The key to understanding how your manager calculates your real value—and how to boost it More than anything else, you need to understand exactly how your employer evaluates you, and your annual performance review doesn’t tell the whole story. In The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace, Cy Wakeman shows how to calculate how your true value to your organization by understanding your current and future potential against your “emotional expense”—the toll your actions and attitudes take on the people around you. With Cy’s clear, straight-to-the-point advice, you can confront and reduce your emotional costliness, become an invaluable member of your team, and even learn to love your job again. Reveals a formula for measuring your current performance, future potential, and the biggest detractor, your emotional expense Shares real-world advice for quickly boosting your value and becoming a highly-valued, sought after employee and teammate Builds on the lessons in Reality-Based Leadership, Cy Wakeman’s first book for leaders and managers The Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace is the essential guide for boosting your value, owning your career, and becoming the kind of employee no organization can afford to lose.

12: The Elements of Great Managing is the 2006 sequel to 1999’s First, Break All the Rules, written by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. Based on Gallup’s proprietary Q12 survey from the mid-1990s, 12 follows great managers as they harness employee engagement to turn around a failing call center, save a struggling hotel, improve patient care in a hospital, maintain production through power outages, and successfully face a host of other challenges in settings around the world.

In her latest book, Sandy Dumont shares her 30 years experience and outlines how to create a Signature Image and avoid the typical image pitfalls that stifle success for so many. This anthology is co-authored with best-selling authors Stephen Covey (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), Dr. Tony Alessandra (The New Art of Managing People), & Patricia Fripp (Award-winning Professional Keynote Speaker). Sandy Dumont, Covey, Alessandra, & Fripp, are joined by other well known authors and speakers, each offering time-tested strategies for success in frank and intimate interviews. Sandy is the author of numerous books, DVDs and boxed sets on the subject of image, including her “7-Day Makeover” duo of books – one for women and one for men.

No matter how much repeat business you get from loyal customers, the lifeblood of your business is a constant flow of new accounts. Packed with tested strategies and anecdotes, New Sales. Simplified. offers a proven formula for prospecting, developing, and closing deals. With refreshing honesty and some much-needed humor, sales expert Mike Weinberg examines the critical mistakes made by most salespeople and executives, then provides tips to help you achieve the opposite results. In New Sales. Simplified., you will learn how to: Identify a strategic list of genuine prospects Draft a compelling, customer focused “sales story” Perfect the proactive telephone call to get face to face with more prospects Use email, voicemail, and social media to your advantage Prepare for and structure a winning sales call Make time in your calendar for business development activities New Sales. Simplified. is about overcoming and even preventing buyers’ anti salesperson reflex by establishing trust. This book will help you choose the right targets and build a winning plan to pursue them. Named by Hubpot as a Top 20 Sales Book of All Time, this easy-to-follow guide will remove the mystery surrounding prospecting and have you ramping up for new business.

A practical guide to becoming the extraordinary person everyone always wanted to be. Here are the winning strategies, techniques, methods and thoughts that will inspire, empower and motivate anyone toward a better future. This book will make the reader laugh, it will make the reader cry, but mostly it will make the reader think. How to Soar is one of the few books on the market that truly challenges individuals to improve themselves, challenges them to be better in relationships, better in business, better overall human beings. It is essential reading for anyone who seeks success.

Based on a proven leadership model, Everybody Leads shows how leadership can be found in uncommon places and reveals how to inspire and cultivate the leadership of those focused on social change. It shows how to take responsibility to work with developing leaders to make a difference and outlines the five key leadership values. Sponsored by Public Allies, the book helps leaders to connect across cultures, facilitate collaborative action, recognize and mobilize all of a community’s assets, continuously learn, and be accountable to those they work with and those they serve.

At last, a complete business plan guide just for independentconsultants! . . . And who better to write it than North America’s#1 bestselling author on consulting? Unlike most general business plan books that focus on raisingcapital and applying for loans, this unique do-it-yourself guideconcentrates on defining services and products. Written by HermanHoltz, the nation’s leading expert on making it as an independentconsultant, it tells you everything you need to know to develop arealistic, workable business plan that prepares you for anycontingency and helps guide your day-to-day decision making as yourbusiness flourishes and grows. Numerous illustrations andworksheets guide your every step and save you the drudgery ofstarting from scratch. This book covers all business planningtopics of crucial concern to consultants, including: * Defining your products or services * Market research and sales strategies * Rate structures and income projections * Worksheets to help you create objectives and set goals * Sample business plan

Leadership strategies grounded in reality and focused on results Recent polls show that 71% of workers think about quitting their jobs every day. That number would be shocking-if people actually were quitting. Worse, they go to work, punching time clocks and collecting pay checks, while completely checked out emotionally. In Reality-Based Leadership, expert Fast Company blogger Cy Wakeman reveals how to be the kind of leader who changes the way people think about and perceive their circumstances-one who deals with the facts, clarifies roles, gives clear and direct feedback, and insists that everyone do the same-without drama or defensiveness.Filled with dynamic examples, innovative tools, and diagnostic tests, this book shows you how to become a Reality-Based Leader, revealing how to: Uncover destructive thought patterns with yourself and others Diffuse drama and lead the person in front of you Stop managing and start leading, empowering others to focus on facts and think for themselves Equipped with a facts-based, confident approach, you will free yourself from the frustrations you face at work and transform yourself into a Reality-Based Leader, with the ability to liberate and inspire others.

For years now, leaders in almost every industry have accepted two completely false assumptions–that change is hard, and that engagement drives results. Those beliefs have inspired expensive attempts to shield employees from change, involve them in high-level decision-making, and keep them happy with endless “satisfaction surveys” and workplace perks. But what these engagement programs actually do, Cy Wakeman says, is inflate expectations and sow unhappiness, leaving employees unprepared to adapt to even minor changes necessary to the organization’s survival. Rather than driving performance and creating efficiencies, these programs fuel entitlement and drama, costing millions in time and profit. It is high time to reinvent leadership thinking. Stop worrying about your employees’ happiness, and start worrying about their accountability. Cy Wakeman teaches you how to hire “emotionally inexpensive” people, solicit only the opinions you need, and promote self-awareness in your whole team. No Ego disposes with unproven HR maxims, and instead offers a complete plan to turn your office from a den of discontent to a happy, productive place.

From The One Minute Manager to Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard’s books have helped millions of people unleash their power and the potential of everyone around them. The Ken Blanchard Companies has helped thousands of organizations become more people-oriented, customer-centered, and performance-driven. Now, in Leading at a Higher Level, Updated Edition, Blanchard and his colleagues bring together everything they’ve learned about world-class leadership. You’ll discover how to create targets and visions based on the “triple bottom line”…and make sure people know who you are, where you’re going, and the values that will guide your journey. From start to finish, this book extends Blanchard’s breakthrough work on delivering legendary customer service, creating “raving fans,” and building “Partnerships for Performance” that empower everyone who works for and with you. Updated throughout, this new edition contains two powerful, important new chapters: one on coaching to create higher-level leaders, and another on creating a higher-level culture throughout your organization. It also offers the definitive, most up-to-date techniques for leading yourself, individuals, teams, and entire organizations. Most importantly, it will help you dig deep within, discover the personal “leadership point of view” all great leaders possess-and apply it throughout your entire life.

Many of the greatest accomplishments can only be reached by two people working together. Tenzing and Hillary were first to scale Everest. Malone and Stockton were the key to each other’s success on the basketball court. Eisner was never as effective at Disney without Wells. But while some partnerships reach great heights, others fall short. Why do some people click while others clash? What do great pairs have in common? And what can you learn from the most powerful partnerships to strengthen collaboration in your work and personal life? Based on Gallup’s groundbreaking research, Power of 2 details the eight elements that prepare partners to succeed in their most important endeavors. Gallup shares the science and the secrets of successful collaboration. Mixing key insights about human nature, field-tested discoveries and inspiring stories of partnerships that reached the pinnacle, Power of 2 will change the way you think about working with someone else.

Management consulting firm The Gallup Organization has drawn on its extensive research in two previous bestsellers, First, Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths. Now, this new guide reveals groundbreaking new findings and methods that can lead to a quantum leap in cost efficiencies and profits. The world’s greatest organizations know that their most valuable resource is human—their employees and customers. And the best companies understand two important facts: people are emotional first and rational second, and because of that, employees and customers must be emotionally engaged in order for the organization to reach its full potential. Gallup research not only bears that out, but has uncovered the secrets of creating and managing an “emotional economy” that will provide boom possibilities for your company. Follow this Path shows you how the traditional ways to engage people no longer apply in today’s world. Instead, it offers a system it calls The Gallup Path, based on the proven, revolutionary strategies of the most successful businesses. You’ll: learn the prerequisites of an effective workplace forge unbreakable bonds between employees and customers with 34 Routes to Superior Performance know the three crucial links that drive productivity and growth discover the best employee and customer motivators, and much more

How did you feel after your last interaction with another person? Did that person — your spouse, best friend, coworker, or even a stranger — “fill your bucket” by making you feel more positive? Or did that person “dip from your bucket,” leaving you more negative than before? The #1 New York Times and #1 BusinessWeek bestseller, How Full Is Your Bucket? reveals how even the briefest interactions affect your relationships, productivity, health, and longevity. Organized around a simple metaphor of a dipper and a bucket, and grounded in 50 years of research, this book will show you how to greatly increase the positive moments in your work and your life — while reducing the negative. Filled with discoveries, powerful strategies, and engaging stories, How Full Is Your Bucket? is sure to inspire lasting changes and has all the makings of a timeless classic.

Much of what we think will improve our wellbeing is either misguided or just plain wrong. Contrary to what many people believe, wellbeing isn’t just about being happy. Nor is it only about being wealthy or successful. And it’s certainly not limited to physical health and wellness. In fact, focusing on any of these elements in isolation may drive us to frustration and even a sense of failure. When striving to improve our lives, we are quick to buy into programs that promise to help us make money, lose weight, or strengthen our relationships. While it might be easier to treat these critical areas in our lives as if they operate independently, they don’t. Gallup’s comprehensive study of people in more than 150 countries revealed five universal, interconnected elements that shape our lives: The Five Essential Elements Career Wellbeing Social Wellbeing Financial Wellbeing Physical Wellbeing Community Wellbeing Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements will provide you with a holistic view of what contributes to your wellbeing over a lifetime. Written in a conversational style by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath and bestselling author Jim Harter, Ph.D., this book is filled with fascinating research and novel ideas for boosting your wellbeing in each of these five areas.

This book takes the reader through a journey of how fear of loss progressively creates barriers and bureaucracy that inevitably cause companies to fail — and what leaders need to do to overcome these seemingly impenetrable walls.

Human Sigma offers an innovative, research-based approach to one of the toughest challenges businesses face today: how to effectively manage the employee-customer encounter to drive business success. Based on research spanning 10 million employees and 10 million customers around the world, the Human Sigma approach combines a proven method for assessing the health of the employee-customer encounter with a disciplined process for improving it.

What separates the greatest managers from all the rest? They actually have vastly different styles and backgrounds. Yet despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They don’t hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom. They don’t believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They don’t try to help people overcome their weaknesses. And, yes, they even play favorites.

Drawing on 75 years of Gallup studies and his own perspective as the company’s chairman and CEO, Jim Clifton explains why jobs are the new global currency for leaders. More than peace or money or any other good, the business, government, military, city, and village leaders who can create good jobs will own the future. The problem is that leaders don’t know how to create jobs, especially in America. What they should do is recognize that the world is in a war for jobs. It seems that leadership has lost the will to win, especially in America, but this is a competition for our lives. To win, leaders need to compete. Everyone does. The public school system needs to inculcate kids with the knowledge they’ll need to compete in the jobs war. The business community needs to double the psychological engagement of workers so that it can compete with cheaper labor. The healthcare system must stop wasting the resources that we need to spend on job competition. Society needs to realize that entrepreneurs, not government, are the source of new jobs and put all its energy behind them. Perhaps most importantly, leaders need to recognize universities, mentors, and especially cities as a supercollider for job creation. If that can be done – and it can be done, leaders have done it before – new good jobs will result. There’s not moment to waste: the war has already begun.

Change management used to be one of those abstract concepts relegated to business conferences and academic seminars – a nice-to-know topic for discussion, but hardly vital to success. Well, could change have become more real, or more relevant, this past decade? Decade of Change features insights and wisdom into how to manage, and make the most of, change. Vinton Cerf, co-creator of the Internet, peers into the Web’s future. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman probes the nature of decision making. Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, the Hurricane Katrina hero, offers leadership lessons he applied in that crisis. Visionary executive Ray Anderson makes a powerful business case for environmental sustainability. And a host of other executives and thinkers tackle everything from easing the fear of layoffs to promoting wellbeing in the workplace to building customer engagement amid the post-crash “new normal.” You’ll hear from some of the best business and organizational minds in these minutes. They steered leaders through the various crises of the past decade and helped find a way forward to what we all hope will be a brighter and more prosperous future. Decade of Change is more than a look backward – it is a roadmap for what lies ahead.

Your career coach, in a box – a deck of cards that will help you crush your goals. Solve problems Manage projects flawlessly Brainstorm fresh solutions Make smarter decisions Think the way really, really smart people think! A box of 48 powerful ideas to help reframe your thinking and see the world through a new lens. The Unstuck Box contains principles from Dwight Eisenhower to Warren Buffett to David Lee Roth. And the ideas apply to just about everything, from business to parenting to managing your own life. Features 5 categories: Strategic Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Project Management and Leadership.

This deck contains 100 thought-provoking prompts every high-performer should think about, whether you’re in a team or leading it: Understand your colleagues better Build trust among your team Make people happier at work Improve motivation immediately Become a world-class leader! If you’re a manager, you know that getting the best from every team member should be your number one priority. Sometimes, better communication is all it takes. The Unstuck Box: One to Ones contains 100 thought-provoking questions which will help you get the most out of your team. They’ll help you to uncover areas of neglect, frustration and resentment which can build up and cause long-term problems. Each question has been posed by management experts to cover the core areas where you and your team need to be on the same page: weekly one-to-one checkins, career development, upwards feedback, new joiner onboarding, team building and health and wellbeing. Building on ideas from Google, Harvard Business School and London Business School, this box will transform the way you and your team talk with each other.

The right workshop at the right time. How do you know what workshop to run, and when? You’ll always choose the right approach with our Workshop Strategy System. A simple set of questions helps you find the most useful category of tactics. It’s the perfect tool to help you plan your first session when you aren’t sure where to begin, or to get unstuck if you feel lost in the middle of a project.

We’ve got all ingredients you’ll ever need to craft an effective story, no matter the circumstance. They’re in one beautifully designed place: The Storyteller Tactics Card Deck. Storyteller Tactics contains 54 frameworks, prompts and exercises to help you confidently tell great stories about your work.