Leadership Problems

Karen Phelan is sorry. She really is. She tried to do business by the numbers-the management consultant way- developing measures, optimizing processes, and quantifying performance. The only problem is that businesses are run by people. And people can't be plugged into formulas or summed up in scorecards.

This practical guide introduces managers to a powerful new engagement and retention tool: the stay interview. Smart companies have begun conducting these periodic reviews in order to discover why their important talent might leave and to solve any problems before they actually quit.

Through the exploration of robust cases and stories packed with deep insight and vital science, this extraordinary collection explores how we can adapt our notions of value, markets, and models of cooperation and collective action to create a world where economies and businesses excel, all people thrive, and nature flourishes.

Almost every major company today has made innovation its number one priority. Yet fewer than one in four executives believe their organizations are effective innovators. The pressure to innovate and the price paid for failure keeps rising while most companies haven't progressed at all. They are still using the same antiquated techniques pioneered decades ago. This is why some of the biggest corporations in the world manage to lose entire markets to start-ups they've never heard of.

For decades, Alan Siegel and Irene Etzkorn have championed simplicity as a competitive advantage and a consumer right. Consulting with businesses and organizations around the world to streamline products, services, processes and communications, they have achieved dramatic results.

Unprecedented access to infinite solutions has led us to realize that having all of the answers is not the answer. From innovation teams to creativity experts to crowdsourcing, we've turned from one source to another, spending endless cycles pursuing piecemeal solutions to each challenge we face. What if your organization had an effective systematic approach to deal with any problem?

Les changements dans les organisations échouent trois lois sur quatre ou deux lois sur trois. Pourquoi c'est si dur de changer ? Il s'agit sans doute de la question la plus souvent posée par les individus comme par les entreprises. Les trois parties de ce livre ont été élaborées par trois auteurs à partir de leurs nombreuses conférences sur le sujet. Trois auteurs, trois regards : Les idées reçues sur le changement ; La liberté face au changement ; Les pesanteurs de l'organisation et comment y faire face.

The Unfinished Leader is a modern handbook for recognizing, facing, and inspiring others to expose the real issues that underlie paradoxes in modern organizations. Leaders must first recognize situations they will never be able to "solve" and understand how to confront the barriers - in their own heads and their organizations - that push them toward seeking ultimate solutions that don't exist. Leading through complexity requires giving up the illusion of control, consistency, and closure, while embracing the reality of being permanently "unfinished".

In their best-selling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production, principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption.

Written for leaders, aspiring leaders, and anyone who makes a difference in the lives of others, author and leadership expert Tim Irwin, PhD, examines how failures of character common to even the most capable individuals—including deficits in authenticity, humility, self-management, and courage—repeatedly lead to downfall.

What makes a great team tick? Leadership guru John C. Maxwell says the answer is simple: great players. In 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, Maxwell teaches leaders how to develop better players and teaches each player how he or she can achieve true greatness from the inside out. Drawing on examples from some of history's most winning team players--including Quincy Jones, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Taylor--he shows readers how to develop qualities such as discipline, enthusiasm, communication, preparation, and commitment.

High-level executives, it turns out, are often the least able to diagnose—much less solve—an organization's systemic problems. Hans Norden draws on a wealth of experience in in-house change management to help both established and up-and-coming C-suite leaders analyze the problems and create authentic, sustainable solutions. In The Root Cause, listeners will learn how executing change initiatives requires a different form of leadership than routine operations. Norden shows leaders a way to solve the seemingly unsolvable problems—and prevent more from arising in the future.

Working with difficult people can reduce your morale, threaten your productivity, deplete your energy, and waste your time. But you don't have to be helpless in the face of other people's craziness! Knowing how to handle coworkers' disruptive behavior is one of the most important career skills you can have, allowing you to become a more valuable employee and a more self-reliant person.

Most problems are fairly easy: they have a few likely potential root causes. The most important problems often have hundreds or thousands of potential root causes within very complex systems. Such problems are hard problems, and are highly resistant to guessing, brainstorming, or problem-solving methodologies that require conjuring a list of possible causes. Great problem-solvers are armed with a set of behaviors that allows them to avoid guessing.

Turquoise Eyes combines compelling narrative while teaching problem solving and critical thinking skills. Set after a bank begins implementing a new retail banking strategy, we follow Teresa García Ramírez de Arroyo, a director general in the Mexican government, who has received some disturbing news. A whistleblower has emailed Teresa with troubling news about a mistake in the loan default calculations and reserve ratios. The numbers do not add up. This audiobook teaches advanced business concepts through a compelling storyline.

Hailed as "the female Jerry Maguire" by CNN, sports-agent-turned-entrepreneur Molly Fletcher reveals the winning secrets of fearless world-class achievers. Molly Fletcher knows a thing or two about making trades. As a sports agent, she's negotiated on behalf of champions such as Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz and seven-time PGA TOUR winner Matt Kuchar. As a top-tier speaker and consultant, she's helped energize companies worldwide.

The One-Page Project Manager set a new standard as an understandable and easy-to-apply organizational tool, allowing managers to summarize complex projects on a single information-rich page. This audiobook, third in the OPPM series, describes how to combine the OPPM with the Toyota A3 report to create an enhanced, integrated management tool. With a refreshingly clear style, the authors walk users through implementing the OPPM/A3 using a variety of real-world case studies, as well as their own experience at O.C. Tanner Company.

The "primes" are universal and unavoidable patterns of group behavior that emerge whenever people attempt to transform systems or collaborate to solve complex problems. Every change agent has felt their effect, but few can recognize, anticipate, and manage them. Unacknowledged, the primes can put any leadership agenda at risk. Once mastered, the primes become a force that drives intended outcomes.

Curating your life means selecting those activities that are most important, meaningful, and joyful for you and fiercely focusing your energy on those endeavors. It also means putting a whole bunch of stuff in the back room, to be reconsidered at another time. Curating your life means sorting your activities into three categories: the things you are not going to do, at least not right now; the things you will be mediocre at; the things you will be great at. This is not simple. But the payoff is amazing. Living a well-curated life is doable.

People issues. They seemingly arise out of nowhere and just don't go away. It's critical that managers handle them right. As a manager, you need to know so many things about managing people, but you don't even know what to ask! The Decisive Manager can help. With examples of typical situations that managers encounter and advice on how to handle them, it's an easy-to-use guide for people managers and has information on hiring to firing, and everything in between.