Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Leadership

Harness the power of brain science for greater success Everyone has two remarkable, related capacities: we can aspire to something more and we can envision ways to achieve it. But if we’re capable of aspiring to something better and making plans to achieve it, why is it sometimes so hard to reach that next level of success? It all comes back to our minds. Maybe we’re making off-base assumptions we’re not even aware of. Or maybe we’re operating off partial or outdated information.

Your brand is the stories people share about you when you're not in the room, and it's these brand stories that determine if people buy from you, employ you, work for you, or invest in you. When the stakes are that high, wouldn't you want to take control of it? In Magnetic Stories, business storytelling expert Gabrielle Dolan reveals how you, too, can create and share stories that stick.

Master the power of influence and persuasion to achieve more in work and life. For business leaders and managers, as well as those who work in sales, the power of influence can be a potent advantage. The ability to persuade others based on what you know about them is the first step to convincing someone to buy your product or buy into your business vision.  

Two-thirds of executives say their organizations don't have the capabilities to support their strategy. In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors.

A private consultant who specializes in knowledge management and organizational storytelling, Stephen Denning has a list of clients that includes GE, IBM, Shell, McDonald's, and the US Army. In this witty book, he explains that storytelling can be the key to overcoming obstacles and generating enthusiasm in the workplace. With Denning's guidance, leaders can steer their companies toward new levels of success.

A practical four-step methodology for any leader or manager facing a tough choice, and for creating integrative solutions to big, complex, and pressing problems. Stimulating and practical, Creating Great Choices blends storytelling, theory, and hands-on advice to help any leader or manager facing a tough choice.

There can be no doubt about the credentials of Bill George, former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, who has been named one of Business Week's "Top 25 Managers". In Authentic Leadership, George lays out his plan for improving corporate America's flaws through responsible leadership.

Leaders already know that innovation calls for a different set of activities, skills, methods, metrics, mind-sets, and leadership approaches. And it is well understood that creating a new business and optimizing an already existing one are two fundamentally different management challenges. The real problem for leaders is doing both simultaneously. How do you meet the performance requirements of the existing business-one that is still thriving-while dramatically reinventing it?

Game-changing disruptions will likely unfold on your watch. Be ready. In Dual Transformation, Scott Anthony, Clark Gilbert, and Mark Johnson propose a practical and sustainable approach to one of the greatest challenges facing leaders today: transforming your business in the face of imminent disruption. Dual Transformation shows you how your company can come out of a market shift stronger and more profitable, because the threat of disruption is also the greatest opportunity a leadership team will ever face.

Becoming an effective IT manager presents a host of challenges - from anticipating emerging technology to managing relationships with vendors, employees, and other managers. A good IT manager must also be a strong business leader. This book invites you to accompany new CIO Jim Barton to better understand the role of IT in your organization. You'll see Jim struggle through a challenging first year, handling (and fumbling) situations that, although fictional, are based on true events.

In Reality-Based Leadership, expert Fast Company blogger Cy Wakeman reveals how to be the kind of leader who changes the way people think about and perceive their circumstances - one who deals with the facts, clarifies roles, gives clear and direct feedback, and insists that everyone do the same - without drama or defensiveness. Filled with dynamic examples and innovative tools, this book shows you how to become a reality-based leader.

Tom Hopkins, the world's leading expert on salesmanship and author of 11 books, joins forces with award-winning speaker Laura Laaman to create a fool-proof guide to being a successful salesperson. This handbook focuses on selling techniques, from handshakes and clothing to networking and presentations.

The Wisdom of Teams is the definitive work on how to create high-performance teams in any organization. Having sold nearly a half million copies and been translated into more than 15 languages, the authors' clarion call that teams should be the basic unit of organization for most businesses has permanently shaped the way companies reach the highest levels of performance. Wisdom lies in recognizing a team's unique potential to deliver results and in understanding its many benefits.

Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem entirely? Most people have. In a survey, 85 percent of companies said they often struggle to solve the right problems. The consequences are severe: Leaders fight the wrong strategic battles. Teams spend their energy on low-impact work. Startups build products that nobody wants. Organizations implement “solutions” that somehow make things worse, not better. Everywhere you look, the waste is staggering. 

Business leaders in more than 110 countries have benefited from the extraordinary wisdom of Robert Scheinfeld, whose seminars and writings have helped dramatically improve sales and profits. In The 11th Element, Scheinfeld shares the secrets that propelled his grandfather's company, Manpower Inc., into the Fortune 500, the same approach that fueled the success of Microsoft, Starbucks, and Dell.

Professional service firms face a serious challenge. Their clients increasingly need them to solve complex problems - everything from regulatory compliance to cybersecurity, the kinds of problems that only teams of multidisciplinary experts can tackle. Yet most firms have carved up their highly specialized, professional experts into narrowly defined practice areas, and collaborating across these silos is often messy, risky, and expensive.

Leading with heart, authenticity, and purpose, Thomas Vozzo provides a clear path to a new bottom line—including 55 rules to break—bringing The Homeboy Way to life as the perfect antidote to the massive tidal currents of social injustice and inequities. By every traditional measurement of success, Vozzo was a clear winner. Then, through a series of fateful events, Vozzo landed as CEO of Homeboy Industries, the most successful gang intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the country, founded by Jesuit priest Greg Boyle.

In April of 2000, Gary Erickson turned down a $120 million offer to buy his thriving company. Today, instead of taking it easy for the rest of his life and enjoying a luxurious retirement, he's working harder than ever. Why would any sane person pass up the financial opportunity of a lifetime?

Renowned business author David Magee fuses both the interesting history and philosophy of one of America's most well-known companies in this entertaining aid for business management. While other American businesses are crumbling under low-cost foreign competition, John Deere Company thrives by maintaining such ideas as building the best product, being open to change and innovation, listening rather than leading, and keeping virtuous business practices.

Are there innovation truisms that hold from one initiative to the next? Are there strategies that appear again and again in the success stories of businesses as varied as gaming and cloud infrastructure? Are there behaviors common to creative leadership in every role, from research to sales? And if these patterns exist, could they be distilled into teachable practices? These are the questions Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, two senior innovation leaders at Microsoft, set out to answer.