But letting your goals take control of your life can be devastating. Goal-Free Living shows you how to explore paths in your life you never knew existed and discover a more exciting, successful, and rewarding life--today! If you have only one goal this year, let it be this: Read Goal-Free Living! --Daniel H. Pink author, A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation Stephen Shapiro's approach will help readers achieve the best kind of happenstance: taking a stance to make things happen. --Heath Row Contributing Editor and Community Director, Fast Company magazine I have a sense that reading this book may turn out to be one of the most important things I've done in a long time. --Doug Busch Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation This is an engaging, creative approach to discovering inner wisdom and personal fulfillment. --Michael J. Gelb author, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci and Discover Your Genius Reading Goal-Free Living is like jettisoning a hundred-pound pack. Suddenly, you're racing much faster and enjoying the breeze. --Alan Weiss, PhD author, Million Dollar Consulting

    Sutton and Rao have devoted much of the last decade to uncovering what it takes to build and uncover pockets of exemplary performance, to help spread them, and to keep recharging organizations with ever better work practices. Drawing on inside accounts and case studies and academic research from a wealth of industries – including start-ups, pharmaceuticals, airlines, retail, financial services, high-tech, education, non-profits, government, and healthcare -- Sutton and Rao identify the key scaling challenges that confront every organization. They tackle the difficult trade-offs that organizations must make between “Buddhism” versus “Catholicism” -- whether to encourage individualized approaches tailored to local needs or to replicate the same practices and customs as an organization or program expands. They reveal how the best leaders and teams develop, spread, and instill the right mindsets in their people -- rather than ruining or watering down the very things that have fueled successful growth in the past. They unpack the principles that help to cascade excellence throughout an organization, as well as show how to eliminate destructive beliefs and behaviors that will hold them back. Scaling Up Excellence is the first major business book devoted to this universal and vexing challenge. It is destined to become the standard bearer in the field.

    The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly.As Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer explain in The Progress Principle, seemingly mundane workday events can make or break employees’ inner work lives. But it’s forward momentum in meaningful work—progress—that creates the best inner work lives. Through rigorous analysis of nearly 12,000 diary entries provided by 238 employees in 7 companies, the authors explain how managers can foster progress and enhance inner work life every day.The book shows how to remove obstacles to progress, including meaningless tasks and toxic relationships. It also explains how to activate two forces that enable progress: (1) catalysts—events that directly facilitate project work, such as clear goals and autonomy—and (2) nourishers—interpersonal events that uplift workers, including encouragement and demonstrations of respect and collegiality.Brimming with honest examples from the companies studied, The Progress Principle equips aspiring and seasoned leaders alike with the insights they need to maximize their people’s performance.

     In trying to improve-on the playing field, in the office, or even at home-most people seek out new information to get to the next level. They read a book, attend a class, or hire an expert to give them an edge. But Alan Fine, an accomplished tennis, golf, and executive coach and a renowned authority on peak performance, believes that this "outside-in" method is precisely what's holding you back from doing your best work. He's found the biggest obstacle to improved performance isn't not knowing what to do; it's not doing what you already know. Ironically, the quest for information and instructions designed to help you get ahead can often interfere with your ability to focus on doing something. Fine reveals his simple and proven approach to achieving breakthrough performance. It starts with reducing the interference that blocks your potential through an amazing process called G.R.O.W. (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward). No matter who you are or what you do, You Already Know How to Be Great will help you eliminate what is standing in the way of your goals.

    But perhaps more importantly, how when any of us truly understands how we create reality, surprising and profound changes occur in our lives and in the world around us. "One Thought Changes Everything" begins with a moment in Mara Gleason’s life, at 11-years old, when her father came across an understanding of the mind that dramatically changed him as a father and business leader. Her curiosity in what exactly changed him led her down the path of training and then a career sharing these principles of the mind with people from all walks of life. From the man at an IT company who decided to stop living in his basement and stop hitting his daughter, to the professional athlete who began living out his dreams again after having given up, to the US Marine who realized a deeper love for humanity than he ever knew was possible, she has observed this understanding profoundly influence the lives of her clients, and the lives of those around them. Gleason weaves together personal, humorous and deeply touching stories of her own new thoughts that have changed the trajectory of her life, as well as those of her clients. We follow her throughout her evolution in life and career to today when Gleason shares perhaps her biggest new thought yet — that this understanding of the mind is the one thing that would solve every global issue of our time. She offers the radically hopeful, yet simple message that at the source of all issues, whether personal, organizational, or global is the misunderstanding of the mind that pervades society today. The change we see in her father, in Mara herself, and in her clients when they discover how the mind truly works, are the very same changes that would dissolve the greatest issues of our time from terrorism and war to addictions, inequality, and climate change. There is not a single issue humanity faces that is not fueled by a misunderstanding of the mind, and that could absolutely be solved by a new understanding. Whether you want to understand yourself better, your relationships, your business, or the world at large, "One Thought Changes Everything" offers a a quietly simple solution that just may rock your world, and in turn change the world.

    The emphasis on self-awareness, tactical positioning, and strategic advantage means that practitioners win through inner growth and self-improvement-giving them a universal competitive edge.

    Forever.

    The art of influential communication

    Tenzing and Hillary were first to scale Everest. Malone and Stockton were the key to each other’s success on the basketball court. Eisner was never as effective at Disney without Wells. But while some partnerships reach great heights, others fall short. Why do some people click while others clash? What do great pairs have in common? And what can you learn from the most powerful partnerships to strengthen collaboration in your work and personal life? Based on Gallup’s groundbreaking research, Power of 2 details the eight elements that prepare partners to succeed in their most important endeavors. Gallup shares the science and the secrets of successful collaboration. Mixing key insights about human nature, field-tested discoveries and inspiring stories of partnerships that reached the pinnacle, Power of 2 will change the way you think about working with someone else.

    But all too often when we interact with people—especially those who report to us—we simply tell them what we think they need to know. This shuts them down. To generate bold new ideas, to avoid disastrous mistakes, to develop agility and flexibility, we need to practice Humble Inquiry.Ed Schein defines Humble Inquiry as “the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.” In this seminal work, Schein contrasts Humble Inquiry with other kinds of inquiry, shows the benefits Humble Inquiry provides in many different settings, and offers advice on overcoming the cultural, organizational, and psychological barriers that keep us from practicing it.

    Now, two of the world's foremost Enneagram authorities introduce a powerful new way to use the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation and development. Whatever your spiritual background, the Enneagram shows how you can overcome your inner barriers, realize your unique gifts and strengths, and discover your deepest direction in life.The Wisdom of the Enneagram includes:Two highly accurate questionnaires for determining your typeVivid individual profiles focused on maximizing each type's potential and minimizing predictable pitfallsSpiritual Jump Starts, Wake-Up Calls, and Red Flags for each typeDozens of individualized exercises and practical strategies for letting go of troublesome habits, improving relationships, and increasing inner freedomRevealing insights into the deepest motivations, fears, and desires of each typeHighly accessible, yet filled with sophisticated concepts and techniques found nowhere else, The Wisdom of the Enneagram is a strikingly new fusion of psychology and spirituality. It offers an exciting vision of human possibility and a clear map of the nine paths to our highest self-expression.

    Your intelligence quotient can be a predictor of things such as academic achievement. But it is fixed and unchangeable. The real key to personal and professional growth, and happiness, is your emotional quotient, which you can nurture and develop.The EQ Edge, by Steven J. Stein and Howard E. Book, shows you how the dynamic of emotional intelligence works. By understanding EQ, you can build more meaningful relationships, boost your confidence and optimism, and respond to challenges with enthusiasm--all of which are essential ingredients of success.The book features case studies and fascinating--and surprising--insights into EQ and the workplace. As an HR or line manager, this book will help you determine which personnel are the right fit for job opportunities and who among your staff will be the most promising leaders and drivers of your business. And because CEOs to front-line workers also have other roles--parent, spouse, caregiver to aging parents, neighbor, friend--The EQ Edge also describes how everyone can be more successful in these relationships."Finally, a practical and useable guide to what emotional intelligence is all about. This book peels the onions on what EQ really is and teaches the reader to assess their own EQ and how to increase it. This is the holy grail for career success." --Michael Feiner, Professor, Columbia Graduate School of Business and author of The Feiner Points of leadership

    I’ve started a million things, but I never finish them. Why can’t I finish?According to studies, 92 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail. You’ve practically got a better shot at getting into Juilliard to become a ballerina than you do at finishing your goals. For years, I thought my problem was that I didn’t try hard enough. So I started getting up earlier. I drank enough energy drinks to kill a horse. I hired a life coach and ate more superfoods. Nothing worked, although I did develop a pretty nice eyelid tremor from all the caffeine. It was like my eye was waving at you, very, very quickly. Then, while leading a thirty-day online course to help people work on their goals, I learned something surprising: The most effective exercises were not those that pushed people to work harder. The ones that got people to the finish line did just the opposite— they took the pressure off. Why? Because the sneakiest obstacle to meeting your goals is not laziness, but perfectionism. We’re our own worst critics, and if it looks like we’re not going to do something right, we prefer not to do it at all. That’s why we’re most likely to quit on day two, “the day after perfect”—when our results almost always underper­form our aspirations. The strategies in this book are counterintuitive and might feel like cheating. But they’re based on studies conducted by a university researcher with hundreds of participants. You might not guess that having more fun, eliminating your secret rules, and choosing something to bomb intentionally works. But the data says otherwise. People who have fun are 43 percent more successful! Imagine if your diet, guitar playing, or small business was 43 percent more suc­cessful just by following a few simple principles. If you’re tired of being a chronic starter and want to become a consistent finisher, you have two options: You can continue to beat yourself up and try harder, since this time that will work. Or you can give yourself the gift of done.

    But being an introvert doesn’t mean you can’t be a great leader. Citing examples of highly successful leaders like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, Jennifer Kahnweiler shows that introverts can build on their quiet strength and make it a source of great power.After highlighting the common challenges introverts face at work, such as stress, invisibility, and perception gaps, the book details a straightforward four-step process to handle work situations such as managing up, leading projects, public speaking, and many more. Kahnweiler provides numerous examples and leadership tips as well as a revealing Introverted Leader Quiz that pinpoints where focused attention will produce maximum results, The Introverted Leader will teach you to embrace your natural work style in order to advance your career, get the most out of the people around you, and add value to your organization.

    You also know what it takes to build that talent—and you spend significant financial and human resources to make it happen. Yet somehow, your company’s beautifully designed and well-benchmarked processes don’t translate into the bottom-line talent depth you need. Why?Talent management experts Marc Effron and Miriam Ort argue that companies unwittingly add layers of complexity to their talent building models—without evaluating whether those components add any value to the overall process. Consequently, simple processes like setting employee performance goals become multi-page, headache-inducing time-wasters that turn managers off to the whole process and fail to improve results.In this revolutionary book, Effron and Ort introduce One Page Talent Management (OPTM): a powerfully simple approach that significantly accelerates a company’s ability to develop better leaders faster. The authors outline a straightforward, easy-to-use process for designing results-oriented OPTM processes: base every process on proven scientific research; eliminate complexity by including only those components that add real value to the process; and build transparency and accountability into every practice.Based on extensive research and the authors’ hands-on corporate and consulting experience with companies including Avon Products, Bank of America, and Philips, One Page Talent Management shows how to:• Quickly identify high potential talent without complex assessments• Increase the number of “ready now” successors for key roles• Generate 360 feedback that accelerates change in the most critical behaviors• Significantly reduce the time required for managers to implement talent processes• Enforce accountability for growing talent through corporate culture, compensation, etc.A radical new approach to growing talent, One Page Talent Management trades complexity and bureaucracy for simplicity and a relentless focus on adding value to create the high-quality talent you need—right now.