Knowledge - Books

High-Maintenance Employees is the first book to give managers detailed guidance on how to get the best out of high-maintenance high-performers--visionary employees who are difficult to keep on track. Kathi Graham-Leviss has spent the last 20 years coaching companies on how to improve their results, and realized that the No. 1 problem facing companies was how to manage these essential employees.... [ read more ]

The CEO of Do Something explains what big businesses can-and should-learn from not-for-profits. Tough times have forced businesses to slash their headcount, marketing budgets, and other resources. Managers at small start-ups and Fortune 100 companies alike are now expected to do more with less-but how? No one is more qualified to answer that question than the leaders who always thrive on a shoestring. Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something and founder of Dress for Success, draws on her experiences as well as interviews with other "rock star" leaders of flourishing not-for- profits to show how to succeed with any size budget, staff, or network.... [ read more ]

Positive change can happen in sudden and profound leaps. Quantum Leap Thinking provides the foundation for breakthrough thinking that will trigger astonishing growth in your personal and professional life.... [ read more ]

Whether or not you have ever played a round of golf, 3 Off the Tee: Targeting Success, by business wunderkind Lorii Myers, takes you from the first hole through to the eighteenth to teach you how to make the most out of your business life and play the corporate game successfully. 3 Off the Tee focuses on learning to develop the right attitude and a smart work ethic. It's about your life in the workplace and making every day count. Do you know how to communicate fairly? Have you built an image that exudes confidence, is positive, and instills trust in others? Do you know how to break down barriers at the office? Whether it's day one on the job or decades into your career, Myers shows you how to develop a winning attitude, face your challenges head on, and make the most of your strengths. No matter the environment or how competitive the field, 3 Off the Tee will have you feeling challenged, inspired, and ready to take on the corporate world.... [ read more ]

"Selling to Big Companies" shows how to target accounts with the highest likelihood of success, find the names of prospects who can use your offering, and most importantly, get your company on the map. This book is good for entrepreneure in any industry.... [ read more ]

Until now, leadership has always been viewed as the purview of a select few - it seems to be more about the "what" these leaders want their subjects to do, rather than the "how-to." That's a mistake, says Vinay Nadig. In this persuasive and pragmatic new book, Vinay makes a case that (a) leadership is accessible to anyone and (b) leadership is a set of sustainable daily behaviors. He lays out a practical and instantly usable "leadership launch platform" in the form of 20 Leadership Secrets or techniques. These 20 secrets are the foundation of leadership as a way of life - the only real way to perform at an exceptional level. ... [ read more ]

High Performance Marketing is a guide for businesses who are facing a fundamental shift in marketing that involves information resources, organizational structures, technology, and communication. With interviews with Fortune 500 companies and a number of anecdotes and statistics, this book is perfect for any person in a leadership position.... [ read more ]

The vertical/functional hierarchy has been the mainstay of business since the industrial revolution. But it has its problems. In fact, the vertical design all but guarantees fragmented tasks, overspecialization, fiefdoms, turf wars, the urge to control from the top--all the negatives that foster organizational paralysis. In The Horizontal Organization, Frank Ostroff provides executives with the first truly viable alternative to the age-old vertical alignment. Indeed, he offers nothing less than the first full view of what the organization of the future looks like and how it works.... [ read more ]

Emotional Branding discusses how to access, with intelligence and sensitivity, the true power behind human emotions. It shows how to bring a new level of credibility and personality to a brand by connecting with your consumer. ... [ read more ]

Once revolutionary, loyalty programs designed to differentiate products quickly became commoditized. And yet, billions of dollars are still spent every year on programs that are doomed to fail. These programs, it turns out, don't inspire long-term loyalty. Once a better deal comes along, customers will gladly defect. Can you blame them? Silicon Valley start-up Bunchball, the pioneer and innovator in gamification, is light years ahead when it comes to the concept of loyalty--and using it to drive business profits and growth. Focusing not only on customer loyalty, but also the loyalty of employees and partners, Bunchball combines behavioral economics, big data, social media, and gamification to inspire loyalty that lasts--from everyone involved in the success of a business.... [ read more ]

With their national bestseller The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann took the business world by storm, showing that giving is the most fulfilling and effective path to success. That simple, profound story has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers around the world-but some have wondered how its lessons stand up to the tough challenges of everyday real-world business. Now Burg and Mann answer that question in Go-Givers Sell More, a practical guide that makes giving the cornerstone of a powerful and effective approach to selling. ... [ read more ]

"Why Customers Do What They Do" discusses branding, marketing, and sales strategies in order to give managers the ability to anticipate the needs, wants, and desires of today's consumer. This book is helpful for anyone involved in the selling of services or products.... [ read more ]

In a radical break with the past, information now flows like water, and we must learn how to tap into its stream. Individuals and companies can no longer rely on the stocks of knowledge that they’ve carefully built up and stored away. Information now flows like water, and we must learn how to tap into the stream. But many of us remain stuck in old practices—practices that could undermine us as we search for success and meaning. In this revolutionary book, three doyens of the Internet age, whose path-breaking work has made headlines around the world, reveal the adjustments we must make if we take these changes seriously. In a world of increasing risk and opportunity, we must understand the importance of pull. Understood and used properly, the power of pull can draw out the best in people and institutions by connecting them in ways that increase understanding and effectiveness. Pull can turn uncertainty into opportunity, and enable small moves to achieve outsized impact. ... [ read more ]

Marketing to Hispanics discusses challenges, benefits, research, and strategy necessary to successfully target thd diverse Hispanic market. This book contains the tools and business practices that are often overlooked when marketing to his population. ... [ read more ]

SmartStorming: The Game-Changing Process for Generating Bigger, Better Ideas is one of the most comprehensive how-to manuals and idea generation toolkits ever published on the subject of brainstorming. It can help anyone learn how to consistently plan and lead highly effective brainstorms, and unleash the creative problem-solving genius of any group! Readers are introduced to a totally new approach to group ideation. Not just another creative-thinking technique, SmartStorming is a powerful brainstorming system, combining the essential structure, leadership skills, tools, and techniques necessary for success. ... [ read more ]

Renowned executive coaches and global leadership strategists Jane Hyun and Audrey S. Lee offer lessons on the vital skill of “Flexing”—the art of switching leadership styles to more effectively lead people who are different from you, allowing managers to successfully manage the multicultural workers of today and tomorrow. Flex offers a proactive strategy for managers to navigate and leverage diversity effectively in this new global economy, showing managers how to: understand the power gap, the social distance between you and those in the workplace of different cultures, ages, and gender; flex your management style, by stretching how you work and communicate with others, and bridging the gap with more effective communication, feedback tools and building healthy teams; and multiply the effect, by teaching these skills to others and closing the power gap with clients, customers, and partners to create innovative solutions.... [ read more ]

Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share discusses how companies are able to extract a profit potential of 1 to 3 percent of annual revenue by adopting a different approach. This book includes ways to identify new profit opportunities, base your marketing decisions on objective, thorough analysis rather than gut feeling, raise prices strategically, and much more. ... [ read more ]

Cracking the Culture Code demystifies the art and science of managing an organization’s culture. While culture is almost universally acknowledged as one of the primary keys to success there is rarely a strategy in place to measure, manage and monitor it. Libby Sartain and Brent Daily outline the ten steps to take control of your organization’s culture to create a high performing workforce without trying to change what makes your organization unique. This book gives the strategic executive the roadmap to align culture and the power to take culture out of the ‘touchy feely’ and into an objective, metrics-driven endeavor...and make it stick.... [ read more ]

A powerful guide to building a data-centric corporate culture that unleashes talent and improves engagement Amazon delights customers with recommendations that are spot on. Google amazes us by generating answers before we've even finished asking a question. These companies know who we are and what we want. The key to their magic is Big Data. Personalizing the consumer experience with the collection and analysis of consumer data is widely recognized as one of the biggest business opportunities of the 21st century. But there is a flip side to this that has largely been missed. What if we were able to use data about employees to personalize and customize their experience - to increase their engagement, help them learn faster on the job, and figure out which teams they should be on? In this book, Leerom and his colleagues outline the six principles they've used to decode work and unlock the maximum potential of their talent, and share success stories from other organizations that have embraced this approach. The Decoded Company is an actionable blueprint for any company that wants the best from its people, and isn't afraid of radical approaches to get it. ... [ read more ]

"The Complete Guide to Associate & Affiliate Programs on the Net" introduces readers to 100 partnership programs that will increase revenue by up to $2,000 per month. This book shows readers how to choose the associate/affiliate program that's right for their site, use web space provided by their ISP or online communitities, make links productive, steer traffic to their sites, and much more.... [ read more ]

"Consumer engagement" may be the most used phrase of this new marketing century, yet brands still struggle with how to define it, let alone actually achieve it. But any definition needs a starting point, and the Ideal for any product or service, the consumers' core of the world of brands, is where certain understanding of loyalty and engagement begins. Properly measured, the Ideal and how brands measure up against it is predictive of consumer behavior - 9 to 18 months before it shows up in the marketplace. In this book you will find validated case studies demonstrating how measuring the consumer's Ideal can be the most valuable benchmark you can have -- far exceeding any average of past performance, no matter how specific. And once you know the Ideal, you will know for certain what consumers think - as opposed to what they say they think - how they view the category in which you compete and how they will behave toward your brand. You will be able to predictively measure any marketing or communication effort: your brand, your brand in combination with various media platforms, programs or touch points, sponsorships, events, co-branding opportunities, and any brand advertising or marketing communication.... [ read more ]

Make Your Website Work for You discusses a practical, easy-to-follow business plan for profiting from the new sales opportunities on the internet. This book explains basic rules for online marketing and how to create content that drives consumers to your site, plus much more.... [ read more ]

How any manager can turn a struggling team into business champs In today's uncertain economic environment, teams are asked to do more with less. With resources stretched thin, turning around a struggling team has never been harder, and managers must work to identify and maximize whatever potential strengths a team already has. As sports fans already know, behind every great underdog story is a leader who roots out the competitive advantage that will propel the team to victory. In Team Turnarounds , Joe Frontiera and Dan Leidl share how this fine art of the turnaround really works, from how to inspire the team to the actual tools for change. Through interviews with team managers and turnaround masters in the NFL, MLB, and the NCAA, as well as managers at top global firms who have successfully reversed their fortunes, they show the six steps every team takes to make a 180 in their performance. * Presents a six-step model for turnarounds in any organization, based on the authors' extensive research with owners and general managers of sport franchises in the MLB, NFL, and NBA * Features first-hand accounts of sport turnarounds, from the legendary worst-to-first story of Bill Polian and the Indianapolis Colts to Jeffrey Lurie's efforts to transform the Philadelphia Eagles * Offers behind-the-scenes accounts of effective turnarounds at major organizations like Dominos Pizza, Juniper Networks, iContact, and the Broadway play, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark No matter how bad the circumstances, how awful the performance, or how far shares have plummeted, Team Turnarounds shows how any organization can make the climb back up to the top.... [ read more ]

Blur explores the emerging economic landscape where knowledge and imagination are more valubale than physical capital. Authors, Davis and Meyer, challenge readers to question their assumptions they know about business and to experiment at the edges of business.... [ read more ]

With a foreword by Jay Leno, how could this not be a nice book? Coauthors Thaler and Koval submit their own success in the cutthroat world of advertising as evidence that nice girls can finish first while taking home more than a dozen Clio awards along the way. Following up their bestselling look at creating compelling marketing strategies—Bang!—they turn most truisms about business inside out, arguing that good deeds are returned, not punished.... [ read more ]