The Six Value Medals


Edward de Bono - 2005
    Analysis and judgement are no longer enough to make important corporate decisions; you can analyse the past but you have to design the future. Corporate decisions depend on values. Disputes and conflicts often arise because of a clash of those values; each party in the dispute wants to pursue its own values, often at the expense of the other party. It is therefore essential that companies, managers and employees have a full understanding of the values of everyone involved to design a way forward that benefits all parties. From the bestselling author of How to Have a Beautiful Mind and Six Thinking Hats, this groundbreaking business book provides a basis for value assessment, an essential tool in decision-making for 21st century corporations. De Bono demonstrates that values come into all areas of thinking, behaviour and decision-making and outlines a framework to focus employees' attention on a variety of values including human values, organisational values, cultural values and perceptual values. By introducing a scoring system to rate different values as strong, sound, weak or remote de Bono helps readers to prioritise and make executive decisions that count.

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen


Dan Heath - 2020
    We put out fires. We deal with emergencies. We stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we never make our way upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems ... [This book] probes the psychological forces that push us downstream--including 'problem blindness,' which can leave us oblivious to serious problems in our midst. And Heath introduces us to the thinkers who have overcome these obstacles and scored ... victories by switching to an upstream mindset.

How to Think Like a CEO: The 22 Vital Traits You Need to Be the Person at the Top


D.A. Benton - 1996
    Drawing on in-depth interviews, Benton identifies 22 vital traits that make a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - the leader responsible for making decisions, guiding teams, selling ideas, managing crises and conquering the mountains before them.

Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World


Bob Johansen - 2009
    What future forces will affect a leaders ability to lead in the next year, 5 years, 10 years?

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking


Malcolm Gladwell - 2005
    Never again will you think about thinking the same way.Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant - in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work - in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others? In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing" - filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO


Harrison Monarth - 2009
    This leads to success for all. When the stakes are high, you're well advised to read this book first." Scott A. Gaines, vice president, Hertz Corporation"If you are seriously looking to be perceived in the light you choose, Executive Presence is the book that not only answers the question, but shows you how to apply the answers." Kevin Hogan, author of The Psychology of Persuasion"Harrison Monarth is a first-rate thinker who writes as clearly as he thinks. No matter where you are on the career ladder, Executive Presence will put you a step ahead of your competition." T. Scott Gross, author of Positively Outrageous Service"Most people know that to move up in your career, you need to have self-awareness and the ability to manage the perceptions of those whose opinions count. . . . Executive Presence is your comprehensive guide to help you become more profi cient at self-marketing and the art of ethical persuasion to achieve your personal and professional goals." Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA, author of The Confident Leader and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Confident SpeakerAbout the BookAn expert in coaching high-level players in the art of perception management, Harrison Monarth reveals the critical difference between CEOs and those of us who wish to be CEOs. It's not a matter of intelligence, connections, or luck. It can be summed up in two words: executive presence.While most of us toil in obscurity and expect great things to follow, those on the path to corporate leadership spend their time perfecting the types of leadership communication skills that generate respect and get others to share their vision. They use these skills to establish how they are perceived by others and to manage their reputation throughout the organization. In other words, these soon-tobe top players have developed the presence of an executive through careful image management--and they make sure they have the goods to back it up.In Executive Presence, Monarth shows how you can seize control of your own career using the same skills. Inside, he explains how to:Accurately "read" people and predict their behaviorInfluence the perceptions of othersPersuade those of opposing views to your sideCreate and maintain a personal "brand"Manage and control your online reputationPerform damage control when things go wrongMonarth's conclusions aren't based solely on his keen insight and extensive experience; they're the result of the latest scientifi c research in interpersonal communication and human behavior.Talent and skills are important, but they alone won't take you to the top of your organization. People reach highly infl uential positions because they deeply understand the power of perception and know how to leverage it in their favor. The good news is, anyone with the will to succeed can do it. Executive Presence provides all the techniques you need to take your career to the highest level of any organization.

Leadership Secrets of Jesus


Mike Murdock - 1996
    And you'll be well-equipped to achieve your dreams!

What's Your Decision?: How to Make Choices with Confidence and Clarity: An Ignatian Approach to Decision Making


J. Michael Sparough - 2010
    In What's Your Decision?, a fast-moving, personal, and highly practical book, the authors introduce readers to a time-tested Ignatian approach to effective decision making. Based on the insights of St. Ignatius, the book addresses common questions such as What's important and what's not when it comes to making decisions? Can I ever trust my gut? What do I really want? Ultimately, What’s Your Decision? helps us understand that a God decision always precedes a good decision: When we invite God—who cares deeply about what we do—into the decision-making process, we find the freedom to make the best choice.

Think Like a Freak


Steven D. Levitt - 2014
    Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more.Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally—to think, that is, like a Freak.Levitt and Dubner offer a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems, whether your interest lies in minor lifehacks or major global reforms. As always, no topic is off-limits. They range from business to philanthropy to sports to politics, all with the goal of retraining your brain. Along the way, you’ll learn the secrets of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, and why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they’re from Nigeria.Some of the steps toward thinking like a Freak:First, put away your moral compass—because it’s hard to see a problem clearly if you’ve already decided what to do about it.Learn to say “I don’t know”—for until you can admit what you don’t yet know, it’s virtually impossible to learn what you need to.Think like a child—because you’ll come up with better ideas and ask better questions.Take a master class in incentives—because for better or worse, incentives rule our world.Learn to persuade people who don’t want to be persuaded—because being right is rarely enough to carry the day.Learn to appreciate the upside of quitting—because you can’t solve tomorrow’s problem if you aren’t willing to abandon today’s dud.Levitt and Dubner plainly see the world like no one else. Now you can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing—and so much fun to read.

IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go from Pain to Gain


Peter Weill - 2009
    But in many organizations, returns from IT investments are flatlining, even as technology spending has skyrocketed.These challenges call for new levels of IT savvy: the ability of all managers-IT or non-IT-to transform their company's technology assets into operational efficiencies that boost margins. Companies with IT-savvy managers are 20 percent more profitable than their competitors.In IT Savvy, Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross-two of the world's foremost authorities on using IT in business-explain how non-IT executives can acquire this savvy. Concise and practical, the book describes the practices, competencies, and leadership skills non-IT managers need to succeed in the digital economy. You'll discover how to:-Define your firm's operating model-how IT can help you do business-Revamp your IT funding model to support your operating model-Build a digitized platform of business processes, IT systems, and data to execute on the model-Determine IT decision rights-Extract more business value from your IT assetsPacked with examples and based on research into eighteen hundred organizations in more than sixty countries, IT Savvy is required reading for non-IT managers seeking to push their company's performance to new heights.

Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls


Noel M. Tichy - 2007
    Without it, nothing else matters.” Whether we’re talking about United States presidents, CEOs, Major League coaches, or wartime generals, leaders are remembered for their best and worst judgment calls. In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and conflicting demands, the quality of a leader’s judgment determines the fate of the entire organization. That’s why judgment is the essence of leadership. Yet despite its importance, judgment has always been a fairly murky concept. The leadership literature has been conspicuously quiet on what, exactly, defines it. Does judgment differ from common sense or gut instinct? Is it a product of luck? Of smarts? Or is there a process for making consistently good calls? Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis have each spent decades studying and teaching leadership and advising top CEOs such as Jack Welch and Howard Schultz. Now, in their first collaboration, they offer a powerful framework for making tough calls when the stakes are high and the right path is far from obvious. They show how to recognize the critical moment before a judgment call, when swift and decisive action is essential, and also how to execute a decision after the call. Tichy and Bennis bring their three-dimensional model to life with interviews with world-class leaders who have thrived or suffered because of their judgment calls. These stories include:Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, whose judgment to grow through research and development transformed GE into the world’s premier technology growth company. Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, who made tough calls about teachers, students, and parents while turning around a troubled school system. Jim McNerney, CEO of Boeing, whose strategic judgment helped him reinvigorate his company and restore a culture of trust and respect. The late general Wayne Downing, who found an unexpected opportunity in the midst of crisis when he led the Special Operations raid to capture Manuel Noriega. A. G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, who bet $57 billion to purchase Gillette and reinvent his company. Brad Anderson, CEO of Best Buy, who made the call to commit totally to a customer-centric strategy and led his people to execute it. Whether you’re running a small department or a global corporation, Judgment will give you a framework for evaluating any situation, making the call, and correcting if necessary during the execution phase. It will show you how to handle the overlapping domains of people, strategy, and crisis management. And it will help you teach your entire team to make the right call more often. No organization can afford to neglect this crucial discipline—and no previous book has ever brought it into such clear focus.

The Situational Leader: The Other 59 Minutes


Paul Hersey - 1984
    The author recognizes that people are critical to the success of an organization, so leading and developing them is critical. Doing so is not a one size fits all proposition. Different situations call for different leadership styles. Hersey walks the reader through his leader model, which is beneficial. It’s a good little book written in an easy to follow format.

Viva the Entrepreneur: Founding, Scaling, and Raising Venture Capital in Latin America


Brian Requarth
    He shows how to manage your own psychology and your operations, be it working with co-founders, building a culture, or managing a board of directors. Brian also reveals the secrets of scaling a business and best practices for raising venture capital in Latin America. You will develop an understanding of the most critical parts of an investor term sheet, and gain perspective into the inner workings of the venture capital game.

Organization Change: Theory and Practice


W. Warner Burke - 2002
    As the title indicates this book combines theory and practice making clear how effective organization change, that is, application is grounded in sound knowledge about human behavior in the workplace.

The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking


Mikael Krogerus - 2011