Teach Your Team to Fish


Book Description

Laurie Beth Jones has given hundreds of thousands of business readers insight into how the ideas of Jesus can be used to enhance performance. One of the most critical work areas for anyone, whether a manager or a CEO, a teacher or a pastor, is cooperative teamwork. Leaders today face their greatest challenges not only in defining strategies and getting updated information but also in getting diverse human beings to pull together without falling apart. Jesus can be a role model for team leaders everywhere. When Jesus called out to his future disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” he transformed them from people who worked for themselves to people who were part of a larger team. Jesus was constantly exhorting his people to “gather in my name” and “go out two by two” and always think and pray “as one.” Jesus’ final prayer was “that they might be one, Father, even as you and I are one,” which is ultimately about union and communion, common values and purpose—all of which form the bedrock of an inspired team. Teach Your Team to Fish offers dozens of stories from the Bible showing how Jesus managed his team of disciples and other followers, with suggestions for how to apply these lessons to real-world teambuilding and management problems. It offers guidance and inspiration on: * how to excite your team in order to motivate them; * how to ground them so they’ll be realistic about what can be achieved; * how to transform them into a truly well-functioning team; * and how to release them into the world to improve other teams elsewhere. Along the way, the book gives examples of companies in which teams work well together and offers lessons that can help team leaders everywhere sustain themselves and achieve their common goals.




Feed Matisse's Fish


Book Description

Invites young readers to touch twentieth-century paintings, including Matisse's "Goldfish," Grant Wood's "American Gothic," and Chagall's "Birthday." On board pages.




Fish Can't See Water


Book Description

How national culture impacts organizational culture—and business success Using extensive case studies of successful global corporations, this book explores the impact of national culture on the corporate strategy and its execution, and through this ultimately business success—or failure. It does not argue that different cultures lead to different business results, but that all cultures impact organizations in ways both positive and negative, depending on the business cycle, the particular business, and the particular strategies being pursued. Depending on all of these factors, cultural dynamics can either enable or derail performance. But recognizing those cultural factors is difficult for business leaders; like everyone else, they too can be blind to the culture of which they are a part. The book offers managers and leaders eight recommendations for recognizing those cultural factors that negatively impact performance, as well as those that can be harnessed to encourage superior performance. With real case studies from companies in Asia, Europe, and the United States, this book offers a truly global approach to organizational culture. Offers a fresh approach to the effects of national culture on organizational culture that is applicable to any country in any region Based on case studies of such companies as Toyota, Samsung, General Motors, Nokia, Walmart, Kone and British Leyland It describes the origins and nature of the most common corporate crisis and how culture impacts the response to such a crisis Ideal for managers, business leaders, and board members, as well as business school students A welcome response to the flat-Earth fad that argues we're all alike, this book offers a nuanced and practical view of cultural differentiators and how they can enable or derail business performance.




Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn


Book Description

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICING: Enjoy first-week pricing of $18.95 on paperback books! Regular retail pricing of $23.95 becomes effective on July 22nd. It all began with the initial chance meeting of this book's author, Katie Anderson, and the book's subject, Isao Yoshino. She was an American leadership coach and consultant in her mid-career, with a newfound love of Japanese culture. He was an accomplished Japanese people-centered leader at the end of his corporate career, with a lifelong love for American culture and 40 years of inside experience with the Toyota Way. During the next five years, Anderson and Yoshino spent countless hours learning from each other, reflecting on the past, and envisioning the future. The resulting book - written by Anderson and focused on the profound lessons offered by her mentor Yoshino -- is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind tapestry. Much like the weaving of fabric -- where the beginning work is but a glimpse of the final pattern -- this book was created from many layers of intertwined conversations and reflections. If you've ever been mentored -- in business or in life -- by someone whose words, experiences, and perspectives changed you for the better, you know that an entire book of such selfless generosity and deep wisdom could change the world. For today's business professionals -- dedicated to continuous learning and people-centered leadership -- this is that book. Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn is a leadership book that defies generational or cultural divides, offering a refreshing, proven perspective for all those who dare to lead. The Best Leaders Never Lose the Humility for Learning Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn is much more than a collection of Isao Yoshino's personal stories and insights. It's a memorable, entertaining, and poignant way to highlight important leadership lessons, to record pivotal moments in Toyota's history, and to create something to help veteran and aspiring leaders reflect and learn about themselves. Yoshino's experiences help us understand how Toyota intentionally developed the culture of excellence for which it is renowned today, and how one person "learned to lead" so that he could lead with an intention to learn ... every day and in every way. "The only secret to Toyota is its attitude toward learning." -- Isao Yoshino Let the Past Inform the Future: The Role of Reflection in Leadership By looking back at the past, we can learn and therefore shape our future. Through each story in this unique and inspiring book, Anderson shares Yoshino's experiences with leadership and learning, and his efforts at self-improvement while empowering others. Through those stories, you'll hear his reflections on what he learned then ... and what he is re-learning now with a different perspective as he looks back at the totality of his career. A must-read for those who: -- Want to become more people-centered leaders -- Currently practice lean or continuous improvement methods -- Serve in leadership, coaching, or operational management roles -- Want to learn more about Toyota's history and culture -- Are inspired by heartwarming stories of personal discovery and leadership With a foreword by John Shook, Chairman of the Lean Global Network.




Fish!


Book Description

Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion and a positive attitude to the job every day. In this engrossing parable, a fictional manager has the responsibility of turning a chronically unenthusiastic and unhelpful department into an effective team. Seattle's Pike Place Fish is a world famous market that is wildly successful thanks to its fun, bustling, joyful atmosphere and great customer service. By applying ingeniously simple lessons learned from the Pike Place, our manager discovers how to energise and transform her workplace. Addressing today's most pressing work issues with an engaging metaphor and an appealing message, FISH! offers wisdom that is easy to grasp, instantly applicable, and profound.




The Four Elements of Success


Book Description

Laurie Beth Jones, management expert and business consultant extraordinaire, noticed that none of the personality/temperament profiles in the market today, none of them provided a tool that was simple, visual, intuitive, and powerful enough to create a shift in thinking as well as relating. So she developed The Path Elements Profile (PEP), which can be used in recruitment, placement, retention, team building, and customer relations as businesses transform many individuals into a harmonizing, humming force for good. Within the framework of the book will be scriptural examples as well as modern day business stories. Based upon the elements of Earth, Water, Wind and Fire, the Path Elements Profile helps determine both individual and team behavioral tendencies that affect everything from career choice to daily "to do" lists. We choose to act on what we value, and each element type values very different things: Fire personality types love and thrive on challenge Water personality types thrive on harmony and calm Wind personality types love chaos and change Earth personality types love order and structure PART I of this book provides an overview of the elements themselves as individual personality types. Jones will explain each element's strengths and challenges and will have the readers identify their own as well as those of their team members. Then in PART II, readers will assess their teams. There are 28 one-day principles, that, if followed will take readers on a simple yet radical journey to a transformed workplace. INCLUDES an Assessment Test for Your Team's Elemental Strengths and Weaknesses




Grandmother Fish


Book Description

Where did we come from? It's a simple question, but not so simple an answer to explain—especially to young children. Charles Darwin's theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish. Told in an engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our planet and explains how we are all connected. The book also includes comprehensive backmatter, including: - An elaborate illustration of the evolutionary tree of life - Helpful science notes for parents - How to explain natural selection to a child




The Dead Fish Museum


Book Description

“In the fall, I went for walks and brought home bones. The best bones weren’t on trails—deer and moose don’t die conveniently—and soon I was wandering so far into the woods that I needed a map and compass to find my way home. When winter came and snow blew into the mountains, burying the bones, I continued to spend my days and often my nights in the woods. I vaguely understood that I was doing this because I could no longer think; I found relief in walking up hills. When the night temperatures dropped below zero, I felt visited by necessity, a baseline purpose, and I walked for miles, my only objective to remain upright, keep moving, preserve warmth. When I was lost, I told myself stories . . .” So Charles D’Ambrosio recounted his life in Philipsburg, Montana, the genesis of the brilliant stories collected here, six of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. Each of these eight burnished, terrifying, masterfully crafted stories is set against a landscape that is both deeply American and unmistakably universal. A son confronts his father’s madness and his own hunger for connection on a misguided hike in the Pacific Northwest. A screenwriter fights for his sanity in the bleak corridors of a Manhattan psych ward while lusting after a ballerina who sets herself ablaze. A Thanksgiving hunting trip in Northern Michigan becomes the scene of a haunting reckoning with marital infidelity and desperation. And in the magnificent title story, carpenters building sets for a porn movie drift dreamily beneath a surface of sexual tension toward a racial violence they will never fully comprehend. Taking place in remote cabins, asylums, Indian reservations, the backloads of Iowa and the streets of Seattle, this collection of stories, as muscular and challenging as the best novels, is about people who have been orphaned, who have lost connection, and who have exhausted the ability to generate meaning in their lives. Yet in the midst of lacerating difficulty, the sensibility at work in these fictions boldly insists on the enduring power of love. D’Ambrosio conjures a world that is fearfully inhospitable, darkly humorous, and touched by glory; here are characters, tested by every kind of failure, who struggle to remain human, whose lives have been sharpened rather than numbed by adversity, whose apprehension of truth and beauty has been deepened rather than defeated by their troubles. Many writers speak of the abyss. Charles D’Ambrosio writes as if he is inside of it, gazing upward, and the gaze itself is redemptive, a great yearning ache, poignant and wondrous, equal parts grit and grace. A must read for everyone who cares about literary writing, The Dead Fish Museum belongs on the same shelf with the best American short fiction.




Fish! For Life with DVD


Book Description

A guide to improving the atmosphere at work, given in the format of a novel: a fictional manager learns how to improve her co-workers' morale and production by following the lead of the remarkably energetic Pike Place Fish market in Seattle.




Leadership


Book Description

This book will provide any manager with the guidance necessary to become a leader. Whether you are new to management or a seasoned professional, this book should never leave your side. The ultimate goal is to provide lessons from the field that will take you from manager to leader.