Workplace Ethics

Good works are no longer optional. For many businesses, success comes in unexpected ways. Toms grew into a $600-million company by giving away 35 million pair of shoes. Patagonia's profits have climbed year after year even as it funnels heavy investments into sustainability. And it's not just millennials rewarding companies with causes. In every age group, people commit to brands that show good citizenship.

From Plato to Plutarch, Shakespeare to Churchill, Machiavelli to Melville, Jane Austen to Carl Jung, Pericles to Peter Drucker and many more - here are the best leadership ideas of the past 25 centuries. You don't need a big title or a business degree in order to lead with impact. What you need is practical wisdom: the insight, judgment and strength of character that all great leaders have but that most business schools and corporate workshops don't teach.

When we start with the wrong question, no matter how good an answer we get, it won't give us the results we want. Rather than joining the throngs who are asking, When will this economic crisis be over? Jim Wallis says the right question to ask is "How will this crisis change us?" The worst thing we can do now, Wallis tells us, is to go back to normal. Normal is what got us into this situation.

Real life stories about consumers who demand that companies make a diffence in the world with their products.

The Soul of Capitalism examines how the greatest wealth-creation engine in the history of the world is failing most of us, why it must be changed, and how intrepid pioneers are beginning to transform it. Best-selling author William Greider analyzes how our relentless pursuit of unprecedented affluence has eroded family life, eaten away at our sense of personal and professional security, corroded our communities, impoverished our spiritual lives, and devastated our natural environment.

It’s clear that in today’s era of fiscal constraints and political gridlock, we can no longer turn to government alone to tackle towering social problems. What’s required is a new, more collaborative and productive economic system. The Solution Revolution brings hope - revealing just such a burgeoning new economy where players from across the spectrum of business, government, philanthropy, and social enterprise converge to solve big problems and create public value.

One of the most vexing human rights issues of our time has been how to protect the rights of individuals and communities worldwide in an age of globalization and multinational business. Indeed, from Indonesian sweatshops to oil-based violence in Nigeria, the challenges of regulating harmful corporate practices in some of the world’s most difficult regions long seemed insurmountable. Human rights groups and businesses were locked in a stalemate, unable to find common ground. In 2005, the United Nations appointed John Gerard Ruggie to the modest task of clarifying the main issues.

Following a deadly car crash, small-town lawyer Lance Cooper risked everything to battle one of the most powerful auto corporations in the world to get justice for a young woman. A fast-paced, journalistic account of tragedy turned to triumph, despair to hope, Cobalt Cover-Up is an inspirational, thoroughly compelling, and victorious listen.

Everyone has secrets, and everyone is living a double life to some degree. The world is held up by lies; if everyone's secrets were to all be revealed tomorrow morning, civilization might collapse. To ascend the social hierarchies and achieve great power, you need to optimize and strategize rather than slogging and "working hard" every day of your life. This is counterproductive since it does not guarantee any beneficial results in the end. Nobody can succeed by following rules in the first place.

Leadership skills are essential for everyone, and the great news is that they can be learned, meaning that there’s no excuse for poor leadership. This two-book bundle will provide you with concise, powerful advice based on experience and research ranging from neuroscience to social psychology and backed up by statistical data and analysis.

In I Am Accountable, renowned speaker and consultant Sam Silverstein explains how accountability is the secret to filling your life with more meaning, more success, and more joy - and it all starts with your mind-set. In order to create a truly meaningful life, we must first accept that the problem is never other people. “The real problem,” Sam Silverstein maintains, “is what we believe about other people.”

Most people spend the majority of their lives at work, and many not happily. Here's a way to find your inner spirit - what you truly desire to do in life - this book illuminates the path leading you to ultimately achieving your goals. Hansen will help you get there through exercises such as building a great resume, nailing the interview, and knowing whether or not to accept a particular job offer when it comes along.

Knowing that entrepreneurs have no time to waste, Ramberg presents simple and effective guidance that can be put to use right away. This book will be indispensable for every small business owner, from a family-owned store to a venture capitalist-backed start up.

Soccer moms drive Priuses. Sport utility vehicles are going hybrid. Families are using hemp shopping bags. More and more companies are developing "green" buildings. What's more, the business consultants say going green is easy and profitable. In reality, though, many green-leaning businesses, families, and governments are still fiddling with the small stuff while the planet burns. Why?

Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him--he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid

We judge people in business the same way we judge those in our personal lives. We listen to what they say, watch how they behave, and take note of the results of their actions. Success is ultimately built on a foundation of character, communication, and trust. To accomplish our goals, people must believe in us. The Power of Reputation offers business people an action plan for creating the kind of reputation that generates trust, inspires confidence, and paves the way for lasting success.

Investing with Impact: Why Finance Is a Force for Good outlines the roadmap to reinvigorate a skeptical public and demoralized financial services industry by making the case that contrary to popular misconception, finance is not the cause of the world's problems, in fact, it can provide the solution. Author Jeremy Balkin presents the case that the finance industry can improve the state of the world by positively influencing the allocation of capital.

"Ideas are the greatest and most crucially practical power on earth," wrote Ayn Rand. In the title essay of this collection, Leonard Peikoff applies this principle to the world of business. He shows that certain philosophic ideas, such as reason, egoism, and individualism, are needed to defend and protect the freedom of businessmen, while the opposite ideas, such as mysticism, altruism, and collectivism (which dominate our universities), destroy that freedom.

People are often skeptical that there is anything they can do to raise society's ethical level. Mark Pastin begs to differ. We can make a difference, and we don't need ethics "experts" to tell us what to do. He argues that we all have an innate ethical sense - what he calls an "ethics eye". He offers tools for sharpening the ethics eye so we can see and do the right thing ourselves, particularly in the workplace, where our decisions can affect not just ourselves but coworkers, clients, customers, and even an entire organization.

Anyone can be a leader. You don't have to be a CEO or work in a management position to have influence. Your Leadership Moment provides practical tools, techniques and inspiration to discover your leadership potential. It combines personal and real-world anecdotes with a framework for leadership that can help anyone learn to lead.