No need for mind games. Leadership is not rocket science. The daily tasks of managers revolve mostly around numbers, statistics, competition, and ultimately, success. What we often forget is that a big aspect of leadership relies on managing relationships. Many see this as an unnecessary burden, at best. So, what could be better than being able to reach into a box of psychological tricks and swiftly finish off disagreements or completely avoid conflict? I am afraid that is too easy. If you want to be successful and retain competent employees for the long term, you would be well advised to stay away from such gimmicks. Those who lead people have a responsibility - they are responsible for treating their employees with decency. That leaves no room for cheap tricks or power games.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, a bold framework for leadership in today’s ever-changing world. How do we win a game that has no end? Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers—only ahead and behind. The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in? In this revelatory new book, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset. On one hand, none of us can resist the fleeting thrills of a promotion earned or a tournament won, yet these rewards fade quickly. In pursuit of a Just Cause, we will commit to a vision of a future world so appealing that we will build it week after week, month after month, year after year. Although we do not know the exact form this world will take, working toward it gives our work and our life meaning. Leaders who embrace an infinite mindset build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Ultimately, they are the ones who lead us into the future.
"Ruthless Focus will spark a true revolution in your company as it has in ours. The examples and insights Tom Hall shares highlight the benefits of this simple, yet oftenoverlooked business strategy." Jason Lexell, President, Digital Harvest, Inc. "Ruthless Focus is the most important business book I have ever read. If you want to outperform your competition, read Ruthless Focus and apply the lessons-good luck without them." Chip Webster, President, Vistage Florida Why do so many companies seem to stall and stagnate while a relative few grow and prosper? What are the ingredients that combine to give some really successful growth companies long-term sustainable advantages? Why aren't more companies like them? Why do some organizations have great promise at the beginning but they quickly plateau? Does anyone stay small on purpose? Success and growth are not inevitable. In this book, you'll read about some companies who have been successful for decades. And you'll learn what sets them apart from the competition. We call it "Ruthless Focus." We'll show you companies that are successful for years by maintaining a Ruthless Focus on a single, simple, core strategy. Ruthless Focus drives out temptation and distraction. Ruthless Focus helps you concentrate your time and resources and people and innovation on coming up with ways to be grow profitably, and to design your organization to make it work.
The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever. START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
As organizations grow in volume and complexity, the demands on leadership change. The same old moves won't cut it any more. In Chess Not Checkers, Mark Miller tells the story of Blake Brown, newly appointed CEO of a company troubled by poor performance and low morale. Nothing Blake learned from his previous roles seems to help him deal with the issues he now faces. The problem, his new mentor points out, is Blake is playing the wrong game. The early days of an organization are like checkers: a quickly played game with mostly interchangeable pieces. Everybody, the leader included, does a little bit of everything; the pace is frenetic. But as the organization expands, you can't just keep jumping from activity to activity. You have to think strategically, plan ahead, and leverage every employee's specific talents—that's chess. Leaders who continue to play checkers when the name of the game is chess lose. On his journey, Blake learns four essential strategies from the game of chess that transform his leadership and his organization. The result: unprecedented performance!
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.
Winning Without Waging War – the mother of all strategies. Winning Without Waging War (WWWW) are war tactics for the business and career battlefields. In this book, hidden secrets taught by the masters and gurus of Zen methods, magic mantras realized by the author, an exponent of the art of business war, while facing challenging business and career environments are REVEALED. This book is the convergence of four different arts—Know your Enemy, Know Yourself, Know your Terrain (Situations), Know your Divinity. It is written as a workbook for easy practice to obtain an exponential benefit. This book facilitates the identification of one’s business enemy in the market or career enemy within the corporate. It grooms professionals in playing offence and defence games applying deception techniques for surprise attacks to ensure unprecedented success in their work life. Some powerful techniques taught in this book include: How to become a leader right from day one? How a start-up can take on mammoth organizations? How an ignored professional can shoot into prominence by leveraging organizational politics? Overwhelming an interview panel to get that all-important job, using signalling techniques to get others to see your way, repositioning techniques for gaining a competitive edge in the market, Super Stretch Target setting, Divine Creative processes 1-2-3, and Tao leadership traits like being invisible but illuminating others are largely unknown to the world. This book not only explains these concepts in simple ways using illustrative case studies, but it also provides concrete action plans for effective application.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Never Eat Alone redefines collaboration with a radical new workplace operating system in which leadership no longer demands an office, an official title, or even a physical workplace. “An actionable methodology for any team to thrive during the decade of exponential change ahead.”—Peter H. Diamandis, founder of XPRIZE and Singularity University, bestselling co-author of Abundance, Bold, and The Future Is Faster Than You Think In times of stress, we have a choice: we can retreat further into our isolated silos, or we can commit to “going higher together.” When external pressures are mounting, and employees are working from far-flung locations across the globe, says bestselling author Keith Ferrazzi, we can no longer afford to waste time navigating the complex chains of command or bureaucratic bottlenecks present in most companies. But when we choose the bold new methodology of co-elevation as our operating model, we unlock the potential to boost productivity, deepen commitment and engagement, and create a level of trust, mutual accountability, and purpose that exceeds what could have been accomplished under the status quo. And you don’t need any formal authority to do it. You simply have to marshal a commitment to a shared mission and care about the success and development of others as much as you care about your own. Regardless of your title, position, or where or how you work, the ability to lead without authority is an essential workplace competency. Here, Ferrazzi draws on over a decade of research and over thirty years helping CEOs and senior leaders drive innovation and build high-performing teams to show how we can all turn our colleagues and partners into teammates and truly reboot the way we work together.
The dangerous work of leading change--somebody has to do it. Will you put yourself on the line? To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life. It requires putting yourself on the line, disrupting the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership experts Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "taken out" or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether you're a parent or a politician, a CEO or a community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Lead your company to success in the New Industrial Revolution! The world of business has completely transformed in recent years—and the pace of change will only increase in coming years. But one thing remains the same: Quality leadership is the hinge on which the fate of every organization swings. The Leadership Mind Switch provides the critical lessons you need to lead your company in a fully globalized business world where radical technologies reign supreme. Debra Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford have helped some of today’s most top executives successfully position themselves and their companies for the future. Now, in this groundbreaking leadership guide, they share their insight with you. Learn how to effectively lead a workforce that: Is rich in demographic texture—representing as many as four different generations Has varying—and sometimes conflicting—expectations of the company Operates with different ideas about what success looks like Uses, approaches, and even understands technology in different ways The answers to these questions and many others are all here. You’ll learn how to be the kind of leader who is both firm in his or her decisions but maintains an air of approachability. You’ll learn how to drive high productivity while keeping your workers happy and satisfied in their jobs. And you’ll learn how to embrace new technologies without sacrificing the human touch—which is the hallmark of great leadership. It will take unprecedented levels of agility, confidence, and fearlessness to lead into the future. Make the leadership mind switch to seize the competitive edge now in order to drive profits and growth tomorrow.
