NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED

Beyond Success

Positive Leadership shows how to reach beyond ordinary success to achieve extraordinary effectiveness, spectacular results, and what Kim Cameron calls “positively deviant performance”—performance far above the norm. Citing a wide range of research in organizational behavior, medical science, and psychology as well as real-world examples, Cameron shows that to achieve exceptional success, leaders must emphasize strengths rather than simply focus on weaknesses; foster virtuous actions such as compassion, gratitude, and forgiveness; encourage contribution goals in addition to achievement goals; and enable meaningfulness in work. In this concise, inspiring, and practical guide, Cameron describes four positive leadership strategies, lays out a proven process for implementing them, and includes a self-assessment instrument. This second edition has been updated throughout with new research findings and new ideas for implementing positive leadership.

• By the coauthor of Developing Management Skills (over 250,000 copies sold)

• Draws on cutting-edge researchnot anecdotal personal storiesto show how to achieve success that far exceeds expectations

• Updated throughout with new research findings and new ideas for implementing positive leadership

Leadership should be about much more than hitting targets and avoiding mistakes. Kim Cameron shows how to reach beyond ordinary success to achieve extraordinary effectiveness, spectacular results, and what he calls "positively deviant performance"performance far above the norm. Positive leadership enables thriving and flourishing rather than simply addressing obstacles and impediments. It helps bring out the best in human nature.

Cameron is one of the founders of the new field of Positive Organizational Scholarship, which studies unusually high-performing organizations. In Positive Leadership he draws on discoveries in this field and in the allied field of positive psychologywhich focuses on high-functioning individualsas well as positive organizational change methodologies. He identifies four interrelated
leadership strategies:

• Positive Climate: fostering emotions such as optimism, compassion, and gratitude
• Positive Relationships: building positive energy networks and developing strength-based activities
• Positive Communications: fostering best-self feedback and supportive communication patterns
• Positive Meaning: helping people find profound purpose and a sense of calling

Cameron cites the empirical research that these strategies are rooted in and that supports their bottom-line effectiveness, lays out a proven process for implementing them, and includes a self-assessment instrument and a guide to assist leaders in the implementation process. Positive Leadership is a concise, thoroughly researched, and practical guide that any leader can use to generate truly amazing results.

A stellar list of contributors bring a variety of perspectives to establish one central theme: diversity is an advantage to be utilized, not a problem to be solved. Themselves representing a wide range of cultural, national, and vocational perspectives, the contributors examine how diversity creates new possibilities for working together in our projects, our organizations, and our lives. Working Together reveals diversity as a rich resource to meet the challenges of our changing times, an unparalleled opportunity to bring together a multiplicity of gifts for a common purpose.

• A stellar array of contributors includes such well known figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Riane Eisler, and Norman Lear
• Helps individuals, communities, and organizations to recognize diversity as a rich resource as opposed to an obstacle to growth

If you were a mouse trapped in a maze and someone kept moving the cheese, what would you do? In a world where most mice dutifully accept their circumstances, ask no questions, and keep chasing the cheese, Deepak Malhotra tells an inspiring story about three unique and adventurous mice—Max, Big, and Zed—who refuse to accept their reality as given.

I Moved Your Cheese reveals what is possible when we finally discard long-held and widely accepted assumptions about how we should live our lives. After all, achieving extraordinary success, personal or professional, has always depended on the ability to challenge assumptions, reshape the environment, and play by a different set of rules—our own. But rejecting deeply ingrained beliefs is not easy. As Zed explains, “You see, Max, the problem is not that the mouse is in the maze, but that the maze is in the mouse.”

• The first serious challenge to the iconic bestseller Who Moved My Cheese?
• A thoughtful critique written by a Harvard Business School professor and bestselling author
• Uses the same playful and highly accessible fable format to encourage readers to examine their deeply held assumptions and to take control of their own destinies
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With more than twenty-five million copies in print, Who Moved My Cheese? has become a phenomenon. It does offer some reasonable advice about adapting to change. Its certainly true that some of the events shaping our lives are beyond our control, and instead of struggling against them we must adapt and move on. But for all its good intentions, it ultimately advises us to unquestioningly accept our circumstances without exploring any possible alternativeslike mice in a maze mindlessly chasing after cheese.

I Moved Your Cheese takes a different point of view and offers an alternative approach. Harvard Business School professor and bestselling author Deepak Malhotra tells an inspiring story about a new generation of mice who begin to challenge assumptions and ask important questions. Rather than just accepting their situation and dutifully chasing the cheese, Max, Zed, and Big begin looking deeper, examining and reassessing what theyve been told are their limitations, and set out to chart a new course.

Innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, problem solving, and business growth as well as personal growth depend on the ability to challenge accepted notions, reshape the environment, and play by a different set of rules: our own. We are not powerless to change our circumstances. We can control our destiny. By ana- lyzing our assumptions about the limitations we seem to face, we can, like Max, Zed, and Big, discover how to overcome them. But first we need to understand the ways we unknowingly hold ourselves back. As Zed explains to Max, The problem is not that the mouse is in the maze but that the maze is in the mouse.

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The boss/subordinate relationship is an age-old problem cited in almost every management book and on-the-job survey as an area rife with dishonesty and inefficiency. All too often, subordinates spin the truth for those above while bosses fail to establish the conditions required for subordinates to tell it to them straight. The end result is warped communication, corrupt internal politics, illusionary teamwork, pass-the-buck accountability, and personal dispiriting-and the company is always the big loser.

Don't Kill the Bosses! reveals the "trap" created when people fail to differentiate between the positives of hierarchical structure and the negatives of hierarchical relationships. Far from being opposed to hierarchy, the authors believe strongly that an accurate and cleanly defined organization chart is vital. But they show how to implement an alternative model of hierarchy: two-sided accountability. Drawing on case studies from their consulting practice, Culbert and Ullmen show how this new model leads to a freer flow of information, more creative problem-solving, and quicker response to changing conditions.

Unlike other books that acknowledge boss/subordinate relationships as a systematic, continuing problem and offer skill development suggestions for dealing with it, Don't Kill the Bosses! tells how to think about the problem in a way that will enable readers to understand the steps they need to take to change things. It diagnoses what's missing in boss/subordinate relationships, connects what's wrong with them to personal and organizational outcomes, and defines the whole new mentality required to make them work successfully.

• Offers a revolutionary approach to management that preserves the positive aspects of hierarchical structures while overcoming the warped communications and poor morale that often plague them
• Provides the practical means for achieving open and above-board boss/subordinate give-and-take
• Uses case studies from the authors' consulting practice to show how their approach leads to honest communication, authentic teamwork, esprit de corps, and greater accountability

Some negotiations are easy. Others are more difficult. And then there are situations that seem completely hopeless. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back down. And to top it off, you have little power or other resources to work with. Harvard professor and negotiation adviser Deepak Malhotra shows how to defuse even the most potentially explosive situations and to find success when things seem impossible.

Malhotra identifies three broad approaches for breaking deadlocks and resolving conflicts, and draws out scores of actionable lessons using behind-the-scenes stories of fascinating real-life negotiations, including drafting of the US Constitution, resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, ending bitter disputes in the NFL and NHL, and beating the odds in complex business situations. But he also shows how these same principles and tactics can be applied in everyday life, whether you are making corporate deals, negotiating job offers, resolving business disputes, tackling obstacles in personal relationships, or even negotiating with children.

As Malhotra reminds us, regardless of the context or which issues are on the table, negotiation is always, fundamentally, about human interaction. No matter how high the stakes or how protracted the dispute, the object of negotiation is to engage with other human beings in a way that leads to better understandings and agreements. The principles and strategies in this book will help you do this more effectively in every situation.

Writer, consultant and speaker Chris Rabb coined the term "invisible capital" to represent the unseen forces that dramatically impact entrepreneurial viability when a good attitude, a great idea, and hard work simply aren't enough. In his book, Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity, Rabb puts forth concrete and effective ways entrepreneurs and their advocates can build and grow sustainable enterprises amid these unseen forces created by society's uneven playing field. By honoring democratic ideals, challenging assumptions, and reframing how success is defined, Rabb illuminates the promise of commonwealth entrepreneurship. This compelling and often counter-intuitive book illustrates how broad and meaningful entrepreneurial opportunity benefits not just individual entrepreneurs, but local communities and society at large.Writer, consultant and speaker Chris Rabb coined the term "invisible capital" to represent the unseen forces that dramatically impact entrepreneurial viability when a good attitude, a great idea, and hard work simply aren't enough. In his book, Invisible Capital: How Unseen Forces Shape Entrepreneurial Opportunity, Rabb puts forth concrete and effective ways entrepreneurs and their advocates can build and grow sustainable enterprises amid these unseen forces created by society's uneven playing field. By honoring democratic ideals, challenging assumptions, and reframing how success is defined, Rabb illuminates the promise of commonwealth entrepreneurship. This compelling and often counter-intuitive book illustrates how broad and meaningful entrepreneurial opportunity benefits not just individual entrepreneurs, but local communities and society at large.

• Reveals the true landscape of opportunity and the hidden assets entrepreneurs benefit from that improve business viability

• Shows how this "invisible capital" tilts an already uneven playing field

• Offers solutions that empower individuals and communities by democratizing entrepreneurial opportunity

 

We have been sold a bill of goods: all it takes to succeed in business is a great idea, a good attitude, and hard work. But a slew of government data tells quite a different story: the chances that a newly minted entrepreneur will build a business that survives five years, employs twenty workers and generates significant profit is about 1 in 1,000! The 999 entrepreneurs who didn't make it failed not because they "didn't want it badly enough." All too often it was due to a lack of invisible capital -- the intangible assets that play a crucial role in business success.

Invisible capital is not any one thing. It's a complex set of factors: our skills, knowledge, networks, resources, and experiences. These can create significant advantages, even if they are not consciously exploited. Rabb details how people can evaluate the components of their own invisible capital and develop a plan to build on strengths and mitigate weaknesses. He draws on his extensive experience as an entrepreneur, his tenure on Capitol Hill and the White House Conference on Small Business, his experience managing an urban business incubator, and his involvement with numerous family-owned businesses.

A major reason invisible capital is so little known is what Rabb calls the "entrepreneurial-industrial complex" -- influential pro-entrepreneurship boosters who cynically spoon-feed misinformation to the public. Rabb exposes how their misguided efforts perpetuate mythic "rags to riches" notions and illuminates research -- which is rarely shared and often politically manipulated -- confirming the significant influence of invisible capital on business outcomes. Rabb also outtlines how society can both help individuals build invisible capital and support the common good by investing in sustainable, community-based business models.

Understanding invisible capital will enable more Americans to be better prepared to pursue entrepreneurship, advocate for those who take the plunge, and assess how communities can support enterprises that broaden shared prosperity by leveling the playing field and strengthening the fabric of society.