Out Think. How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes

The proven model that offers powerful and elegant strategies for leaders How Great Leaders Think: the Art of Reframing uses compelling, contemporary examples to show how more complex thinking is the key to better leadership. Leaders who understand what's going on around them see what they need to do to achieve the results they want. Bolman and Deal's influential four-frame model of leadership and organizations—developed in their bestselling book, Reframing Organizations: Artistry Choice and Leadership—offers leaders an accessible guide for understanding four major aspects of organizational life: structure, people, politics, and culture. Tapping into the complexity enables leaders to decode the messy world in which they live, see more options, tell better stories, and find strategies that are more effective. Case examples of leaders like Jeff Bezos at Amazon, Howard Schultz at Starbucks, Tony Hsieh at Zappos, Ursula Burns at Xerox, and the late Steve Jobs at Apple provide concrete lessons that readers can put to use in their own leadership. The book's lessons include: How to use structural tools to organize teams and organizations for better results How to build motivation and morale by aligning organizations and people How to map the terrain and build a power base to navigate the political dynamics in organizations How to develop a leadership story that shapes culture, provides direction, and inspires commitment to excellence

How can we as parents, educators, and members of the business community prepare students to be successful leaders in today's global environment? It's a critically important question. Gloria Cordes Larson, president of Bentley University, explains why today's practices in higher education are inadequate preparation for our rapidly evolving innovation economy. Instead, she passionately advocates for a hybrid-learning model that integrates business education with traditional liberal arts courses. Today's businesses demand a new kind of hybrid graduate, possessed of both hard and soft skills, with the courage to take risks, the creativity to innovate, and the savvy to excel in a turbulent competitive climate. This book is a valuable resource for participants in every learning community: our homes, schools, and businesses. It will change the way you think about what excellence in education means in today's business environment as you develop strategies that will move our children, students, and future employees forward in a rapidly changing and very challenging world. Prepared with that training and knowledge, they will find greater fulfillment and make their own mark on the future.

An innovative communication method for making change happen in any organization Getting Change Right presents a new view of leadership communication that says change doesn't flow top-down, bottom-up, or sideways, but inside-out. This is how change spreads through a complex system successfully-the other options are force or failure. Based on years of experience with organizations around the world, change expert Kahan presents a new model of communication, one that moves from a transactional view of information exchange to a collaborative construction of shared understanding. When the right people are having the right conversations and interactions, then they act in concert even though the situations they confront independently are impossible to predict or coordinate. This dynamic practitioner's guide to implementing change Presents the innovative co-creation communication model for creating change Reveals how communicating with a company's most valuable players is at the heart of organizational change Draws on the author's wealth of experience with Fortune 100 companies, leading government agencies, and associations Getting Change Right offers business insights and field-tested, practical techniques that can be put to work immediately.

Real-world strategies for uncovering potential and capitalizing on opportunity Innovation is worth little unless it generates lasting success, and gaining measurable results from new ideas requires more than creative risk-taking. Successful innovation demands a tactical approach, and Getting Innovation Right reveals how your company can secure real traction and growth in the marketplace. With Seth Kahan's outcome-based approach, based on his experience leading innovation initiatives at a diverse range of organizations, you will identify the inflection points that generate market opportunities for your company and leverage the best techniques for securing a foothold in a lucrative new space. Offers a framework of 7 key activities for results-driven innovation, from intelligence-gathering through execution Goes beyond abstract advice to offer hands-on approaches that are relevant and applicable in any organization The companion and follow-up to Seth Kahan's bestselling first book,Getting Change Right and FastCompany.com blog Leading Change Grounded in market-based reality, Getting Innovation Right is an indispensable resource for leaders looking to drive results and move in fresh directions.

Becoming the Very Best First-Time Leader Congratulations! You’re now in charge. Perhaps it’s your first time as a leader, or maybe you want to fine-tune your skills. Either way, you’ve begun one of the most rewarding chapters of your career. But, like many beginnings, the first few years can be challenging. Fortunately, you don’t have to tackle this challenge on your own. Your First Leadership Job gives you practical advice straight from others who have walked in your shoes. Not only does it include dozens of tools to ensure your success, but it’s also based on the authors’ and DDI’s extensive experience and research, which ultimately has led to the development of millions of leaders around the world. In fact, a quarter-million leaders will be developed this year alone via DDI training. Your First Leadership Job is divided into two sections. Part 1 introduces the concept of catalyst leader—one who sparks energy, passion, and commitment in others. Your transition to catalyst leader is a major step in your leadership journey. This book provides essential tips to put you on the catalyst path. Ultimately, leadership is about the many conversations—frequent, clear, authentic, and occasionally difficult—that you will have daily. Your First Leadership Job builds awareness of the fundamental skills you’ll come to rely on to make every one of these interactions successful. Part 2 devotes 13 chapters to critical core leadership competencies, including coaching for success, hiring the best employees, turning dreaded appraisals into discussions that propel performance, and handling difficult employees. It also includes a chapter for first-time female leaders. Look at Your First Leadership Job as an indispensable companion to becoming an awesome leader—one who will make a positive, lasting impact on your team, family, and career. Visit www.yourfirstleadershipjob.com to learn more.

A practical guide for leading others with wisdom, integrity, and humanity This book argues that great leadership requires wisdom. Rather than a formulaic managerial approach to leadership, Lead with Wisdom presents the case for leadership based on our shared humanity and the stories that unite us. What emerges is a model of leadership based on learning to read key patterns of human experience: the way language shapes our reality, how we form new meaning through conversation, how relationships determine influence and how we deal with uncertainty. It presents readers with the tools and illustrated examples to implement the four arts of leading wisely: how to draw out and create a new story in the organization, how to find and leverage the brilliance of people, how to speak with promise to restore meaning and hope, and how to show grace in dealing with the most demanding people and circumstances. Offers a leadership approach rooted in our shared humanity and the stories which unite and define us Ideal for corporate leaders, middle managers, administrators, and anyone else with management responsibilities Written by a popular speaker on leadership and the author of Arts of the Wise Leader, with personal CEO experience and a PhD in the history of ideas Structured as one key idea per page or double page spread with funky line drawings supporting the concepts and skills For anyone who wants to lead with wisdom, integrity, and humanity, Lead with Wisdom offers a welcome alternative to traditionally robotic and formulaic leadership strategies.

Create simple, engaging, and effective outputs that actually get results Billions of corporate dollars are spent every year on initiatives to help people succeed in their job, but much of it goes to waste. Across industries, people are scrambling to find what they need to grow and improve at work, and executives are left wondering why these initiatives aren’t effective. Author Juliana Stancampiano has plumbed the depths of this massive disconnect with her team. With this book, she bridges the gap. Radical Outcomes is a blueprint for a new way of working. Instead of taking old methods and retrofitting them for new technology, Stancampiano unveils a collaborative, fast, and effective way of working that avoids randomness and organizational drag. The book offers a new way of working—the future of the way people and teams will work together. Find out how to get tangible results through a structured process Cut through noise and information overload to give people what they really need Design the right output for the right outcome Improve and succeed no matter where you are in the organization Find out how to create radical outcomes through high performing teams—and get started today.

Focus on the right things An education leader’s job can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Research shows that by spending time on just a few high-payoff strategies, leaders can bring about the meaningful change their schools and districts need. High-Payoff Strategies helps administrators lead successful change initiatives by focusing on the three top priorities identified by research and practitioners alike: fostering a supportive district and school culture, leading instructional change, and building a learning community among faculty and staff. Drawing on the latest research as well as hundreds of interviews with education leaders, High-Payoff Strategies reveals what it really takes to bring about school turnaround. The book includes rich and varied examples showing how real-world education leaders—in urban, suburban, and rural settings—have successfully led changes in their schools and districts. It also provides tools that readers can use immediately to put these practices in place, together with videos demonstrating the practices in action. High-Payoff Strategies helps education leaders create schools and districts that support teachers and make a difference in the lives of children.