The Three Laws of Performance


Steve Zaffron - 2009
    Do they start with cost reduction? Or should they go for process improvements first? The authors--who have helped hundreds of companies and individuals change and improve--say spend time and money adjusting the systems in which people operate, rather than targeting people and their performance directly. The authors show that it's in fact possible to change everything at once--with a focus on making such transformations permanent and repeatable.Brand-new Introduction written for the paperback edition Filled with illustrative examples from Northrup Grumman, BHP-Billiton, Reebok, Harvard Business School, and many others Two experts in the field show how to make major transformations happen The book outlines a process for engaging all employees to buy-in to an improved vision of an organization's new and improved future.

The Janitor: How an Unexpected Friendship Transformed a CEO and His Company


Todd Hopkins - 2007
    Such is the situation where CEO Roger Kimbrough finds himself in this business parable.The Janitor was inspired by Todd Hopkins's personal experiences of interviewing overqualified retired businessmen for evening shift janitorial positions. Todd's applicants consistently would say they simply needed something to do. In this fable, janitor Bob Tidwell helps Roger to reevaluate how he is leading his business and his life. Bob's counsel is based upon six principles that Todd and coauthor Ray Hilbert discovered have the most impact on succeeding in business while holding together a personal life. Their insightful advice is delivered in a real-to-life story that inspires you to find greater fulfillment in your life.Like so many CEOs in the corner office, still working when the janitor arrives to do the nightly cleaning, Roger is having a difficult and stressful evening when he spills his guts to the older janitor. As their relationship develops, Bob, a retired businessman, promises help that will turn Roger's business and personal life around. The story follows not only their weekly meetings at the office but also the application of each principle: Recharge vs. Discharge View Family as a Blessing, Not a Responsibility Pray, Don't Pout Pass It Around Don't Spend, Invest! Leave a LegacyThe Janitor's message will capture your mind and heart; stimulate meaningful, lasting life-changes; and show you how to influence your family, neighbors, and coworkers while experiencing business and life to the fullest."Take a few minutes and devour this little book by Todd Hopkins and Ray Hilbert. It's going to be a motivational classic, and you'll be in on the first wave of inspired readers." - Pat Williams, Senior Vice President, Orlando Magic; and Author, The Warrior Within

Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance


Jonathan Fields - 2011
    He gave up a six-figure income as a lawyer to make $12 an hour as a personal trainer. Then, married with a 3-month old baby, he signed a lease to launch a yoga center in the heart of New York City. . . the day before 9/11. But he survived, and along the way he developed a fresh approach to transforming uncertainty, risk of loss, and exposure to judgment into catalysts for innovation, creation, and achievement.Properly understood and harnessed, fear and uncertainty can become fuel for creative genius rather than sources of pain, anxiety, and suffering. In business, art, and life, creating on a world-class level demands bold action and leaps of faith in the face of great uncertainty. But that uncertainty can lead to fear, anxiety, paralysis, and destruction. It can gut creativity and stifle innovation. It can keep you from taking the risks necessary to do great work and craft a deeply-rewarding life. And it can bring companies that rely on innovation grinding to a halt.That is, unless you know how to use it to your advantage. Fields draws on leading-edge technology, cognitive-science and ancient awareness-focusing techniques in a fresh, practical, non-dogmatic way. His approach enables creativity and productivity on an entirely different level and can turn the once-tortuous journey into a more enjoyable quest. Fields will reveal how to:Make changes to your workflow that unlock buried creative potential. Build "creation hives" -- supportive groups that can supercharge and humanize the process. Tap social technology and user co-creation to add clarity, certainty, and sanity, even if you're an artist or solo-creator. Develop a set of personal practices and mindset shifts that let you not just tolerate, but invite and even amplify, uncertainty as a catalyst for genius.Drawing on extensive case studies and research, Fields shares a set of detailed personal practices and environmental changes that can not only humanize the creative process, but also allow individuals and teams to stay more open to opportunity and play a bigger creative game.

The Power of TED (*The Empowerment Dynamic)


David Emerald - 2005
    It's a walk on the beach that will touch and transform every part of your life. The revised & updated edition includes a new preface; expanded content; and an appendix which overviews the frameworks and concepts contained in the story.

The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?


Seth Godin - 2012
    But he ignored that warning and plunged to his doom. We’ve retold this myth, and many others like it, to generations of kids. All these stories have the same lesson: Play it safe. Obey your parents. Listen to the experts. It was the perfect propaganda for the industrial economy. What boss wouldn’t want employees to believe that obedience and conformity are the keys to success? But there’s another part of the myth that those in power hope you’ll forget. Icarus was also warned not to fly too low, because sea water would ruin the lift in his wings. Flying too low is even more dangerous than flying too high, because it feels deceptively safe.The safety zone has moved. The propaganda has been exposed, and the old promises have been broken: Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce, and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: make art.Being an artist isn’t a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It’s an attitude we can all adopt. It’s a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you’re an artist, no matter what it says on your business card.Whether you’re a teacher, engineer, doctor, middle manager, or customer service rep, you can fly higher by bringing your best self to work. You can care about what you’re doing today and how you can improve tomorrow. Godin shows us how it’s possible, and convinces us why it’s essential.

How To Destroy A Tech Startup In Three Easy Steps


Lawrence Krubner - 2017
    When inexperienced entrepreneurs ask my advice about their idea for a tech startup, they often worry "What if Google decides to compete with us? They will crush us!" I respond that far more startups die of suicide than homicide. If you can avoid hurting yourself, then you are already better off than most of your competitors. Startups are a chance to build something entirely original with brilliant and ambitious people. But startups are also dangerous. Limited money means there is little room for mistakes. One bad decision can mean bankruptcy. The potential payoff attracts capital, which in turn attracts scam artists. The unscrupulous often lack the skills needed to succeed, but sometimes they are smart enough to trick investors. Even entrepreneurs who start with a strong moral compass can find that the threat of failure unmoors their ethics from their ambition. Emotions matter. We might hope that those in leadership positions possess strength and resilience, but vanity and fragile egos have sabotaged many of the businesses that I’ve worked with. Defeat is always a possibility, and not everyone finds healthy ways to deal with the stress. In this book I offer both advice and also warnings. I've seen certain self-destructive patterns play out again and again, so I wanted to document one of the most extreme cases that I've witnessed. In 2015 I worked for a startup that began with an ingenious idea: to use the software techniques known as Natural Language Processing to allow people to interact with databases by writing ordinary English sentences. This was a multi-billion dollar idea that could have transformed the way people gathered and used information. However, the venture had inexperienced leadership. They burned through their $1.3 million seed money. As their resources dwindled, their confidence transformed into doubt, which was aggravated by edicts from the Board Of Directors ordering sudden changes that effectively threw away weeks' worth of work. Every startup forces its participants into extreme positions, often regarding budget and deadlines. Often these situations are absurd to the point of parody. Therefore, there is considerable humor in this story. The collision of inexperience and desperation gives rise to moments that are simply silly. I tell this story in a day-to-day format, both to capture the early optimism, and then the later sense of panic. Here then, is a cautionary tale, a warning about tendencies that everyone joining a startup should be on guard against."

I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Else's Maze


Deepak Malhotra - 2011
    With that in mind, Harvard Business School professor Deepak Malhotra offers a radically different answer to this question.Malhotra tells an inspiring story about three unique and adventurous mice—Max, Big, and Zed—who refuse to accept their reality as given. As we watch their lives unfold and intersect, we discover that instead of just blindly chasing after the cheese, each of us has the ability to escape the maze or even reconfigure it to our liking.In the face of established practices, traditional ideas, scarce resources, and the powerful demands or expectations of others, we often underestimate our ability to control our own destiny and overcome the constraints we face—or think we face. I Moved Your Cheese reminds us that we can create the new circumstances and realities we want, but first we must discard the often deeply ingrained notion that we are nothing more than mice in someone else’s maze. As Zed explains, “You see, Max, the problem is not that the mouse is in the maze, but that the maze is in the mouse.” “Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you question the way things are. This is the book. Deepak Malhotra allows you to glimpse a world of your own making without the limits and barriers that others create. An excellent read.”—Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Leader in Me“A magnificent story with a powerful message. As someone who has encouraged scores of professionals into breaking through the maze and defining their own pursuits, I find this to be a gem of a book. A must-read.”—Vinod Khosla, cofounder and former CEO and Chairman, Sun Microsystems, and founder, Khosla Ventures“Deepak Malhotra tackles our assumptions about business and life with humor, zest, and wisdom in this delightful fable. If you’ve ever rankled at the thought of being just another mouse in the maze, this is the book for you.”—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind“Deepak Malhotra’s lucid fable, I Moved Your Cheese, is a brilliant counterpoint to Spencer Johnson’s earlier work. The messages of empowerment and taking control of your destiny ring loud and clear for the new generation of authentic leaders. You won’t be able to put it down.”—Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School; former CEO, Medtronic; and author of True North, Authentic Leadership, and True North Groups“A book that will inspire the imagination of mice and managers. A formula for breaking out of the maze and creating new realities in life and in business.”—Barry Nalebuff, Milton Steinbach Professor, Yale School of Management; cofounder, Honest Tea; and coauthor of Thinking Strategically, The Art of Strategy, and Why Not?“An excellent book with sound lessons on how to change our circumstance and create new realities in our personal and professional lives.”—Deepak Chopra, Adjunct Professor, Kellogg School of Management, and coauthor of War of the Worldviews

Top 10 Visionaries that Changed the World: 500 Life and Business Lessons from: Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Tony Robins, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elon Musk, Donald Trump...


George Ilian - 2016
     But I could be your ambassador, and I will present you in my book - 10 of the world greatest living visionaries of our time, people who have truly changed the way we live and think, the way we work and play, the way we now see the world itself. Some might even be controversial and present us with some bad examples. The book includes a collection of 10 books. Each book has 50 Life and Business lessons from a very famous and successful person. One thing I’ve learned over the years of being an entrepreneur is that if you don't have passion for the business you are doing, then the probability of not making it is very high. I'm here to fuel that passion by giving you some great ideas you can depend on. The goal is to get the reader motivated and inspired to take action and succeed in life. I was really inspired to start working for myself and be my own boss when I read Richard Branson’s biography, and the one on Steve Jobs really made me want to be the best at what I do, but reading these long books more than 500 pages each, is really time consuming, so I put the most important information about each person into a short and digestible form so that you can get the most value from the book in the shortest period of time. In summary, you will learn the most important things about each person; they will get you motivated, and they will save your time!

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life


Martin E.P. Seligman - 1990
    Seligman draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to demonstrate how optimism enchances the quality of life, and how anyone can learn to practice it. Offering many simple techniques, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an “I—give-up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the benefits of a more positive interior dialogue. These skills can help break up depression, boost your immune system, better develop your potential, and make you happier.. With generous additional advice on how to encourage optimistic behavior at school, at work and in children, Learned Optimism is both profound and practical–and valuable for every phase of life.

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.

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment


George Leonard - 1991
    Whether you're seeking to improve your career or your intimate relationships, increase self-esteem or create harmony within yourself, this inspiring prescriptive guide will help you master anything you choose and achive success in all areas of your life.In Mastery, you'll discover:The 5 Essential Keys to MasteryTools for MasteryHow to Master Your Athletic PotentialThe 3 Personality Types That Are Obstacles to MasteryHow to Avoid Pitfalls Along the Path. . . and more

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead


Sheryl Sandberg - 2013
    The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious debate about women and leadership. Ask most women whether they have the right to equality at work and the answer will be a resounding yes, but ask the same women whether they'd feel confident asking for a raise, a promotion, or equal pay, and some reticence creeps in. The statistics, although an improvement on previous decades, are certainly not in women's favour – of 197 heads of state, only twenty-two are women. Women hold just 20 percent of seats in parliaments globally, and in the world of big business, a meagre eighteen of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world's most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale.

Accelerated Learning: How To Learn Any Skill Or Subject, Double Your Reading Speed And Develop Laser Sharpe Memory - INSTANTLY - OUT-THINK ANYONE


James Horton - 2017
    man or woman... no matter how poor your education may be today!It makes no difference how badly you did in school as a child... how difficult it is for you to concentrate today... how poor your memory may be... how much a prisoner you are of crippling mental habits... how impossible it may seem to you today that YOU could read an entire book in as little as half an hour -That YOU could flash through business and financial problems that leave your friends stopped cold - that YOU could hold an entire roomful of people ABSOLUTELY SPELLBOUND BY THE POWER OF YOUR IMAGINATION, YOUR UNDERSTANDING, YOUR ABILITY TO TRANSMIT THE SPOKEN WORD! What's The Secret? It's As Simple As This - I believe that you can perform every one of these accomplishments - and more - far easier and faster than you've ever dreamed - because of this one simple fact: I believe that your mind is working today at only HALF of its true power - simply because no one has ever shown you the right way to make every book, every article, every subject you ever wish to learn HALF TEACH ITSELF! What are some benefits you can expect when you follow this program Effortlessly remember important dates, appointments, meetings and schedules weeks, months or even years ahead without missing a single one! Make other people "Hang On Your Every Word!" Develop a perfect, computer-like memory in just 5 minutes a day! Quickly and easily double or even triple your reading speed Breeze through any test or exam Develop unbreakable concentration and focus Never experience social awkwardness or anxiety again Skyrocket Your Vocabulary - In Minutes! What will you learn? Discover advanced techniques from psychology to become a master at any skill or subject Simple methods that allow you to nail down tough information or complex concepts quickly and easily What you can do to eliminate procrastination, minimize distractions, avoid interruptions, keep your mind focused and concentrate longer, even during challenging or stressful situations Step-by-step easy-to-understand methods for turning even the worst memory into a powerful one. How to use what you learn to become SUCCESSFUL in your business and enjoy all of the benefits How you can dazzle your friends and fellow workers with your ability to absorb facts like a sponge And much, much more Final Words: This is NOT a textbook! NOT a study manual

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most


Douglas Stone - 1999
    Based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project, Difficult Conversations walks you through a step-by-step proven approach to having your toughest conversations with less stress and more success. You will learn: -- how to start the conversation without defensiveness-- why what is not said is as important as what is-- ways of keeping and regaining your balance in the face of attacks and accusations-- how to decipher the underlying structure of every difficult conversationFilled with examples from everyday life, Difficult Conversations will help you on your job, at home, or out of the world. It is a book you will turn to again and again for advice, practical skills, and reassurance.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done


Larry Bossidy - 2002
    This smart and pithy book focuses on a simple though vexing challenge: How can the leaders of an organization exhort their people to deliver on the most important goals?....It's rare to find a book like this that blends smart practice with intelligent articulation of how to get things done. Do yourself a favor. Buy it." --The Boston Globe"Making all of the moving parts of an organization function smoothly together is just plain hard work. By describing how he has done it, Mr. Bossidy has come up with a valuable and practical management guide that is must-reading for everyone who cares about business." --The New York Times"If you want to be a CEO--or if you are a CEO and want to keep your job--read Execution and put its principles to work." --Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Computer Corp."A how-to book for the can-do boss....If even half the corporations in America pondered their suggestions, the economy would be in much better shape. Moreover, Bossidy and Charan boast an impressive enough track record that anyone who wants to stay sharp at the helm will welcome their assistance." --BusinessWeek"Sound, practical advice on how to make things happen." --Ralph S. Larsen, chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson"Here's the real deal.... This is no-nonsense stuff.... The leaders who sweat the small stuff, hire the right people, make the tough decisions and stick around to see that they're carried out are the real winners.... Forget the swarmy memoirs, cheesy parables, advice for idiots, and leadership secrets of despots and barbarians. Getting it done is, according to Bossidy and Charan, the only way to grow." --The Miami Herald"Captures a lifetime of building winning formulas and puts them in a simple, practical context for executives at any level." --Ivan Seidenberg, president and CEO, Verizon