The Little Book of Leadership: The 12.5 Strengths of Responsible, Reliable, Remarkable Leaders That Create Results, Rewards, and Resilience


Jeffrey Gitomer - 2011
    The true measure of any leader is his or her ability to react based on past experience and gut feelings, respond in real time to current circumstances, and then to recover quickly and move on with new lessons learned. The Little Book of Leadership combines classic style with the latest innovations to challenges the reader to self-evaluate every facet of their leadership, coaching, and communication abilities in order to better formulate what actions can be taken to improve their natural skills. Ideas and answers are provided for every challenge.Chapters include information about the 12.5 leadership strengths: From insights to legacy and every element in between. Morale, Attitude, Resilience, Opportunity, Guts, Measurement, Coach, Celebration, Next-level, and Lost Secret of Leadership Foreword by Dr. Paul "Doc" Hersey, creator of Situational Leadership Other books by Gitomer: The Sales Bible: The Ultimate Sales Resource, Revised Edition, also by Wiley, The Little Red Book of Selling (Bard Press) The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude (Pearson) Whereas other books rely on theory or philosophy, The Little Book of Leadership takes leadership into the real world of business, providing proven methods for becoming a successful leader.

Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done


Laura Vanderkam - 2018
    I began our call with an assurance that I would not take much of her time. She laughed. 'Oh, I have all the time in the world,' she said."Most of us feel constantly behind, unsure how to escape feeling oppressed by busyness. Laura Vanderkam, unlike other time-management gurus, believes that in order to get more done, we must first feel like we have all the time in the world. Think about it: why haven't you trained for that 5K or read War and Peace? Probably because you feel beaten down by all the time you don't seem to have.In this book, Vanderkam reveals the seven counterintuitive principles the most time-free people have adopted. She teaches mindset shifts to help you feel calm on the busiest days and tools to help you get more done without feeling overwhelmed. You'll meet people such as... ♦ An elementary school principal who figured out how to spend more time mentoring teachers, and less time supervising the cafeteria ♦ An executive who builds lots of meeting-free space into his calendar, despite managing teams across multiple continents ♦ A CEO who does focused work in a Waffle House early in the morning, so he can keep an open door and a relaxed mindset all day ♦ An artist who overcame a creative block, and reached new heights of productivity, by being more gentle with herself, rather than more demandingThe strategies in this book can help if your life feels out of control, but they can also help if you want to take your career, your relationships, and your personal happiness to the next level. Vanderkam has packed this book with insights from busy yet relaxed professionals, including "time makeovers" of people who are learning how to use these tools. Off the Clock can inspire the rest of us to create lives that are not only productive, but enjoyable in the moment.

The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One


Bernadette Jiwa - 2013
    Urgent, leveraged and useful, it will change your business like nothing else." SETH GODIN —Author The Icarus DeceptionIt's not how good you are. It's how well you tell your story.Big corporations might have huge marketing and advertising budgets but you’ve got a story. Your brand story isn't just what you tell people. It's what they believe about you based on the signals your brand sends. The Fortune Cookie Principle is a brand building framework and communication strategy consisting of 20 keys that enable you to begin telling your brand’s story from the inside out. It’s the foundation upon which you can differentiate your brand and make emotional connections with the kind of clients and customers you want to serve.The most successful brands in the world don’t behave like commodities and neither should you. A great brand story will make you stand out, increase brand awareness, create customer loyalty and power profits. Isn't it time to gave your customers a story to tell? The Fortune Cookie Principle will show you how.ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE FORTUNE COOKIE PRINCIPLE"It's so easy to overcomplicate what great brands and new businesses need to do to resonate with their consumers. The simple questions asked in this book help you to de-mystify that process. It encourages you to think beyond what you do to why you do it and why that matters to your customers. Had this been available when I was driving Sales and Marketing Capabilities in my past corporate life at Cadbury Schweppes, this would have been recommended reading. Now I'm an entrepreneur I simply apply these principles each and every day." Wendy Wilson Bett—Co-Founder Peter's Yard"Yes, you need a great product, but without a compelling story, success is improbable. The 'Fortune Cookie Principle' is an easy-to-read guide that will help any marketer or business owner begin to ask the right questions about the stories they tell. Bernadette includes dozens of examples and questions to get your storytelling ship in the right order. Let's face it...telling compelling stories to attract and retain customers is not easy. Most brand marketers are not great storytellers. This book will give you a new perspective on your marketing, and help you move from talking about yourself to talking about things your customers actually care about. Then, and only then, will your marketing actually work in today's consumer-led economy."Joe Pulizzi—Founder Content Marketing Institute"The wisdom in this book is better than any fortune. Read and apply!"Chris Guillebeau—Author $100 Startup“This book is an inspiration. Bernadette ignites real-world experience with a true passion for helping businesses move to the next level.”Mark Schaefer—Author Return on Influence"Full of inspiring stories about what makes businesses unique (and successful) in today's supersaturated markets."David Airey —Author Work For Money, Design For Love.“If you're someone who cares about why you do what you do and how you do it, this book is for you.” Tina Roth Eisenberg—Founder of Tattly

Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business


Paul Jarvis - 2019
    Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants to scale as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way. By staying small, one can have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of One introduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you, including how to generate cash flow on an ongoing basis. Paul Jarvis left the corporate world when he realized that working in a high-pressure, high profile world was not his idea of success. Instead, he now works for himself out of his home on a small, lush island off of Vancouver, and lives a much more rewarding and productive life. He no longer has to contend with an environment that constantly demands more productivity, more output, and more growth.   In Company of One, Jarvis explains how you can find the right pathway to do the same, including planning how to set up your shop, determining your desired revenues, dealing with unexpected crises, keeping your key clients happy, and of course, doing all of this on your own.

The Power of Unpopular: A Guide to Building Your Brand for the Audience Who Will Love You (and why no one else matters)


Erika Napoletano - 2012
    Somewhere along the way, people felt they had to be popular in order to be successful, when in fact, the opposite is true. The brands playing in the space you want to dominate have already figured out the inherent power of being unpopular. In The Power of Unpopular, you'll discover the difference between flash-in-the-pan brand tactics and those designed to place you miles above the competition. Brand Personality: What's yours? Explore the importance of taking a stand and why brands become road kill without a distinct personality. Community: It's the number one thing that unpopular brands have figured out--learn how to build yours. Brand Advocacy: It knows no scale and your fans don't care how big you are. A guide for businesses on the proper care and feeding of their biggest asset. Erika Napoletano's irreverent yet never insincere tone takes readers on a colloquial and actionable journey, producing concepts that readers can immediately graft onto their existing business strategies. Complete with case studies of businesses from across the country, this is the book that couples theory with practice, creating pathways for business owners of any size and age. Change the way you do business and live your life--become unpopular.

Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction


Derek Thompson - 2017
    Each blockbuster has a secret history--of power, influence, dark broadcasters, and passionate cults that turn some new products into cultural phenomena. Even the most brilliant ideas wither in obscurity if they fail to connect with the right network, and the consumers that matter most aren't the early adopters, but rather their friends, followers, and imitators -- the audience of your audience.In his groundbreaking investigation, Atlantic senior editor Derek Thompson uncovers the hidden psychology of why we like what we like and reveals the economics of cultural markets that invisibly shape our lives. Shattering the sentimental myths of hit-making that dominate pop culture and business, Thompson shows quality is insufficient for success, nobody has "good taste," and some of the most popular products in history were one bad break away from utter failure. It may be a new world, but there are some enduring truths to what audiences and consumers want. People love a familiar surprise: a product that is bold, yet sneakily recognizable.Every business, every artist, every person looking to promote themselves and their work wants to know what makes some works so successful while others disappear. Hit Makers is a magical mystery tour through the last century of pop culture blockbusters and the most valuable currency of the twenty-first century--people's attention.From the dawn of impressionist art to the future of Facebook, from small Etsy designers to the origin of Star Wars, Derek Thompson leaves no pet rock unturned to tell the fascinating story of how culture happens and why things become popular.In Hit Makers, Derek Thompson investigates: - The secret link between ESPN's sticky programming and the The Weeknd's catchy choruses - Why Facebook is the world's most important modern newspaper - How advertising critics predicted Donald Trump - The 5th grader who accidentally launched "Rock Around the Clock," the biggest hit in rock and roll history - How Barack Obama and his speechwriters think of themselves as songwriters - How Disney conquered the world--but the future of hits belongs to savvy amateurs and individuals - The French collector who accidentally created the Impressionist canon - Quantitative evidence that the biggest music hits aren't always the best - Why almost all Hollywood blockbusters are sequels, reboots, and adaptations - Why one year--1991--is responsible for the way pop music sounds today - Why another year --1932--created the business model of film - How data scientists proved that "going viral" is a myth - How 19th century immigration patterns explain the most heard song in the Western Hemisphere

Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing


Harry Beckwith - 1997
    A comprehensive guide to service marketing furnishes tips and advice on how one can apply one's business knowledge to any area of sales and marketing, from a home-based consultancy to a multinational brokerage firm.

Launch: An Internet Millionaire's Secret Formula to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams


Jeff Walker - 2014
    Whether you've already got a business or you're itching to start one, this is a recipe for getting more traction.Think about it: what if you could launch like Apple or the big Hollywood studios? What if your prospects eagerly counted down the days until they could buy your product? What if you could create such powerful positioning in your market that you all but eliminated your competition? And you could do all that no matter how humble your business or budget?Since 1996 Jeff Walker has been creating hugely successful online launches. After bootstrapping his first Internet business from his basement, he quickly developed an underground process for launching new products and businesses with unprecedented success.But the success-train was just getting started; once he started teaching his formula to other entrepreneurs, the results were simply breathtaking. Tiny, home-based businesses started doing launches that sold tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars in sales with their launches.Launch is the treasure map into that world; an almost secret world of digital entrepreneurs who create cash-on-demand paydays with their product launches and business launches.Whether you have an existing business, or you have a service-based business and want to develop your own products so you can leverage your time and your impact, or you're still in the planning phase, this is how you start fast. This formula is how you engineer massive success.Now the question is this : are you going to start slow, and fade away from there? Or are you ready for a launch that will change the future of your business and your life?

Repositioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis


Jack Trout - 2009
    . .Thirty years ago, Jack Trout and Al Ries published their classic bestseller, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind--a book that revolutionized the world of marketing. But times have changed. Competition is fiercer. Consumers are savvier. Communications are faster. And once-successful companies are in crisis mode.Repositioning shows you how to adapt, compete--and succeed--in today's overcrowded marketplace. Global marketing expert Jack Trout has retooled his most effective positioning strategies--providing a must-have arsenal of proven marketing techniques specifically redesigned for our current climate. With Repositioning, you can conquer the "3 Cs" of business: Competition, Change, and Crisis . . .BEAT THE COMPETITION: Challenge your rivals, differentiate your product, increase your value, and stand out in the crowd.CHANGE WITH THE TIMES: Use the latest technologies, communications, and multimedia resources to connect with your consumers.MANAGE A CRISIS: Cope with everything from profi t losses and rising costs to bad press and PR nightmares.Even if your company is doing well, these cutting-edge marketing observations can keep you on top of your game and ahead of the pack. You'll discover how expanding product lines may decrease your overall sales, why new brand names often outsell established brands, and why slashing prices is usually a bad idea. You'll learn the dangers of attacking your competitors head-on--and the value of emphasizing value. You'll see how consumers can have too many choices to pick from--and what you can do to make them pick your brand.Drawing from the latest research studies, consumer statistics, and business-news headlines, Trout reveals the hidden psychological motives that drive today's market. Understanding the mindset of your consumers is half the battle. Winning in today's world is often a matter of repositioning. It's how you rethink the strategies you've always relied on. It's how you regain the success you've worked so hard for. It's how you win the new battle of the mind.

Brandsimple: How the Best Brands Keep It Simple and Succeed


Allen P. Adamson - 2006
    Drawing on the authors' experience of working with the world's top brands, this book shows how to communicate with customers and make your brand resonate.

The Principal 50: Critical Leadership Questions for Inspiring Schoolwide Excellence


Baruti K. Kafele - 2015
    Kafele begins a powerful examination of what it takes to make a school community achieve the greatest success in the classroom and beyond.In The Principal 50: Critical Leadership Questions for Inspiring Schoolwide Excellence, Kafele, a veteran school administrator, guides motivated school leaders through 50 self-reflection exercises designed to yield a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the work that they do. Along with many other insights, this book shows how best toInspire and motivate students, teachers, and other school staff to approach their work with vigor and purpose;Ensure that all students, regardless of color, creed, or origin, are valued and represented in the school culture;Focus mission and vision statements to address students' most critical needs and integrate shared values and objectives into the fabric of the school; andEngage parents and other community members so that they feel a stake in the school's success.Brimming with passion, written from the heart, and informed by hard-earned experience, this transformative book is essential reading for principals and other building-level administrators determined to reinvigorate their practice, revitalize their staff, and—most importantly—guarantee the strongest outcomes for students.

Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising


Ryan Holiday - 2013
    A new generation of multibillion dollar brands have been built without spending a dime on traditional marketing techniques. No press releases, no PR firm, and no billboards in Times Square.It wasn’t luck that took them from tiny start-ups to massive success. They have a new strategy, called Growth Hacking. And it works.In this e-special, bestselling author Ryan Holiday shows how the marketing game has changed forever. He explains the growth hacker mindset and provides a new set of rules—critical information whether you’re an aspiring marketer, an entrepreneur, or a Fortune 500 senior executive.

Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust


Chris Brogan - 2009
    Today's online influencers are web natives who trade in trust, reputation, and relationships, using social media to accrue the influence that builds up or brings down businesses online.The book shows how people use online social tools to build networks of influence and how you can use those networks to positively impact your business. Because trust is key to building online reputations, those who traffic in it are "trust agents," the key people your business needs on its side.Delivers actionable steps and case studies that show how social media can positively impact your business Written by authors with over ten years of online media experience Shows you how to build and wield influence online to benefit your brand Combines high-level theory with practical step-by-step guidance If you want your business to succeed, don't sit on the sidelines. Instead, use the Web to build trust with your consumers using Trust Agents.

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works


A.G. Lafley - 2013
    But it is hard. It’s hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future—something that doesn’t happen in most companies.Now two of today’s best-known business thinkers get to the heart of strategy—explaining what it’s for, how to think about it, why you need it, and how to get it done. And they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century, which they achieved together, to prove their point.A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin, doubled P&G’s sales, quadrupled its profits, and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in just ten years. Now, drawn from their years of experience at P&G and the Rotman School of Management, where Martin is dean, this book shows how leaders in organizations of all sizes can guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear, essential elements that determine business success—where to play and how to win.The result is a playbook for winning. Lafley and Martin have created a set of five essential strategic choices that, when addressed in an integrated way, will move you ahead of your competitors. They are:• What is our winning aspiration?• Where will we play?• How will we win?• What capabilities must we have in place to win?• What management systems are required to support our choices?The stories of how P&G repeatedly won by applying this method to iconic brands such as Olay, Bounty, Gillette, Swiffer, and Febreze clearly illustrate how deciding on a strategic approach—and then making the right choices to support it—makes the difference between just playing the game and actually winning.

A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive


Ted Coiné - 2014
    Like the meteor that likely precipitated the end of the dinosaurs, Social is the catalyst in an extinction event--and business as we know it has changed forever. A World Gone Social offers an eye-opening look at fundamental and powerful changes the social collaboration era has set in motion: ● Customers now have the power--just watch what happens as more realize it! ● With increased transparency, businesses must be more ethical--no more pretending ● Command-and-control leadership is now so inefficient, it is a liability ● Nimble and small is the new competitive advantage--few corporations are capable of the agility required by evolving marketplaces ● Recruiting is now a two-way proposition, with job seekers able to peer behind the corporate curtain ● Relationship and community-building is how customers and brand ambassadors are won--and retained ● Engagement--with partners, employees, and customers--is not a luxury; it is a requirement. Each chapter provides compelling stories and concrete examples of companies demonstrating enlightened business practices and doing Social right--and some that are not--and the lessons to be learned from their experiences. Finally, readers will discover how to objectively assess the fit ness of their own company's culture and social presence...so they may successfully transition from a 20th- to a 21st-century "social" organization.