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| "As I've become a better leader,
I see how much that affects my bottom line..."
CONTACT INFORMATION Institute for Provocative Leadership
doug@IPLsmallbusiness.com |
Learning and links
If there is one characteristic of successful real company leaders that keeps them going, it is that they are avid, life-long learners. They live and breathe learning - about business, about themselves, about life. They are always curious. Here are some resources to fuel your dreams and plans. Click on each title to go directly to the item at Amazon.com. Books
By Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, David Wolfe This book is about gaining "share of heart", not just share of wallet. It's about building companies that leave the world a better place, while at the same time creating a loyalty bond with clients and stakeholders that creates large profits and lasting success. Nice guys (and companies) can and do finish first! By Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz Difficulty managing time and energy is almost universal in today's pumped up business world. These guys challenge the assumption that we are more productive when we put the pedal to the metal and grind it out. Nope. Read this and avoid burnout. By Seth Godin If you want to succeed in business, you must somehow stand out from the crowd in your particular business or niche. Seth Godin has great marketing ideas here that are meant to stimulate your innovative thinking about how to do that. I also highly recommend Seth's last book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, for more on this theme. By Jeffrey J. Fox Had any hiring woes lately? Difficult employees? This book gets down to hiring and retention basics and puts them all together with a hiring philosophy that can be summed up by, "Don't let mediocrity in the door". It spreads through your organization if you do, and the cost of hiring or keeping the wrong people just keeps going up. By Tim Gallwey This book challenges you to re-examine your fundamental motivations for going to work in the morning, and your definitions of work once you get there. Gallwey challenges us to make enjoyment and learning every bit as important to the work experience as performance. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion By Robert B. Cialdini Learn how to become much better at getting people to do what you want them to do. Nicely. Appropriately. By Thomas Friedman We aren't just doing business in our own town, region or country anymore. We compete and collaborate now with economies and businesses all over the world. The future already happened. It's today, and it's global. By Tim Sanders Tim Sanders makes a strong case that love (bizlove!) belongs in business. When you share your networks, knowledge and compassion for others, good guys do finish first. How The Way We Talk Can Change The Way We Work By Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey The authors propose that the way we talk to ourselves is the beginning of real change at work. Companies grow or die based upon the internal and external conversations of the people in them, and we won't really change external factors - productivity, customer service, sales results - until we change our inner conversations. Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high By Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and Switzler The title says it all. It's a very practical book about communication. You'd better learn about this, because a successful leader must also be a great communictor. Wake Me Up When The Data Is Over By Lori Silverman Want to stop numbing your people out with pie charts and spread sheets? Here's how you can use organizational stories to create real engagement with them and kick-start their creativity and loyalty. Competing for Talent: Becoming an employer of choice Here is a treasure trove of information about how to win the competition for talent by turning your company into a magnet for top performers - an Employer of Choice. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You By John Maxwell There are excellent stories and examples about leadership here. It's a road-map to good leadership, complete with exercises and actions to take. This is one of the most practical and useful leadership books you can get. The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People By Stephen Covey Here's the time-tested masterpiece about how to change attitudes & beliefs to create success habits. It's about replacing self-fulfilling cynicism with positive belief and action. Videos (DVD)
Click on the title to go directly to the video at Amazon.com. Jack Welch Motivational & Leadership DVD After successfully growing G.E, Welch uses all his business acumen to explain how motivation, risk-taking and responsibility can determine your success. In this interview, Success Television talks to Jack Welch, his childhood friends and experts on what made Welch successful and how we can apply his wisdom to our own lives. Stephen Covey Success & Leadership Skills DVD Stephen Covey says success happens as a result of the choices we make. As he puts it, "You have the power to reinvent yourself. Do you want to reinvent or change your career? Are you doing a good job of balancing work with family? How are your priorities dovetailing with the way you're living your life? Jack Canfield When Jack Canfield talks about perseverance, he speaks from experience. His best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series was rejected by over 144 publishers before going on to sell over 100 million copies. Jack will show you how what you think makes you weak or strong, seven key areas in creating a personal vision, two simple questions that accelerate the achievement of your goals, how to change the outcome of any event, simply by changing your response to it, and the Rule of Five for achieving your "breakthrough goal." Winning, Motivation, Leadership DVD Starbuck's Howard Schults Have you been working at something for a long time and youre thinking of giving up? Have you thought of a great idea and seen someone else make it happen? What separates the winners from the pack? Starbucks Howard Schultz sums it all up in one word, Persistence. In this profile of Howard Schultz, he tells about his formula for success. Good Links
A wealth of resources about business, written by the top people in their fields, from Harvard Business School. Covers the new economy and workplace for people who believe in fusing tough-minded performance with human values. Learn the seven dynamic principles of Provocative Leadership. Internet technology resources for startup and small businesses. www.inc.com/guides/hr/index.html Human resource materials. A variety of business resources. Legal form downloads. Business owner exit strategies. Everything you need to know about how to sell. Out-source project assistance. Inexpensive internet domain names. This site allows free patent searching, free patent PDF downloading. It's a resource for patent searching, R&D, and market research. |
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