Sears distils over 20 years’ experience as a management consultant and coach into six simple conversational structures that cover every management situation. A natural storyteller with a great narrative gift, Sears delivers his message in an entirely unique manner – as a work of business fiction. In this compelling and highly instructive tale you can follow the journey of newly promoted Operations Manager Sam Mitchell as he faces the everyday pressures and challenges of managing a team, and then relate his experiences to real life scenarios in your workplace. Conversation #1 – What can you do about that? Conversation #2 – Who should really own this? Conversation #3 – How should we be behaving? Conversation #4 – Who’s really doing this? Conversation #5 – Where are we heading? Conversation #6 – How are we doing?   This highly practical guide concludes with a simple how-to chapter, explaining why and how each conversation works, and when to use them, as well as providing accompanying tips and techniques. The Six Conversations of a Brilliant Manager is an instantly-applicable and hugely powerful toolkit for every manager and HR department looking to get the very best out of their people.

    In the phar­maceutical industry, it’s Merck. In discount retail, it’s Family Dollar. It used to be Wrig­ley in candy and Maytag in appliances. Other superstars have been hidden in plain sight, like Heartland Express in trucking or Linear Technology in semiconductors. How do these exceptional companies deliver superior perfor­mance over the long run despite facing the same constraints as competitors? What are they doing differently? What can we learn from them? Michael E. Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed have analyzed data on more than 25,000 com­panies spanning forty-five years. Their five-year study began with a sophisticated statistical analysis to identify which companies have truly exceptional performance, 344 in all. In collaboration with teams of researchers, Raynor and Ahmed then put a carefully chosen representative sample of twenty-seven com­panies under the microscope to uncover what made the stand-out performers different. They found that exceptional companies, when faced with difficult decisions, follow three rules:Better before cheaper. They rarely compete on price.Revenue before cost. They drive profits through price and volume, not thrift.There are no other rules. Everything else is up for grabs, and they are willing to change anything to remain true to the first two rules. The rules provide an indispensable compass that any company can use to chart its own path to greatness. Is it better to keep price down or invest in creating value that commands a higher price? Should you focus on talent and develop­ing the abilities of your people or build processes to extend the capabilities of your organization? How about acquiring a sizable competitor to secure economies of scale—or a small start-up to gain access to new technology? According to Raynor and Ahmed, the right answers to these and just about every other question are the ones most closely aligned with the rules. The Three Rules is built on a powerful combina­tion of large-scale data analysis and in-depth case studies. Its guidance will increase the chance that your organization can become truly exceptional.

    With straightforward language, weird metaphors and practical examples, it enables readers to understand human behaviour and evaluate their lives from an outsider’s perspective.Designed to challenge rather than comfort, The Art of Hunting Humans sets itself apart from anything else written in its field. The result is a sceptical, radical explanation of the mind that provides extraordinary insights into the inner worlds of human beings.Learn more: wannabewise dot comBOOK BLURB:The age-old art of human hunting is one you must orchestrate with care. In The Art of Hunting Humans, you’ll learn essential facts about Earth’s smartest primate and discover mistakes that are common among hunters while in pursuit of their prey. Whether you are an experienced hunter or a novice, this guide is essential reading. In it, you’ll learn the major steps for a hunt — from correct observation and selection of your prey to choosing the tastiest bait. It will reveal how to leverage humans’ self-ignorance and strange behaviours and expose flaws of which they are oblivious. At the end of the book, you will have the opportunity to meet the SUPERIORS — creatures like no other. You’d better be ready!Even if you’re a seasoned hunter, The Art of Hunting Humans provides extraordinary insights into human behaviour as well as tips that will blow your mind.Almost everything in this book is a trap. Enjoy!

    “I heard what they had to say. And you know, they make a good point.” He paused. Take charge, Ben, he told himself. Take control. He looked around the conference room. Take, take, take. Was that really what he was here to do? With their acclaimed bestseller The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann proved that a heartfelt parable could also express a powerful idea. In The Go-Giver Leader (originally pub­lished as It’s Not About You), they offer an equally compelling tale about a struggling small business and the ambitious young executive trying to lead them to a crucial decision.  Allen & Augustine has manufactured high-quality chairs for decades. Its people take pride in their work and feel loyal to their owners and management team. But this revered company is now at a crossroads, hurt by a tough economy, foreign competition, and a cash crunch. The air is filled with the scent of uncertainty, anxiety, perhaps even panic.  Into this setting enters Ben, who’s been assigned by a larger firm to promote a merger that will rescue Allen & Augustine. Ben’s facts are undeniable: the chair maker can either merge and modernize or go bankrupt and vanish. So why can’t he persuade anyone to buy in, from the CEO on down?Will Ben find a way to sway the employee shareholders before the climactic vote? And can Allen & Augustine survive without losing its soul? The answers may surprise you as you follow Ben on his journey to understanding that the path to genuine influence lies less in taking leadership than in giving it. This revised and updated edition includes a new introduction, a discussion guide, and a Q&A with the authors.

    With an 'aha' on every page, information is presented in a clear and accessible style that the reader can easily reference. Written in short chapters, each book aims to cover an entire field of knowledge, cut to the gist of each subject in an entertaining way, and when necessary, pull the curtain back and pop the bubble of commonly held assumptions. Each Truth is a tool to make you more successful. Life is a negotiation. Negotiation, whether it's a job offer, contract discussion, decisions between colleagues or customers, is an elemental part of one's professional life. At home, we need to resolve differences with spouses and convince kids to do their homework. The Truth About Negotiations explains why great negotiators are taught (not born) and why your BATNA is key...

    Whether you are selling houses or mutual funds, advertisements or ideas—or anything else—this book is for you.When Frank Bettger was twenty-nine he was a failed insurance salesman. By the time he was forty he owned a country estate and could have retired. What are the selling secrets that turned Bettger’s life around from defeat to unparalleled success and fame as one of the highest paid salesmen in America? The answer is inside How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling. Bettger reveals his personal experiences and explains the foolproof principles that he developed and perfected. He shares instructive anecdotes and step-by-step guidelines on how to develop the style, spirit, and presence of a winning salesperson. No matter what you sell, you will be more efficient and profitable—and more valuable to your company—when you apply Bettger’s keen insights on: • The power of enthusiasm • How to conquer fear • The key word for turning a skeptical client into an enthusiastic buyer • The quickest way to win confidence • Seven golden rules for closing a sale

    At the age of 37, he founded the New York-based agency that later merged to form the international company known as Ogilvy & Mather. Regarded as the father of modern advertising, Ogilvy was responsible for some of the most memorable advertising campaigns ever created. Confessions of an Advertising Man is the distillation of all the Ogilvy concepts, tactics, and techniques that made this international best-seller a blueprint for sound business practice. If you aspire to be a good manager in any business, this seminal work is a must-read.

    Others have broken rules, missed deadlines, failed to live up to commitments, or just plain behaved badly—and nobody steps up to the issue. Or they do, but do a lousy job and create a whole new set of problems. Accountability suffers and new problems spring up. New research demonstrates that these disappointments aren't just irritating, they're costly—sapping organizational performance by twenty to fifty percent and accounting for up to ninety percent of divorces.Crucial Confrontations teaches skills drawn from 10,000 hours of real-life observations to increase confidence in facing issues like:- An employee speaks to you in an insulting tone that crosses the line between sarcasm and insubordination. Now what?- Your boss just committed you to a deadline you know you can't meet—and not-so-subtly hinted he doesn't want to hear complaints about it.- Your son walks through the door sporting colorful new body art that raises your blood pressure by forty points. Speak now, pay later.- An accountant wonders how to step up to a client who is violating the law. Can you spell unemployment?- Family members fret over how to tell granddad that he should no longer drive his car. This is going to get ugly.- A nurse worries about what to say to an abusive physician. She quickly remembers "how things work around here" and decides not to say anything.Everyone knows how to run for cover, or if adequately provoked, step up to these confrontations in a way that causes a real ruckus. That we have down pat. Crucial Confrontations teaches you how to deal with violated expectations in a way that solves the problem at hand, and doesn't harm the relationship—and in fact, even strengthens it.Crucial Confrontations borrows from twenty years of research involving two groups. More than 25,000 people helped the authors identify those who were most influential during crucial confrontations. They spent 10,000 hours watching these people, documented what they saw, and then trained and tested with more than 300,000 people. Second, they measured the impact of crucial confrontations improvements on organizational and team performance—the results were immediate and sustainable: twenty to fifty percent improvements in measurable performance.

    Drawing on decades of behavioral research plus the experience of thousands of business clients, the authors take the mystery out of preparing for and executing negotiations—whether they involve multimillion-dollar deals or improving your next salary offer.What sets negotiation geniuses apart? They are the men and women who know how to:•Identify negotiation opportunities where others see no room for discussion•Discover the truth even when the other side wants to conceal it•Negotiate successfully from a position of weakness•Defuse threats, ultimatums, lies, and other hardball tactics•Overcome resistance and “sell” proposals using proven influence tactics•Negotiate ethically and create trusting relationships—along with great deals•Recognize when the best move is to walk away•And much, much moreThis book gets “down and dirty.” It gives you detailed strategies—including talking points—that work in the real world even when the other side is hostile, unethical, or more powerful. When you finish it, you will already have an action plan for your next negotiation. You will know what to do and why. You will also begin building your own reputation as a negotiation genius.

    Marketers want to change their customers’ minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. Could there be a better way?This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it’s not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it’s about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, “How could I change someone’s mind?” they ask a different question: “Why haven’t they changed already? What’s stopping them?”The Catalyst identifies the key barriers to change and how to mitigate them. You’ll learn how catalysts change minds in the toughest of situations: how hostage negotiators get people to come out with their hands up and how marketers get new products to catch on, how leaders transform organizational culture and how activists ignite social movements, how substance abuse counselors get addicts to realize they have a problem, and how political canvassers change deeply rooted political beliefs.This book is designed for anyone who wants to catalyze change. It provides a powerful way of thinking and a range of techniques that can lead to extraordinary results. Whether you’re trying to change one person, transform an organization, or shift the way an entire industry does business, this book will teach you how to become a catalyst.

    They are made. And Jeffrey Fox's powerful How to Become a Rainmaker will get you there. Now Updated and with New Success Tips! Filled with smart tips given in the Fox signature style, counter-intuitive, controversial, and practiced, this hard-hitting collection of sales advice shows readers how to woo, pursue, and finally win any customer. In witty, succinct chapters, Fox offers surprising, daring, and totally practical wisdom that will help readers rise above the competition in any company in any field. A terrific resource for CEOs, as well as anyone looking to distinguish themselves in sales--be it books, cars, or real estate--How to Become a Rainmaker offers the opportunity to rise above the competition in any company, in any field.

    This is NOT just another book about how to cold call or close deals. This is an entirely new kind of sales system for CEOs, entrepreneurs and sales VPs to help you build a sales machine. What does it take for your sales team to generate as many highly-qualified new leads as you want, create predictable revenue, and meet your financial goals without your constant focus and attention? Predictable Revenue has the answers!

    What sets a professional magician apart from an amateur are people skills like communication, influence, and engagement—skills that are also effective in the workplace. By applying seven “magic” words in a business setting, David offers tools for effective and persuasive communication.You will learn:  The secret word that Harvard psychologists discovered is the key to unlocking human motivation  How one very special word (spoken only inside your mind) mysteriously has a profound positive impact on those around you  The number one mistake that managers make during 1-on-1’s, and the one simple word that can fix it all  What Dale Carnegie dubs “the sweetest sound in any language”  How one tiny word can instantly change someone’s mind for the better  The single word that an in-depth study of thousands of hours of call center recordings revealed as the quickest way to reduce differences and calm people down  How the infamous “But Eraser” works and why so many people mess it up  The REAL magic behind the word “thanks”The seven words:  Magic Word #1 – Because  Magic Word #2 – "Name"  Magic Word #3 – If  Magic Word #4 - But  Magic Word #5 - Absolutely  Magic Word #6 - Thanks  Magic Word #7 - Help

    This collection of on-target how-to's, insights, and self-tests translates into immediate take-to-the-office results on EVERY page. Discover the secrets on servicing sales that are worth millions, add the missing ingredient--courage--to your career, learn how to love your job, take a manager's quiz that will revolutionize your style, and much, much more!From the autor of SWIM WITH THE SHARKS WIHOUT BEING EATEN ALIVE."Can Mackay do it again? The answer is a resounding yes. He joins Bob Townsend (UP THE ORGANIZATION) as master of brief, biting, and brilliant business wit and wisdom."Tom PetersA Selection of the Book-of-the-Month, Fortune and Macmillan Book Clubs

    The data big bang has unleashed torrents of terabytes about everything from customer behaviors to weather patterns to demographic consumer shifts in emerging markets. This collection of articles, videos, interviews, and slideshares highlights the most important lessons for companies looking to turn data into above-market growth: Using analytics to identify valuable business opportunities from the data to drive decisions and improve marketing return on investment (MROI) Turning those insights into well-designed products and offers that delight customers Delivering those products and offers effectively to the marketplace. The goldmine of data represents a pivot-point moment for marketing and sales leaders. Companies that inject big data and analytics into their operations show productivity rates and profitability that are 5 percent to 6 percent higher than those of their peers. That’s an advantage no company can afford to ignore.