Let's Talk


Book Description

A game-changing model for giving effective feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss--without offending or demotivating. How are you supposed to tell someone that they're not meeting expectations without crushing their spirit? Regular feedback, when delivered skillfully, can turn average performers into the hardest workers and stars into superstars. Yet many see it as an awkward chore: Recent studies have revealed 37% of managers dread giving feedback, and 65% of employees wish their managers gave more feedback. This trail-blazing new model eliminates the guesswork. Dr. Therese Huston, the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University, discovered that the key to being listened to is to listen. First, find out what kind of feedback an employee wants most: appreciation, coaching, or evaluation. If they crave one, they'll be more receptive once their need has been satisfied. Then Huston lays out counterintuitive strategies for delivering each type of feedback successfully, including: Start by saying your good intentions out loud: it may feel unnecessary, but it makes all the difference. Side with the person, not the problem: a bad habit or behavior is probably less entrenched than you think. Give reports a chance to correct inaccurate feedback: they want an opportunity to talk more than they want you to be a good talker. This handbook will make a once-stressful ordeal feel natural, and, by greasing the wheels of regular feedback conversations, help managers improve performance, trust, and mutual understanding.




Summary of Janelle Hanchett's I'm Just Happy to Be Here


Book Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I was pregnant with my first child, and I smoked a cigarette on the balcony of our one-bedroom apartment. I had never been the type of person who wanted company in moments of vulnerability, so I was alone to deal with the situation. #2 I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend when I was eighteen, and I knew immediately that I would not have a baby. I felt relief, but also sadness. I did not feel guilty about that decision, though I suspected it made me a monster. #3 I remember a woman in my freshman comparative literature class who told me that getting an abortion is like getting your teeth cleaned. Her nonchalance convinced me that I would be fine, and that I was even perhaps not as foul as I had believed. #4 I was twenty-one and Mac was nineteen when we moved into our first apartment together. It was a small, plain apartment with yellowed linoleum floors and air conditioner box windows. It never felt like home, but we were kids in love, so we didn’t care.




Once Upon Stilettos


Book Description

Click your heels three times and say, “There’s no place like Bloomies!” Katie Chandler’s life is pure magic–literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she’s seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she’s a wiz at exposing “hokum” pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she’s fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job. CEO Merlin (yes, the Merlin) and taps Katie and her special ability to uncover the magical mole. Keeping her feelings in check while sleuthing alongside Owen, Katie is shocked to discover that her immunity to magic is waning, putting her in grave danger. Soon she’s surrendering to the charms and enchantments of everyone and everything around her, including a killer pair of red stilettos. Katie must now conjure up her natural instincts to get to the bottom of the break-in, regain her power, and win the wizard of her dreams.




Rules Don't Work for Me


Book Description

It is tough to succeed in these days whether it’s the business of life of the business of business. It can be especially tough for outliers. Here is the personal code for success for one outlier. Of course, it all depends on how one defines success. If success means happiness at home and in the workplace, this is the code for you. In this book we will explore nine principles to live and work by from an outlier perspective. This is not saying these principles and this personal code are the only way. They are just one way. The hope is that you will find your own way and embrace your own outlierness and uniqueness. The principles are: Know Thyself, Develop Courage, Develop Mastery, Grow Your Pennies, Be Tenacious, Have Faith, Lead the Way, Challenge the System, and Save the World. Along with these principles, the author will share a little of her story and stories from clients who came to her for career coaching. I have changed the names of clients to protect their confidentiality. Perhaps you wonder. What is an outlier? There is no one perfect definition. It means you may think different than others or feel left out or you don’t relate to the status quo, or the status quo makes no sense. It may mean that whenever you follow whatever rules are set for you that those same rules don’t seem to work for you. Consider rethinking the rules.




Food Baby


Book Description

Wendy Katz is determined to make her family's new life in South Florida fabulous. But when she becomes inundated with the activities of her overachieving daughter and running interference for her brilliant but socially awkward son, she finds herself hungry for her husband's affection, hungry for new friends, and lately—hungry. As if her husband's attractive assistant and desperation diets aren't disconcerting enough, Wendy discovers there's a strange man following her. Once he reveals the shocking reason, Wendy learns her biggest problem might not be her reckless spending or battling her "food baby" after all. Wendy must decide if she can trust her husband—or is history repeating itself and their last chance is a disaster all over again?




Humor, Seriously


Book Description

WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER • Anyone—even you!—can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Don’t miss the authors’ TED Talk, “Why great leaders take humor seriously,” online now. “The ultimate guide to using the magical power of funny as a tool for leadership and a force for good.”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive We are living through a period of unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval in both our personal and professional lives. So it should come as a surprise to exactly no one that trust, human connection, and mental well-being are all on the decline. This may seem like no laughing matter. Yet, the research shows that humor and laughter are among the most valuable tools we have at our disposal for strengthening bonds and relationships, diffusing stress and tension, boosting resilience, and performing when the stakes are high. That’s why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world’s most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds infuse more humor and levity into their work and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more important—how you can use more of it, better. Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny, how to mine your life for material, and simple ways to identify and leverage your unique humor style. They show how to use humor to rebuild vital connections; appear more confident, competent, and authentic at work; and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive. President Dwight David Eisenhower once said, “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” If Dwight David Eisenhower, the second least naturally funny president (after Franklin Pierce), thought humor was necessary to win wars, build highways, and warn against the military-industrial complex, then you might consider learning it too.




Stroke of Love


Book Description

Stroke of Love is the life story of a young stroke survivor from Texas named Hether Flanigan. It is a story of resilience, determination, strength, and love. A story about the human spirit, the will to live life to the fullest, the power of the human mind, and the love that surrounds us. A story proving that we can do anything we set our minds to and that adversity is often our greatest teacher.







Influence Is Your Superpower


Book Description

Rediscover the superpower that makes good things happen, from the professor behind Yale School of Management's most popular class “The new rules of persuasion for a better world.”—Charles Duhigg, author of the bestsellers The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better You were born influential. But then you were taught to suppress that power, to follow the rules, to wait your turn, to not make waves. Award-winning Yale professor Zoe Chance will show you how to rediscover the superpower that brings great ideas to life. Influence doesn’t work the way you think because you don’t think the way you think. Move past common misconceptions—such as the idea that asking for more will make people dislike you—and understand why your go-to negotiation strategies are probably making you less influential. Discover the one thing that influences behavior more than anything else. Learn to cultivate charisma, negotiate comfortably and creatively, and spot manipulators before it’s too late. Along the way, you’ll meet alligators, skydivers, a mind reader in a gorilla costume, Jennifer Lawrence, Genghis Khan, and the man who saved the world by saying no. Influence Is Your Superpower will teach you how to transform your life, your organization, and perhaps even the course of history. It’s an ethical approach to influence that will make life better for everyone, starting with you.