But what Adrian Hanauer, Paul Allen, Drew Carey, and Joe Roth did when they started the Seattle Sounders FC was no joke. They meticulously planned the launch of the Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise with an eye toward some lofty goals. Then they stood back in amazement as they rocketed far beyond those goals buoyed by a team that ignored its “expansion” label and a fan base that wildly embraced them. Through interviews with key executives, athletes and fans, author Mike Gastineau tells the story leading up to the launch of Sounders FC, the MLS expansion franchise whose seemingly overnight success has captured the attention of the Seattle sports community, sports and entertainment executives, soccer followers across the country and the national news media. In Sounders FC Authentic Masterpiece, readers will learn: * How a money-losing soccer club rocketed from the ranks of the minor leagues to Major League Soccer drawing sell-outs and regularly topping 50,000 fans per match. * The unique relationships between the eclectic group of seasoned sports executives, Hollywood celebrities and bar room soccer fans who came together to build a sports culture that validated Major League Soccer in Seattle and across the country. * The personalities of the players and coaches who took different paths to the team and turned their diversity into a winning team starting on opening night. Gastineau communicates to readers the entire history of events that led to the Sounders FC launch beginning with the role soccer fans played in securing a professional football stadium for the Seattle Seahawks. Also emphasized in the book are the soccer fans, bar owners and soccer subculture that existed in Seattle and was waiting to be acknowledge by mainstream professional sports leaders and media. The book also details how that soccer subculture directly impacted one of the biggest deals in MLS history, the signing of superstar Clint Dempsey in 2013. This is a story of sports, business, culture, timing, and luck. It demonstrates how powerful business people were able to check their egos and embrace their customers all for the sake of the fans, the city, and a soccer culture desperate to embrace a sports team that treated them with respect.

    We need a fresh understanding of the meaning of success. What do Condoleezza Rice, Joe Torre, Bill Gates, Goldie Hawn, Mary Hart, Garry Kasparov, and Jack Welch have in common? All have talked at length with Maria Bartiromo about business, the world and their surprising, inspiring and uncommon ideas about the meaning of success. Their stories, those of an extraordinary range of other people from all walks of life, and Maria Bartiromo’s personal insights are the foundation of The 10 Laws of Enduring Success. It is the guide for the extraordinary times we are living through.  During bullish, optimistic periods, people seem to ride an upward wave with ease and confidence. The tangible evidence is right there for all to see--in their jobs, bank accounts, homes, families, and the admiration of their peers. But it is a fact of life that success, once earned, is not necessarily there to stay. If ever there was a cautionary tale about the fleeting nature of success, it is the events of recent years.     But a funny thing happened. Faced with gut-wrenching realities, many people have started to re-evaluate the meaning of success in less superficial and impermanent ways. They're asking themselves hard questions that havelong been ignored:  about what's really important to them, and where the bedrock of their personal achievement lies.     As Maria Bartiromo watched the financial drama from her front-row seat at the New York Stock Exchange, she began to re-assess the meaning of success--not just as one-off achievements, but as a durable, lifelong pursuit. Is there, she wondered, a definition of success that you can have permanently--in spite of the turmoil in your life, your job, or your bank account? This question is more important than ever, given the unpredictability of the current economy. --What are the intangibles that can't be measured or counted? --What are the qualities that aren't reflected in your title or on your business card?--And more practically, how can you remain successful even when the worst things happen to you? --Is it possible to build success from failure? It's lonely at the bottom of the heap, when your BlackBerry stops buzzing, and the world moves on without you.  Everyone wants to be close to success, and to have success. But what is success? How do you get it, and how do you keep it? As Maria interviewed some of the most successful people in the world, she felt the need to answer these questions: what makes these success stories tick? How did they achieve such leadership and power and how can one hold onto it, once you get it. What are the barriers to success and what is the bedrock to enduring success? From the Hardcover edition.

    Berman, Chief Operating Officer, Outside VenturesIn the newest edition of this valuable manual, Stephan Schiffman offers updated advice to salespeople about getting prospects and making the sale. It's not just what you do--it's what you don't do:Don't sell against a competitorDon't be satisfiedDon't stop getting ideasDon't use boilerplate proposalsDon't overuse e-mailThe book also includes a new introduction and updated text. Schiffman offers salespeople the kind of advice--from listening to the client to following up on the sale--that has made him the best corporate sales trainer today. With Schiffman's book in their pocket, salepeople can avoid common blunders and make the sale.

    This complexity and the emergence of networks is changing the practice of strategic management. Today's leaders need to understand how to design and guide complex collaborations to accelerate innovation and change--collaborations that cross boundaries both inside and outside organizations.Strategic Doing introduces you to the new disciplines of agile strategy and collaborative leadership. You'll learn how to design and guide complex collaborations by following a discipline of simple rules that you won't find anywhere else.- Unleash the power of true collaboration- Learn and master the 10 skills of agile leadership- Apply individual skills to targeted situations- Introduces a new discipline of leadership strategyFilled with compelling case studies, Strategic Doing outlines a new discipline of leadership strategy specifically designed for open, loosely-connected networks.

    Everything you need to begin or continue your journey in real estate investing is here. How to present yourself to other real estate professionals, where to find the deals, how to talk to private lenders, where to find contractors, how to maximize profits on your flips and more. This is your guide to creating your real estate investing future. If you have ever thought about getting into real estate investing, this book will show you how to do it safely and securely.

    This text discusses and explains the traditional, functional approach to management, through planning, organising, leading and controlling.

    BE BRAVE AND START SOMETHING YOU LOVE.Does this sound familiar... You tick all the right boxes; school, university, corporate career. You have a sensible profession, a fancy job title, proud parents, decent salary, pricey holidays…but there’s a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right? A realisation that you’re not completely fulfilled? Surely you should be as happy as Larry – are you being ungrateful? HELL NO. You want a different life – no spreadsheets, no commute, no late nights at the office. But if not that…then what? That is exactly what Escape The City are here to do – show you what other options are open to you.Escape The City is a community based website built around a simple concept: there is more to life than doing unfulfilling work in big corporate companies. The online platform is designed to help corporate professionals find exciting jobs, start their own businesses, and go on big adventures. The Escape Manifesto is here to support, inspire and encourage us all to make big and brave transitions in our lives.• Examines the reasons why so many people are unsatisfied with the corporate world• Explores the alternatives and the common barriers to achieving your dreams• Advice and support for making the transition to something new and developing a strategy for work and life• Contains tons of real-life examples of people who have made the leap

    His account of his rise from a self-described below-average student, to becoming a poster boy for the ambitious, successful young entrepreneur, to nearly destroying himself in the process is the subject of A Practical Way to Get Rich . . . and Die Trying. Roa's twenty-year-long journey from being dead-broke to wealth he never imagined is an absurd and often comical story of talent, luck, risk, rapidly changing technology, larger-than-life personalities, sex, gambling, and excessive alcohol and drug consumption. Roa's intention for his memoir is not to present a glamorous rags-to-riches saga, but, instead, to serve as a cautionary tale of the toll that entrepreneurship can take on ambitious young people unprepared for the physical and mental costs that "making it" can take. Those pitfalls eventually took their toll on Roa, who, in the face of round-the-clock pressure and risk taking, ultimately suffered a psychotic breakdown from which he almost didn't walk away. As he healed in the aftermath, he began to question the ethos that had brought him to that dark place, and he learned from other entrepreneurs that they, too, had experienced similar debilitating issues that they felt unable to admit, let alone discuss.A Practical Way to Get Rich . . . and Die Trying is a compelling memoir and the foundation for a campaign of honesty and vulnerability in an industry that currently allows neither. Roa aims to be the bridge to helping young leaders confront the mental health issues and abuse that too often accompany the tech startup that so many have embraced as their salvation for their future.

    In fact, it has been argued that the number two position is the toughest job in a company. COOs are typically the key individuals responsible for the delivery of results on a day-to-day, quarter-to-quarter basis. They play a critical leadership role in executing the strategies developed by the top management team. And, in many cases, they are being groomed to be—or are actually being tested as—the firm's CEO-elect. Despite all this, the COO role has not received much attention.Riding Shotgun: The Role of the COO provides a new understanding of this little-understood role. The authors—a scholar and a consultant—develop a framework for understanding who the COO is, why a company would want to create this position, and the challenges associated with successful performance in the COO role. Drawing heavily on a number of first-person accounts from CEOs and other top executives in major corporations, the authors have developed a set of strategies or principles to inform individuals who aspire to serve in such a position. The executives who share their experiences in this book are from some of the most established and important companies in today's economy: AirTran; American Standard Companies; Amgen; Adobe Systems, Inc.; Autodesk, Inc; eBay; Heidrick & Struggles; InBev; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company; Mattel, Inc; Motorola; PepsiCo; Raytheon Company; Starbucks; and many others. Excerpts from the Book:On focusing on success"The primary goal I set for myself on how I define what success looks like for me is am I working at a company that matters? Am I working with somebody who I think affects positive change? Am I providing a benefit to my family? Am I enjoying myself? Why would I put a limitation on my enjoyment? There is an old view on Wall Street that says, 'They love you until they don't.' I am going to stay happy until I am not."—Dan Rosensweig, COO Yahoo!On the relationship between the CEO and COO"Deep down, you have to trust each other and you have to like each other. If you don't like each other, and/or don't trust each other, it may work, kind of, but it will be at a fifty percent level at best."—Craig Weatherup, Director, Starbucks, and former Chairman, PepsiOn the challenges of transitioning into the COO role"If you can't conceptualize the strategic objectives or help drive that or participate in that, I don't think you are going to succeed. But, equally, if you can't translate that into an executable plan, you are not going to succeed either."—Shantanu Narayen, COO, Adobe SystemsAdditional Quotes:"Miles & Bennett tackle an important and drastically under-researched area: the role, personalities, fit and success factors of COOs. We've seen several COOs who have been total winners, but it's striking how different the models of success can be depending on role, personal competencies, business situation/cycle/type, team strengths, and CEO strengths. The authors have done a very nice job of tying all of this together."—Jim Williams, Partner, Texas Pacific Group"The lessons reported in this book will be very useful to Boards, Heads of Human Resources and CEOs as they consider succession planning and organizational design."—Dale Morrison, President & Chief Executive Officer, McCain Foods Limited"The job of COO is becoming more important as companies and their boards look internally for succession alternatives. One question they face: Will the organization continue to run as the number 2 becomes the number 1? Riding Shotgun will help answer this and many more questions about the COO role in today's corporate structure."—John Berisford, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, The Pepsi Bottling Group"The COO plays a critical leadership role in most businesses, but its particularly true in the natural resources

     If you’re tired of the same old sales scripts or if you’ve done away with them all together, I know how you feel because I’ve been there. I was tired of seeing the same B.S.(bad sales) approaches and I wanted something that felt more natural for me. So I started creating my own scripts, for the simple reason that I hated being told, “No.” For me nothing was worse than that feeling of rejection. I was determined to figure out the perfect thing to say in every situation, and how to say it in a way that would cause sellers and buyers to want to say “Yes!” to me every time. This book is the result of that quest. And I’ve broken it in two unique parts so you can spend less time reading it, and more time using the life changing scripts inside. Part 1 will give you the foundation for making the scripts work for you. Not just some of the time, but every time! You’ll master how to inspire sellers to say “YES” to you giving you the magic key to unlock the success you want as a real estate agent. Part 2 Is the actual scripts that allow you to have smooth, choreographed conversations that lead you down the path to more success and more income. included in this section are… Prospecting Scripts for sellers that lead up to the listing appointment. My Unique Listing Presentation Scripts with examples of exactly how to deliver them for maximum impact. The Buyer Scripts that I’ve personally used for years to build my own real estate business from scratch. The Objection Scripts that will show you how to overcome any objection with ease and never be scrambling for words when a client throws you a curveball. In all there are 27 scripts in this book that will show you how to handle any situation, conversation, and objection that might come your way. And each script has been tested, tweaked and perfected. How do I know this? Because I’ve used each and every one of them to close millions of dollars worth of real estate in my nearly 2 decade career. I’ve also taken the time to include things I’ve picked up over my career that will help take you beyond the scripts… How to identify resistance and influence triggers so you can naturally use the right words and phrases that gets more clients saying YES to you. My practice techniques for memorizing and using these scripts to their full impact. You won’t just be pulling words from your memory, you’ll be speaking from the heart so you come across as genuine. The “tiny tweaks” that turn a regular script into something powerful. These seemingly little differences can have a huge impact in the way a prospect or client responds to what you say. The 9 Keys to more powerful conversations that go way beyond just the words you say to a client. I’ve mastered all 9 of these techniques and each one has made a huge difference in how I present myself to clients. The Book of YES is an action guide, not a book of theory. Think of it as YOUR PLAY BOOK for the key conversations you have with sellers and buyers.

    Seemingly out of nowhere, startups and other tech-savvy disruptors attack. Your customers bolt for the door and revenues stall. Senior executives ignore the problem, or turn to yesterday's management playbook. In months instead of years, you've gone from market leader to also-ran.This scenario is beginning to play out in every industry. Everything that can be digitized - from products and services to the entire value chain - is being digitized, to the advantage of companies that can harness disruption. Unfortunately, few companies are building the organizational capabilities and strategic responses to compete in this stark new reality.In Digital Vortex, you will learn how to use the business models and strategies of startups to your own advantage. Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you can maximize the value of your existing businesses and move into profitable new ones. Most importantly, you will learn how to build the agility to anticipate threats, sense opportunities, and seize them before your rivals do.In today's world there are two paths: navigating to a new digital future, or being engulfed by exponential competitive change. With recommendations backed by research with thousands of senior executives from market leaders and startups alike, this book gives you a compass to chart your own course - to compete with disruptors and win.

    Unfortunately most of these are PREDICTABLE and AVOIDABLE. Tact and diplomacy can only get you so far in the wild and wacky world of project work. A combination of outrageous creativity, sheer bravado and nerves of steel will serve you far better than any fancy-schmancy Microsoft Project Gantt chart!'Scrappy Project Management' is about what REALLY happens in the project environment, how to survive it, and how to make sure that your team avoids the predictable and avoidable pitfalls that every project faces.

    is one of the most successful—and influential—companies of our time, the transformational innovator that made computers not just personal but beautiful everyday objects. Technology met design, and our culture was altered forever.And yet very little is known about life inside Apple. The company is pathologically secretive—even with its own designers—about how it comes up with its groundbreaking products: iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and the next “insanely great” thing on the horizon. Here, for the first time, the men and women who worked for and alongside Steve Jobs share their remarkable, nearly forty-year-old story. How Apple survived nearly catastrophic failure early on. How Jobs and his team came to understand and execute design like no one else. And how their philosophy ultimately changed the world.This Fast Company/Byliner Original is unlike any other book about Apple. Author Max Chafkin led a team of “Fast Company” reporters that spent months interviewing more than fifty former Apple execs and insiders, many of whom had never spoken publicly about their work. The result is a compelling and deeply revealing oral history of how design evolved at the most creative enterprise of our time, the company that one entrepreneur says “taught the world taste.”In these interviews, former colleagues describe Jobs at his most brilliant and bombastic—hurling unsatisfactory products across the lab and insulting employees, yet also singling out and celebrating craftsmanship and original work. Without a doubt, Jobs is the single most important figure in the company’s history. But overlooked in Apple’s carefully cultivated mythology are the other ingenious men and women who’ve left an indelible mark on Apple, some of whom think they deserve much more of the credit. At Apple, the stakes were big, and so were the egos.“Design Crazy” takes us behind the mystique and reveals Apple to be a deeply misunderstood company. And the greatest business story of the past two decades is far from over. Two years after the death of Steve Jobs, with many of his former colleagues now at startups like Tesla, Evernote, and Nest Labs, some think the end of Apple’s dominance is only a matter of time. The company has risen to the challenge before, but still the question lingers: Can Apple be Apple without Jobs?ABOUT THE AUTHORMax Chafkin is a contributing writer with “Fast Company.” His work has also been published in “Inc.”, “Vanity Fair,” “The New York Times Magazine,” and “The Best Business Writing 2012.” He lives in Brooklyn.

    ―Jacob Boudreau CTO of Stord | Forbes 30 Under 30 Joel's book and show provide incredible insights for young startup developers and fellow CTOs alike. Joel offers a human perspective and real practical advice on the challenges and opportunities facing every Modern CTO. ― Christian Saucier | Entrepreneur and P2P Systems Architect I've really come to respect what Joel is doing in the community. His podcast and book are filling a much needed hole and I'm excited to see what else the future has in store. ― Don Pawlowski Chief Technology Officer at University Tees Modern CTO Everything you need to know to be a Modern CTO. Developers are not CTOs, but developers can learn how to be CTOs. In Modern CTO, Joel Beasley provides readers with an in-depth road map on how to successfully navigate the unexplored and jagged transition between these two roles. Drawing from personal experience, Joel gives a refreshing take on the challenges, lessons, and things to avoid on this journey.Readers will learn how Modern CTOs: Manage deadlines Speak up Know when to abandon ship and build a better one Deal with poor code Avoid getting lost in the product and know what UX mistakes to watch out for Manage people and create momentum … plus much more Modern CTO is the ultimate book when making the leap from developer to CTO. Update: Kindle Formatting issues resolved 5/13/18. Thank you for the feedback.

    The book contains a series of short chapters filled with examples, data, and insights that challenge questionable assumptions and much conventional management wisdom. Each chapter also provides guidelines about how to think more deeply and intelligently about critical management issues. Covering topics ranging from managing people to leadership to measurement and strategy, it’s good organizational advice, delivered by Dr. Pfeffer himself.