Books

Brief Summary The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do Whether you want to win that new account or inspire your family and friends, bestselling author and acclaimed speaker Mark Sanborn shows us how to make every performance count. Every day, we are called to perform— at work, at home, in our communities. But is it possible to make every performance outstanding, the kind that leaves people applauding for an encore? Mark Sanborn, leadership expert and bestselling author of The Fred Factor, says that anyone can achieve remarkable performance time after time—no matter what their personality, strengths, or weaknesses. In The Encore Effect Sanborn demonstrates, through his own experiences as well as those of the people he’s worked with in his career, how you can cultivate the traits shared by remarkable performers and achieve extraordinary results in all aspects of your life. The secrets lie in five steps: • Passion: The fuel for remarkable performance • Prepare: How remarkable performance begins • Practice: It won’t make you perfect, but it will make you better • Perform: How to engage your audience • Polish: Making your performance shine Whether your "stage” is an office, a sales floor, the boardroom, or your own home, Sanborn’s sound advice and rousing encouragement will help you shine in every situation where it matters most. ISBN:9780385519052 Author:Mark Sanborn

Brief Summary The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future A forceful argument against America's vicious circle of growing inequality by the Nobel Prize–winning economist. America currently has the most inequality, and the least equality of opportunity, among the advanced countries. While market forces play a role in this stark picture, politics has shaped those market forces. In this best-selling book, Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz exposes the efforts of well-heeled interests to compound their wealth in ways that have stifled true, dynamic capitalism. Along the way he examines the effect of inequality on our economy, our democracy, and our system of justice. Stiglitz explains how inequality affects and is affected by every aspect of national policy, and with characteristic insight he offers a vision for a more just and prosperous future, supported by a concrete program to achieve that vision. ISBN:9780393345063 Author:Joseph E. Stiglitz

Brief Summary Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask Many leaders are unaware of the amazing power of questions. Our conversations may be full of requests and demands, but all too often we are not asking for honest and informative answers, and we don’t know how to listen effectively to responses. When leaders start encouraging questions from their teams, however, they begin to see amazing results. Knowing the right questions to ask—and the right way to listen—will give any leader the skills to perform well in any situation, effectively communicate a vision to the team, and achieve lasting success across the organization. Thoroughly revised and updated, Leading with Questions will help you encourage participation and teamwork, foster outside-the-box thinking, empower others, build relationships with customers, solve problems, and more. Michael Marquardt reveals how to determine which questions will lead to solutions to even the most challenging issues. He outlines specific techniques of active listening and follow-up, and helps you understand how questions can improve the way you work with individuals, teams, and organizations. This new edition of Leading with Questions draws on interviews with thirty leaders, including eight whose stories are new to this edition. These interviews tell stories from a range of countries, including Singapore, Guyana, Korea, and Switzerland, and feature case studies from prominent firms such as DuPont, Alcoa, Novartis, and Cargill. A new chapter on problem-solving will help you apply questions to your toughest situations as a leader, and anew "Questions for Reflection” section at the end of each chapter will help you bring Marquardt’s message into all of your work as a leader. Now more than ever, Leading with Questions is the definitive guide for becoming a stronger leader by identifying—and asking—the right questions. ISBN:9781118658130 Author:Michael J. Marquardt

Brief Summary To Steve Jobs, Simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Simplicity isn’t just a design principle at Apple—it’s a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011. Thanks to Steve Jobs’s uncompromising ways, you can see Simplicity in everything Apple does: the way it’s structured, the way it innovates, and the way it speaks to its customers. It’s by crushing the forces of Complexity that the company remains on its stellar trajectory. As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple’s resurrection, helping to create such critical marketing campaigns as Think different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come. Segall has a unique perspective, given his years of experience creating campaigns for other iconic tech companies, including IBM, Intel, and Dell. It was the stark contrast of Apple’s ways that made Segall appreciate the power of Simplicity—and inspired him to help others benefit from it. In Insanely Simple, you’ll be a fly on the wall inside a conference room with Steve Jobs, and on the receiving end of his midnight phone calls. You’ll understand how his obsession with Simplicity helped Apple perform better and faster, sometimes saving millions in the process. You’ll also learn, for example, how to: • Think Minimal: Distilling choices to a minimum brings clarity to a company and its customers—as Jobs proved when he replaced over twenty product models with a lineup of four. • Think Small: Swearing allegiance to the concept of "small groups of smart people” raises both morale and productivity. • Think Motion: Keeping project teams in constant motion focuses creative thinking on well-defined goals and minimizes distractions. • Think Iconic: Using a simple, powerful image to symbolize the benefit of a product or idea creates a deeper impression in the minds of customers. • Think War: Giving yourself an unfair advantage—using every weapon at your disposal—is the best way to ensure that your ideas survive unscathed. Segall brings Apple’s quest for Simplicity to life using fascinating (and previously untold) stories from behind the scenes. Through his insight and wit, you’ll discover how companies that leverage this power can stand out from competitors—and individuals who master it can become critical assets to their organizations. ISBN:9781591844839 Author:Ken Segall

Brief Summary The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last For decades Tom Peters has been preaching the gospel of putting people first, and in today's rapidly changing business environment, this message is more important than ever. With his unparalleled expertise and inimitable charisma, Peters offers brilliantly simple, actionable guidelines for success that any business leader can immediately implement. He provides a roadmap for your organization and for you as an individual to thrive amidst the tech tsunami, and he has a lot of fun doing it. The Excellence Dividend is an important new book from one of today’s greatest business thinkers. ISBN:9780525434627 Author:Tom Peters