Small Leadership

How do some startups go from zero to billions in mere months? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube tycoon Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon climb to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a promotion? What do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers do in common to beat the norm? One way or another, they do it like computer hackers. They employ what psychologists call "lateral thinking: rethinking convention and breaking "rules" that aren't rules.

In the new edition of this fascinating book, a book that has appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, Slashdot.org, Lifehacker.com and in the New York Times, best-selling author Scott Berkun pulls the best lessons from the history of innovation, including the recent software and web age, to reveal powerful and surprising truths about how ideas become successful innovations - truths people can easily apply to the challenges of today.

Unsliced is the resource for elevating your pizzeria - from managing staff to mindset, marketing, and everything in between. Industry leader Mike Bausch explains how to make your restaurant unique and in demand based on his 20 years of experience. You’ll learn how to build systems that will help you boost your sales and keep your sanity. And you’ll discover time-tested protocols that will protect you and your restaurant. It’s hard not to get discouraged in this business. But with the right perspective, smart systems, and hard work, your restaurant can thrive.

The first thing Sophia Amoruso sold online wasn’t fashion - it was a stolen book. She spent her teens hitchhiking, committing petty theft, and dumpster diving. By twenty-two, she had resigned herself to employment, but was still broke, directionless, and working a mediocre day job she’d taken for the health insurance. It was there that Sophia decided to start selling vintage clothes on eBay. Eight years later, she is the founder, CEO, and creative director of Nasty Gal, a $100 million plus online fashion retailer with more than 350 employees.

Marc Andreesen once said that "markets that don't exist don't care how smart you are." Whether you're a startup founder trying to disrupt an industry, or an intrapreneur trying to provoke change from within, your biggest risk is building something nobody wants. Lean Analytics can help. By measuring and analyzing as you grow, you can validate whether a problem is real, find the right customers, and decide what to build, how to monetize it, and how to spread the word.

In late 2014, internationally acclaimed blogger and podcaster Chris Ducker coined the term “Youpreneur” to describe the rise of the personal brand entrepreneur, a new business model that very few people saw coming. Since then, the Youpreneur has risen to the top across sectors. A Youpreneur transcends the old rules of business and builds a sustainable business from the foundation of their experience, interests, and personality - their personal brand. Youpreneurs draw an engaged, loyal audience even as they pursue varying, changing interests.

In this leadership book, renowned industry analyst Josh Bersin introduces a new way to think about organizational design, employee engagement, and employee development. Distilled from decades of research and management theory into seven practical yet profound management principles, Bersin outlines how business leaders can create enduring companies that thrive with improved customer satisfaction, employee retention, and business agility.

Robert Kiyosaki's new audiobook 8 Lessons in Military Leadership for Entrepreneurs draws from his years at the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and his service in the United Sates Marine Corps. With compelling stories and examples and an engaging way of comparing and contrasting two very different cultures and value systems, Robert shares the challenges he faced in transitioning to civilian life.

Here’s what’s happened...you’ve become the bottleneck in your business, wondering why it isn’t growing and why you’re not making the money you want to make, working too many hours with no freedom. Overwhelmed at six figures, you wonder whether it’s even worth it to keep going, let alone try to grow to seven figures. It doesn’t have to be this way! By following these proven strategies that leverage all aspects of your business, you can remove yourself from the day-to-day grind and experience the freedom and joy you set out to create when you first opened your company.

Every leader is empowered to set their metric beat to make sure the company is doing everything it needs to do to grow their profit. This audiobook draws on the wisdom of some of the best business minds of our time, as well as the author's own experiences as a serial entrepreneur, to create a methodology that shows you a practical step-by-step process; how to rhythmically integrate all the crucial parts of your business.

The Art of Influence will make you think twice about everything you've ever learned about influence. As Chris Widener's inspiring story reveals, it's not something you "do" to other people but rather something that starts with how you shape and transform your own life.

Murphy's Law tells us that if something can go wrong, it will. Nonsense! says Al Casey, who maintains: If things can go right, they should. But you've got to make them go right, he adds, by hard work, focusing on key problems, and believing in the people around you. One of the most successful - and original - American businessmen of our time, Al Casey is a no-nonsense turnaround specialist who loves nothing more than the big challenges, whether in the private or the public sector.

Ten years ago the idea of getting into a stranger's car or walking into a stranger's home would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it's as common as ordering a book online. Uber and Airbnb have ushered in a new era: redefining neighborhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business, and changing the way we travel. In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries.

In 1965, John Brink left the Netherlands for Canada equipped with only a single suitcase and $25.47 in cash. He had no connections, he didn’t speak the language, and he’d never finished elementary school, yet he was convinced he could make his dream to build his own sawmill come true. With a tenacity bordering on obsession, John achieved his dreams...and then some. In this lively autobiography, John distills a half-century’s hard work to share 10 simple takeaways.

The best entrepreneurs balance brilliant business ideas with a rigorous commitment to serving their customers' needs. If you read (or listen) to nothing else on entrepreneurship and start-ups, listen to these 10 articles by experts in the field. We've combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you build your company for enduring success.

Discover the leadership secrets of the warrior who centuries ago shaped an aimless band of mercenary tribal nomads into the undisputed rulers of the ancient world-and who today offers timeless lessons in win-directed, take-charge management. Based on historical research-and filled with illuminating maxims-this essential guide offers the wisdom of a man who unified thousands, led the charge, kept the peace, picked his enemies wisely, and negotiated brilliantly.

In The 10% Entrepreneur, Patrick McGinnis shows you how, by investing just 10% of your time and resources, you can become an entrepreneur without losing a steady paycheck. McGinnis details a step-by-step plan that takes you from identifying your first entrepreneurial project to figuring out the smartest way to commit resources to it. He shows you how to select and engage in projects that will provide you with upside outside the office while making you better at your day job.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski reveals his personal principles for leadership, from dealing with adversity in life or on the basketball court, to taking responsibility for your actions and learning how to trust your heartfelt instincts in times of trouble. Leading with the Heart is about bringing out the best and demanding the best, from ourselves, from those around us, and from any organization that is playing to win.

Author Amber Richards owned and operated a single-person home-cleaning business for three years. She shares tips and advice she wishes someone had shared with her before starting up the business. With transparency to both mistakes and successes, this audiobook is packed with useful information and strategies from someone who actually worked in the business.

The emphasis is not focused on practical cleaning tips, although there is a chapter about products in general.

Elevate your leadership game and discover the secrets to winning big in business and innovation. Big Bet Leadership equips business leaders with the principles and tactics to achieve critical results and solve complex problems facing businesses today. You will capture the upside potential while avoiding the many failure points inherent to AI strategies, growth strategies, M&A, innovation programs, operating model transitions, and digital transformation.