The Power of Understanding Yourself. The Key to Self-Discovery, Personal Development, and Being the Best You

How to build lasting connections through meaningful communication Developing successful relationships is critical to our success in both our personal and professional lives. The Power of Understanding People shows you how to establish and develop extremely effective relationships by providing you with techniques to better identify and understand the intrinsic needs of others. As a result, you will achieve better team dynamics, increased sales and client satisfaction, higher levels of employee engagement and performance, and even more satisfying marriages and friendships. This book provides the tools to understand others' unique communication style as well as your own. Get detailed advice on how to adjust to diverse communication styles, develop a unifying language for the organization, and better match motivational techniques to team members. Through storytelling and experiential exercises, author Dave Mitchell helps you gain insight into your own unique interaction style and teaches you how to communicate, motivate, sell, and service more successfully no matter the personality types involved. Offers insight into the behavior cues and questions to ask to better understand someone's interactive preferences Explains how to enhance your sales efforts by better targeting your brand message to the client's style so that your products/services resonate with them more Examines strategies for creating a high performing work environment and achieve greater customer service excellence Contains conflict resolution strategies, including how to effectively work out differences within a team, between work units, with customers, and even in your personal life Armed with the ability to interpret the behavior of the people around you, you will achieve greater levels of success at work and at home while also learning how to better handle the difficult situations involving people in your life.

An easy program for freeing yourself from your mental and emotional traps-and leading the life you want and deserve «This empowering book will teach, inspire, and coach you to break the habits of insecurity that prevent you from realizing your spontaneous inner potential for genuine happiness.» -John Gray, Ph.D., author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus «There is nothing more empowering than accepting responsibility. Taking responsibility is not about assuming fault; it is about re-taking the helm and control of your journey in life. This book will help you navigate through the difficulties of personality and behavioral change to more emotional peace.» -Dr. Laura Schlessinger, author of The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands Nobody is born insecure, angry, bored, or depressed. The fact is, happiness is our natural state and, as psychologist Dr. Joseph J. Luciani explains in this warm, witty, and empowering guide, chronic unhappiness is just a bad habit-a habit that can be broken. It's much easier than you think! Based on Dr. Luciani's twenty-five years of experience helping patients unlearn reflexive, destructive thinking, The Power of Self-Coaching arms you with all the tools you need to free yourself from your mental and emotional traps. As you work through the many self-quizzes, training and coaching exercises, and Power Drills, you'll see yourself anew and feel yourself growing lighter, more spontaneous, and ready to take charge of your life. A proven five-step program for reconnecting with the innate capacity for happiness, The Power of Self-Coaching gives you what you need to: * Identify learned patterns of thought and feelings that are making you unhappy * Use Dr. Luciani's celebrated Self-Talk techniques to develop new, healthy ways of thinking and feeling * Eliminate boredom, hopelessness, chronic fatigue, and emotional numbness from your life * Tap your full creative, intellectual, and emotional potential and live the rich, rewarding life you want and deserve

This new, updated edition provides a lively, lucid and compelling introduction to contemporary controversies over the self and self-identity in the social sciences and humanities. In an accessible and concise format, the book ranges from classical intellectual traditions of symbolic interactionism, psychoanalysis and Foucauldian theory, through feminism and postfeminism, to postmodernism and the mobilities paradigm.

With characteristic verve and clarity, Anthony Elliott explores the relationship between power, identity and personhood, connecting varied theoretical debates directly to matters of contemporary relevance and urgency, such as identity politics, the sociology of personal relationships and intimacy, and the politics of sexuality. This edition also includes a new chapter on the digital revolution, which situates the self and work/life transformations within the context of AI, Industry 4.0, advanced robotics and accelerating automation. 
 
Offering thoughtful entry points to a rich and complex literature, along with robust critical responses to each theory, Concepts of the Self will continue to be an invaluable text for students of social and political theory, sociology, social psychology, cultural studies, and gender studies.

Become a true leader through Mindfulness If you thought leading a team or organization meant simply creating and implementing a financial plan, delegating responsibility, and watching the bottom line, well, you're only partly right. True leadership comes from within, a place of deep calm and focus, that allows you to respond to any situation as it arises. In Mindful Leadership, you'll learn how to draw on those inner reserves through Mindfulness Meditation, a tool you can use to achieve focus and clarity, reduce stress, and develop the presence of mind to meet any number of challenges. The book opens up a world of meditation exercises that can be done anywhere, anytime (no chanting or patchouli required!) and that are the gateway to improved judgment and decision making, improved time management, enhanced team effectiveness, greater productivity, and more on-the-job inspiration and innovation. Details the nine ways in which leaders can incorporate Mindfulness into every aspect of their lives Illustrates how meditation and business actually do mix Essential for anyone interested in anticipating and serving client needs The author coaches executives throughout North America and is quoted widely in the media Offering essential skills for both life and work, Mindful Leadership shows how it's possible to successfully lead a team, an entire organization—or just yourself.

The book you need to make better business decisions, faster The One Thing to Win at the Game of Business is the entrepreneur’s bible with everything you need to invest in your own entrepreneurial education. Based on author Creel Price’s own experience launching a small business for just $10,000 and then selling it a decade later for over $100 million, the book is based on one core business truth: that Decisionship, the ability to make better, faster decisions without the angst, is key to success. Systematically explaining the Decisionship methodology that Price has used with great success, the book outlines a visual model that brings together three distinct “sights”—foresight, insight, and hindsight—at the heart of the decision making process. Taken together, these perspectives enable you to quickly and easily process your options from every angle and make smarter choices more quickly. Presents a three-step process for making better business decisions Teaches you the one thing you need to know to build a more productive, more profitable company Explains the keys to building a closer-knit, more productive, and highly-motivated team Innovative, practical advice from a proven business expert, The One Thing to Win at the Game of Business is the ultimate business shortcut—the single thing that you must understand about entrepreneurship in order to get ahead.

The internet offers a wondrous world of possibilities for anyone with an entrepreneurial streak, including the chance to gain international recognition and influence without even leaving the house! Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook make it possible to leverage the most powerful marketing tool available—you!—no technical wizardry or design savvy required. In this candid and accessible book, internet entrepreneur Sarah Prout reveals how anyone, with any level of experience, can build a successful online business and harness the power of influence with social media. She shares her tried-and-tested methods for networking and attracting subscribers and followers, debunks social media myths, road-tests a range of different business models, and gives you all the inspiration and power tips you’ll need to get your online business—and bank account—thriving in no time.

Straightforward advice for navigating the  challenges facing professionals who are underrepresented in the leadership of today’s organizations   Michael Hyter is one of the nation’s highest regarded executives of color, and a widely respected thought leader in the area of talent development and leadership succession. To get there, he worked hard and made his work count through Efficacy. In  The Power of Choice  he reveals the lessons he learned along the way—putting you on the fast track to career success.  This book provides answers to the questions you might face as you immerse yourself in an often confusing and challenging workplace culture. It is about how to take informed personal responsibility for your career. Inside, you’ll find an open and frank discussion of how you can—and must, if you want to succeed!—make deliberate choices about who you are and how to represent yourself in your career. You’ll learn how to open doors for yourself (rather than waiting for others to open them for you), choose what’s important to you, and decide how you will achieve your goals.  Learn how to choose greatness by embracing efficacy to make the most of your time and energy Take your career into your own hands with inspiration from others who have made it Discover how embracing personal responsibility can create the opportunities you’ve dreamed of Gain deep insights into your own mind and make the right decisions to get where you’re going Yes, for those of us who are underrepresented talent, there are tradeoffs to finding success in today’s workplace culture. If you rise to the challenge, you stand a good chance of reaching your full potential—both professionally and personally.

A Map to the Magic of Reading Stop for a moment and wonder: what's happening in your brain right now—as you read this paragraph? How much do you know about the innumerable and amazing connections that your mind is making as you, in a flash, make sense of this request? Why does it matter? The Reading Mind is a brilliant, beautifully crafted, and accessible exploration of arguably life's most important skill: reading. Daniel T. Willingham, the bestselling author of Why Don't Students Like School?, offers a perspective that is rooted in contemporary cognitive research. He deftly describes the incredibly complex and nearly instantaneous series of events that occur from the moment a child sees a single letter to the time they finish reading. The Reading Mind explains the fascinating journey from seeing letters, then words, sentences, and so on, with the author highlighting each step along the way. This resource covers every aspect of reading, starting with two fundamental processes: reading by sight and reading by sound. It also addresses reading comprehension at all levels, from reading for understanding at early levels to inferring deeper meaning from texts and novels in high school. The author also considers the undeniable connection between reading and writing, as well as the important role of motivation as it relates to reading. Finally, as a cutting-edge researcher, Willingham tackles the intersection of our rapidly changing technology and its effects on learning to read and reading. Every teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, and school administrator will find this book invaluable. Understanding the fascinating science behind the magic of reading is essential for every educator. Indeed, every «reader» will be captivated by the dynamic but invisible workings of their own minds.

We live in an era of aesthetics. Art has become both pervasive and powerful – it is displayed not only in museums and galleries but also on the walls of corporations and it is increasingly fused with design. But what makes art so powerful, and in what does its power consist? 

According to a widespread view, the power of art – its beauty – lies in the eye of the beholder. What counts as art appears to be a function of individual acts of evaluation supported by powerful institutions. On this account, the power of art stems from a force that is not itself aesthetic, such as the art market and the financial power of speculators. Art expresses, in a disguised form, the power of something else – like money – that lies behind it. In one word, art has lost its autonomy. 

In this short book, Markus Gabriel rejects this view. He argues that art is essentially uncontrollable. It is in the nature of the work of art to be autonomous to such a degree that the art world will never manage to overpower it. Ever since the cave paintings of Lascaux, art has taken hold of the human mind and implemented itself in our very being. Thanks to the emergence of art we became human beings, that is, beings who lead their lives in light of an image of the human being and its position in the world and in relation to other species. Due to its structural, ontological power, art itself is and remains radically autonomous. Yet, this power is highly ambiguous, as we cannot control its unfolding. 

In this book, a leading proponent of New Realism applies this philosophical perspective to art to create a new aesthetic realism.

"Finally, a resource....guide…roadmap....to help team members and team leaders alike understand what it takes to function as a high performing team, how doing so can personally enrich your life, and why it's critical for organizations to function only in this way. The Emotionally Intelligent Team connects the dots between the task at hand, achieving and making a difference, and personal happiness. Imagine where humankind would be if every entity on the planet operated within a series of high performing teams. Marcia Hughes and James Terrell show us that it's possible!" —Suzanne Kirk, SVP, Branch Service Center, Bank of the West «We value teams at Medtronic so we know that this book will be a powerful tool in understanding and developing successful team behaviors!» —Michael Mihalczo, District Manager, Walter Cooper, District Manager, Medtronic CRDM «Marcia Hughes' and James Terrell's latest book, The Emotionally Intelligent Team, is a 'must read' for every school district, business and organization that wants to ensure high functioning and productive teams. Based on solid research, this easy-to-read book describes the seven social emotional skills necessary for effective teams, and includes practical strategies any team leader can use to develop and maintain an emotionally intelligent team. Marcia's and James' book has been of tremendous value to the work of the senior administrative team in our school district!» —Linda Fabi, Director of Education, Waterloo Region District School Board «Marcia and James provide a good lens for the way people view others in a team environment. This insight, when combined with measuring one’s own EQ through a test such as the Emotional Quotient inventory (EQ-i ®), provides a powerful lever for improving team performance.» —Steven J. Stein, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of MHS, Co-author of the best seller The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success and author of Make Your Workplace Great: The 7 Keys to an Emotionally Intelligent Organization «Discovering ways to strengthen teams in an organization can lead to impressive improvement in morale, engagement, productivity, and results. The Emotionally Intelligent Team will help any team take practical steps toward greater collaboration and effectiveness.» —Brian Twillman, EPA Training Officer & Organization Development Specialist, Lead Author EPA's Team Leader Resource Guide US EPA – Office of Executive Services, Office of the Administrator «The most important issue in our networked world is teamwork across levels and boundaries. This masterful work offers a completely new perspective, bringing the power of emotional and social intelligence through engaging insights, exercises and stories to high performance teamwork – creating the opportunity for potentially extraordinary results that are seamless, dynamic, and productive.» —Eileen Rogers, Global Director, Leadership Excellence Programs, Deloitte In this compelling book, authors Marcia Hughes and James Terrell offer practical information and a guide for businesses that want to draw on the power of the emotional competencies of their teams. They reveal how individuals, team members, and leaders can take the steps to become more emotionally intelligent team (ESI) members and show how to put in place the practices and exercises that will help any team grow in emotional intelligence. The book outlines the seven emotional competencies of teams.