Performance Culture

A humorous yet practical five-step guide to ridding ourselves - and our companies - of the bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tape that plague every office.

For decades, alarms have sounded about declining engagement. Yet companies continue to struggle with toxic cultures, and the low productivity and unhappiness that go with them. Why is "culture" so difficult to improve? What makes so many good employees check out? Neuroscientist Paul Zak shows that innate brain functions hold the answers. It all boils down to trust. When someone shows you trust, a feel-good jolt of oxytocin surges through your brain and triggers you to reciprocate.

This book is about one of the most important factors that leads to spectacular performance in organizations. Kim Cameron, a true pioneer in the study of positive leadership, offers validated scientific evidence that all individuals are inherently attracted to and flourish in the presence of positive energy.

Organizations and employees now spend an average of $18,000 dollars per year per employee for health costs. These are direct costs, but the hidden costs of time out of the office, distraction, disengagement, and turnover far exceed them. The Healthy Workplace Nudge explains the findings of research on 100 large organizations that have tackled the problems of employee health costs and disengagement in four fresh ways and explains how to create a workplace that is good for people, releases them to what they do best and enjoy most, and produces great and profitable work.

In his work consulting to major corporations for more than 30 years, Gerald Kraines consistently hears that 60-70 percent of business organizations' potential effectiveness goes unrealized. He shares how to engage, align, and develop employees in order to leverage and encourage optimal performance and long-lasting results.

Why were the American POWs imprisoned at the Hanoi Hilton so resilient in captivity and so successful in their subsequent careers? This book presents six principles practiced within the POW organizational culture that can be used to develop high-performance teams everywhere. The authors offer examples from both the POWs’ time in captivity and their later professional lives that identify, in real-life situations, the characteristics necessary for sustainable, high-performance teamwork.

They're Your Rules, Break Them! offers 50 innovative ways of looking at your business as a long-term, dynamic, progressive entity. Here you will find 50 ways to ditch the atrophying forces and create an exponentially achieving, high-performance culture in your organization. Disruption is everywhere. Rather than suffering its blows, what if you could institutionalize it into your business? What if, rather than being rigid and rule-bound, you could make your business "ever changing" within?

In this timely and essential guide, McKinsey alumni Gaurav Bhatnagar and Mark Minukas present a proven approach to workplace anxiety that reduces stress, boosts well-being, and overcomes blocks that get in the way of success. It begins with changing our relationship with fear and then developing strategies that improve outlook and performance, leading to greater profits, sustainable growth, and personal rewards. It’s only possible with a culture of unfear.

Today's leaders know that speed and agility are the keys to any company's success, and yet many are frustrated that their organizations can't move fast enough to stay competitive. The typical chain of command is too slow; internal resources are too limited; people are already executing beyond normal expectations. As the pace accelerates, how do you inspire people's energy and creativity? How do you collaborate with customers, vendors, and partners to keep your organization on the cutting edge?

It is taken for granted in the knowledge economy that companies must employ the most talented performers to compete and succeed. Many firms try to buy stars by luring them away from competitors. But Boris Groysberg shows what an uncertain and disastrous practice this can be.

The creators of the popular website Black Nerd Problems bring their witty and unflinching insight to this engaging collection of pop culture essays - on everything from Mario Kart to issues of representation - that “will fill you with joy and give you hope for the future of geek culture” (Ernest Cline, number one New York Times best-selling author).

Are your people excited to come to work? Are they passionate about your team's purpose? In Engaging the Hearts and Minds of All Your Employees, leadership expert Lee J. Colan reveals the necessary steps to inspire and engage everyone on your team. By fully engaging your employees, you'll ignite stellar team performance and customer service.

Unlock the secrets to sustainable success in your organization with "Creating a Kaizen Culture: Fostering a Kaizen Culture for High-Performance." In this audiobook, you'll embark on a journey of continuous improvement and learn how to cultivate a workplace culture that thrives on innovation, efficiency, and adaptability. Kaizen, a Japanese philosophy centered around small, incremental changes, has revolutionized countless businesses worldwide. Now, it's your turn to harness its power.

Perfunctory efforts to show investment in a business relationship don't cut it anymore. Business professionals working across national and cultural boundaries need to form authentic relationships that drive rapport, camaraderie, and optimal team performance—and Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce provides the most thorough and practical approach to date on this issue. Renowned academics in the field of intercultural relationship-building Andy Molinsky and Melissa Hahn deliver an easy-to-understand approach to help you supercharge your global relationship-building skills.

Leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to overcome the great disconnect between employers and employees by inviting individuals to become part of something bigger than themselves—to belong. Belonging Rules gives leaders the tools, knowledge, and confidence to harness belonging to address the workplace’s most critical challenges.

Exception to the Rule links ancient wisdom with contemporary science on high performance, teamwork, and engagement. Building an organizational culture based on classical virtues - of trust, compassion, courage, justice, wisdom, temperance and hope - is both strategically smart and a better way to live. Exception to the Rule walks you through the steps of helping everyone in your organization focus on character defined by virtue.

As a leader, you face tough choices every day. The stakes are high, and a lack of clarity - with yourself, your team, and organizational focus - can be devastating. Debra Van Cleve’s The Clarity Effect: Simple Leadership Principles to Create a Culture of Purpose, Passion, and Performance provides business strategies and hands-on exercises, so you can elevate your leadership style, achieve high-performance teams, and create long-term organizational success.

As successful CEOs devote their time and energy to growing their companies in a fast-paced world of global trade, high technology, and fierce competition, the how of business—also known as organizational culture—can be neglected. The repercussions include losing your most talented people, damaging your reputation, and wreaking havoc on company growth. Through the use of real-life examples and client conversations, organizational psychologist and master coach Dr. Shahrzad Nooravi shares three models for driving a strong culture.

Joe Ferreira specializes in spectacular turnarounds. However, none of Joe’s hard-won personal or professional successes prepared him for becoming the CEO of an organization the same week it was threatened with imminent dissolution by the United States government. Faced with a toxic legacy culture and the worst performance metrics in his industry, Joe drew upon his most momentous personal and professional life experiences. A management memoir, the story of Uncomfortable Inclusion will intrigue, infuriate, and inspire leaders who are eager to turn their organizations into world leaders.

Learn how to enhance workforce performance, strengthen workforce retention, and better your leadership by cultivating and expanding on your company's culture with The Power of Company Culture.