In a compelling style like no one before him, Jim Brown helps leaders understand the keys for boardroom excellence. The Imperfect Board Member ought to be required reading for people on every type of board. The great thing is that it won't need to be required--it's such a fun book, every leader will want to read it. --Jim Balsillie, chairman and co-CEO, Research in Motion; chair, Centre for International Governance InnovationI know no board members, myself included, who won't learn valuable lessons from Jim Brown's book The Imperfect Board Member. Don't miss it! --Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One-Minute Manager and The SecretThanks to Sarbanes-Oxley, boards have become active. The Imperfect Board Member clarifies sharply the lines of what boards need to do and what management needs to do. The time has come for the two groups to work together and yet keep independent. --Ram Charan, coauthor, Execution, and author, Boards That DeliverThe Imperfect Board Member by Jim Brown is a highly perceptive, eminently readable, engagingly human book on how boards and directors can improve their performance. In a breezy conversational style that uses dialogue invitingly and often, the author explores with sensitivity and a light touch not only the standard ingredients but also the more subtle nuances of excellence in both corporate and not-for-profit governance. --William A. Dimma, author, Tougher Boards for Tougher Times; chairman, Home Capital Group Inc.

    presidents, this groundbreaking book makes the case that the best way to get ahead is to figure out what you have to give to a world seemingly obsessed with the question: What do I get? Aimed at a new generation of leaders and extremely relevant for today's economic climate, Love Leadership outlines Bryant's five laws of love-based leadership-Loss Creates Leaders (there can be no strength without legitimate suffering), Fear Fails (only respect and love leads to success), Love Makes Money (love is at the core of true wealth), Vulnerability is Power (when you open up to people they open up to you), and Giving is Getting (the more you offer to others, the more they will give back to you).One of today's most influential leaders, Bryant has appeared on Oprah and in articles in the LA Times, NY Times, and the Wall Street JournalBryant's bold approach to leadership is well-suited for today's tough economic environment and a world gripped by fear and uncertainty Outlines the innovative five laws of love-based leadership Love Leadership is that unique and powerful book that bridges the gap between solid business advice and pure inspiration.

    This text introduces readers to the theory and research findings needed to understand how to make groups effective, and it helps build the skills required to apply that knowledge in practical situations.

    Lublin, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and management news editor for The Wall Street Journal.Among the first female reporters at The Wall Street Journal, Joann S. Lublin faced a number of uphill battles in her career. She became deputy bureau chief of the Journal’s important London bureau, its first run by women. Now, she and dozens of other women who successfully navigated the corporate battlefield share their valuable leadership lessons.Lublin combines her fascinating story with insightful tales from more than fifty women who reached the highest rungs of the corporate ladder—most of whom became chief executives of public companies —in industries as diverse as retailing, manufacturing, finance, high technology, publishing, advertising, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals. Leaders like Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, as well as Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, and Brenda Barnes, former CEO of Sara Lee, were the first women to run their huge employers. Earning It reveals obstacles such women faced as they fought to make their mark, choices they made, and battles they won—and lost.Lublin chronicles the major milestones and dilemmas of the work world unique to women, providing candid advice and practical inspiration for women of all ages and at every stage  of their careers. The extraordinary women we meet in the pages of Earning It and the hard-won lessons they share provide a compelling career compass that will help all women reach their highest potential without losing a meaningful personal life.

    Every act can be categorized as either a selfish act or a selfless act. “Selfish or Selfless: Which One Are You?,” discusses how you can discover whether or not you are doing things that are selfish (about your own wants, your own need, and your own desires) or whether you are doing things that are selfless (things that are about other people’s wants, other people’s needs and you do things that benefit others). Do you know which one you are? Have you thought about why you do what you do and how it impacts the people around you? Learn how to discover whether you are selfish or selfless and how to change sides if you need to.

    

    The most acclaimed singer/songwriter of his generation, first a Beatle and then a boundary-pushing solo artist, was senselessly silenced forever at age forty; immediately, his final musical statement, an intimate, pop-infused collection called Double Fantasy, released only weeks before his death, skyrocketed to #1 worldwide, as did its poignantly titled single, "(Just Like) Starting Over." His first studio recording since 1975’s Rock ’n’ Roll—and his first musical endeavor of any kind since taking a much-needed hiatus to raise Sean, his son with Yoko Ono—Double Fantasy represents more than a comeback album to Lennon fans and music critics alike. It captures a cultural icon at the pinnacle of his creative success and personal fulfillment; thirty years later it remains a musical touchstone and an affecting reminder of what could have been.Starting Over is an oral history of the making of Double Fantasy and the definitive account of John Lennon’s last days. From early demos to sessions at New York City’s The Hit Factory, from the electrifying chemistry of the studio band to keeping the project under wraps to the album’s release and critical reception, here is fascinating, insightful commentary from all of the key players involved in its extraordinary creation: Yoko Ono, David Geffen, producer Jack Douglas, engineers, arrangers, session musicians, music journalists, and even Lennon himself via archival interviews.Featuring never-before-seen photos of John and Yoko in the studio, candid images taken by David M. Spindel and Roger Farrington, Starting Over is the essential portrait for anyone who hears both a beginning and ending in the tracks of Double Fantasy.

    He was the first to tell us that all organizations have personalities, like families, and to apply the insights of family therapy to churches and synagogues, rectors and rabbis, politicians and teachers.Failure of Nerve is essential reading for all leaders, be they parents or presidents, corporate executives or educators, religious superiors or coaches, healers or generals, managers or clergy. Friedman's insights about our regressed, seatbelt society, oriented toward safety rather than adventure, help explain the sabotage that leaders constantly face today.Suspicious of the quick fixes and instant solutions that sweep through our culture only to give way to the next fad, he argues for strength and self-differentiation as the marks of true leadership. His formula for success is more maturity, not more data; stamina, not technique; and personal responsibility, not empathy.This book was unfinished at the time of Friedman's death, and originally published in a limited edition. This new edition makes his life-changing insights and challenges available to a new generation of readers.

    But here’s the good news: Amazing success has been achieved by people who once fell flat on their faces. The secret lies in how we respond to life’s bumps and pot holes and unwelcome detours—from getting fired or losing a business to enduring a professional rejection or pursuing a passion that fails to pan out. Misfortune, it turns out, can be a springboard to success.   In Rebounders, U.S. News & World Report journalist Rick Newman examines the rise and fall—and rise again—of some of our most prolific and productive figures in order to demystify the anatomy of resilience. He identifies nine key traits found in people who bounce back that can transform a setback into the first step toward great accomplishment. Newman turns many well-worn axioms on their head as he shows how virtually anybody can improve their resilience and get better at turning adversity into personal and professional achievement.  • Setbacks can be a secret weapon: They often teach vital things you’ll never learn in school, on the job, or from others.• There are smart ways to fail: Once familiar with them, you’ll be more comfortable taking risks and less discouraged if they don’t pan out.• “Defensive pessimism” trumps optimism: Planning for what could go wrong is often the best way to ensure that it doesn’t.• Know when to quit: Walking away at the right time can free the resources you need to exploit better opportunities.• “Own the suck”: When faced with true hardship, taking command of the pain and sorrow—rather than letting it command you—lays the groundwork for ultimately rising above it.   Each lesson is highlighted by candid and inspiring stories from notable people, including musician Lucinda Williams, tennis champ James Blake, inventor Thomas Edison, army veteran and double-amputee Tammy Duckworth, and Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees.   In this uncertain and unstable time, Rebounders lays out the new rules for success and equips you with the tools you need to get ahead and thrive.

    For many, filing the suit was a radicalizing act that empowered them to "find themselves" and stake a claim. Others lost their way in a landscape of opportunities, pressures, discouragements, and hostilities they weren't prepared to navigate.With warmth, humor, and perspective, the book also explores why changes in the law did not change everything for today's young women.

    That solutions-oriented individual who adds value by enhancing the executive's productivity, elevating their performance and functioning as their indispensible business partner and 'right arm.'As you read this book, you will discover the genesis of the formidable talents that are the hallmark of exeptional assistants, and understand the value they can bring to you. Throughout the book you will hear from dozens of executives and close to one hundred assistants, who gave the author a candid look into their day-to-day activities, the expectations and demands on the executive-assistant relationship, as well as their advice for how executives and assistants can work successfully and productively together. As you read about these assistants, you will begin to understand why you should not settle for anything less than a stellar assistant who knows what you need and how to give it to you, who will smooth out your life and make your workday a rewarding experience.This book provides not only the inspiration to achieve a successful business partnership, but also provides know-how and practical tools to recruit, train and work on a day-to-day basis with an exceptional assistant, showing you how to put their exemplary talents to good use. Part 1 explores the relationships between successful executives and their assistants and defines what an 'exceptional executive assistant' is. In Part 2, Jones describes the crucial characteristics that all exceptional executive assistants epitomize, and how they are critical to not only your day-to-day routine, but to your success as an executive or entrepreneur.Part 3 of this book will explore the processes, resources and skills that you will need to hire an exceptional assistant. Part 4 takes a deeper dive into the executive and assistant relationship and offers a guide to setting up a successful partnership. As with any business collaboration, it is a two-way street. In order to solidify the partnership, the executive must reciprocate. With examples throughout from successful CEOs and entrepreneurs, this book will help you create a robust, dynamic and productive partnership with your executive assistant.

    The women just don't ask. It turns out that whether they want higher salaries or more help at home, women often find it hard to ask. Sometimes they don't know that change is possible--they don't know that they can ask. Sometimes they fear that asking may damage a relationship. And sometimes they don't ask because they've learned that society can react badly to women asserting their own needs and desires.By looking at the barriers holding women back and the social forces constraining them, Women Don't Ask shows women how to reframe their interactions and more accurately evaluate their opportunities. It teaches them how to ask for what they want in ways that feel comfortable and possible, taking into account the impact of asking on their relationships. And it teaches all of us how to recognize the ways in which our institutions, child-rearing practices, and unspoken assumptions perpetuate inequalities--inequalities that are not only fundamentally unfair but also inefficient and economically unsound.With women's progress toward full economic and social equality stalled, women's lives becoming increasingly complex, and the structures of businesses changing, the ability to negotiate is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Drawing on research in psychology, sociology, economics, and organizational behavior as well as dozens of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, Women Don't Ask is the first book to identify the dramatic difference between men and women in their propensity to negotiate for what they want. It tells women how to ask, and why they should.

    Find all of the following, explained in plain-English with no legal jargon:Business Taxation 101: A brief primer on tax topics in general, especially as they apply to businesses.Home Office Deduction: How to ensure you qualify for it and how to calculate it.Estimated Tax payments: When and how to pay them, as well as an easy way to calculate each payment.Self-Employment Tax: What it is, why it exists, and how to calculate it.Business Retirement Plans: What the different types are, and which one is best for you.Numerous Business Deductions: Several deductions explained in detail, including how to make sure you can qualify to take them and how to maximize them.Audit Protection: Learn what records you need to keep (and how long to keep them) in order to protect yourself in case of an audit.

    The whole 60- to 80-year-old period is simply new territory, he writes, and the people in this period constitute a whole new phenomenon in the 21st century.The Big Shiftis animated by a simple premise: that the challenge of transitioning to and making the most of this new stage—while deeply personal—is much more than an individual problem; it’s an urgent social imperative, one affecting all generations. By embracing this time as a unique period of life – and providing guidance, training, education and support to the millions who are in it – Freedman says that we can make a monument out of what so many think of as the leftover years. The result could be a windfall of talent that will carry us toward a new generation of solutions for growing problems in areas like education, the environment, and health care.

    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.