Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell


Eric Schmidt - 2019
    In addition, this business genius mentored dozens of other important leaders on both coasts, from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists to educators to football players, leaving behind a legacy of growing companies, successful people, respect, friendship, and love after his death in 2016.Leaders at Google for over a decade, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle experienced firsthand how the man fondly known as Coach Bill built trusting relationships, fostered personal growth—even in those at the pinnacle of their careers—inspired courage, and identified and resolved simmering tensions that inevitably arise in fast-moving environments. To honor their mentor and inspire and teach future generations, they have codified his wisdom in this essential guide.Based on interviews with over eighty people who knew and loved Bill Campbell, Trillion Dollar Coach explains the Coach’s principles and illustrates them with stories from the many great people and companies with which he worked. The result is a blueprint for forward-thinking business leaders and managers that will help them create higher performing and faster moving cultures, teams, and companies.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World


Stanley McChrystal - 2015
    But when he took the helm in 2004, America was losing that war badly: despite vastly inferior resources and technology, Al Qaeda was outmaneuvering America’s most elite warriors. McChrystal came to realize that today’s faster, more interdependent world had overwhelmed the conventional, top-down hierarchy of the US military. Al Qaeda had seen the future: a decentralized network that could move quickly and strike ruthlessly. To defeat such an enemy, JSOC would have to discard a century of management wisdom, and pivot from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. Under McChrystal’s leadership, JSOC remade itself, in the midst of a grueling war, into something entirely new: a network that combined robust centralized communication with decentralized managerial authority. As a result, they beat back Al Qaeda. In this book, McChrystal shows not only how the military made that transition, but also how similar shifts are possible in all organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to governments. In a turbulent world, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what they’ve learned. Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career, the private sector, and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA’s space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today’s organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution.

How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs


Guy Raz - 2020
    Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a way to turn them into shoes (Allbirds). A former Buddhist monk decides the very best way to spread his mindfulness teachings is by launching an app (Headspace). A sandwich cart vendor finds a way to reuse leftover pita bread and turns it into a multimillion-dollar business (Stacy’s Pita Chips).   Award-winning journalist and NPR host Guy Raz has interviewed more than 200 highly successful entrepreneurs to uncover amazing true stories like these. In How I Built This, he shares tips for every entrepreneur’s journey: from the early days of formulating your idea, to raising money and recruiting employees, to fending off competitors, to finally paying yourself a real salary. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting their own business or wondered how trailblazing entrepreneurs made their own dreams a reality.

Leaders Eat Last


Simon Sinek - 2013
    His second book is the natural extension of Start with Why, expanding his ideas at the organizational level. Determining a company’s WHY is crucial, but only the beginning. The next step is how do you get people on board with your WHY? How do you inspire deep trust and commitment to the company and one another? He cites the Marine Corps for having found a way to build a culture in which men and women are willing to risk their lives, because they know others would do the same for them. It’s not brainwashing; it’s actually based on the biology of how and when people are naturally at their best. If businesses could adopt this supportive mentality, employees would be more motivated to take bigger risks, because they’d know their colleagues and company would back them up, no matter what. Drawing on powerful and inspiring stories, Sinek shows how to sustain an organization’s WHY while continually adding people to the mix.

Executive Presence: What Nobody Ever Tells You about Getting Ahead


Sylvia Ann Hewlett - 2014
    You can have the experience and qualifications of a leader, but without executive presence, you won't advance. EP is an amalgam of qualities that true leaders exude, a presence that telegraphs you're in charge or deserve to be. Articulating those qualities isn't easy, however. Based on a nationwide survey of college graduates working across a range of sectors and occupations, Sylvia Hewlett and the Center for Talent Innovation discovered that EP is a dynamic, cohesive mix of appearance, communication, and gravitas. While these elements are not equal, to have true EP, you must know how to use all of them to your advantage. Filled with eye-opening insights, analysis, and practical advice for both men and women, mixed with illustrative examples from executives learning to use the EP, Executive Presence will help you make the leap from working like an executive to feeling like an executive.

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever


Michael Bungay Stanier - 2016
     Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how--by saying less and asking more--you can develop coaching methods that produce great results. – Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question – Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question – Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question – and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question – Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question – and The Foundation Question – Ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turn practical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work--and your workplace--from good to great. "Coaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and support. And he guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into habits and a daily practice. --Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly

The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviours that Transform Ordinary People into World Class Leaders


Elena L. Botelho - 2018
    You must graduate from an elite college or business school. In fact, only 7 percent of the CEOs of today's companies went to a top school--and 8 percent didn't graduate from college at all. Never put a foot wrong. In fact, people who have become CEOs have on average had five to seven career setbacks on their way to the top.Drawing on the biggest dataset of CEOs in the world -- in-depth analysis of 2,600 leaders, drawn from a database of 17,000 CEOs, as well as 13,000 hours of interviews -- The CEO Next Door is crammed full of myth-busting and counter-intuitive insights in what it really takes to get ahead. Discover the way actual CEOs of top companies think and behave, and the kind of traits to develop if you want to make your ambitions a reality and take your career right to the top.

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success


Adam M. Grant - 2013
    But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return. Using his own pioneering research as Wharton's youngest tenured professor, Grant shows that these styles have a surprising impact on success. Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary results across a wide range of industries. Combining cutting-edge evidence with captivating stories, this landmark book shows how one of America's best networkers developed his connections, why the creative genius behind one of the most popular shows in television history toiled for years in anonymity, how a basketball executive responsible for multiple draft busts transformed his franchise into a winner, and how we could have anticipated Enron's demise four years before the company collapsed - without ever looking at a single number. Praised by bestselling authors such as Dan Pink, Tony Hsieh, Dan Ariely, Susan Cain, Dan Gilbert, Gretchen Rubin, Bob Sutton, David Allen, Robert Cialdini, and Seth Godin-as well as senior leaders from Google, McKinsey, Merck, Estee Lauder, Nike, and NASA - Give and Take highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. This landmark book opens up an approach to success that has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities.

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen


Donald Miller - 2017
    This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching readers the seven universal story points all humans respond to; the real reason customers make purchases; how to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and how to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media. Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

Think Simple: How Smart Leaders Defeat Complexity


Ken Segall - 2016
    Now he explores how other companies, in a range of industries, all over the world, are simplifying their way to success--providing real-life examples that can inspire others to do the same. Segall's interviews with leaders from more than forty diverse companies demonstrate the power of simplicity on multiple levels. Readers will discover: ·How South Korea's second biggest credit card company, Hyundai Card, used the power of simplicity to turn around a business losing two billion dollars a year.·How Australia's biggest telecom, Telstra, tapped the power of simplicity to reverse a severe drop in customer satisfaction ratings and stock price.·How a simple concept drove the architecture, location, hiring, and record-setting global success of the retail Apple Stores.·How adherence to a simple mission helped propel StubHub to create a consumer revolution.·How The Blue Man Group used the principles of simplicity to grow from a local street act to a multinational creative network.·How Ben & Jerry's, Whole Foods, and Charles Schwab embraced the principles of simplicity to create their own success stories. Segall distills the philosophies and methods of all these successful companies into nine useful chapters, each of which explores a key component of simplicity--Mission, Culture, Leadership, Brand, Scale, Streamlining, Team, Love, and Instinct. The combined insights of Segall and accomplished business leaders help readers create a roadmap to simplicity of their own.

The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations Into Breakthroughs


Marcia Reynolds - 2014
    Top leadership coach Marcia Reynolds offers a model for using the Discomfort Zone--the moment when the mind is most open to learning--to prompt people to think through problems, see situations more strategically, and transcend their limitations. Drawing on recent discoveries in the neuroscience of learning, Reynolds shows how to ask the kinds of questions that short-circuit the brain's defense mechanisms and habitual thought patterns. Then, instead of being told, people see for themselves the insightful and often profound solutions to what is stopping their progress. The exercises and case studies will help you use discomfort in your conversations to create lasting changes and an enlivened workforce.

Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting for


Jonathan Raymond - 2016
    Good Authority is a modern classic, and it will redefine what it means to be the boss." -- Seth Godin, Author, LinchpinImagine a world where personal and professional growth are one thing, where improving your relationships and owning your strengths at work translate directly into the rest of your life.Creating a company culture like that is not a dream. Through personal stories and real-life conversations, Jonathan takes you into the room with managers and employees where real culture change happens, and shows you a new kind of employee mentoring where each person gets the real-time feedback, support, and clear boundaries we all need to get beyond the patterns that hold us back.In this provocative and timely new book, Jonathan brings together what he has learned over a twenty-year journey as an executive, entrepreneur, team leader and leadership trainer.Combining his experience as the CEO and CBO of EMyth where he led the transformation of a global coaching brand with the lessons learned along his own personal growth journey, Jonathan walks us through a step-by-step approach that integrates the leading edges of both. You'll discover a way to lead your team that is both profoundly human and results-oriented at the same time.Whether you re a CEO or business owner, executive, team leader, consultant, or coach, Good Authority will give you new ideas and inspiration you can put into practice. Most importantly, it will give you permission to be more of who you are at work than you ever thought possible.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable


Patrick Lencioni - 2002
    This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight. Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.

Remote: Office Not Required


David Heinemeier Hansson - 2013
    Moms in particular will welcome this trend.  A full 60% wish they had a flexible work option. But companies see advantages too in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves the ability to conduct business across multiple time zones, to name just a few advantages.  In Remote, inconoclastic authors Fried and Hansson will convince readers that letting all or part of work teams function remotely is a great idea--and they're going to show precisely how a remote work setup can be accomplished.

Work Together Anywhere: A Handbook on Working Remotely—Successfully—for Individuals, Teams, and Managers


Lisette Sutherland - 2018
    Companies and organizations everywhere are embracing the game-changing benefits of allowing employees to work outside the office, and the results are profound: managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and satisfaction—in part from the time saved not commuting. The reality is clear: working remotely can be a win-win for everyone. But that win is only possible when companies have a plan for supporting efficiency and fostering streamlined, engaging teamwork, and when individuals are prepared to collaborate productively. In Work Together Anywhere, Lisette Sutherland, an international champion of virtual-team strategies, offers a full-service guide to thriving in the remote workplace. Sharing powerful advice gleaned from professional experience, extensive research, and interviews with workers and manager/owners around the world, Work Together Anywhere sets out a complete blueprint for optimizing team success, including: * assessing and developing an individual’s team-focused capacity * establishing a remote-ready office * crafting team agreements * running effective online meetings * facilitating positive communication practices Packed with hands-on materials and actionable advice for cultivating camaraderie, agility, and collaboration, Work Together Anywhere is a thorough and inspiring must-have guide for anyone who wants to get ahead in today’s remote-working world. CONTENTS How to Use This Book Foreword by Jurgen Appelo Introduction PART I—Setting the Scene: Some of the Who, What, Where, and Why of Remote Working Chapter 1. Setting the Scene: Why Are Individuals Going Remote? Workplace Flexibility Chapter 2. How Remote Working Benefits Employers PART I EXTRAS •    Frequently Asked Questions •    At a Glance: How to Replicate Online the Benefits of Working On-Site PART II—How Individuals Can Work Remotely Successfully Chapter 3. Remote Working 101—Getting Started Chapter 4. Remote Working 201—Perfecting Your Game PART II EXTRAS •    Questionnaire for Individuals: Are You Ready to Work Remotely? •    Convincing Your Boss (or Team) •    Seeking Remote Employment •    FlexJobs List: 100 Top Companies with Remote Jobs in 2018 PART III—Successful Remote Teams 101: Hiring and Transitioning Chapter 5. Hiring Remote Workers and Teams Chapter 6. Transitioning Toward the Remote Option PART III EXTRA •    Cheat Sheet: What to Look for When Interviewing a Remote Worker—Plus Sample Questions for Assessing a Candidate PART IV—Successful Remote Teams 201: Managing Chapter 7. Commit and Lead, Trust and Succeed Chapter 8.