Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader


J. Keith Murnighan - 2012
    You discover that there are no pressing issues and that, on the contrary, your team scored a big new customer and fixed a nagging problem during your absence. No red flags or fires to put out.Sadly, for most leaders this scenario is only a dream. They constantly check on what's happen-ing because they expect the worst (and usually get it). But Keith Murnighan shows that not only is "do nothing" leadership possible, it is also far more effective than doing too much.Great leaders don't work; they facilitate and orchestrate. They think of great strategies and help others implement them. They spend their time preparing for the future. They take a comprehensive view of their terrain while also noticing key details so they can confidently choose the right forks in the road.In other words, great leaders don't do any-thing--except think, make key decisions, help people do their jobs better, and add a touch of organizational control to make sure the final recipes come out okay. In sharp contrast, most leaders are too busy actually working to do these things--and their teams suffer as a result.Do Nothing!'s practical strategies and true stories will show you how to set high expec-tations for your team and watch it rise to the challenge. It will help you establish a healthier culture by trusting people more than they expect to be trusted. And it will help you overcome your natural tendencies toward micromanagement so you can let people do their jobs--even when you know you could do their jobs better.As Murnighan writes, "My experience suggests that you will be surprised--wildly surprised. Peo-ple on your team will reveal skills you never knew they had and will accomplish things that go far beyond your estimate of their capabilities. They might not do things the way you would do them, but they will get results you never expected. Every-one has hidden talents, and most leaders never discover them. Before you reject this approach, ask yourself: what if you did nothing and it actu-ally worked?"

The 20-Minute Networking Meeting - Executive Edition: Learn to Network. Get a Job.


Marcia Ballinger - 2012
    *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lauded by Fortune 500 and international business leaders around the world, the Executive Edition takes the best elements of networkers from a wide array of businesses and industries, is combined with 40 years of the authors' professional networking experience from a hiring perspective, and culminates in a concise, efficient, and highly productive networking model. Chock full of real-world scenarios, short stories, meeting examples, and dozens of tips and observations from hiring authorities and recruiting experts, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting - Executive Edition shares the wisdom of senior executives who have been in transition (looking for work), and the perspectives of those who are most asked to network. Constructed to clarify and simplify networking for job-search, the Executive Edition also contains fully written networking stories that demonstrate the entire 20MNM model in action, ending with a complete set of "readiness worksheets" that guide the reader through actual networking preparation. An end-to-end lesson on job search networking, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting - Executive Edition is founded on the premises of gratitude, positivity, and reciprocity, and has found great success in the hands of executives, career coaches, outplacement firms, college graduates, and sales professionals around the globe.Also from Career Innovations Press:The 20-Minute Networking Meeting - Graduate EditionandThe 20-Minute Networking Meeting - Professional Edition

New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World—and How to Make It Work for You


Jeremy Heimans - 2018
    This "old power" was out of reach for the vast majority of people. But our ubiquitous connectivity makes possible a different kind of power. "New power" is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It works like a current, not a currency--and it is most forceful when it surges. The battle between old and new power is determining who governs us, how we work, and even how we think and feel. New Power shines fresh light on the cultural phenomena of our day, from #BlackLivesMatter to the Ice Bucket Challenge to Airbnb, uncovering the new power forces that made them huge. Drawing on examples from business, activism, and pop culture, as well as the study of organizations like Lego, NASA, Reddit, and TED, Heimans and Timms explain how to build new power and channel it successfully. They also explore the dark side of these forces: the way ISIS has co-opted new power to monstrous ends, and the rise of the alt-right's "intensity machine."In an era increasingly shaped by new power, this groundbreaking book offers us a new way to understand the world--and our role in it.

The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion: AGuide to Understanding Your Expertise


Peter Block - 2000
    Whether you work as a consultant or you work with consultants, this relentlessly practical guide will be your best friend as you discover how consulting influences your business- and real life-decisions and those of others.The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion is packed with: Sample scenarios Case studies Client-consultant dialogues Hands-on tools Action plans Implementation checklists Wow! A companion a business owner can't be without! The insights of 30 consultants the caliber of Peter Block is priceless.--Sue Mosby, principal, CDFM2 Architecture Inc.This book is a companion piece for both the desktop and bedside of those who do consulting full time or in their role as leader. I plan to keep this book close to me to both guide and inspire my work.--Phil Harkins, president, Linkage, Inc.

The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win


Jocko Willink - 2018
    With their first book, Extreme Ownership (published in October 2015), Jocko Willink and Leif Babin set a new standard for leadership, challenging readers to become better leaders, better followers, and better people, in both their professional and personal lives. Now, in THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP, Jocko and Leif dive even deeper into the unchartered and complex waters of a concept first introduced in Extreme Ownership: finding balance between the opposing forces that pull every leader in different directions. Here, Willink and Babin get granular into the nuances that every successful leader must navigate. Mastering the Dichotomy of Leadership requires understanding when to lead and when to follow; when to aggressively maneuver and when to pause and let things develop; when to detach and let the team run and when to dive into the details and micromanage. In addition, every leader must:· Take Extreme Ownership of everything that impacts their mission, yet utilize Decentralize Command by giving ownership to their team. · Care deeply about their people and their individual success and livelihoods, yet look out for the good of the overall team and above all accomplish the strategic mission. · Exhibit the most important quality in a leader—humility, but also be willing to speak up and push back against questionable decisions that could hurt the team and the mission.With examples from the authors’ combat and training experiences in the SEAL teams, and then a demonstration of how each lesson applies to the business world, Willink and Babin clearly explain THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP—skills that are mission-critical for any leader and any team to achieve their ultimate goal: VICTORY.

Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message


Tara Mohr - 2014
    Mohr’s work helping women play bigger has earned acclaim from the likes of Maria Shriver and Jillian Michaels, and has been featured on the Today show, CNN, and a host of other media outlets.   Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In gave many women new awareness about what kinds of changes they need to make to become more successful; yet most women need help implementing them. In the tradition of Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly, Playing Big provides real, practical tools to help women quiet self-doubt, identify their callings, “unhook” from praise and criticism, unlearn counterproductive good girl habits, and begin taking bold action.   While not all women aspire to end up in the corner office, every woman aspires to something. Playing Big fills a major gap among women’s career books; it isn’t just for corporate women. The book offers tools to help every woman play bigger—whether she’s an executive, community volunteer, artist, or stay-at-home mom.   Thousands of women across the country have been transformed by Mohr’s program, and now this book makes the ideas and practices available to everyone who is ready to play big.

The Will to Lead, the Skill to Teach: Transforming Schools at Every Level


Anthony Muhammad - 2011
    The authors acknowledge both the structural and sociological issues that contribute to low-performing schools and offer multiple tools and strategies to assess and improve classroom management, increase literacy, establish academic vocabulary, and contribute to a healthier school culture.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels


Michael D. Watkins - 2003
    In this updated and expanded 10th anniversary edition, internationally known leadership transition expert Michael D. Watkins gives you the keys to successfully negotiating your next move—whether you’re onboarding into a new company, being promoted internally, or embarking on an international assignment.In The First 90 Days, Watkins outlines proven strategies that will dramatically shorten the time it takes to reach what he calls the "breakeven point" when your organization needs you as much as you need the job. This new edition includes a substantial new preface by the author on the new definition of a career as a series of transitions; and notes the growing need for effective and repeatable skills for moving through these changes. As well, updated statistics and new tools make this book more reader-friendly and useful than ever.As hundreds of thousands of readers already know, The First 90 Days is a road map for taking charge quickly and effectively during critical career transition periods—whether you are a first-time manager, a mid-career professional on your way up, or a newly minted CEO.

Carrots and Sticks Don't Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of Respect


Paul L. Marciano - 2010
    You can actually open the book to any chapter and gain ideas for immediate implementation. -- Beverly Kaye, coauthor of Love 'Em or Lose 'EmThis book should be in the hands of anyone who has to get work done through other people! It's an invaluable tool for any manager at any level. -- John L. Rice, Vice President Human Resources, Tyco InternationalCarrots and Sticks Don't Work provides a commonsense approach to employee engagement. Dr. Marciano provides great real-world insights, data, and practical examples to truly bring the RESPECT model to life. -- Renee Selman, President, Catalina Health ResourcesThe RESPECT model is one of the most dynamic, engaging, and thought-provoking employee engagement tools that I have seen. Dr. Marciano's work will help you provide meaningful long-term benefits for your employees, for your organization, and for yourself. -- Andy Brantley, President and CEO, College and University Professional Association for Human ResourcesThis book provides clear advice and instruction on how to engage your team members and inspire them to a higher level of productivity, work satisfaction, and enjoyment. I am already utilizing its techniques and finding immediate positive changes. -- Robert Roth, Director, Accounting and Reporting, Colgate Palmolive CompanyThe title says it all: Carrots and Sticks Don't Work.Reward and recognition programs can be costly and inefficient, and they primarily reward employees who are already highly engaged and productive performers. Worse still, these programs actually decrease employee motivation because they can make individual recognition, rather than the overall success of the team, the goal. Yet many businesses turn to these measures first--unaware of a better alternative. So, when it comes to changing your organizational culture, carrots and sticks don't work!What does work is Dr. Paul Marciano's acclaimed RESPECT model, which gives you specific, low-cost, turnkey solutions and action plans-- based on seven key drivers of employee engagement that are proven and supported by decades of research and practice--that will empower you to assess, troubleshoot, and resolve engagement issues in the workplace:Recognition and acknowledgment of employees' contributionsEmpowerment via tools, resources, and information that set employees up to succeedSupportive feedback through ongoing performance coaching and mentoringPartnering to encourage and foster collaborative working relationshipsExpectations that set clear, challenging, and attainable performance goalsConsideration that lets employees know that they are cared aboutTrust in your employees' abilities, skills, and judgmentCarrots and Sticks Don't Work delivers the same proven resources and techniques that have enabled trainers, executives, managers, and owners at operations ranging from branches of the United States government to Fortune 500 corporations to twenty-person outfits to realize demonstrable gains in employee productivity and job satisfaction.When you give a little RESPECT you get a more effective organization, with reduced turnover and absenteeism and employees at all levels who areengaged, focused, and committed to succeed as a team. In short, you get maximum ROI from your organization's most powerful resource: its people!

The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus: How to Get Big Things Done in YOUR "Workshop" All Year Long


Eric Harvey - 2003
    These are the leadership traits of the Santa Claus in each of us! This is truly the gift that keeps on giving!

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches


John W. Creswell - 1994
    It is a book that models the types of issues that best suit different approaches and allows students to understand when to use mixed methods. Furthermore, its focus on theory and paradigms is done in a way that helps students decode their meaning." --MARTHA MONTERO-SIEBURTH, University of Massachusetts, BostonNew to the Second Edition:Because mixed methods research has come into its own since the publication of the first edition, every chapter now shows how to implement a mixed methods design in your proposal or plan as well as showing how to implement qualitative and quantitative approaches Ethical issues that may arise in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods designs have been added to a new section in Chapter 3 Writing tips and considerations have been expanded and moved to the first part of the book to get your research plan started in the right direction The latest developments in qualitative inquiry, including advocacy, participatory, and emancipatory approaches have been added to Chapter 10 Mixed methods procedures (Chapter 11) show readers how to identify types of mixed methods strategy, select data collection and analysis approaches, and plan the overall structure of the study

Hacking Leadership


Mike Myatt - 2013
    Leadership isn't broken, but how it's currently being practiced certainly is. Everyone has blind spots. The purpose of Hacking Leadership is to equip leaders at every level with an actionable framework to identify blind spots and close leadership gaps. The bulk of the book is based on actionable, topical leadership and management hacks to bridge eleven gaps every business needs to cross in order to create a culture of leadership: leadership, purpose, future, mediocrity, culture, talent, knowledge, innovation, expectation, complexity, and failure. Each chapter:Gives readers specific techniques to identify, understand, and most importantly, implement individual, team and organizational leadership hacks. Addresses blind spots and leverage points most leaders and managers haven't thought about, which left unaddressed, will adversely impact growth, development, and performance. All leaders have blind-spots (gaps), which often go undetected for years or decades, and sadly, even when identified the methods for dealing with them are outdated and ineffective - they need to be hacked. Showcases case studies from the author's consulting practice, serving as a confidant with more than 150 public company CEOs. Some of those corporate clients include: AT&T, Bank of America, Deloitte, EMC, Humana, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, PepsiCo, and other leading global brands. Hacking Leadership offers a fresh perspective that makes it easy for leaders to create a roadmap to identify, refine, develop, and achieve their leadership potential--and to create a more effective business that is financially solvent and professionally desirable.

Leaders Eat Last


Simon Sinek - 2013
    His second book is the natural extension of Start with Why, expanding his ideas at the organizational level. Determining a company’s WHY is crucial, but only the beginning. The next step is how do you get people on board with your WHY? How do you inspire deep trust and commitment to the company and one another? He cites the Marine Corps for having found a way to build a culture in which men and women are willing to risk their lives, because they know others would do the same for them. It’s not brainwashing; it’s actually based on the biology of how and when people are naturally at their best. If businesses could adopt this supportive mentality, employees would be more motivated to take bigger risks, because they’d know their colleagues and company would back them up, no matter what. Drawing on powerful and inspiring stories, Sinek shows how to sustain an organization’s WHY while continually adding people to the mix.

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter


Liz Wiseman - 2010
    The first type drain intelligence, energy, and capability from the ones around them and always need to be the smartest ones in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, lightbulbs go off over people's heads, ideas flow, and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. These are the Multipliers. And the world needs more of them, especially now, when leaders are expected to do more with less. In this engaging and highly practical book, leadership expert Liz Wiseman and management consultant Greg McKeown explore these two leadership styles, persuasively showing how Multipliers can have a resoundingly positive and profitable effect on organizations—getting more done with fewer resources, developing and attracting talent, and cultivating new ideas and energy to drive organizational change and innovation. In analyzing data from more than 150 leaders, Wiseman and McKeown have identified five disciplines that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers. These five disciplines are not based on innate talent; indeed, they are skills and practices that everyone can learn to use, even lifelong and recalcitrant Diminishers. Lively, real-world case studies and practical tips and techniques bring to life each of these principles, showing you how to become a Multiplier too, whether you are a new or an experienced manager. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you could harness all the energy and intelligence around you. Multipliers will show you how.

The Positive Leader: How Energy and Happiness Fuel Top-Performing Teams


Jan Mühlfeit - 2016
    Discover how to banish stress and negativity, rediscover your best self and become an inspirational leader - starting now.Inspirational leaders:- Target strengths, not weaknesses- Have a dream- Manage energy, not time- Put happiness before successBased on cutting edge research, and with truly actionable advice, The Positive Leader shows you how.Former Chairman of Microsoft Europe, Jan Muhlfeit, turns the lessons he's learnt from his years at the coalface of leadership into a 'how to' guide for busy managers.Academic studies have shown that a positive mind-set results in 31% higher levels of productivity.*The Positive Leader gives you a four-point approach to becoming a happier and more inspirational leader.Discover and work to your strengths Identify your mission and vision Become a 'Chief Energy Officer' Lead yourself to happiness* 'Positive Intelligence', Shawn Anchor, Harvard Business Review, Jan/Feb 2012