Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions


John P. Kotter - 2005
    Fred must cleverly convince and enlist key players, such as Louis, the head penguin; Alice, the number two bird; the intractable NoNo the weather expert; and a passle of school-age penguins if he is to save the colony.Their delightfully told journey illuminates in an unforgettable way how to manage the necessary change that surrounds us all. Simple explanatory material following the fable enhances the lasting value of these lessons.Our Iceberg Is Melting is at once charming, accessible and profound; a treat for virtually any reader.

Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence


Amy Jen Su - 2013
    So how do you become one of them? How can you learn to “own the room”? This book will help you develop your leadership presence. According to Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins, leadership presence is the ability to consistently and clearly articulate your value proposition while influencing and connecting with others. They offer a simple and compelling framework, as well as practical advice about how you can develop your own personal presence.No matter where you sit in an organization, you can “own the room” if you are able to do two things well: first, demonstrate your authentic value and distinction, and second, connect to others in a positive way. Leaders who are able to be authentic while connecting with and impacting others have what the authors call a “signature voice”—a means of self-expression that is uniquely and distinctly their own. Once you discover and express your own signature voice, you’ll be ready to take your leadership presence to the next level.Filled with real-life stories and examples, Own the Room demystifies the concept of presence and gives you the tools you need to identify and embrace your unique leadership voice—and have a greater impact on the world around you.

Moral Courage


Rushworth Kidder - 2005
    Enron, Arthur Andersen, the U.S. Olympic Committee, abusive priests, cheating students, domestic violence -- all these remind us that taking ethical stands should be a higher priority in our culture. Why, when people discern wrongdoing, are they sometimes unready, unable, or unwilling to act?In a book rich with examples, Rushworth Kidder reveals that moral courage is the bridge between talking ethics and doing ethics. Defining it as a readiness to endure danger for the sake of principle, he explains that the courage to act is found at the intersection of three elements: action based on core values, awareness of the risks, and a willingness to endure necessary hardship. By exploring how moral courage spurs us to strive for core values, he demonstrates the benefits of ethical action to the individual and to society -- and the severe consequences that can result from remaining morally dormant.Moral Courage puts indispensable concepts and tools into our hands, equipping us to respond to the increasingly complicated moral challenges we face at work, at home, and in our communities. It enables us to make clear, confident decisions by exploring some litmus-test questions:Is the benefit worth the risk?Am I motivated by my desire to uphold my beliefs or just to impose them on others?Will my actions create collateral damage among those with no stake in the outcome? While physical courage may no longer be a necessary survival skill or an essential rite of passage out of childhood, few would dispute the growing need for moral courage as the true gauge of maturity. Treating this subject not as an esoteric branch of philosophy but as a practical necessity for modern life, Kidder deftly leads us to a clear understanding of what moral courage is, what it does, and how to get it.

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You


Julie Zhuo - 2019
    She stared at a long list of logistics--from hiring to firing, from meeting to messaging, from planning to pitching--and faced a thousand questions and uncertainties. How was she supposed to spin teamwork into value? How could she be a good steward of her reports' careers? What was the secret to leading with confidence in new and unexpected situations?Now, having managed dozens of teams spanning tens to hundreds of people, Julie knows the most important lesson of all: great managers are made, not born. If you care enough to be reading this, then you care enough to be a great manager.The Making of a Manager is a modern field guide packed everyday examples and transformative insights, including:* How to tell a great manager from an average manager (illustrations included) * When you should look past an awkward interview and hire someone anyway * How to build trust with your reports through not being a boss * Where to look when you lose faith and lack the answersWhether you're new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you wish you had.

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time


Susan Scott - 2002
     The master teacher of positive change through powerful communication, Susan Scott wants her readers to succeed. To do that, she explains, one must transform everyday conversations employing effective ways to get the message across. In this guide, which includes exercises and tools to take you step by step through the Seven Principles of Fierce Conversations, Scott teaches readers how to: * Overcome barriers to meaningful communication * Expand and enrich conversations with colleagues, friends, and family * Increase clarity and improve understanding * Handle strong emotions-on both sides of the table

Chess, Not Checkers: Elevate Your Leadership Game


Mark Miller - 2015
    The same old moves won't cut it any more.In Chess Not Checkers, Mark Miller tells the story of Blake Brown, newly appointed CEO of a company troubled by poor performance and low morale. Nothing Blake learned from his previous roles seems to help him deal with the issues he now faces. The problem, his new mentor points out, is Blake is playing the wrong game.The early days of an organization are like checkers: a quickly played game with mostly interchangeable pieces. Everybody, the leader included, does a little bit of everything; the pace is frenetic. But as the organization expands, you can't just keep jumping from activity to activity. You have to think strategically, plan ahead, and leverage every employee's specific talents—that's chess. Leaders who continue to play checkers when the name of the game is chess lose.On his journey, Blake learns four essential strategies from the game of chess that transform his leadership and his organization. The result: unprecedented performance!Chess Not Checkers is an accessible and easily applied guide to help leaders deviate their own leadership and the performance of their entire organization.

The Leadership Challenge


James M. Kouzes - 1987
    This new edition includes the latest research and case studies, and offers inspiring new and relevant stories of real people achieving extraordinary results.

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently


Marcus Buckingham - 1998
    With vital performance and career lessons and ideas for how to apply them, it is a must-read for managers at every level.

Remember Who You Are: Life Stories That Inspire the Heart and the Mind


Daisy Wademan - 2004
    New managers learn concrete skills in the classroom or on the job, but where do they hone the equally important human values that will guide them through a career that is both successful and meaningful? In this inspirational book, Daisy Wademan gathers lessons on balancing the personal and professional responsibilities of leadership from faculty members of Harvard Business School. Offering a rare glimpse inside the classrooms in which many of the world's prominent leaders are trained, Remember Who You Are imparts lessons learned not in business, but in life. From the revelations on luck and obligation brought by a terrifying mountain accident to a widowed mother's lesson of respect for people rather than job titles, these unforgettable stories and reflections, shared by renowned contributors from Rosabeth Moss Kanter to former HBS Dean Kim Clark, remind us that great leadership is not only about the mind, but the heart."

Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change


David L. Cooperrider - 2005
    AI, a theory of collaborative change, erases the winner/loser paradigm in favor of coordinated actions and closer relationships that lead to solutions at once simpler and more effective.

Creating Magic


Lee Cockerell - 2008
    The secret for creating magic in our careers, our organizations, and our lives is simple: outstanding leadership--the kind that inspires employees, delights customers, and achieves extraordinary business results. No one knows more about this kind of leadership than Lee Cockerell, the man who ran Walt Disney World(R) Resort operations for over a decade. And in Creating Magic, he shares the leadership principles that not only guided his own journey from a poor farm boy in Oklahoma to the head of operations for a multibillion dollar enterprise, but that also soon came to form the cultural bedrock of the world's number one vacation destination. But as Lee demonstrates, great leadership isn't about mastering impossibly complex management theories. We can all become outstanding leaders by following the ten practical, common sense strategies outlined in this remarkable book. As straightforward as they are profound, these leadership lessons include: Everyone is important.Make your people your brand. Burn the free fuel: appreciation, recognition, and encouragement. Give people a purpose, not just a job. Combining surprising business wisdom with insightful and entertaining stories from Lee's four decades on the front lines of some of the world's best-run companies, Creating Magic shows all of us - from small business owners to managers at every level - how to become better leaders by infusing quality, character, courage, enthusiasm, and integrity into our workplace and into our lives.

I Wish I Knew This 20 Years Ago: Understanding The Universal Laws That Govern All Things


Justin Perry - 2014
    Once we understand these laws, we will have a better understanding of how life works.Once we understand how life works, we can make life work for us, instead of against us. This book is an intended guidebook to offer knowledge that you can use throughout life. If I can sum up this entire book in one statement it would be: Your mind is literally shaping the world around you. The Author of this book owns the largest Self-Help YouTube Channel, "YouAreCreators".

Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas


Mary Lynn Manns - 2004
    It contains a collection of eye-openers that is a treasure chest for pioneers of new organizational ideas, A fantastic toolbox for use in future missions!"--Lise B. Hvatum, product development manager, Schlumberger"If you have need of changing your organization, and especially of introducing new techniques, then you want to understand what is in this book. It will help you avoid common pitfalls that doom many such projects and will show you a clear path to success. The techniques are derived from the experience of many individuals and organizations. Many are also fun to apply. This stuff is really cool--and really hot."--Joseph Bergin, professor of computer science, Pace University, New York"If change is the only guarantee in life, why is it so hard to do? As this book points out, people are not so much resistant to change itself as they are to being changed. Mary Lynn and Linda have successfully used the pattern form to capture and present the recurring lessons of successful change efforts and have placed a powerful knowledge resource in the hands of their readers."--Alan O'Callaghan, researcher, Software Technology Research Laboratory, De Montfort University, United Kingdom"The most difficult part of absorbing patterns, or any technology, into an organization is overcoming the people issues. The patterns in this book are the documentation of having gone through that experience, giving those that dare push the envelope a head start at success."--David E. DeLano, IBM Pervasive Computing"If you have ever wondered how you could possibly foster any cultural changes in your organization, in this book you will find a lot of concrete advice for doing so. I recommend that everyone read this book who has a vast interest in keeping his or her organization flexible and open for cultural change."--Jutta Eckstein, Independent Consultant, Objects In Action Author of "Agile Software Development in the Large"48 Patterns for Driving and Sustaining Change in Your OrganizationChange. It's brutally tough to initiate, even harder to sustain. It takes too long. People resist it.But without it, organizations lose their competitive edge. Fortunately, you can succeed at making change. In "Fearless Change, " Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising illuminate 48 proven techniques, or patterns, for implementing change in organizations or teams of all sizes, and show you exactly how to use them successfully.Find out how toUnderstand the forces in your organization that drive and retard changePlant the seeds of changeDrive participation and buy-in, from start to finishChoose an "official skeptic" to sharpen your thinkingMake your changes appear less threateningFind the right timing and the best teaching momentsSustain your momentumOvercome adversity and celebrate successInspired by the "pattern languages" that are transforming fields from software to architecture, the authors illuminate patterns for every stage of the change process: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. These flexible patterns draw on the experiences of hundreds of leaders. They offer powerful insight into change-agent behavior, organizational culture, and the roles of every participant.Best of all, they're easy to use--"and they work!"

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People (with featured article “Leadership That Gets Results,” by Daniel Goleman)


Harvard Business School Press - 2010
    Here's how to handle them.If you read nothing else on managing people, read these 10 articles (featuring “Leadership That Gets Results,” by Daniel Goleman). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you maximize your employees' performance.HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People will inspire you to:• Tailor your management styles to fit your people• Motivate with more responsibility, not more money• Support first-time managers• Build trust by soliciting input• Teach smart people how to learn from failure• Build high-performing teams• Manage your bossThis collection of best-selling articles includes: featured article "Leadership That Gets Results" by Daniel Goleman, "One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?" "The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome," "Saving Your Rookie Managers from Themselves," "What Great Managers Do," "Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy," "Teaching Smart People How to Learn," "How (Un)ethical Are You?" "The Discipline of Teams," and "Managing Your Boss."

The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams


Sam Walker - 2016
    It's not the star.It's not money. It's not a strategy.It's something else entirely.Several years ago, Sam Walker set out to answer one of the most hotly debated questions in sports: What are the greatest teams of all time? He devised a formula, then applied it to thousands of teams from leagues all over the world, from the NBA to the English Premier League to Olympic field hockey. When he was done, he had a list of the sixteen most dominant teams in history. At that point, he became obsessed with another, more complicated question: What did these freak teams have in common?As Walker dug into their stories, a pattern emerged: Each team had the same type of captain--a singular leader with an unconventional skill set who drove it to achieve sustained, historic greatness.Fueled by a lifetime of sports spectating, twenty years of reporting, and a decade of painstaking research, The Captain Class tells the surprising story of what makes teams exceptional. Drawing on original interviews with athletes from two dozen countries, as well as general managers, coaches, executives, and others skilled at building teams, Walker identifies the seven core qualities of this Captain Class--from extreme doggedness and emotional control to a knack for nonverbal communication to tactical aggression and the courage to stand apart.Told through riveting accounts of some of the most pressure-soaked moments in sports history--from Bill Russell's legendary "Coleman Play" in the 1957 NBA Finals to Barcelona's "Figo Game" against Real Madrid in 2000--The Captain Class doesn't just bring these events to life; it presents a fresh, counterintuitive take on leadership that can be applied to a wide spectrum of competitive disciplines.The men and women who make up the Captain Class were never the most skilled athletes, nor were they gifted orators or paragons of sportsmanship. They were often role players who were allergic to the spotlight. In short, the seven attributes they shared challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.