Questioning—deeply, imaginatively, "beautifully"—can help us identify and solve problems, come up with game-changing ideas, and pursue fresh opportunities. So why are we often reluctant to ask "Why?"Berger's surprising findings reveal that even though children start out asking hundreds of questions a day, questioning "falls off a cliff" as kids enter school. In an education and business culture devised to reward rote answers over challenging inquiry, questioning isn't encouraged—and, in fact, is sometimes barely tolerated.And yet, as Berger shows, the most creative, successful people tend to be expert questioners. They've mastered the art of inquiry, raising questions no one else is asking—and finding powerful answers. The author takes us inside red-hot businesses like Google, Netflix, IDEO, and Airbnb to show how questioning is baked into their organizational DNA. He also shares inspiring stories of artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, basement tinkerers, and social activists who changed their lives and the world around them—by starting with a "beautiful question."Berger explores important questions, such as:- Why aren't we nurturing kids' natural ability to question—and what can parents and schools do about that?- Since questioning is a starting point for innovation, how might companies and business leaders begin to encourage and exploit it?- And most important, how can each of us re-ignite that questioning spark—and use inquiry as a powerful means to rethink and reinvent our lives?A More Beautiful Question outlines a practical Why / What If / How system of inquiry that can guide you through the process of innovative questioning—helping you find imaginative, powerful answers to your own "beautiful questions."

    When restructures, mergers, bankruptcies, and layoffs hit the workplace, employees and managers naturally find the resulting situational shifts to be challenging. But the psychological transitions that accompany them are even more stressful. Organizational transitions affect people; it is always people, rather than a company, who have to embrace a new situation and carry out the corresponding change. As veteran business consultant William Bridges explains, transition is successful when employees have a purpose, a plan, and a part to play. This indispensable guide is now updated to reflect the challenges of today's ever-changing, always-on, and globally connected workplaces. Directed at managers on all rungs of the corporate ladder, this expanded edition of the classic bestseller provides practical, step-by-step strategies for minimizing disruptions and navigating uncertain times.

    So what separates the startups that get disrupted and disappear from the ones who grow to become global giants?The secret is blitzscaling: a set of techniques for scaling up at a dizzying pace that blows competitors out of the water. The objective of Blitzscaling is not to go from zero to one, but from one to one billion -as quickly as possible.When growing at a breakneck pace, getting to next level requires very different strategies from those that got you to where you are today. In a book inspired by their popular class at Stanford Business School, Hoffman and Yeh reveal how to navigate the necessary shifts and weather the unique challenges that arise at each stage of a company's life cycle, such as: how to design business models for igniting and sustaining relentless growth; strategies for hiring and managing; how the role of the founder and company culture must evolve as the business matures, and more.Whether your business has ten employees or ten thousand, Blitzscaling is the essential playbook for winning in a world where speed is the only competitive advantage that matters.

    From seemingly insignificant daily decisions to major life choices, you negotiate every time you aim to persuade, argue over a decision, or resolve a conflict. But as negotiations and leadership expert Erica Ariel Fox reveals, the most important negotiations-the ones that determine the impact of our actions and the quality of our lives-are those we have with ourselves.Most of us recognize the difference between our knowledge-what we know we should do and say-and our know-how-what we actually do and say in real life when it counts. Fox calls this the "Performance Gap," and she shows you how to close it, turning breakdowns into breakthroughs, whether struggling with a difficult client, arguing with a combative teenager, or organizing for community action.Winning from Within combines insights from Western psychology and Eastern philosophy with practical applications from real business situations and everyday life. Fox shows that the ability to achieve mastery over how we interact with each other comes from within, from the "center" where desires, thoughts, feelings, and impulses to take action live side-by-side. Winning from Within offers a profound and highly practical seven-step method for making changes that last-at work and at home. As Erica Ariel Fox demonstrates, we can actually get what we want-and feel good about the result.

    This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated. There are two brand new chapters on the Internet, a new section entitled Handling Complaints Directed at You and another new section that turns the tables and discusses how the reader can complain effectively. More relevant than ever in today's constantly connected world, when customers can complain instantly, 24/7, and broadcast their dissatisfaction around the world if they choose to, throughout the text has been heavily revised, with a wealth of new examples, tools and strategies.

    He helps you to personalize your checklist to the unique needs and demands of your organization. To demonstrate the power of the Leader’s Checklist, Useem examines accounts of extraordinary leadership, including the triumphant rescue of 33 miners in Chile.Based on solid research and years of leadership development work with a wide array of companies and organizations in the United States and abroad, The Leader’s Checklist will help you develop your ability to make good and timely decisions in unpredictable and stressful environments—for those moments when leadership really matters.

    After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s highest-paid performance coach, Brendon Burchard finally reveals the most effective habits for reaching long-term success. Based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on high performers, it turns out that just six habits move the needle the most in helping you succeed. Adopt these six habits, and you win. Neglect them, and life is a never-ending struggle.  We all want to be high performing in every area of our lives. But how? Which habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being no matter your age, career, strengths, or personality? To become a high performer, you must seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity, increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage. This book is about the art and science of how to practice these proven habits. If you do adopt any new habits to succeed faster, choose the habits in this book. Anyone can practice these habits and, when they do, extraordinary things happen in their lives, relationships, and careers. Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it. Each of the six habits is illustrated by powerful vignettes, cutting-edge science, thought-provoking exercises, and real-world daily practices you can implement right now. HIGH PERFORMANCE HABITS is a science-backed, heart-centered plan to living a better quality of life. Best of all, you can measure your progress. A link to a professional assessment is included in the book for free.

    Designed not only to teach important skills but also to spark enthusiasm and a high level of involvement in the participants, these games utilize entertaining and instructive techniques such as role-playing, charades, brainstorming, and debate. As a result of these exercises, employees will learn how to create a rapport with the customer, how to focus on the unique needs of individual customers, how to maintain a positive attitude, and more.

    You do not need to be in a boardroom, on a battlefield, or on a ballot to have a profound impact on everyone around you. In this life-changing book, Betsy Myers—senior adviser to two US presidents and former executive director of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership—demonstrates how each of us has opportunities to take the lead every day and shares seven core principles that will enable us to be more productive, engaged, and successful. From the Oval Office to the playground, cabinet meetings to kitchen tables, in public life and private, Betsy Myers has seen firsthand the emergence of a new leadership model where having all the answers up front is less important than asking the right questions, where strength is derived less from the power you wield than from how you make the people around you feel. With personal stories from her time in government, in academia, and on the campaign trail, as well as her experiences as a wife, daughter, and mother, Myers helps all of us learn to set the right priorities for ourselves; to connect on a deeper level with the people around us; to uncover problems early when they are still easy to fix; to collaborate with those whose points of view are different from our own; and to push through our fears and live our most authentic lives. Myers demonstrates that more than simply making people feel good, this kind of leadership can have a profound effect on the results achieved: it is how initiatives are launched, profits are made, and work gets done. Personal, practical, and profoundly inspiring, Take the Lead is a book for anyone who wonders where all the great leaders have gone. Betsy Myers helps us see that true leadership is all around us—and within us.

    This new edition gives expanded attention to the important symbolic roles of school leaders, including practical suggestions on how leaders can balance cultural goals and values against accountability demands, and features new and powerful case examples throughout. Most important, the authors show how school leaders can transform negative and toxic cultures so that trust, commitment, and sense of unity can prevail. Praise for Shaping School Culture "For those seeking enduring change that is measured in generations rather than months, and to create a legacy rather than a headline, then Shaping School Culture is your guide." —Dr. Douglas B. Reeves, founder, The Leadership and Learning Center, Englewood, CO "Deal and Peterson combine exquisite language, vibrant stories, and sage advice to support school leaders in embracing the paradoxical nature of their work. A 'must read' for all school leaders." —Pam Robbins, educational consultant and author "Once again, the authors have presented practitioners, researchers, professional developers, school coaches, and others with a tremendous resource for renovating and reinvigorating schools." —Karen M. Dyer, Ed.D., group director, Education and Nonprofit Sector Office, Center for CreativeLeadership, Greensboro, NC

    So why do so many companies act like adrenalin junkies, chasing after new customers at the expense of creating deeper, more profitable relationships with the ones they already have? Evergreen exposes the mad pursuit for what it is: a brief spike in metrics and an ongoing revenue drain, as one-time customers fail to return. A better solution is to shift resources from attracting new customers to engaging the base--the path to stable growth, season after season. The book's entertaining stories and action steps reveal how anyone can: * Cultivate the 3Cs of evergreen companies: character, community, and content * Build loyalty programs that turn satisfied customers into enthusiastic advocates * Nurture profitable customers while pruning those who sap time and money * Inject authenticity into social media communications * Invert the expectations gap that can drive customers away From Internet startups and mom-and-pop businesses to multinational giants, strong companies are rooted in customer retention. Evergreen helps anyone merge high-tech tools with the personal touch to forge lasting bonds and steady profits.

    But the prospect of sharing potentially negative news can be overwhelming. How do you construct your message so that it’s not only well received but also expressed in a way that encourages change?Whether you’re commending exemplary work or addressing problem behavior, the HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback provides you with practical advice and tips to transform any performance discussion—from weekly check-ins to annual reviews—into an opportunity for growth and development. You’ll learn to:• Establish trust with your direct reports• Assess their performance fairly• Emphasize improvement, even in criticism• React calmly to a defensive feedback recipient• Recognize and motivate star performers• Create individualized development plansArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

    

    A new book that explores the science of productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think—rather than what you think—can transform your life.

    Now, for the first time, Sharma makes his proprietary process available to you, so that you can get to your absolute best while helping your organization break through to a dramatically new level of winning in these wildly uncertain times. In The Leader Who Had No Title, you will learn: • How to work with and influence people like a superstar, regardless of your position• A method to recognize and then seize opportunities in times of deep change• The real secrets of intense innovation• An instant strategy to build a great team and become a "merchant of wow" with your customers• Hard-hitting tactics to become mentally strong and physically tough enough to lead your field• Real-world ways to defeat stress, build an unbeatable mind-set, unleash energy, and balance your personal lifeRegardless of what you do within your organization and the current circumstances of your life, the single most important fact is that you have the power to show leadership. Wherever you are in your career or life, you should always play to your peak abilities. This book shows you how to claim that staggering power, as well as transform your life—and the world around you—in the process.