20 Minutes to a Top Performer: Three Fast and Effective Conversations to Motivate, Develop, and Engage Your Employees


Book Description

Transform Average Employees into Powerhouse Performers “I cannot think of a more important message and timely book. 20 Minutes to a Top Performer offers quick, simple techniques for managers to improve their effectiveness in communicating with their teams.” Steven Fine, vice president for administration, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida “Alan has provided some of the best thinking on the issue of leadership conversations. His book offers easy-to-implement suggestions for everything your team needs to know about effective conversations!” Al Miller, VP HR, Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support, Lockheed Martin “This book is essential for leaders in today’s fast-paced and do-more-with-less environment.” Dan Russi, VP, Customer Services, Ariba, Inc. “Alan gives a how-to guide for managers of all experience levels. In twenty minutes and three conversations, he’s captured the essence of managing and leading.” Ron Sacchi, director, Organizational Learning and Development, Gilead “It is great news for the business and professional community to see a book emerge with practical tips for having intelligent interactions in traditionally sensitive areas of communication. Many books promise easily used guidelines for a successful result—this one delivers!” Pat Cramer, learning director, Honeywell Aerospace About the Book The key to long-term organizational success is the ability to move employees to action. Easier said than done, right? Not really. All it takes is three simple 20-minute conversations. Alan Vengel has spent 25 years helping Fortune 500 companies empower their employees to perform at peak efficiency, generating measurable results organization-wide. Now, in 20 Minutes to a Top Performer, Vengel shares the secret to his and his clients’ success: good old-fashioned communication. Inside, he explains how to engage your employees through specific, focused conversations, of which there are exactly three: Coaching: Focusing on performance and feedback Motivating: Focusing on engagement and interests Mentoring: Focusing on support and development Vengel dissects these types of conversations to illuminate how, why, and when to initiate each one. The conversations are not meant to be technical. They won’t be uncomfortable or combative. They will simply be . . . conversations. And you’ll be surprised at how quickly you see results. Your people will become better team players, take greater enjoyment in their work, tackle problems with verve, and, in the end, contribute valuable talent to your organization for the long term. Managers are facing unprecedented demands to do more with less—a trend that is clearly not going to reverse in the foreseeable future. You don’t need a Harvard Business School degree or expensive new technology to empower your workforce. All you need is the drive to make change happen. 20 Minutes to a Top Performer is a blueprint to helping your people succeed. And when they succeed, you and the entire organization succeed.




High Performance Habits


Book Description

THESE HABITS WILL MAKE YOU EXTRAORDINARY. Twenty years ago, author Brendon Burchard became obsessed with answering three questions: 1. Why do some individuals and teams succeed more quickly than others and sustain that success over the long term? 2. Of those who pull it off, why are some miserable and others consistently happy on their journey? 3. What motivates people to reach for higher levels of success in the first place, and what practices help them improve the most After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s leading high performance coach, Burchard found the answers. It turns out that just six deliberate habits give you the edge. Anyone can practice these habits and, when they do, extraordinary things happen in their lives, relationships, and careers. Which habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being no matter your age, career, strengths, or personality? To become a high performer, you must seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity, increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage. The art and science of how to do all this is what this book is about. Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it faster. Each of the six habits is illustrated by powerful vignettes, cutting-edge science, thought-provoking exercises, and real-world daily practices you can implement right now. If you’ve ever wanted a science-backed, heart-centered plan to living a better quality of life, it’s in your hands. Best of all, you can measure your progress. A link to a free professional assessment is included in the book.




Drive


Book Description

The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.




The Influence Edge


Book Description

An interactive self-study guide, The Influence Edge offers immediate hands-on applications. Its heavily tested, practical insights are embodied in a variety of exercises that help readers evaluate their progress, reflect deeply on what they've read, and build a personal strategy for increasing their influence edge. Vengel equips readers to influence without authority, sell ideas, and build relationships. The Influence Edge is designed to be used again and again. It provides a complete toolkit for turning the often disorderly and seemingly impossible task of getting someone else to help you achieve your goal into an entirely viable process of analysis, preparation, and action.




Start with Why


Book Description

The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever. START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.




Managing for Engagement -- Communication, Connection, and Courage


Book Description

Focuses on how leaders can drive employee engagement and increase high performance mgmt.; i.e., the actions leaders from first-line supervisors to exec. can take to facilitate the motivation and commitment of their employees. The effort leaders invest in managing their workforce pays off in substantially higher levels of employee engagement and performance. The recommendations it offers for increasing both engagement and performance can be characterized in three words: communication, connection, and courage. These are the foundation of performance mgmt. -- communicating openly and honestly with employees, connecting with them as people to build good working relationships, and demonstrating the courage to address and resolve problems. Illus.




Execution


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than two million copies in print! The premier resource for how to deliver results in an uncertain world, whether you’re running an entire company or in your first management job. “A must-read for anyone who cares about business.”—The New York Times When Execution was first published, it changed the way we did our jobs by focusing on the critical importance of “the discipline of execution”: the ability to make the final leap to success by actually getting things done. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan now reframe their empowering message for a world in which the old rules have been shattered, radical change is becoming routine, and the ability to execute is more important than ever. Now and for the foreseeable future: • Growth will be slower. But the company that executes well will have the confidence, speed, and resources to move fast as new opportunities emerge. • Competition will be fiercer, with companies searching for any possible advantage in every area from products and technologies to location and management. • Governments will take on new roles in their national economies, some as partners to business, others imposing constraints. Companies that execute well will be more attractive to government entities as partners and suppliers and better prepared to adapt to a new wave of regulation. • Risk management will become a top priority for every leader. Execution gives you an edge in detecting new internal and external threats and in weathering crises that can never be fully predicted. Execution shows how to link together people, strategy, and operations, the three core processes of every business. Leading these processes is the real job of running a business, not formulating a “vision” and leaving the work of carrying it out to others. Bossidy and Charan show the importance of being deeply and passionately engaged in an organization and why robust dialogues about people, strategy, and operations result in a business based on intellectual honesty and realism. With paradigmatic case histories from the real world—including examples like the diverging paths taken by Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase and Charles Prince at Citigroup—Execution provides the realistic and hard-nosed approach to business success that could come only from authors as accomplished and insightful as Bossidy and Charan.




It's Your Ship


Book Description

The legendary New York Times bestselling tale of top-down change for anyone trying to navigate today's uncertain business seas. When Captain Abrashoff took over as commander of USS Benfold, it was like a business that had all the latest technology but only some of the productivity. Knowing that responsibility for improving performance rested with him, he realized he had to improve his own leadership skills before he could improve his ship. Within months, he created a crew of confident and inspired problem-solvers eager to take the initiative and responsibility for their actions. The slogan on board became "It's your ship," and Benfold was soon recognized far and wide as a model of naval efficiency. How did Abrashoff do it? Against the backdrop of today's United States Navy, Abrashoff shares his secrets of successful management including: See the ship through the eyes of the crew: By soliciting a sailor's suggestions, Abrashoff drastically reduced tedious chores that provided little additional value. Communicate, communicate, communicate: The more Abrashoff communicated the plan, the better the crew's performance. His crew eventually started calling him "Megaphone Mike," since they heard from him so often. Create discipline by focusing on purpose: Discipline skyrocketed when Abrashoff's crew believed that what they were doing was important. Listen aggressively: After learning that many sailors wanted to use the GI Bill, Abrashoff brought a test official aboard the ship-and held the SATs forty miles off the Iraqi coast. From achieving amazing cost savings to winning the highest gunnery score in the Pacific Fleet, Captain Abrashoff's extraordinary campaign sent shock waves through the U.S. Navy. It can help you change the course of your ship, no matter where your business battles are fought.




The Set-up-to-fail Syndrome


Book Description

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Unmistakable


Book Description

Stop trying to beat everyone else. True success is playing by your own rules, creating work that no one can replicate. Don't be the best, be the only. You're on the conventional path, checking off accomplishments. You might be doing okay by normal standards, but you still feel restless, bored, and limited. Srinivas Rao gets it. As a new business school graduate, Srinivas's dreams were crushed by a soulless job that demanded only conformity. Sick of struggling to keep his head above water, Srinivas quit his job and took to the waves, pursuing his dream of learning to surf. He also found the freedom to chart his own course. Interviewing more than five hundred creative people on his Unmistakable Creative podcast was the ultimate education. He heard how guests including Seth Godin, Elle Luna, Tim Ferriss, Simon Sinek, and Danielle LaPorte blazed their own trails. Srinivas blends his own story with theirs to tell you: You can find that courage too. Don't be just one among many--be the only. Be unmistakable. Trying to be the best will chain you to others' definition of success. Unmistakable work, on the other hand, could only have been created by one person, so competition is irrelevant. Like Banksy's art or Tim Burton's films, unmistakable work needs no signature and has no precedent. Whether you're a business owner, an artist, or just someone who wants to leave your mark on the world, Unmistakable will inspire you to create your own path and define your own success.