A successful digital transformation must start with a conversational transformation. Today, software organizations are transforming the way work gets done through practices like Agile, Lean, and DevOps. But as commonly implemented as these methods are, many transformations still fail, largely because the organization misses a critical step: transforming their culture and the way people communicate. Agile Conversations brings a practical, step-by-step guide to using the human power of conversation to build effective, high-performing teams to achieve truly Agile results. Consultants Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick show readers how to utilize the Five Conversations to help teams build trust, alleviate fear, answer the “whys,” define commitments, and hold everyone accountable.These five conversations give teams everything they need to reach peak performance, and they are exactly what’s missing from too many teams today. Stop focusing on processes and practices that leave your organization stuck with culture-less rituals. Instead, unleash the unique human power of conversation.
Ah, the corporate world. A place where dreams go to die and Excel spreadsheets go to multiply. Or is it? What if I told you that beneath the surface of mind-numbing meetings and soul-crushing cubicles lies a secret world of corporate ninjas, silently shaping the fate of companies and careers alike? Welcome, dear reader, to "The Art of the Corporate Ninja: Succeeding in Business Without Losing Your Soul (or Your Mind)". If you've picked up this book, chances are you're either: A bright-eyed newcomer to the corporate jungle, eager to learn its ways (bless your heart) A battle-hardened veteran, wondering if there's more to life than TPS reports Someone who accidentally grabbed this instead of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (honest mistake, they're practically the same thing) Regardless of which category you fall into, strap in. You're about to embark on a journey that will transform you from a mere corporate drone into a lean, mean, PowerPoint-presenting machine. "In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love." - Warren Buffett Okay, that's a nice quote and all, but let's be real. Not all of us can be Warren Buffett, sipping on Cherry Coke while making billion-dollar decisions. Some of us are just trying to make it through the day without stapling our tie to important documents or falling asleep in a meeting about meetings. That's where the art of the corporate ninja comes in. This book will teach you how to: Navigate office politics with the stealth of a shadow Deliver presentations that don't put people to sleep (a true superpower) Master the art of looking busy while doing absolutely nothing Climb the corporate ladder without stepping on too many fingers And most importantly, maintain your sanity and sense of humor in a world gone mad But wait, there's more! Unlike other business books that take themselves way too seriously, this one comes with a healthy dose of sarcasm, pop culture references, and the occasional dad joke. Because let's face it, if you can't laugh at the absurdity of corporate life, you're in for a long, dreary career. So whether you're aiming for the corner office or just trying to survive until Friday, this book has something for you. It's part survival guide, part comedy routine, and part Zen koan (yes, really). By the time you're done, you'll be slicing through red tape with the precision of a samurai sword and deflecting pointless emails faster than Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix. A word of warning: reading this book may cause uncontrollable eye-rolling, sudden outbursts of laughter, and a strong desire to karate chop your keyboard. Side effects may include increased productivity, better work-life balance, and the ability to see through corporate BS from a mile away. Ready to unleash your inner corporate ninja? Turn the page, young grasshopper. Your journey to business badassery begins now. Oh, and if your boss catches you reading this at work, just tell them it's a very serious book about synergizing paradigms and leveraging core competencies. They'll either be impressed or so confused they'll leave you alone. Win-win. Now, let's begin our training. Hajime!
Transforming a company's digital product development capabilities is a monumental task that can leave even the most seasoned leaders feeling completely overwhelmed. Traditional approaches to training often fail to have their desired impact. Instead of transformation, you get piecemeal improvements that don't lead to significant change. Here's the truth: if you want learning that sticks, you need a dojo. In Creating Your Dojo, experienced dojo coaches Joel Tosi and Dion Stewart guide you through creating a dojo--an immersive learning environment-- within your organization. A dojo enables your teams to learn new skills within the context of their real-world work. You'll create a thriving product development culture where team members feel empowered to solve their own problems. Your organization will improve the quality of the products they deliver, reduce delivery cycle time, and create innovative products with better product/market fit.
A pioneering book on a new kind of leadership—one that draws on body awareness, ancient wisdom, and real-life corporate examples to empower the modern leader to “do well and do good at the same time" (James N. Baron, Yale School of Management). History is filled with accounts of great leaders, but how did they become so? Written for emergent leaders in any endeavor, this new work from renowned consultant Richard Strozzi-Heckler offers a new approach to leadership. The first book of its kind to base business and management strength on integral body awareness, the book presents key principles such as shugyo, or self-cultivation, as crucial in developing the individual responsibility, social commitment, and moral and spiritual vision required to lead with authority and efficacy. The Leadership Dojo is based on three questions: What does a leader do? What are the character values most essential to exemplary leadership? How do you teach these values? Drawing on the wisdom of ages from Plato to the Bhagavad-Gita, from Thucydides to the Abidharma, the book asserts that understanding and answering these questions holds the key to superior leadership skills. Strozzi-Heckler teaches with real-world examples based on his wide experience training decision-makers at companies like AT&T and Microsoft. The book’s multifaceted approach helps readers establish a powerful Leadership Presence, a platform from which they can take ethical action with compassion and pragmatic wisdom. “I would not dream of leading a team without relying on the teachings of Richard Strozzi-Heckler. It would be like skiing without the snow.” —Nancy J. Hutson, Senior Vice President, Pfizer Research & Development
For any woman who's ever felt burned out, beaten down, or needs a reminder of how powerful she is, third-degree black belt and motivational coach of ABC's "My Diet Is Better Than Yours" teaches a unique brand of badassery--how to get back up no matter what life throws at you; how to level up your mind, body and spirit; and how to turn your setbacks into secret weapons. Jennifer Cassetta is a nationally recognized keynote speaker, health and empowerment coach, and a 3rd-degree black belt in Hapkido. After a brush with death on September 11th, 2001, three blocks south of the World Trade Center and then fending off an attacker late one night months later, Jenn took a deep dive into martial arts training where she learned how to harness the power of mind, body, and spirit. Now she teaches women from colleges to corporations how to unleash their inner badass by using dojo wisdom as a metaphor for life. Whether the opponent is a financial hardship, a difficult boss, or being in a manipulative relationship, Cassetta teaches readers how to flex their mental muscle, how to rise above fears, and how to turn setbacks into superpowers. Through thought-provoking exercises and no-holds-barred humor, she shows women how to close the door on blame and shame; how to grow from their Greatest (S)Hits List of life disappointments; and how to disarm and defend against the blocks that hold them back. In life--just like in martial arts--we get pushed and pulled and kicked down. We get banged up and bruised and stretched to our limits. Cassetta champions women that while they may bend, they will not break, and that they have the power within them to rise up and stand tall. Chapter 1: WHITE BELT: Embrace the Suck Chapter 2: YELLOW BELT: Bounce Back Chapter 3: ORANGE BELT: Block the Bullshit Chapter 4: GREEN BELT: Find Your Roar Chapter 5: BLUE BELT: Elevate Your Energy Chapter 6: RED BELT: Connect with Your Warrior Within Chapter 7: BLACK BELT: Take the Lead
A guide to using pressure to be a better leader through principles of Zen Buddhism. Leaders today face nearly impossible tasks. Forced to do more with less, expand globally, innovate quickly, inspire broadly and—oh, yes—balance work and family. How can one manage all this pressure? The Zen Leader does not encourage you simply to “be peaceful.” Neither does it suggest you work harder, faster, or ignore the pressure. Quite the opposite: it’s about using the pressure to propel “flips” in consciousness that create transformational leaders, leaders who create the future with joy and enthusiasm, rather than drive themselves and their people to exhaustion. The Zen Leader guides you through ten “flips” that take you from barely managing to mastering change—not by doing more, zoning out, or pretending you have all the answers. Chapter by chapter, you’ll learn how to make the “flips” that reframe your life, your leadership, and your world. Discover how you can get out of your own way and realize the Zen Leader in you. Praise for The Zen Leader “The Zen Leader provides a calm and reassuring voice—telling us what is important about leadership and about ourselves. She distills leadership to its essence, and offers simple, easily understandable tools for any current or aspiring leader to understand, use, and build on his or her own natural gifts.” —David Dotlich, chairman of Pivot and coauthor of Why CEOs Fail; Head, Heart, and Guts; and other books on leadership “The chapter entitled “From Controlling to Connecting” will change how you interact with others, and will enrich your life. You will see the vision of what you want our world to be and help strengthen the business connections we all need.” —Blythe McGarvie, author of Shaking the Globe “Before you can effectively lead others, you must be able to control yourself first. Dr. Whitelaw invites us on a journey of self-discovery using easy-to-follow exercises. By learning to experience for yourself the power of a unified mind and body, you will begin to taste your full potential.” —David Shaner, author of The Seven Arts of Change
Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.
This book provides a comparative study of human resource management, employment relations, and production systems in automobile factories in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). It compares the experiences of two major multinational companies, Volkswagen and Toyota, as well as of domestic automobile manufacturers.
From one of the world's preeminent leadership coaches, an insightful, indispensable guide to effective leadership. For the first time, leadership expert Jeffrey Hull shares the secrets, strategies, and science underlying his, and his clients', successes. Interweaving real-life stories with practical tips and the latest evidence-based research, he equips readers with the insights they need to thrive in today's world. We are in the age of the postheroic leader. Once, to move up the corporate ladder and succeed at the top, you simply had to set goals, motivate the troops, delegate to underlings, and groom a successor--probably one who looked and behaved just like you. But this white knight has become an anachronism. Whether a person is twenty-five or fifty, if they're leading a team now, chances are that they're managing a kaleidoscope of people from a variety of cultures, across a range of ages, all of whom are wired together 24/7. These changing demographics and structures have led to a seismic shift in terms of the tools needed to successfully manage and grow within a company: charisma and strategic thinking abilities now matter less than qualities such as vulnerability and relatability. Based on his popular classes with Harvard Medical School physicians and New York University business students, Hull has identified the six key elements that leaders in this new workplace need to succeed, known as F.I.E.R.C.E.: Flexibility, Intentionality, Emotional Intelligence, Realness, Collaboration, and Engagement. From start-ups to universities to Fortune 500 companies, he's been able to help leaders across the board develop the skill sets that have advanced their careers and won them accolades.
