In StandOut, Marcus Buckingham asserts that everyone has their own particular genius that is innate to their being. Buckingham explains that by understanding their strengths and learning how to apply them, anyone can be consistently outstanding in the workplace. Sounding the all-too-familiar cry for innovation as the only way for the United States to thrive and compete, he offers readers an online assessment tool that will identify their top two strengths and provide an analysis of those strengths. He also offers practical innovations, tips, and techniques for using each strength to help people find an edge and win at work. According to Buckingham: Everyone has their own brand of genius. People may not always be aware of their true strengths, but becoming aware of them can open the door to great personal power. Of the thousands of personal talents that exist, the StandOut assessment distills them into nine main categories: Advisor, Connector, Creator, Equalizer, Influencer, Pioneer, Provider, Stimulator, and Teacher.Individuals top two categories combined can be used to identify their unique strengths and to predict and improve performance. Innovative practices that work in one setting will not always work in another setting unless the person implementing the practices has the same strengths as the one who created the practice. Genius is very precise. When people operate in their "strength zones," they can learn, understand, and act faster and better than most people. However, once they shift out of their genius zones, performance declines quickly. People should consciously apply their particular genius to everyday situations. By doing this, they can operate at peak levels and avoid accepting new roles that are too far outside their comfort zones. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Strengths Finder 2.0, Go Put Your Strengths to Work, Work Your Strengths

In his book When Teams Collide, cross-cultural expert Richard D. Lewis offers pragmatic advice for assembling, blending, and strengthening international teams. An advocate for the frank discussion of the differing attitudes and values of different cultures, Lewis presents a guide to building and caring for these teams. Millions of these international teams will exist in the 21st century, and each of these teams needs to be capable of making decisions quickly while also striving to break new ground. When a team of international minds has a complementary skill set, members of that team can become key figures in the company as a whole. Lewis offers the following advice to readers: There are three main types of cultures: linear-active, multi-active, and reactive. Linear-active cultures are task-oriented and organized. Multi-active cultures tend to be emotional and impulsive. Reactive cultures feature good listeners who rarely initiate action, preferring to listen and then formulate an opinion. Teams must be organized from the outset. National strengths, weaknesses, and taboos must be considered. The team must share a lingua franca, or common language. Each language has its own benefits and limitations, with English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and French being common choices. The leader of an international team must be selected carefully. However, in the end, good leaders are defined by personality, not by their passports. Cultural differences and taboos among team members should be acknowledged right away. Openness promotes synergy. Humor is a powerful tool in a manager’s arsenal. When a team develops its own humor style, it signifies that it has "come of age." A decision-making process must be clarified to keep the team running smoothly. There must be a system to break deadlocks. Ethics may vary from culture to culture, but behaving ethically is important in all cultures. Be aware of potential gray areas. Building trust takes time. Trust often has to be earned, though it can occur spontaneously among countrymen. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Team Turnarounds, The Secret of Teams, Collaborate!

It seems that corporate and government secrets are being leaked with more frequency in recent history than ever before. Today, it was revealed that Edward Snowden, a former Booz Allen Hamilton employee, was the source of the leak concerning the NSA’s broad and, some would say, overreaching surveillance program. He is currently residing in Hong Kong in an attempt to escape prosecution by the Justice Department. The uptick in leaks such as these may be due in part to easier access to distribution channels via the Internet and a growing public demand for transparency and accountability in government agencies and companies alike. While the reasons behind such leaks and whistleblowing efforts are often tied to an individual’s personal ethics, it is much harder to understand the conflict involved in the decision to leak information to the public. That decision often has serious and far-flung consequences for the whistleblower and his or her family. For example, Army private Bradley Manning, who leaked hundreds of thousands of pages of classified documents to website WikiLeaks, was arrested and jailed in May of 2010 and is currently in the process of being court-martialed. Edward Snowden could face extradition and be brought back to the U.S. for trial. On the corporate front, whisteblowers such as Mark Whitacre (Archer Daniels Midland, 1992), and Jeffrey Wigand (Brown & Williamson, 1996) face financial and violent threats, the fear of being blacklisted, and, in some cases, prison time. Karen Silkwood, who uncovered health and safety issues surrounding the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Oklahoma, was killed in a suspicious car accident on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter about what she had uncovered. Because they face such potentially devastating consequences, corporate whistleblowers must carefully consider their decision to release sensitive information, weighing their moral and ethical obligations against their own personal wellbeing. In their book, The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide, Tom Devine and Tarek F. Maassarani provide advice for employees considering whistleblowing and how they should handle themselves: Before an employee challenges a company, that employee must understand how large organizations operate and how corporate bureaucracies react to troublemakers. A prospective corporate whistleblower must be certain of what the objective is. Objectives may include being a good citizen, the desire to protect the public from a dangerous hazard, or compensation for damages. When hiring an attorney, the attorney’s motivation for taking the case should be aligned with the whistleblower’s ultimate objective, be it protecting the public from a hazard or winning compensatory damages. It is essential to examine and research the best channels for disclosure of information. Channels may include corporate management, hotlines, advocacy groups, public government agencies, law enforcement, government representatives, or the media. Successful whistleblowing hinges more on relationships than on formal legal rights or resources. Relationships are as significant as the quality of the evidence and the efficacy of the strategy. Advocacy organizations can be vital partners for whistleblowers, since these organizations can provide advice, research, and connections.

When individuals think or do something they would not ordinarily think or do, they have been influenced. Although, the heart of any traditional Marketing and Public Relations (PR) effort is to influence an intended stakeholder, it has always been an imprecise method with nonlinear results. Now, with the advent of innovative and evolving technologies, organizations can center influence at the core of their corporate strategies using an elegant Six Influence Flows framework. As Philip Sheldrake explains in his book The Business of Influence, this framework involves identifying an organization’s stakeholders’ influence with each other with respect to both the organization and its competitors. Applying the Six Influence Flows via the Influence Scorecard, an extension of Kaplan Norton’s business performance management system’s Balanced Scorecard, maps influence objectives throughout an organization’s corporate strategy. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Elements of Influence, Increase Your Influence at Work, The Secret Language of Influence

There’s a lot more to selling — whether it’s oneself, a product, or a service — than most people would imagine, according to Kevin Hogan. Of course, there’s the message, but that is secondary to other factors, including the where, when, and who in any given situation. Each of these elements carries subtle, subliminal clues that can mean the difference between getting a "yes" or a "no." In Invisible Influence, Hogan uses scientific studies to reveal unique approaches to influence, beginning with overcoming "reactance," which he defines as "resistance to influence." From that starting point, Hogan presents 52 techniques for influencing people to sell, market, and communicate more effectively and profitably. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: The Business of Influence, The Influence Game, 10 Steps to Successful Sales

Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia showcases how The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership formulated from research conducted by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner are being applied by Asian executives to transform how people work to generate great results. Real-life stories are shared about personal leadership practices from senior managers, many enrolled in the Executive MBA program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The emphasis is on how leaders set inspiring examples through their own behaviors and relationships with colleagues, employees, team members, and other constituents. The five exemplary practices are modeling the way with clear values, inspiring others with a shared vision, continually challenging existing processes to discover new opportunities, empowering others to act, and encouraging the heart through genuine appreciation of the work of others. The authors inform readers that: Each individual can be a leader and make a difference by modeling exemplary behavior based on values and developing strong relationships with constituents within an organization in order to make things happen. Leadership can be learned because it manifests as an observable pattern of practices and behaviors and a definite set of skills and abilities. The five practices of exemplary leadership are modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging existing processes, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Lead by the example of exemplary behaviors to show deep commitment to shared values. Commitment from others cannot be forced through command but must come from inspiring others to enlist in a common vision. Exemplary leaders search for opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve; they continually learn from failures and successes. Leaders must foster collaboration and build trust by strengthening others. When people have the information, discretion, and authority to make extraordinary things happen, they will. Exemplary leaders demonstrate genuine appreciation for individual excellence and seek to create a culture that celebrates values and victories. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: The New Asian Hemisphere, China’s Management Revolution, China Versus the West

The purpose of Stop Complainers and Energy Drainers is to teach people how to spot a complainer and fix the problem quickly. Complainers and energy drainers in the workplace can have strong negative effects on a company through lost work, loss of good employees due to an unhealthy work environment, and damage to a company’s reputation. Complainers inhibit innovation and growth in companies while negatively affecting daily productivity. Linda Swindling attempts to help readers identify the types of complainers they are dealing with, understand the reasons for their behavior, and learn strategies and solutions to deal with them. The options, strategies, and solutions provided can help turn chronic complainers into chronic contributors and let everyone get back to work. Swindling offers the following advice to readers: Every complainer has their own motivations for behaving the way they do. Understanding their reality versus their outward reactions is key to helping them change their own behavior. Workplace productivity can suffer from energy drains. Energy drains come in many forms including: technology and software that is complicated or not understood by its users; bottlenecks; too much work for a given timeframe; misaligned values between the company and workers; and depressing work environments. Not all complaining is counterproductive. Constructive complaining can be beneficial to a company’s growth. Changing chronic complainers into chronic contributors can go far to improving a company’s morale, promoting effective communication, and increasing productivity. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Make Difficult People Disappear, Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Engagement Is Not Enough

In Reinventing Management, Julian Birkinshaw offers alternative counterpoints to replace the traditional ways people approach management and business. Arguing that management "failed" after years of corruption and employee disenchantment, Birkinshaw presents compelling arguments for how management can be improved and updated for a new era of business. With a fresh perspective on management issues, such as communication, coordination, setting objectives, and motivating employees, Birkinshaw offers decision makers and corporate influencers an actionable guide for reinventing and reinvigorating management at companies both large and small. Birkinshaw offers readers the following advice: Management is defined as the act of getting people together in order to accomplish certain goals and objectives. However, that definition has become corrupted over the years, narrowing the scope of what management should be. An enduring source of competitive advantage for companies is a novel business model. In addition, a novel management model can also keep a company strong. The traditional way for coordinating work in a large company is bureaucracy, which is a more formalized structure. Alternatively, a company can use emergence to coordinate work. Emergence is spontaneous, and work is accomplished by parties working together as a matter of self-interest. The traditional path for making and communicating decisions in a large organization is via hierarchy. The alternative path is collective wisdom, where aggregated expertise is valued more highly than the advice of one leader. The traditional principle for goal setting in large companies is alignment, where all employees work toward a common goal. The alternative is obliquity, the idea that goals are best achieved when worked toward indirectly. Traditionally, extrinsic motivators like money or threat of punishment were used to incentivize workers. The better alternative is intrinsic motivation, by which employers motivate workers with rewards that are inherent to the task itself. There are four main models of management: Discovery, Planning, Quest, and Science. Selecting the right model is important for managers looking to improve their organizations. Management model innovation is usually driven by three sets of people. These are mid-level change agents, top-level executives, and external partners, such as academics or consultants. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: Full Engagement!, Bare Knuckle People Management, Managing for People Who Hate Managing

Studies show that the majority of workers to be disengaged from their work and their organizations. To truly engage employees, Dan Pontefract believes companies need to adopt a "Flat Army Philosophy." In his book Flat Army, Pontefract argues that leaders need to surrender command and control in favor of a more open and inclusive style of leadership. When they seek out authentic connections with their teams and come to understand work as an important but not existential endeavor, these leaders become truly connected and therefore profoundly effective. Such connected leaders make ample use of social media and other technologies to deepen connections across their organizations. The result is a self-generating, perpetually learning, dynamically balanced enterprise that is a pleasure both to lead and to work for. According to Pontefract: Employees are generally disengaged from the work they do and the organizations for which they do it. Work disengagement springs from the traditional hierarchical style of management that views workers as the "brawn" to managements "brains." The historical roots of employee disengagement stem from the British charter companies of the 16th century, the European armies of the 18th century, and the Scientific Management ideas that shaped American companies in the late 19th century. "Connected leaders" break down traditional hierarchy in favor of a flat organizational structure. They treat employees as complete human beings and connections are encouraged across all levels and work areas. The connected leader trusts their employees, involves and empowers them, empathizes with them, and helps them develop their careers. A key aspect of all of these traits is consistent and open communications with all team members. The traits of the connected leader begin as behaviors that they must practice and exercise daily until they are habit. Eventually, the connected leader moves beyond merely practicing these attributes to truly living them. Participative leadership requires continual, authentic, and reciprocal interactions with team members and the leader’s wider internal and external network. Education is a key component of the Participative Leader Framework and must be practiced consciously and formally. The "Action Model" for the collaborative, or connected-participative, leader begins with connecting to all stakeholders and weighing their input. Next, the model calls for the leader to communicate a plan of action to all stakeholders, and then become immersed in executing that plan. The leader confirms with stakeholders that they are satisfied with the result and then congratulates all involved by focusing on the behaviors they brought to the project to make it successful. To truly benefit from the Flat Army philosophy, one must embrace Web 2.0 technologies for conversation, education, and network presence. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: The Employee Engagement Mindset, The Enemy of Engagement, The Connect Effect

Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl is a book for investors about investing. It is a book about harnessing emotions and personality to increase investment returns to levels that can lead individuals to financial freedom. Author LouAnn Lofton offers up a case study of investor Warren Buffett that demonstrates how Buffett’s feminine temperament has allowed him to parlay the small investments he made as a teenager into the greatest investment portfolio in human history. In her book, Lofton explains to readers that: What truly defines Warren Buffett, makes him the investor he is today, and separates him from everyone else is his remarkable temperament. Smart investors should embrace feminine influences. Female investors are more willing than men to admit that they do not know everything. They learn from their mistakes, trade less, and take less risk. They are less optimistic and more realistic than their male counterparts and put more time and effort into researching investments. Being a successful investor requires patience and taking the long view. It also helps to remember that investing means buying a piece of an actual business; buy a stock, buy a business. Investors should invest in companies they understand and learn what their own circles of competence are and stick to them: "buy what you know." Smart investors insist on appropriate margins of safety, avoid debt, and when investing overseas, they do their homework. Investors should not get excited by market swings to the upside or devastated by market drops. To become better investors people must do their research, and avoid confirmation bias by actively seeking out information that contradicts their conclusions, not only information that reinforces them. Investors must value people, cultivate relationships, and recognize that a business is only as strong as the people running it. Smart investors look for companies with smart, open, loyal, and fair executives who can be admired and put people before profit. The learning never stops, so investors must keep studying and learn from the masters, but they must not hesitate to question them. Ethics in business is important. People can be good and rich; one does not preclude the other. Compound interest is a miraculous thing; investors can take advantage of its full power by giving their investments time to grow. To download three free summaries, please visit our site. Related book summaries in the BBS library: The Most Important Thing, Reading Minds and Markets, The Snowball