Staff Picks

Clear, actionable steps for you to build new values, experiences, and perspectives into your organizational culture, infusing it with the diversity, inclusion, and belonging employees need to feel accepted, be their best selves, and do their best work.

Bypass the faulty processes and communication styles that make change impossible in so many other organizations; access these practical tools and ideas for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in your company.

Filled with actionable advice Alida Miranda-Wolff learned through her own struggles being an outsider in a work culture that did not value inclusion, and having since worked with over 60 organizations to prioritize DEI initiatives and all the value and richness it adds to the workplace, this roadmap helps leaders:

• Learn why creating an environment where everyone feels belonging is the new barometer for employee engagement.
• Develop an understanding of the key terms around DEI and why they matter.
• Assess where your organization is today.
• Define and take the small steps that build new muscle memory into an organizational culture.
• Increase employee engagement, collaboration, innovation, communication, and sense of belonging.
• Build confidence in how to solve future DEI-related challenges.
• Get buy-in from colleagues (and even resisters) who can clearly see how to move forward and why.

Overcome any limiting work environment and build all new processes and communication priorities that allow your employees to be a part of something greater than themselves while your organization learns to value and embrace the unique experiences and perspective that each employee brings to the company.

"This book is one of the most worthwhile and immediately usable reads I have come across in a long time." -Kiplinger

Want to stand out from the crowd? We have studied 30,000 top leaders and have discovered the 12 habits they share that make them as rare as a unicorn. Learn these habits, and you'll be one of the best at whatever you do!

How do I stand out? How do I become irreplaceable? With a crowded workforce, an unstable job landscape, and the rise of AI, these questions are the ones that everyone either is or should be asking.

William Vanderbloemen has asked these questions over the past 15 years while running one of the world's top executive search firms. Through extensive research of over 30,000 top leaders and proprietary data, Vanderbloemen has identified the 12 habits that the best of the best have in common. Traits such as authenticity, responsiveness, agility, and the ability to problem solve, among others.

Each habit includes information on What We Know (the hard data behind why the habit is so transformative), What We've Seen (first-hand accounts by high-achieving professionals on how they live the habit), and What We Do (simple ways to build this habit into your daily routine). Be the Unicorn will help you:

• Discover the top twelve soft skills the most successful leaders, the top 1%, have.
• Understand how to develop these soft skills in your own life for better job success.
• Learn how to apply soft skills to interpersonal relationships outside of work.
• Understand how these soft skills can be applied in different work environments and job fields, especially with the rise of AI technology.

From the bestselling author of The Speed of Trust, a revolutionary new way to lead, deemed “the defining leadership book in the 21st century” (Admiral William McRaven, author of Make Your Bed) that “every parent, teacher, and leader needs” (Esther Wojcicki, author of How to Raise Successful People).

We have a leadership crisis today, where even though our world has changed drastically, our leadership style has not. Most organizations, teams, schools, and families today still operate from a model of “command and control,” focusing on hierarchies and compliance from people. But because of the changing nature of the world, the workforce, work itself, and the choices we have for where and how to work and live, this way of leading is drastically outdated.

Stephen M.R. Covey has made it his life’s work to understand trust in leadership and organizations. In his newest and most transformative book, Trust and Inspire, he offers a simple yet bold solution: to shift from this “command and control” model to a leadership style of “trust and inspire.” People don’t want to be managed; they want to be led. Trust and Inspire is a new way of leading that starts with the belief that people are creative, collaborative, and full of potential. People with this kind of leader are inspired to become the best version of themselves and to produce their best work. In this “beautifully written page-turner” (Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School professor), Covey offers the solution to the future of work: where a dispersed workforce will be the norm, necessitating trust and collaboration across time zones, cultures, personalities, generations, and technology.

Trust and Inspire calls for a radical shift in the way we lead in the 21st century, and Covey shows us how.

Dive into a masterclass that reveals the shifts you should make over the course of you career to keep innovating, improving, and influencing others to the highest levels of success in today's unprecedented business climate.

Change is so rapid today that leaders must do more than stay the course to be successful. If they aren't nimble and ready to adapt, they won't survive. The key is to learn how to leadershift.

John C. Maxwell helps leaders gain the ability and willingness to make leadership changes that will positively enhance their organizational and personal growth. He does this by sharing the eleven shifts he made over the course of his long, successful leadership career.

In Leadershift, Maxwell shares some of the leadershifts including...

• Adaptive Shift from Plan A to Option A,
• the Production Shift from Ladder Climbing to Ladder Building,
• the Influence Shift from Positional Authority to Moral Authority and more!

Leadershift gives specific guidance to readers about how to make these shifts in their own lives.

Each one requires them to change the way they think, act, and ultimately lead so they can be successful in a world that never remains the same.

To go forward, we need to move faster. And as leaders, we need to stay ahead, we need to see more than others, and we need to see before others.

The differentiating mindset and habits that help you turn insight into action.

When you put learning at the center of everything you do, you grow your career, your leadership, your relationships, and your joy and fulfillment in life. But even for people who are naturally curious and interested in solving problems, being an effective learner who can turn their learning into action takes insight and practice.

With infectious enthusiasm and optimism, David Novak shows you how to master active learning. A trailer-park kid who lived in twenty-three states before entering high school, Novak rapidly ascended the ranks at PepsiCo to become cofounder and CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world, the global restaurant icon Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the Habit Burger Grill). And he credits active learning with getting him there. This compilation of wisdom and practical habits from Novak's life and from some of the most successful leaders in the world--CEOs from many industries, military and political leaders, sports greats, experts, and coaches--is your active-learning practice manual. Chapter by chapter, Novak and his all-star roster of leaders share how they've climbed to the highest levels in their fields.

Through stories of wins and losses, missteps and miracle saves, challenges tackled, and problems solved, Novak shows you all the ways, big and small, that you can become an active learner. A leadership devotional for the modern age, How Leaders Learn will inspire you to reach new levels of success in your own life and work.

A BUSINESS INSIDER BEST BOOK

"With Applied Empathy, Michael Ventura shows us how to unlock our ability to design solutions, spark innovation, and solve tough challenges with empathy at the center."—Arianna Huffington

Michael Ventura, entrepreneur and CEO of award-winning strategy and design practice Sub Rosa, shares how empathy—the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes—could be what your business needs to innovate, connect, and grow.

Having built his career working with iconic brands and institutions such as General Electric, Google, Nike, Warby Parker, and also The United Nations and the Obama Administration, Michael Ventura offers entrepreneurs and executives a radical new business book and way forward.

Empathy is not about being nice. It’s not about pity or sympathy either. It’s about understanding—your consumers, your colleagues, and yourself—and it’s a direct path to powerful leadership. As such, Applied Empathy presents real strategies, based on Sub Rosa’s design work and the popular class Ventura and his team have taught at Princeton University, on how to make lasting connections and evolve your business internally (your employees, culture, and product/services) as well as externally (your brand, consumers, and value).

For leaders of all levels, this groundbreaking guide lays the foundation to establish a diverse, inventive, and driven team that can meet the challenges of today’s ever-evolving marketplace. If you want to connect to the people you work with and for, you first have to understand them.

The influential New York Times bestselling authors--the "apostles of appreciation" Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick--provide managers and executives with easy ways to add more gratitude to the everyday work environment to help bolster moral, efficiency, and profitability.

Workers want and need to know their work is appreciated. Showing gratitude to employees is the easiest, fastest, most inexpensive way to boost performance. New research shows that gratitude boosts employee engagement, reduces turnover, and leads team members to express more gratitude to one another--strengthening team bonds. Studies have also shown that gratitude is beneficial for those expressing it and is one of the most powerful variables in predicting a person's overall well-being--above money, health, and optimism. The WD-40 Company knows this firsthand. When the leadership gave thousands of managers training in expressing gratitude to their employees, the company saw record increases in revenue.

Despite these benefits, few executives effectively utilize this simple tool. In fact, new research reveals "people are less likely to express gratitude at work than anyplace else." What accounts for the staggering chasm between awareness of gratitude's benefits and the failure of so many leaders to do it--or do it well? Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton call this the gratitude gap. In this invaluable guide, they identify the widespread and pernicious myths about managing others that cause leaders to withhold thanks.

Gostick and Elton also introduce eight simple ways managers can show employees they are valued. They supplement their insights and advice with stories of how many of today's most successful leaders--such as Alan Mulally of Ford and Hubert Joly of Best Buy--successfully incorporated gratitude into their leadership styles.

Showing gratitude isn't just about being nice, it's about being smart--really smart--and it's a skill that everyone can easily learn.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER
Based on his TEDx talk "Everyday Leadership (the Lollipop Moment)"--voted one of the 15 most inspirational TED talks of all time--This Is Day One is leadership expert Drew Dudley's guide to cultivating the behaviors that will help you to succeed and empower those around you.

If you're intimidated by the mystique surrounding leadership, this book is for you. Dudley simplifies leadership without denying its complexity, demonstrating that leadership in all its forms begins at the same clear and accessible place for everyone: what he calls "Day One."

Day One is when you discover, define, and start to consistently deliver on your foundational leadership values. Living that day over and over is what creates leaders, and Dudley provides the key tools necessary to craft and commit to your own personal Day One, including:

• A step-by-step process designed to surface your core leadership values and embed them into your daily behavior
• A roadmap to behavioral changes proven to increase commitment, pride, productivity, and happiness
• Insights into key leadership values that drive performance and impact

Sharing the process that led him through battles with alcohol, obesity, and personal tragedy, Dudley shows you how to develop a relentless commitment to the daily behaviors that will make you a better executive, coach, or teacher, and how you can inspire others to do the same.


Most of the leadership on the planet comes from people who don't see themselves as leaders. This Is Day One shows you how to start changing that. Through the insights of leaders of all types--CEOs, elite athletes, cab drivers, custodians, and everyone in between--Dudley helps you understand what your Day One needs to look like, reminds you why you're a leader, and makes clear what you can do about it--starting today, on Day One.


 

We know why diversity is important, but how do we drive real change at work? Diversity and inclusion expert Jennifer Brown provides a step-by-step guide for the personal and emotional journey we must undertake to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Human potential is unleashed when we feel like we belong. That's why inclusive workplaces experience higher engagement, performance, and profits. But the reality is that many people still feel unable to bring their true selves to work. In a world where the talent pool is becoming increasingly diverse, it's more important than ever for leaders to truly understand how to support inclusion.

Drawing on years of work with many leading organizations, Jennifer Brown shows what leaders at any level can do to spark real change. She guides readers through the Inclusive Leader Continuum, a set of four developmental stages: unaware, aware, active, and advocate. Brown describes the hallmarks of each stage, the behaviors and mind-sets that inform it, and what readers can do to keep progressing. Whether you're a powerful CEO or a new employee without direct reports, there are actions you can take that can drastically change the day-to-day reality for your colleagues and the trajectory of your organization.

Anyone can--and should--be an inclusive leader. Brown lays out simple steps to help you understand your role, boost your self-awareness, take action, and become a better version of yourself in the process. This book will meet you where you are and provide a road map to create a workplace of greater mutual understanding where everyone's talents can shine.

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Two veteran executive coaches help today's leaders learn how to retain and inspire their teams through the one thing their research has found works: Leading with Heart.

In these pages, leadership coaches John Baird and Edward Sullivan share hundreds of hours of research and firsthand accounts of guiding leaders at some of the world's most respected big brands and small startups (Apple, Nike, Google, and Slack to name a few).

Through their coaching and research they uncovered the five behaviors transformative leaders engage in to connect authentically with their teams:

1. They are aware of their people's needs. They help their people to confront the fears that hold them back.They understand their own desires and what drives their people. They leverage their unique gifts and help people find their own. They connect with their core sense of purpose and help people find theirs.

The key to achieving these behaviors is asking the right questions and having conversations that connect you and your employees on the deepest human level--conversations the authors coach you on how to navigate.

At a time when workplaces are struggling to build high morale and connected cultures, Leading with Heart will help leaders to unlock the best version of themselves and those around them with transformative results.

No matter where you are in your career, this book is your launch point to leading with heart. By encouraging you to ignore outdated "leadership hacks" and embrace introspection and growth, Leading with Heart guides you to ask the right questions and find your own answers. Now you too can create a leadership game-plan that is authentic to you and brings out the best in those around you.

Winner, 2021 Porchlight Business Book of the Year Award, for Leadership and Strategy

"THE MOST UNLIKELY OF PEOPLE, IN THE MOST IMPROBABLE OF CIRCUMSTANCES,

CAN BECOME EXTRAORDINARY."

WE NEED MORE LEADERS.

From socio-political chaos and workplace disruption to the climate change crisis, we have

never needed people with the skill and will to collaborate to create a better world more

than now. We need people who are willing to fill the leadership void. People who will

embrace the influence they have. People who believe in improving society and workplace

culture - not only because it makes life better, but because it is proven to yield positive

results.

The Promises of Giants is a challenge to anyone who aspires to make a difference in their

environment. Over fourteen promises, it seamlessly intertwines personal anecdotes and

workplace and social observation with the latest research, to provide practical, proven tips

and strategies to empower you to maximize your own potential and inspire others. It is

not a self-help book.



It is a how-to guide for winning, rooted in the belief that the most

unlikely of people, in the most improbable of circumstances, can become extraordinary.

John Amaechi well understands the responsibilities and potential that come with being a

giant. The Promises of Giants is the product of a lifetime spent observing and studying

effective leadership - from accompanying his mother's visits to her dying patients to

competing at the highest levels of professional sport, through two decades of

management consulting with multinational corporations. These experiences have shown

that everyone has the ability to act decisively to influence the world in a positive way.



Everyone is a giant to someone.

What every leader needs to know about dignity and how to create a culture in which everyone thrives

This landmark book from an expert in dignity studies explores the essential but underrecognized role of dignity as part of good leadership. Extending the reach of her award winning book Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, Donna Hicks now contributes a specific, practical guide to achieving a culture of dignity.

Most people know very little about dignity, the author has found, and when leaders fail to respect the dignity of others, conflict and distrust ensue. Hicks highlights three components of leading with dignity: what one must know in order to honor dignity and avoid violating it; what one must do to lead with dignity; and how one can create a culture of dignity in any organization, whether corporate, religious, governmental, healthcare, or beyond. Brimming with key research findings, real life case studies, and workable recommendations, this book fills an important gap in our understanding of how best to be together in a conflict ridden world.

NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • Winner of CMI Management Book of the Year 2019

Based on an in-depth analysis of over 2,600 leaders drawn from a database of more than 17,000 CEOs and C-suite executives, as well 13,000 hours of interviews, and two decades of experience advising CEOs and executive boards, Elena L. Botelho and Kim R. Powell overturn the myths about what it takes to get to the top and succeed.

Their groundbreaking research was the featured cover story in the May-June 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review. It reveals the common attributes and counterintuitive choices that set apart successful CEOs—lessons that we can apply to our own careers.
 
Much of what we hear about who gets to the top, and how, is wrong. Those who become chief executives set their sights on the C-suite at an early age. In fact, over 70 percent of the CEOs didn’t have designs on the corner office until later in their careers. You must graduate from an elite college. In fact, only 7 percent of CEOs in the dataset are Ivy League graduates--and 8 percent didn't graduate from college at all. To become a CEO you need a flawless résumé. The reality: 45 percent of CEO candidates had at least one major career blowup.
 
What those who reach the top do share are four key behaviors that anyone can master: they are decisive; they are reliable, delivering what they promised when the promise it, without exception; they adapt boldly, and they engage with stakeholders without shying away from conflict.
 
Based on this breakthrough study of the most successful people in business, Botelho and Powell offer career advice for everyone who aspires to get ahead. Based on research insights illustrated by real life stories from CEOs and boardrooms, they tell us how to:   
 
- Fast-track our career by deploying the career catapults used by those who get to the top quickly
 
- Overcome the hidden handicaps to getting the job we want.
 
- Avoid the 5 hazards that most commonly derail those promoted into a new role.
 
For everyone who aspires to rise up through the organization and achieve their full potential, The CEO Next Door is an essential guide.

The international bestseller--now with a new preface by author John Kotter.

Millions worldwide have read and embraced John Kotter's ideas on change management and leadership.
From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented M&A activity to scandal, greed, and ultimately, recession--we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. It's the rule. Now with a new preface, this refreshed edition of the global bestseller Leading Change is more relevant than ever.

John Kotter's now-legendary eight-step process for managing change with positive results has become the foundation for leaders and organizations across the globe. By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work. Leading Change is widely recognized as his seminal work and is an important precursor to his newer ideas on acceleration published in Harvard Business Review.

Needed more today than at any time in the past, this bestselling business book serves as both visionary guide and practical toolkit on how to approach the difficult yet crucial work of leading change in any type of organization. Reading this highly personal book is like spending a day with the world's foremost expert on business leadership. You're sure to walk away inspired--and armed with the tools you need to inspire others.

Published by Harvard Business Review Press.

Become a next generation leader--rich in emotional and social intelligence and orchestrating outstanding collaborative results--by mastering these eight status quo-shattering paradoxes.

The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership unpacks the fresh strategies and new mindset required today from a next generation leader.

Author Dr. Tim Elmore helps leaders of all kinds navigate increasingly complex, rapidly changing environments, as well as manage teams who bring a range of new demands and expectations to the workplace that haven't been seen even one generation prior.

After working alongside John C. Maxwell for twenty years, Tim offers counter-intuitive paradoxes that, when practiced, enable today's leader to differentiate themselves and better connect with their team and customers. The book furnishes ideas that equip leaders to inspire team members in a way a paycheck never could.

Having trained hundreds of thousands of young professionals to develop into leaders--Dr. Elmore shares the secrets of next generation leaders who have practiced the unique paradoxes outlined in this book and inspired their team members in a way that a paycheck never could.

In The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership, readers will:

• Learn how today's team members require a combination of different qualities from their leaders than they did in even the recent past;
• Grasp the importance of eight key paradoxes that are critical for next generation leaders to put into practice right now;
• Be inspired by historic and modern-day leaders who lived the eight paradoxes; and
• Understand how they too can lead with the eight paradoxes, guiding them to emotional and social intelligence that resonates with their teams and leads to outstanding collaborative results.

The world’s most famous military treatise, in an acclaimed translation by the award-winning translator of the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching
 
For more than two thousand years, Sun-tzu's The Art of War has provided leaders with essential advice on battlefield tactics and management strategies. An elemental part of Chinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Western struggle for survival and success, whether in battle, in business, or in relationships. Now, in this crisp, accessible translation, eminent scholar John Minford brings this seminal work to life for today's readers. Capturing the literary quality of the work, Minford presents the core text in two formats: first, the unadorned ancient words of wisdom ascribed to Sun-tzu; then, the same text with extensive running commentary from the canon of traditional Chinese commentators. A lively, learned introduction and other valuable apparatus round out this authoritative volume.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.

But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?

The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.

The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?

Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.

The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:

• Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
• The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
• A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
• The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.

“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”

Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" —Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED
From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond.

In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive—which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play.

Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings—conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp—and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience.

The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue—and how you host and attend them.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success—“résumé virtues”—and our core principles.
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST
 
With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives.

Looking to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade.

Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.

“Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.”

Praise for The Road to Character

“A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.”—The New York Times Book Review

“This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.”—Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon

“A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.”—The Guardian

“Original and eye-opening . . . Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell, culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts.”—USA Today

A powerful call to action for achieving equality in leadership.

Women make up fewer than ten per cent of national leaders worldwide, and behind this eye-opening statistic lies a pattern of unequal access to power. Through conversations with some of the world's most powerful and interesting women--including Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christine Lagarde, Michelle Bachelet, and Theresa May--Women and Leadership explores gender bias and asks why there aren't more women in leadership roles.

Being Essential presents the seven questions that will help any leader discover an authentic path to the true self and master a virtuous cycle of self-awareness that fosters purpose, value, and joy at work and in life.

Leaders often know what they need to do, but don't have a clue who they need to be. Without a true essence of self, their leadership can feel void of purpose and confidence, affecting both teams and stakeholders. But when leaders discover their essential selves--who they are at their cores and why they show up--it enables them to reach a state of "radical self-awareness," a game-changing skill that unlocks a more effective, commanding, agile approach to leadership.

For more than thirty years Dain Dunston has been coaching top executives to find the essence of their personal and professional journeys. Now readers can learn the holistic method he uses to calibrate leaders' minds for radical self-awareness and help them achieve more satisfying professional experiences.

Legendary leadership and elite performance expert Robin Sharma introduced The 5am Club concept over twenty years ago, based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped his clients maximize their productivity, activate their best health and bulletproof their serenity in this age of overwhelming complexity.

      Now, in this life-changing book, handcrafted by the author over a rigorous four-year period, you will discover the early-rising habit that has helped so many accomplish epic results while upgrading their happiness, helpfulness and feelings of aliveness.

      Through an enchanting—and often amusing—story about two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who becomes their secret mentor, The 5am Club will walk you through:

• How great geniuses, business titans and the world’s wisest people start their mornings to produce astonishing achievements
• A little-known formula you can use instantly to wake up early feeling inspired, focused and flooded with a fiery drive to get the most out of each day
• A step-by-step method to protect the quietest hours of daybreak so you have time for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth
• A neuroscience-based practice proven to help make it easy to rise while most people are sleeping, giving you precious time for yourself to think, express your creativity and begin the day peacefully instead of being rushed
• “Insider-only” tactics to defend your gifts, talents and dreams against digital distraction and trivial diversions so you enjoy fortune, influence and a magnificent impact on the world

Part manifesto for mastery, part playbook for genius-grade productivity and part companion for a life lived beautifully, The 5am Club is a work that will transform your life. Forever.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is the first, and still the finest, book of its kind. One of the best-known motivational books in history, Dale Carnegie's groundbreaking work has sold millions of copies, has been translated into almost every known written language, and has helped countless people succeed in both their business and personal lives.

First published in 1937, Carnegie's advice has remained relevant for generations because he addresses timeless questions about the fine art of getting along with people: How can you make people like you instantly? How can you persuade people to agree with you? How can you speak frankly to people without giving offense? The ability to read others and successfully navigate any social situation is critically important to those who want to get a job, keep a job, or simply expand their social network.

The core principles of this book, originally written as a practical, working handbook on human relations, are proven effective. Carnegie explains the fundamentals of handling people with a positive approach; how to make people like you and want to help you; how to win people to your way of thinking without conflict; and how to be the kind of leader who inspires quality work, increased productivity, and high morale.

As Carnegie explains, the majority of our success in life depends on our ability to communicate and manage personal relationships effectively, whether at home or at work. How to Win Friends and Influence People will help you discover and develop the people skills you need to live well and prosper.

A Conscious Approach to Leadership and Life

Leading lightly is about looking at what you do through a radical new lens. It's a way to powerfully transform your performance, make better decisions, gain greater self-awareness, and develop the capacity to manage your work and life with enduring ease and clarity. An alternative to the everyday stress, pace, challenges, and burdens that weigh you down, leading lightly shows you how to shift your mindset, live lighter, and optimize your effectiveness. Part leadership, part mental fitness, part health and wellness guide, Leading Lightly empowers you to work at your best and operate at your fullest potential.

Stress and difficulty don't have to be a given. Learning to lead lightly and live mindfully can profoundly change the trajectory of your day. This book is for anyone who finds themselves overloaded, frustrated, anxious, or exhausted by their life circumstances. It offers more than just tactical strategies for sustained optimal performance at work, but transcends that, helping you develop a conscious approach to all the facets of your life, so you're able to leverage the choices you have each day and take action that puts you in control of your experience. You'll not only be able to create better outcomes but also do this in a way that energizes and enlivens you.

​In Leading Lightly, author Jody Michael brings together 20+ years of her research and work as a psychotherapist, Master Certified Coach, and leadership expert to provide you with a practical, measurable, and proven process for developing your mental fitness. You'll increase your emotional intelligence, discover how to respond to situations with more agility, build stronger interpersonal relationships, and find that the ability to thrive in leadership and life is within your grasp. This book will show you how to think differently, feel lighter, and achieve personal and professional well-being. You'll notice the results immediately, and those around you will too.

#1 New York Times Bestseller

“THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more—it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious enough about the world to actually change it. I’ve never felt so hopeful about what I don’t know.”
—Brené Brown, Ph.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take, and the forthcoming Hidden Potential examines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your opinions and open other people's minds, which can position you for excellence at work and wisdom in life

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. We think too much like preachers defending our sacred beliefs, prosecutors proving the other side wrong, and politicians campaigning for approval--and too little like scientists searching for truth. Intelligence is no cure, and it can even be a curse: being good at thinking can make us worse at rethinking. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become.

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners. You'll learn how an international debate champion wins arguments, a Black musician persuades white supremacists to abandon hate, a vaccine whisperer convinces concerned parents to immunize their children, and Adam has coaxed Yankees fans to root for the Red Sox. Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

National Bestseller

Essential lessons in hospitality for every business, from the former co-owner of legendary restaurant Eleven Madison Park.

Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.
 
How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.
 
Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.

THE INSTANT #1 New York Times BESTSELLER

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Make Your Bed--a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL.

The title "Bullfrog" is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty. Admiral McRaven was honored to receive this honor in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command. When McRaven retired in 2014, he had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women at every level of the special operations community. In the ensuing four years, he served as Chancellor to the entire University of Texas System, with its 230,000 students and 100,000 faculty and health care workers.

During those four decades, Admiral McRaven dealt with every conceivable leadership challenge, from commanding combat operations--including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the raid for Osama bin Laden.

THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG draws on these and countless other experiences from Admiral McRaven's incredible life, including crisis situations, management debates, organizational transitions, and ethical dilemmas, to provide readers with the most important leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his forty years of service. Each chapter provides a Make Your Bed-like parable, rich with insights like those featured in his bestselling memoir, Sea Stories, about the specific leadership traits required to be at the top of your game, including:

• Who Dares, Wins
• Run to the Sound of the Guns
• No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy

THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG is Admiral McRaven's clear-eyed treatise on the leadership qualities that separate the good from the truly great.

Make achieving your goals and finding success possible with this one-of-a-kind guide by Robert Irvine, popular host of Food Network's Restaurant: Impossible.

Robert Irvine knows a thing or two about business. For over 200 episodes of Food Network's hit show Restaurant: Impossible, he's helped failing entrepreneurs make the necessary changes to reverse course and transform their businesses from the brink of collapse to sustainable enterprises. And he doesn't just talk a good game; Irvine is a successful entrepreneur himself with a family of companies to his credit, from frozen foods and liquor to protein bars, restaurants, a traveling live show, and a namesake foundation that gives back to America's veterans and first responders.

Now Irvine is sharing the success secrets he has learned along the way so he can help others thrive. As he says in the book: "I made my name as a chef, but my ultimate legacy will be as an entrepreneur. Business is my greatest passion and the thing that makes me most excited to get out of bed each morning. I've always wanted to write this book, and now I finally have enough hindsight to analyze the moves that transformed me from an aspiring entrepreneur to a successful one. It's my sincerest hope that these lessons can do the same for readers everywhere." In this book, you will:

• Learn how to stop micromanaging.
• Understand what really motivates you, how to be accountable, and how to manage ego.
• Foster the traits of authenticity and trust into your culture.
• Change your mindset around technology and social media.

A leading business expert shows why expertise really matters, and how leaders who deeply understand the nuts and bolts of their industry and organization-- from businesses, to hospitals, to universities, to sports-- make all the difference for its success and the happiness of people who work there.

Amanda Goodall has spent a decade researching what makes organizations tick, everywhere from the business world to hospitals and healthcare systems, football and basketball teams, and Formula 1 organizations. By debunking the cult of managerialism (the notion that smart people can run anything and the emphasis on leadership personality), Goodall reshapes our understanding of bosses and the traits necessary for organizational success. She identifies the key characteristics of expert leaders and provides a real and grossly underappreciated model for career success: "go deep into a business, work hard, pay attention, and know your stuff." Those who run hospitals and healthcare systems, for example, should be physicians with deep clinical expertise, not financiers or people parachuted in from other industries. Those who run school systems and universities need to understand from experience the stress of balancing teaching, research, and student welfare

Credible demonstrates categorically that expertise matters more than ever and that we need our leaders to be experts with a deep, understanding of their organizations from many years spent learning the business and working their way up the ladder. The people who work for them are happier because they feel better understood and the organizations they lead are more successful.


 

The New York Times bestseller by the acclaimed, bestselling author of Start With Why and Together is Better. Now with an expanded chapter and appendix on leading millennials, based on Simon Sinek's viral video "Millenials in the workplace" (150+ million views).
Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. 

In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. "Officers eat last," he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care.
     
Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY

Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever.
 
START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
 
People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. 
 
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty delivers a powerful combination of memoir, leadership lessons, and big ideas on how we can all drive meaningful change.

Ginni Rometty led one of the world's most iconic companies, and in Good Power she recounts her groundbreaking path from a challenging childhood to becoming the CEO of IBM and one of the world's most influential business leaders. With candor and depth, Rometty shares milestones from her life and career while redefining power as a way to drive meaningful change in positive ways for ourselves, our organizations, and for the many, not just the few--a concept she calls "good power."

Rometty's "memoir with purpose" combines the experiences that defined her life--personal hurdles, high-stakes decisions, passionate advocacy--with the actionable advice of a coaching session to highlight lessons that shape authentic leadership. Behind-the-scenes stories and practical guidance offer us a blueprint for how we can all use good power to advance our careers, inspire our teams, improve our companies, and create healthier societies.

The book begins with raw, vivid memories from Rometty's youth and early professional years as she recalls the trauma and the role models that formed her belief that how we lead is as important as what we achieve. She learns early on that good power is a choice available to everyone, even to those without money, status, or impressive titles.

Rometty then shows us how her concept of good power evolved as she grew from a first-time manager to a transformative CEO. Stories told through the lens of five principles--be in service of others; build belief; know what must change and what must endure; steward good tech; be resilient--reveal tools that anyone can apply to achieve real change at any stage of their life and work.

Rometty also encourages us to use good power at scale to bring about urgent societal change. She shares insights from her own journey to create a more equitable world by leading the SkillsFirst movement, which connects underserved populations with family-sustaining jobs by transforming hiring, education, and training.

With heart, humility, and conviction, Good Power offers an inspiring, compelling guide to creating meaningful change in our lives.

The traditional corporate leadership playbook your grandparents wrote no longer works. This book from one of the world's top executives is a new leadership paradigm for resilience and agility in a rapidly changing world.

In the last twenty years, the world has faced dramatic changes: climate change, economic downturns, a worldwide pandemic, geopolitical upheaval, terrorism, and the collapse of various industries. It will now require an overhaul in order to handle these global tectonic shifts.

This book is a must-read guide for aspiring leaders in various sectors, who are keen on not only ensuring current success, but protecting the planet's future for everyone. Andrew Liveris, former Chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, presents a variety of powerful tools that will enable you to tackle any problem quickly and responsively, with an eye to creating a more equitable, sustainable future.

In these pages, you will learn how to:

• Create and use metrics that quantify the positive impact on all members of society.
• Collaborate with scientists, politicians, regulators, corporate boards, and other stakeholders to create effective policies that work.
• Broaden your company's focus to include both long-term sustainability and short-term profitability without sacrificing the former to gain the latter.
• Strengthen local communities via corporate investment and advocacy for the improvement of amenities and services for all.
• Hire team members who fully and proactively support strategies to improve the world and its future.
• Become a sought-after advisor on how to respond quickly and decisively to uncertainties.

Andrew Liveris has four decades of global leadership experience in business, government, academia, and civic society. His book is a powerful tool for any aspiring leader.

The New York Times best-selling team leadership handbook for modern executives, managers, and organizations

After her first two weeks observing the problems at DecisionTech, Kathryn Petersen, its new CEO, had more than a few moments when she wondered if she should have taken the job. But Kathryn knew there was little chance she would have turned it down. After all, retirement had made her antsy, and nothing excited her more than a challenge. What she could not have known when she accepted the job, however, was just how dysfunctional her team was, and how team members would challenge her in ways that no one ever had before.

For twenty years, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team has been engaging audiences with a page-turning, realistic fable that follows the travails of Kathryn Petersen, DecisionTech’s CEO, as she faces the ultimate leadership crisis. She must unite a team in such disarray that it threatens to derail the entire company.

Equal parts leadership fable and business handbook, this definitive source on teamwork by Patrick Lencioni reveals the five behavioral tendencies that go to the heart of why even the best teams struggle. He offers a powerful model and step-by-step guide for overcoming those dysfunctions and getting every one rowing in the same direction.

Today, the lessons in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are more relevant than ever. This special anniversary edition celebrates one of the best-selling business books of all time with a new foreword from the author that reflects on its legacy and lessons.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG

Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential.

When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work.

But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start.

Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question:

How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?

In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love.

Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.”

Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.