Management Leadership Success

Jim VandeHei’s high school guidance counselor laid it out clearly: VandeHei wasn’t cut out for college. In 1990, you could find him proving the counselor’s case emphatically, preferring beer to books and delivering pizzas to mapping out career plans. He attended a two-year school before smuggling himself into the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where after a year he had racked up a 1.4 GPA and was on the verge of getting the boot.

It's comforting to imagine that superstars in their fields were just born better equipped than the rest of us. When a co-worker loses 20 pounds, or a friend runs a marathon while completing a huge project at work, we assume they have more grit, more willpower, more innate talent, and above all, more motivation to see their goals through. But that's not at actually true, as popular Inc.com columnist Jeff Haden proves. "Motivation" as we know it is a myth. Motivation isn't the special sauce that we require at the beginning of any major change.

Ideas don’t sell themselves. As the forces of globalization, automation, and artificial intelligence combine to disrupt every field career, having a good idea isn’t good enough. Mastering the ancient art of persuasion is the key to standing out, getting ahead, and achieving greatness in the modern world. Communication is no longer a “soft” skill - it is the human edge that will make you unstoppable, irresistible, and irreplaceable - earning you that perfect rating, that fifth star.

Adversity can often catch you by surprise and leave you struggling with what to do next. What if you could confront any adversity, from the biggest challenges - the loss of your job, divorce, health issues, bankruptcy - to normal daily challenges - a late flight, a disappointing phone call, a missed promotion, a bad day - and not just survive it, but thrive afterwards? Some people move through adversity, and others fall underneath it. Learn how you can be counted among those who will overcome.

In business, the right behaviors matter. But getting it right is tricky. Even when we acknowledge the need to change what we do and how we do it, life has a habit of getting in the way, upsetting even the best-laid plans. And just how do we manage those situations that can provoke even the most rational among us into behaving in ways we would rather forget?

For over 20 years, a select group of Yale undergraduates has been admitted into the year-long "Grand Strategy" seminar team-taught by John Lewis Gaddis and Paul Kennedy. Its purpose: to provide a grounding in strategic decision-making in the face of crisis to prepare future American leaders for important work. Now, John Lewis Gaddis has transposed the experience of that course into a wonderfully succinct, lucid and inspirational book, a view from the commanding heights of statesmanship across the landscape of world history from the ancient Greeks to Lincoln, and beyond.

Rocket science is often celebrated as the ultimate triumph of technology. But it's not. Rather, it's the apex of a certain thought process—a way to imagine the unimaginable and solve the unsolvable. It's the same thought process that enabled Neil Armstrong to take his giant leap for mankind, that allows spacecraft to travel millions of miles through outer space and land on a precise spot, and that brings us closer to colonizing other planets.

Esteemed business school professors and renowned marketing consultants Alex Rovira and Fernando Trías de Bes have advised such multinational corporations as Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Pepsi, and Sony. Written to counter the belief in blind chance, this international best seller is a simple yet profound fable that teaches us to stop waiting for good luck but to start cultivating the conditions that make success possible.

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman is one of the tech world's most accomplished executives in enterprise growth, having led Snowflake to the largest software IPO ever after leading Data Domain and ServiceNow to exponential growth and the public market before that. In Amp It Up, he shares his leadership approach for the first time.

In Soar! T. D. Jakes reveals how to build the uniquely personal vision within each of us into our special contribution to the world. Blending the practical business acumen of a successful, global CEO with the dynamic inspiration of a life coach, Soar! provides the tools needed to ignite our imaginations into action and challenges us to embrace our divine purpose as we align our character and creativity with our careers.

Our noisy world has trained us to think that those who get in the last word win, when in fact it’s those who know how to stay silent who really hold the power. STFU is a book that unlocks this power and will change your life, freeing you to focus on what matters. Lyons combines leading behavioral science with actionable advice on how to communicate with intent, think critically, and open your mind and ears to the world around you. Talk less, get more. That’s what STFU is all about.

In this timely manifesto, the authors of the New York Times best-seller Rework broadly reject the prevailing notion that long hours, aggressive hustle, and "whatever it takes" are required to run a successful business today.

In an audiobook that challenges everything you thought you knew, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne assert that tomorrow's leading companies will succeed, not by battling their rivals for market share in the bloody "red ocean" of a shrinking profit pool, but by creating "blue oceans" of untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.

The Carrot Principle reveals the groundbreaking results of one of the most in-depth management studies ever undertaken, showing definitively that the most successful managers provide their employees with frequent and effective recognition. Best-selling authors Gostick and Elton show how the transformative power of purpose-based recognition produces astonishing results. And they show how great managers motivate employees to excel by offering constructive praise and meaningful rewards.

How can you take your skills and expertise and package it to become a successful consultant? There are proven time-tested principles, strategies, tactics, and best practices the most successful consultants use to start, run, and grow their consulting business. Consulting Success teaches you what they are.

Negotiation is a skill that can bring you vast success in all aspects of your life. When you're a skilled negotiator, you can get the best possible price on everything you purchase or sell, and you can deal with salespeople or clients.

High achievers are at the top of their game because of the discipline they have during the unseen hours. They have made a commitment to establish, tweak, and repeat positive habits in everything they do. Raise Your Game examines the top leaders in sports and business and proves that success is a result of the little things we do all the time.

Like financial classics The Latte Factor and The Richest Man in Babylon, The Money Tree uses a compelling story with captivating characters to share its core insight: You are never at the mercy of fortune as long as you have an appetite for hard work and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone.

The second edition of this best seller reveals how motivation science is essential for solving the most vexing leadership issues—from hybrid work and retention to employee engagement.

Some people have it, and others don’t. Jeffrey Pfeffer explores why in Power. One of the greatest minds in management theory and author or co-author of thirteen books, including the seminal business-school text Managing With Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer shows listeners how to succeed and wield power in the real world.