of everyone from the Broadway team behind Dear Evan Hansen, to the founder of Reddit, from the Chief Content Officer of Netflix to Michelin star chefs, Gannett reveals the four laws of creative success and identifies the common patterns behind their achievement.

    Professionals from poets and painters to scientists and engineers have also used the techniques in this concise, powerful book to generate exciting ideas on demand, at any time, on any subject. Now let James Webb Young's unique insights help you look inside yourself to find that big, elusive idea--and once and for all lift the veil of mystery from the creative process."James Webb Young is in the tradition of some of our greatest thinkers when he describes the workings of the creative process. The results of many years in advertising have proved to him that the key element in communications success is the production of relevant and dramatic ideas. He not only makes this point vividly for us but shows us the road to that goal."--William Bernbach, Former Chairman and CEO, Doyle Dane Bernbach Inc.

    Introverts gain energy and power through reflection and solitude. Our culture, however, is geared toward the extrovert. The pressure to enjoy parties, chatter, and interactions can lead people to think that an inward orientation is a problem instead of an opportunity. Helgoe shows that the exact opposite is true: Introverts can capitalize on this inner source of power. INTROVERT POWER is a groundbreaking call for an introvert renaissance, a blueprint for how introverts can take full advantage of this hidden strength in daily life. Supplemented by the voices of several introverts, Helgoe presents a startling look at introvert numbers, influence, and economic might. Revolutionary and invaluable, INTROVERT POWER includes ideas for how introverts can learn to: Claim private spaceCarve out time to thinkBring a slower tempo into daily lifeCreate breaks in conversation and relationshipsDeal effectively with parties, interruptions, and crowds QUIET IS MIGHT. SOLITUDE IS STRENGTH. INTROVERSION IS POWER.

    Silicon Valley is filled with garage-to-riches stories and hot young entrepreneurs with big ideas. Yet even in this place where the exceptional is common, Randy Komisar is a breed apart. Currently a "Virtual CEO" who provides "leadership on demand" for several renowned companies, Komisar was recently described by the "Washington Post" as a "combined professional mentor, minister without portfolio, in-your-face investor, trouble-shooter and door opener." But even more interesting than what he does is how - and why - he does it. Komisar has found a way to turn an ambitious and challenging work life into his life's work."The Monk and the Riddle" is unlike any other business book you've read. Transcending the typical "leadership book" model of lists and frameworks on how to succeed in business, "The Monk and the Riddle" is instead a lively and humorous narrative about the education of a unique Valley insider. It unfolds over the course of an ongoing dialogue between Komisar and would-be entrepreneurs, "Lenny and Allison," and is at once a portal into the inner workings of Silicon Valley - from how startups get launched to how venture capitalists do their deals to how plans get prepared and pitched - and a deeply personal account of how one mover and shaker found fulfillment, not in work's rewards but in work itself.As the narrative follows Komisar through meetings with venture capitalists and eager entrepreneurs, and as his conversations with Lenny evolve toward a resolution, "The Monk and the Riddle" imparts invaluable lessons about the differences between leadership and management and passion and drive, and about the meaning of professional and personal success. "When all is said and done," writes Komisar, "the journey is the reward."

    Not only do the authors reveal why the world is so completely screwed up, but they provide proven techniques for creative control of personal, social, and business problems. They analyze the reasons for human failure and tell how to achieve a state of well-being by avoiding that unwanted, ultimate promotion.Students of Freud, Potter, and Parkinson will be fascinated by this satirical examination of man's tendency to escalate himself to oblivion at his level of incompetence.

    This book is about what comes before both. Because before we can be happy or successful, we need to first develop the ability to see that positive change is possible. Only once we learn to see the world through a more positive lens can we summon all our motivation, emotion, and intelligence to achieve our personal and professional goals.In Before Happiness, Achor reveals five actionable, proven strategies for changing our lens to positive:· The Most Valuable Reality: See a broader range of ideas and solutions by changing the details on which your brain chooses to focus · Success Mapping: Set goals oriented around the things in life that matter to you most, whether career advancement or family or making a difference in the world· The X-spot: Use success accelerants to propel you more quickly towards those goals, whether finishing a marathon, reaching a sales target, learning a language, or losing 10 pounds· Noise-Canceling: Boost the signal pointing you to opportunities and possibilities that others miss · Positive Inception: Transfer these skills to your team, your employees, and everyone around you By mastering these strategies, you’ll create an renewable source of positivity, motivation, and engagement that will allow you to reach your fullest potential in everything you do.

     The coach who has so much to give, you wake up thinking about how to contribute more. The coach who wants to make a difference in the world and build an abundant life and business in the process. The coach who wants to be more than good... More than great... This book is for the coach who wants to be truly extraordinary. This is not just a technical manual or a motivational manifesto. This is not a book with vague theories and philosophies. It’s a practical, actionable guide you can come back to again and again. It includes specific structures, techniques, and tools you can consistently use to establish your reputation as an extraordinary coach and create a highly successful coaching practice. The Book of Coaching will show you how to: - Become an extraordinary coach using the exclusive, results-driven, 3-phase approach – You, Your Methodology and Your Business. - Create a thriving, profitable coaching business even if you’re a brand new coach. - Implement simple but powerful personal and business strategies to get unstuck, crush fear, and consistently deliver transformational results for your clients. - Maximize your innate genius as a coach and get clear on your long-term vision so you can rapidly grow a successful, abundant coaching business that lights you up. - Use powerful tools and methodologies that will elevate your coaching skills, and establish your expertise and reputation as an extraordinary coach... ...and SO much more!

    It is more than simple honesty. It's the key to success. A person with integrity has the -- often rare -- ability to pull everything together, to make it all happen no matter how challenging the circumstances.Drawing on experiences from his work with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and individual leaders, Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and nationally syndicated radio host, shows how our character can keep us from achieving all we want to (or could) be.In Integrity, Dr. Cloud explores the six qualities of character that define integrity. He uses stories from well-known business leaders like Michael Dell and sports figures like Tiger Woods to illustrate each of these qualities. He shows us how people with integrity:Are able to connect with others and build trust Are oriented toward reality Finish well Embrace the negative Are oriented toward increase Have an understanding of the transcendentSuccess is not related to only talent or brains. There are a lot of bright, talented people who are never successful. And the most successful are not only the ones with the most talent. The real factor, Cloud demonstrates, is the makeup of the person. All of us can grow in the kinds of real character that bring about fruitful relationships and achievement of purpose, mission, and goals. Integrity is not something that you either have or don't, but instead is an exciting growth path that all of us can engage in and enjoy.

    

    This innovation advantage will translate into a premium in your company’s stock price—an innovation premium—which is possible only by building the code for innovation right into your organization’s people, processes, and guiding philosophies.Practical and provocative, The Innovator’s DNA is an essential resource for individuals and teams who want to strengthen their innovative prowess.

    Think a win-win solution is the best way to make the deal? Think again.For years now, win-win has been the paradigm for business negotiation. But today, win-win is just the seductive mantra used by the toughest negotiators to get the other side to compromise unnecessarily, early, and often. Win-win negotiations play to your emotions and take advantage of your instinct and desire to make the deal. Start with No introduces a system of decision-based negotiation that teaches you how to understand and control these emotions. It teaches you how to ignore the siren call of the final result, which you can't really control, and how to focus instead on the activities and behavior that you can and must control in order to successfully negotiate with the pros.The best negotiators: * aren't interested in "yes"--they prefer "no" * never, ever rush to close, but always let the other side feel comfortable and secure * are never needy; they take advantage of the other party's neediness * create a "blank slate" to ensure they ask questions and listen to the answers, to make sure they have no assumptions and expectations * always have a mission and purpose that guides their decisions * don't send so much as an e-mail without an agenda for what they want to accomplish * know the four "budgets" for themselves and for the other side: time, energy, money, and emotion * never waste time with people who don't really make the decisionStart with No is full of dozens of business as well as personal stories illustrating each point of the system. It will change your life as a negotiator. If you put to good use the principles and practices revealed here, you will become an immeasurably better negotiator.

    Motivational speaker and financial journalist Barbara Stanny decided to find out why by identifying the differences between those who draw the big bucks and those who don't. In Secrets of Six-Figure Women she reveals what makes the leading edge tick, as well as how others can use the information to boost their own paychecks and self-esteem. "For far too many women, financial limits have become a fact of life. The thought of making more is like climbing Mount Everest, a colossal, if not impossible task," writes Stanny. "That's exactly how I used to feel." By examining scores of top moneymakers, along with dozens of those earning below their potentials, Stanny discovered what works and what doesn't. After analyzing the subsequent lessons (i.e., you actually can boost your income without selling out, the requisite traits to do so can be developed by virtually anyone, money really can't buy happiness), she proposes specific strategies for maximizing their impact (intend from the start to succeed, stretch yourself, manage any payoff with care). Stanny professes throughout that she desires to offer "insight, hope and guidance to any of you who aspire to earn more." With this surprisingly practical and ultimately inspirational guidebook, she delivers. --Howard Rothman

    I've already ordered ten copies." -- SETH GODIN, bestselling author of THE ICARUS DECEPTION --"Fun and insightful lessons from a man who's lived life on his terms." -- KAMAL RAVIKANT, bestselling author of LOVE YOURSELF LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT HAVE YOU EVER: --Wished you were someone else? --Struggled to fit in with the crowd at school, at work, at the local American Legion Post? --Said something hurtful to your beloved for no apparent reason? --Regretted the choices you've made to stay safe and secure? I'M NOT FOR EVERYONE. NEITHER ARE YOU. Is a highly concentrated, straight-to-the-bloodstream three part collection of axioms designed to help you to discover your singular inner style and to best express it in all of your personal and professional relationships. Without apology. Written down as "notes to myself" over the course of eight decades plus as a dancer/advertising superstar/performer/playwright/author, David Leddick teaches us that how you see yourself is how others see you So find your own style and express it as freely as you would a work of art.