Great Business

Things are going badly for the Clan in this new SF novel of the Merchant Princes, the immensely popular series by Charles Stross. Locked in a vicious civil war for control over the kingdom of Niejwein, their army is bottled up inside a fortress under siege in two parallel universes at once. Duke Angbard, the Clan's leader, has been laid low by a stroke: plotters are already conspiring in readiness for the deadly dance to come.

In The Real Business of IT, Richard Hunter and George Westerman reveal that the cost mindset stems from IT leaders' inability to communicate about the business value they create - so CIOs get stuck discussing budgets rather than their contributions to the organization.

Authors Bill Eckstrom and Sarah Wirth have spent a decade researching the activities, behaviors, and performance of leaders. After studying more than 100,000 coaching interactions in the workplace, primarily of sales teams, they have been able to determine how coaching affects team outcomes and growth. The authors share three critical performance drivers, along with the four high-growth activities that coaches must execute to build a team that is motivated to achieve at the highest levels.

2012 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year Walter Isaacson’s “enthralling” (The New Yorker) worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family...

In a world where success is predominately measured by how much money we have in the bank, the size of our financial portfolio, and how prestigious our lives are, there have been great American Entrepreneurs who have chosen to take the path less traveled–to be truly compassionate and giving. They risked judgement, ridicule, and their fortunes; but in doing so they realized they could never out give God.

Dogs thrive when they can make sense of the rules and the relationships around them. Likewise, technology is an amazing companion when you give it a role to play, but it will drive you crazy and make a mess if you think it's in charge. You own technology—not the other way around. And only the technologies that are useful to you should be a part of your life. Adopt the eight ownership mindsets in this book to ensure a positive relationship with both dogs and technology.

What makes a coach great? How do great coaches turn a collection of individuals into a coherent “us”? Seth Davis, one of the keenest minds in sports journalism, has been thinking about that question for twenty-five years. It’s one of the things that drove him to write the definitive...

A generation of people around the world, from Boston to Bangkok, from New York to New Delhi, are making everyday choices in ways that defy traditional logic. They are judging where and how their clothes were made, not just how they fit. They are thinking global but buying local. They are spending their money and their time, forming loyalties, casting votes, and even enjoying entertainment based increasingly upon their desire to make a positive impact on others and the world around them.

This book is filled with inspiring stories from the lives of great achievers past and present including Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Wright Brothers, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney, Warren Buffet, and others.

Lean UX has become the preferred approach to interaction design, tailor-made for today’s agile teams. In the second edition of this award-winning book, leading advocates Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden expand on the valuable Lean UX principles, tactics, and techniques covered in the first edition to share how product teams can easily incorporate design, experimentation, iteration, and continuous learning from real users into their Agile process.

Do you really need another audiobook on customer service? There are hundreds you could choose from, and you've probably listened to at least a dozen. Why should you take advice from a deli with a funny name in Ann Arbor, Michigan?

What makes a team great? Not just good and not just functional—but great? Over six years, long-time Sports Illustrated editor Don Yaeger was invited by some of the greatest companies in the world to speak about the habits of high-performing individuals. From Microsoft and Starbucks to the New...

If you want to learn, grow, become better at coaching, and maximize the potential in your players, clients, or team, then this book is for you. Regardless of the work we do or the industry we’re in, as leaders and managers, we need to grow and develop our people, to enable them to achieve high performance. From the front-line manager to the boardroom, it isn't enough to direct and tell people what to do. We need to drive innovation, accountability, and performance in our teams. And that is what this book is all about.

Nietzsche is a major figure in Western philosophy. His work is radical, sometimes violent, often ironic; it fascinates anyone bold enough to delve into it, exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history, and covers a wide range of subjects. Nietzsche's writings border on the poetic; his aphorisms are particularly well-known for conveying all the radicality of his thinking in a intense but light, sometimes amusing manner.

NOW AN OWL (Outstanding Work of Literature) Leadership Award Winner! Every great leader is a great storyteller. As a manager, CEO, or team leader, how can you innovatively engage your employees so that they understand where your organization came from, where it's going, and how you're going to...

Tired of underperforming in the biggest moments, the Westlake Aviators football team realizes their greatest challenge isn’t beating an opponent but rather rising above the Twin Thieves: the Fear of Failure and the Fear of Judgment. Through a journey of adversity, celebration, and heartbreak, the Aviators come to understand that great teams are built by great leaders. This powerful story serves as a playbook for anybody in business, sports, education, or life looking to help a group of people maximize their potential.

Is your company run by a team with no name? At the top of every organization chart lies a myth - that a Senior Management Team makes a company's critical decisions. The reality is that critical decisions are typically made by the boss and a small group of confidants - a "team with no name" - outside of formal processes. Meanwhile, other members of the management team wonder why they weren't in the room or even consulted ahead of time.

Are your employees getting the most productivity out of their workdays? Do they come in to work smiling, enthusiastic about the day ahead of them and willing to be there to help in any way they can? Are there often conflicts or tension between workers, or maybe, even between you and your employees? These are all reasonable questions to consider, since you might as well wave good-bye to your company if you’re experiencing management issues and aren’t seeing improvement in the methods you try.

On the most fundamental level, leaders must bring divergent groups together and forge a consensus on a path forward. But what makes that possible? Humility - a deep regard for the dignity of others - is the key, says distinguished leadership educator Marilyn Gist. Leadership is a relationship, and humility is the foundation for all healthy relationships. Leader humility can increase engagement and retention. It inspires and motivates.

Business schools teach that the most important prerequisite for starting a business is a business plan. Nonsense, says Carl Schramm in Burn the Business Plan, who for a decade headed the most important foundation devoted to entrepreneurship in this country. Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google are just a few of the companies that began without one.