MOVE YOUR ORGANIZATION AHEAD

Here's a list of books we've selected on key business topics in the areas of Leading, Selling and Performing.

LEADING

Reality Check

by Guy Kawasaki

If the two most popular words in your company are "partner" and "strategic," and "partner" has become a verb, and "strategic" is used to describe decisions and activities that don't make sense, it's time for a reality check. Reality Check is a compilation of Guy's best wit, wisdom, and contrarian opinions in handy book form. From competition to customer service, innovation to marketing, he shows readers how to ignore fads and foolishness while sticking to commonsense practices.

This is a mere sampling of the book's topics:

• How to get a standing ovation
• The art of schmoozing
• How to create a community
• The top ten lies of entrepreneurs

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
A Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics and team failure.

This gripping fable centers on Kathryn Petersen, an old-school CEO who comes out of retirement to accept the monumental task of transforming a dysfunctional group of high profile, egocentric executives into a cohesive and effective team. With an amazing gift for building teams, Kathryn forces her colleagues to confront the behavioral pitfalls that destroy most teams and adopt the five characteristics of a truly cohesive one.

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Leading Innovation

by Brian McDermott

The talent, creativity and passion of people in an organization are its best source of growth. But how can leaders create an environment of perpetual innovation — where everyone is committed to excellence? This handbook for leaders shows HOW to create a culture and mindset of innovation based on proven, immediately applicable advice. You'll read stories from major client companies, understand the LOOP model (Linkage, Obstacles, Opportunities, Plans), go through the five-step process for fostering perpetual innovation, and gain assessment tools. Exercises, models, and case studies make it a gem of a book for all leaders.

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SELLING

Get Real Selling

by Keith Hawk and Michael Boland

This book is truly like a sales coach: it's based on broad experience, with a clear point of view and philosophy that set it apart — it's practical and asks a lot of you. The short chapters focus on mindset and values, but you also get practical tips that come from deep experience in the real world. And the unique Not Real chapters make you question yourself and confront unprofessional sales practices that are often ignored or minimized.

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Selling the Invisible

by Harry Beckwith

A treasury of hundreds of quick, practical, and easy-to-read strategies — few are more than a page long — Selling the Invisible will open your eyes to new ideas in this crucial branch of marketing including why focus groups, value-price positioning, discount pricing, and being the best usually fail; the critical emotion that most influences your prospects — and how to deal with it; the vital role of vividness, focus, "anchors," and stereotypes; the importance of Halo, Cocktail Party, and Lake Wobegon Effects; marketing lessons from black holes, grocery lists, the Hearsay Rule, and the fame of Pikes Peak; dozens of proven yet consistently over-looked ideas for research, presentations, publicity, advertising, and client retention...and much more.

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Changing the Game: The New Way to Sell

by Larry Wilson

We are in the midst of one of the most turbulent and competitive periods in the history of selling. There are more players in the game, and the game is far mole complex. Customers want innovation. They want custom-made solutions to their problems, and they want them now. The risks are greater, but so are the opportunities and rewards.

In Changing the Game, Larry Wilson draws on his thirty years of experience as a thinker and innovator in selling. He was founder of the Wilson Learning Corporation, one of the largest sales training organizations in the world, and coauthor of the business bestseller The One-Minute Salesperson with Dr. Spencer Johnson.

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PERFORMING

The Hamster Revolution

by Mike Song

Is email taking over your life? Meet Harold, an HR director so overwhelmed by email he feels like a hamster on a wheel.

Just in time, Harold meets a coach-a leading expert on email efficiency and etiquette with a simple system that helps Harold eliminate needless emails, write better messages, and file and find info in a flash. He gets immediate results-and reclaims his life. The Hamster Revolution is chock-full of practical advice that really works. Included is a landmark case study that shows how 2,000 Capital One associates cut their email time by 23 percent while improving overall email quality by 52 percent. Professionals waste up to a month per year on email-costing their companies billions in missed opportunities.

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Even Eagles Need a Push

by David McNally

Discover your strengths, live your dreams! Let go of fear. Discover your true sense of purpose. Live the life you've only imagined! Why does the thrill of soaring begin with the fear of falling? How can you overcome that fear and dare to live? Let David McNally lead you on an extraordinary journey of discovery that takes you from motivation to inspiration to action. Be prepared to work! In this book, you write the ending. Read fascinating anecdotes, stories, personal revelations; practice the meditations, self-assessment exercises, affirmations, and keep track in your journal as you discover the power of your potential and begin to soar.

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The Skilled Facilitator

by Roger Schwarz

Written for consultants, facilitators, managers, leaders, trainers, and coaches, this book presents techniques for running meetings, theories of facilitation, ground rules for group interaction, diagnostic approaches to problem solving, skills for intervention, and examples of how each can be applied in different settings. Appendices include sample ground rules, planning letters, guidelines for contract negotiation, agreements for facilitation, experimental exercises, questions of co-facilitators, and the like.

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