The author of the bestselling A Complaint is a Gift, (Over 100,000 copies sold) details how to create a definitive, recognizable style of service that reinforces a companies brand values every time a customer interact with an organizational representative.Branding is an integral part of modern business strategy. But while there are dozens of books on branding products and marketing campaigns, nobody has applied the logic and techniques of branding to customer service -- until now. Branded Customer Service is a practical guide to moving service delivery to a new level so that brand reinforcement occurs every time customers interact with organizational representatives. Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart show how to infuse an entire organization with brand values and create a recognizable style of service that reflects brand promises and brand images.

• By the author of the bestselling A Complaint Is a Gift (more than 100,000 copies sold)
• The first book to combine the dynamics of customer service with the psychology of branding-two of the most powerful concepts in business
• A comprehensive, practical guide that offers strategies, exercises and real-world examples of branded customer service in action

Thrive in the multicultural communities where you work and live

People, money, and information are flowing faster than ever across international borders, putting us all just one step away from a culture crash—that moment when you unintentionally confuse, frustrate, or offend someone from another culture. Are you struggling with trying to learn the customs, nuances, and hot buttons of every culture you might come into contact with? Michael Landers guides you toward a better solution: becoming aware of your own cultural “baggage.” You'll learn to sidestep the knee-jerk reactions that can get you into trouble and develop the agility to adjust your behaviors and expectations as needed. Through a mix of entertaining and instructive stories, valuable insights, and eye-opening self-assessments, Culture Crossing offers an essential primer for improving all your interactions with people from any background.

Lead So Your People Speak Freely

Candid communication enhances innovation, ownership, engagement, and performance. The benefits of hearing questions and uncertainties, good and bad ideas, and honest feedback are game-changing. Yet research shows that most of the time, people never share their true thoughts with each other—and especially not with their leaders.

But what if they did? What if everyone could confidently communicate without fearing a negative response? In Permission to Speak Freely, highly acclaimed leader developers Doug Crandall and Matt Kincaid illustrate the benefits of candor, explain the inhibitors that cause it to feel unsafe, and provide tools for leaders to encourage their people and embed trust and openness into the foundation of their organizational culture.

Effective performance communication is critical to business success. It supports customer relations, quick response, and productive work. It leads to faster management of change and the creation of a work climate that can support performance. It also links individuals to business goals and each other. On-the-Level spells out proven methods for success which are based on the authors' 45 years of work and management consulting in organizations around the world. This best-selling book has been thouroughly revised and updated, incorporating the newest developments in the field of performance appraisal.

The term "on-the-level communication" refers to direct, shared responsibility, output-focused communication in the workplace. It is communication that is open, above board, honest, respectful, and deliberate. On-the-Level focuses on planned discussions between employees and managers, team members, and suppliers and customers. It provides guidelines, ideas, and examples to help readers improve the quality, skill, and honesty of their communication when discussing goals, feedback, tough issues, and development on the job. The authors stress four central principles of on-the-level communication:
o Directness,
o Respect,
o Shared Responsibility, and
o Purpose.

On-the-Level is designed to help everyone in and around the workplace to plan and execute more effective and less fearful face-to-face communication. It shows how and why face-to-face, spontaneous discussions are key to continuous improvement and business success. The approach described in the book is effective in goal-setting, feedback and performance review, and development planning situations.

This book is for anyone who needs to communicate about performance issues. It provides tips and action steps for people who have difficulty talking about issues. Those who are already skilled and confident will gain new insight and practical tools.

• Emphasizes four central principles of "on-the-level" communication: directness, respect, shared responsibility, and purpose
• A handbook that can be kept on your desk and consulted as day-to-day performance issues arise

Leadership That Matters examines transformational leadership-leadership that not only improves productivity and performance but also makes a positive difference in the lives of organization members. Traditional, "transactional" approaches to leadership involve a kind of contractual arrangement: the leader issues orders and subordinates are expected to carry them out to the best of their abilities. This is fine as far as it goes. Transformational leadership goes a step further. Transformational leaders achieve superior results because of their ability to transform people from dutiful followers into self-directed leaders who go beyond simply doing what is expected of them. Drawing on research that investigates leadership, culture, and performance in dozens of organizations, the Sashkins describe the specific behaviors and personal characteristics of transformational leaders, who make leadership matter. They show how these leaders construct empowering organizational cultures that nurture self-reliance and long-term thinking. The authors offer practical advice on how to become a transformational leader. They also elaborate the crucial differences between charismatic leadership-which involves dependence on the leader-and true transformational leadership.

• Describes an approach to leadership that transforms individuals from subordinate followers to self-directed leaders
• Builds on decades of past research (as well as the authors' own research) to integrate and synthesize a new, comprehensive leadership approach
• Shows how to cultivate the personal characteristics of a transformative leader and how to construct a transformative organizational culture
• Explodes the myths of charisma and shows how and why true leadership is antithetical to charismatic demagoguery

The first book to offer a comprehensive overview of Hartmann's thoughts-the breadth will surprise even longtime fans

• By the New York Times bestselling author and number one progressive radio talk show host
• The first book to offer a comprehensive overview of Hartmann's thought-the breadth will surprise even longtime fans
• Touches on an extraordinary variety of subjects: politics, history, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and more

It's hard to pigeonhole Thom Hartmann. He has a unique synthesis of qualities not often found in one person: a scholar's love of history, a scientist's zeal for facts, a visionary's seeking after truth, an explorer's appetite for adventure and novelty. In addition to being the nation's number one progressive radio host, he's been an ad man, a psychotherapist, a private detective, and a homeopath. His writings encompass politics, history, ecology, psychology, and spirituality, among other subjects.

Even Hartmann's millions of loyal listeners and readers will be amazed at the breadth of his thought as evidenced by The Thom Hartmann Reader. Editor Tai Moses has pulled together Hartmann's writings from a dozen books and other sources to present a comprehensive picture of where Hartmann's wide-ranging intellect has led him over the past thirty years.

Hartmann is perhaps best known as a political thinker, and essays throughout this book express-in his characteristic impassioned and lucid style-his fierce commitment to Jeffersonian democracy and his virulent opposition to the corporatization of America. But you'll also discover his Older and Younger Cultures hypothesis, which identifies the root cause of so many of our social and environmental ills and points the way to a solution. You'll hear from Hartmann on how to keep our schools from treating children like assembly line products, why attention deficit disorder is not an affliction, and what cloudy Germany can teach us about solar energy. You'll meet the remarkable Gottfried M¼ller, Hartmann's mentor and the founder of the humanitarian organization Salem International. You'll join Hartmann on fact-finding trips to Uganda, Russia, and four-thousand-year-old ruins in Peru.

As fascinating as these and other topics in The Thom Hartmann Reader are, Hartmann's deepest aspiration has always been that his audience do more than just listen or read, that they become active, awakened agents of change. These essays are meant to inspire and motivate, to spur you to take some kind of action. As Hartmann says at the end of every radio program, "Get out there, get active! Tag, you're it!"

 

• By the New York Times bestselling author and number one progressive radio talk show host
• The first book to offer a comprehensive overview of Hartmanns thoughtthe breadth will surprise even longtime fans
• Touches on an extraordinary variety of subjects: politics, history, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and more

 

Its hard to pigeonhole Thom Hartmann. He has a unique synthesis of qualities not often found in one person: a scholars love of history, a scientists zeal for facts, a visionarys seeking after truth, an explorers appetite for adventure and novelty. In addition to being the nations number one progressive radio host, hes been an ad man, a psychotherapist, a private detective, and a homeopath. His writings encompass politics, history, ecology, psychology, and spirituality, among other subjects.

Even Hartmanns millions of loyal listeners and readers will be amazed at the breadth of his thought as evidenced by The Thom Hartmann Reader. Editor Tai Moses has pulled together Hartmanns writings from a dozen books and other sources to present a comprehensive picture of where Hartmanns wide-ranging intellect has led him over the past thirty years.

Hartmann is perhaps best known as a political thinker, and essays throughout this book expressin his characteristic impassioned and lucid stylehis fierce commitment to Jeffersonian democracy and his virulent opposition to the corporatization of America. But youll also discover his Older and Younger Cultures hypothesis, which identifies the root cause of so many of our social and environmental ills and points the way to a solution. Youll hear from Hartmann on how to keep our schools from treating children like assembly line products, why attention deficit disorder is not an affliction, and what cloudy Germany can teach us about solar energy. Youll meet the remarkable Gottfried Mller, Hartmanns mentor and the founder of the humanitarian organization Salem International. Youll join Hartmann on fact-finding trips to Uganda, Russia, and four-thousand-year-old ruins in Peru.

As fascinating as these and other topics in The Thom Hartmann Reader are, Hartmanns deepest aspiration has always been that his audience do more than just listen or read, that they become active, awakened agents of change. These essays are meant to inspire and motivate, to spur you to take some kind of action. As Hartmann says at the end of every radio program, Get out there, get active! Tag, youre it!