Leadership Isn't For Cowards. How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems

Offers a broad view of leadership and shareholder value based on multiple business disciplines In Why the Bottom Line Isn't! authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood argue that sustainable shareholder value comes increasingly from assets not accounted for on an organization's balance sheet. These assets include a company's reputation, its ability to attract talent, and its ability to react quickly to new opportunities in the marketplace. Why the Bottom Line Isn't! harnesses research from a number of disciplines including human resources, finance, and leadership to establish a hierarchy of such intangibles. The authors extrapolate from these intangibles to establish leadership tools that will help create sustainable shareholder value. The book offers a broad, expansive perspective on leadership while eschewing convoluted theory for concrete practice. Dave Ulrich, Ph.D., (DOU@UMICH.EDU) has been listed by BusinessWeek as the top «guru» in management education. He has co-authored 10 books and over 100 articles, serves on the Board of Directors of Herman Miller, and has consulted with over half of the Fortune 200 companies. He is currently on professional leave as Professor at the University of Michigan to serve as Mission President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montreal. Norm Smallwood (nsmallwood@rbl.net) is co-founder of Results-Based Leadership (www.rbl.net), which provides education and consulting services based on this book as well as the ideas in Results-Based Leadership: How Leaders Build the Business and Improve the Bottom Line, which he co-authored with Ulrich. He has led leadership development, business strategy, organization capability, change management, and HR projects for a wide variety of clients spanning multiple industries.

What does it take to do more with less? How can you do better than before, or better than others? How do you turn losses into wins, or near-bankruptcy into strong profitability, or abject failure into stellar success? The power of uplift enables any organization to do more with less, beat the competition, and perform better than ever. Leaders who uplift their employees' passions, intellects, and commitments produce remarkable results. Based on original research from a seven-year global study, Uplifting Leadership reveals how leaders from diverse organizations inspired and uplifted their teams' performance. Distilling the six common characteristics of leaders at high-performing organizations across business, sports, and education, authors Andy Hargreaves, Alan Boyle, and Alma Harris explore the nature of uplift, its impact on performance, and the ways to achieve it within and beyond an organization's walls, revealing how leaders: Identify and articulate an inspiring dream that is coherently connected to the best of what the organization has been before Pursue that dream at a sustainable pace without squandering resources, incurring excessive debt, or burning people out Forge paths of innovation and improvement that others have overlooked or rejected Monitor progress by using metrics and indicators in a mindful and meaningful way Build teams that naturally pull people into change rather than pushing them through it Featuring case studies of organizations as diverse as Shoebuy.com, Fiat, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Marks & Spencer, Cricket Australia, Burnley Football Club, and the Vancouver Giants, as well as world-leading educational systems, Uplifting Leadership provides tools for leaders to incorporate these performance-driving strategies into their own. For leaders who want their people to try harder, transform what they do, reach for a higher purpose, and stay resolute and resilient when opposing forces threaten to defeat them, Uplifting Leadership provides a path to better performance across any organization.

Praise for Never By Chance «Joe Calloway, Chuck Feltz, and Kris Young have joined forces to write the book that senior management at companies large and small have been waiting for. Highly readable, loaded with innovative ideas and filled with seminal insights from both a consulting and CEO perspective, Never by Chance lays out a plan for aligning people and strategy to dramatically improve market share and ROI. If you're going to read one business book this year, this is it!» —Kevin J. Clancy, PhD, Chairman, Copernicus Marketing Consulting «Never by Chance is a real-world, pragmatic guide to authentic alignment, vision, and strategy. If you want to create enduring value for your customers that drives shareholder value, then read this book. A great read that lays out a foundational approach to aligning people, resources, and strategy.» —Kevin Cashman, Senior Partner, Korn/Ferry Leadership & Talent Consulting; bestselling author of Leadership from the Inside Out «Calloway, Feltz, and Young offer a fresh perspective on what it takes to drive business strategy to its successful conclusion. This is a compelling contribution to the literature on the application of strategy and the importance of those things that really matter. It's a must-read for all those who labor in the vineyards of corporate America and those who aspire to it.» —Benjamin Ola. Akande, PhD, Dean, School of Business and Technology, Webster University «Everyone ends up somewhere, but few end up somewhere on purpose. Doing things on purpose and for a purpose are critical to business success. Never by Chance makes a compelling case for intentional leadership in bringing all of a company's resources to bear on delivering the stakeholder value your organization exists to provide.» —Steve Tourek, SVP and General Counsel, Marvin Windows and Doors

The one habit that can improve almost every leadership skill There is a simple practice that can improve nearly every component of leadership excellence and it doesn't require adding anything to your busy schedule. In The Mindfulness Edge, you'll discover how a subtle inner shift, called mindfulness, can transform things that you already do every day into opportunities to become a better leader. Author Matt Tenney has trained leaders around the world in the practice of mindfulness. In this book, he partners with neuroscientist Tim Gard, PhD, to offer step-by-step, practical guidance for quickly and seamlessly integrating mindfulness training into your daily life—rewiring your brain in ways that improve both the ‘hard' and ‘soft' skills of leadership. In this book, you'll learn how mindfulness training helps you: Quickly improve business acumen and your impact on the bottom line Become more innovative and attract/retain innovative team members Develop the emotional intelligence essential for creating and sustaining a winning culture Realize the extraordinary leadership presence that inspires greatness in others The authors make a compelling case for why mindfulness training may be the 'ultimate success habit.' In addition to helping you improve the most essential elements of highly effective leadership, mindfulness training can help you discover unconditional happiness and realize incredible meaning—professionally and personally.

The definition of great leadership, backed by ground-breaking research When Execution Isn't Enough examines the essential leadership skills that go beyond simply executing strategies well. It examines the leadership skills that inspire excellence and drive growth. Great leaders think differently, but their secrets, values, and behaviors can't be bottled—or can they? Is leadership so contextual that it defies standardization? In this book, McKinsey's global head of leadership development draws on ground-breaking McKinsey research to uncover 20 distinct leadership traits. All are important, but some make all the difference in inspiring organizations to exceptional results and growth—and a select few create the vast chasm between strong and weak organizations in terms of leadership effectiveness. Structured as a business parable, this book employs a rich cast of corporate characters to illustrate the critical behaviors of inspirational leadership and the outcomes that become possible. Attempting to nail down exactly what makes a leader inspirational is like trying to capture lighting in a bottle, but new McKinsey research has identified the behavioral leadership catalysts that inspire greatness. This book describes the behaviors to inspire that can be learned—to turn a good leader into a great leader. Understand the neuroscience of inspiration Tailor your inspirational approach to different leadership scenarios Initiate an inspiration cascade to influence people at scale The picture of leadership has changed over time. Today's great leaders are authentic, enthusiastic decision-makers with engaging visions, who are quick to communicate and take action. Less than half of all CEOs believe that their training investments will pay off, yet everyone agrees that leadership drives performance—where is the disconnect? It's in the belief that simple leadership behaviors equal results, forgetting that exceptional results only come from inspiration. When Execution Isn't Enough shows you how to attain the missing link of great leadership to bring exceptional results of your organization.

Companies, communities, and individuals fall for many reasons, but one of the most common—and easily avoidable—is the failure to reinvent. When people and organizations rest on prior successes rather than driving purposeful transformation, they discover too late that they have lost their market position altogether to competitors and external forces. The most successful companies, brands, and individuals make reinvention a regular part of their business strategies. Transformation demands an ongoing process of discovery and imagination, and The Road to Reinvention lays out a systematic approach for continually challenging and reinventing yourself and your business. Venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Josh Linkner identifies six elements in any business that are ripe for reinvention and shares examples, methods, and step-by-step techniques for creating deliberate, productive disruption. Throughout The Road to Reinvention, Linkner also explores the history—the great rise, unprecedented fall, and now rebirth—of his beloved hometown, Detroit. First rising to greatness as the result of breathtaking innovation, Detroit had generations of booming growth before succumbing to apathy, atrophy, and finally bankruptcy. Now, the city is rising from the ashes and driving sustainable success through an intense focus on reinvention. Linkner brings an insider's view of this incredible story of grit, determination, and creativity, sharing his perspective on Detroit's successes and setbacks as a profound example of large-scale organizational and personal transformation. Change is inevitable. You need to decide: Will you drive that change, or be driven away by it? Will you disrupt or be disrupted? By choosing to deliberately reimagine your own status quo, you can secure a strong future for both your company and your career.

Tear down the obstacles to creative innovation in your organization Unlocking Creativity is an exploration of the creative process and how organizations can clear the way for innovation. In many organizations, creative individuals face stubborn resistance to new ideas. Managers and executives oftentimes reject innovation and unconventional approaches due to misplaced allegiance to the status quo. Questioning established practices or challenging prevailing sentiments is frequently met with stiff resistance. In this climate of stifled creativity and inflexible adherence to conventional wisdom, potentially game-changing ideas are dismissed outright. Senior leaders claim to value creativity, yet often lack the knowledge to provide a creative framework. Unlocking Creativity offers effective methods and real-world examples of how the most successful organizations create cultures of innovation and experimentation. Best-selling author and scholar Michael Roberto presents a thorough investigation of organizational obstacles to creative thought. Highly relevant to the growth crises many enterprises face in today’s economic landscape, this book examines how to break barriers to spark creativity and foster new ideas. This insightful and informative work allows business executives, senior managers, and organization leaders to: Recognize the six organizational mindsets that impede creativity and innovation Learn how to tear down the barriers that obstruct the creative process Create an environment that allows talented people to thrive Encourage creative collaboration in teams throughout an organization Leaders do not have to conceive innovative ideas, but rather open the path for curious and creative employees within their organization. Unlocking Creativity: How to Solve Any Problem and Make the Best Decisions aids organizations in removing obstacles to the creative process and helps to form an atmosphere of imagination and innovation.

The 10 essential skills to transform the way you lead The Leadership Habit provides the framework for patterns of behavior that will transform the way you lead. By articulating a clear, well-defined standard of what it means to be a leader, this book condenses volumes of advice and opinion into 10 key areas and teaches leaders how they can create daily habits surrounding these centers of excellence. Leaders who can commit to creating change will develop more productive teams and will build long-term growth for their organization. This book is your invaluable guide to being one of the greats, with proven advice and a concrete framework for leading well. Through expert discussion and deep dissection of these critical areas, you’ll discover how to drive for results, build the best team, execute on vision, foster innovation, and more. Learn how to: Transform your habits across 30 specific skill areas Model personal growth, focus, and positivity Accelerate productivity and maintain your organization’s competitive advantage As a leader, your team's performance and your organization's outlook are direct reflections of you. Discover how to become a catalyst for driving performance and results by transforming your actions every day.

There was a time when people were committed to working hard and being productive in the work force. Today, however, some workers have an entitlement mentality and the labor pool includes some people who don???t want a job – just a paycheck. In response to this trend, Glenn Shepard has written How to Manage Problem Employees. This comprehensive book will tell you how to set new hires up for success, structure compensation packages to maximize their involvement and work ethic, deal with problem areas before they become bad behavior, and motivate slow and often unmotivated employees. You'll learn the different personality types and how to handle specific manifestations of each, including gossiping, back stabbing, direct confrontation, hypochondriacs, breaking the chain of command, and sarcasm, as well as how to terminate employees while staying on solid legal ground.

A practical, real-world training manual for mid-level management Managing to Make a Difference presents a leadership guide for those in the middle. The C-suite has a wealth of resources for leadership guidance, but middle managers face a quandary: often given little guidance on how to excel, they are also under enormous pressure to do a variety of things other than «lead.» This book provides much-needed tools and techniques for building a high-performing team—without letting your other duties suffer. Organized around a coherent philosophy and based on solid research, the discussion offers a roadmap to engagement, talent development, and excellence in management. From difficult situations and organizational challenges to everyday motivation and inspiration, these techniques help middle managers achieve the goals of their organization while empowering their workers to achieve their own. Talent development is probably not your full-time job—yet it drives the engagement that results in high performance. This book shows you how to hit the «sweet spot» of middle management, with a host of tools and strategies to help you help your team shine. Motivate, inspire, and lead your team with confidence Manage through challenges and overcome obstacles Develop key talent and maintain high engagement Adopt practical management tools based on substantiated research Most organizations direct the majority of their development resources to the C-suite, but still expect their mid-level managers to attract, engage, retain, and develop talent; but successfully juggling everyday duties while maintaining team performance and leading around roadblocks leaves little room for management planning. Managing to Make a Difference offers the solution in the form of tools, techniques, and practical strategy for a high performing team.