Unreasonable Leadership


Book Description

"Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint of how to lead and forge change in all types of economic environments. Gary Chartrand's powerful message of redefining the game, creating new pathways where there are none, leading without fear and mobilizing teams to coalesce around a goal is a timeless tool and is a must read for all who would call themselves leaders." Carla Harris, author of Expect To Win "Unreasonable Leadership should be required reading in every business school. What Gary Chartrand did to build Acosta into a industry leading sales and Marketing Juggernaut is simply remarkable and so is this book." Jon Gordon, Best-selling author of The Energy Bus and Soup "This is a smart, thought-provoking approach to leadership and how to create the ideal environment for bringing about positive change and achieving meaningful results." Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachusetts Gary Chartrand's Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint for leaders who are driving change not only in the corporate sector but in the social sector as well. Gary describes what it takes to be a true pioneer, to achieve unprecedented, ground breaking results despite the complexity of the work and the enormity of the challenges. We've learned through Teach for America that Unreasonable Leadership is exactly what is required to transform our entrenched public education systems. Wendy Kopp, CEO and Founder of Teach For America Achieving a vision that seemed nearly impossible, having the courage to make difficult decisions, and leading with conviction transformed a company and its entire industry. Unreasonable Leadership charts the growth of Acosta Sales and Marketing, a food brokerage firm that grew from a one-state operation employing 11 people to an international sales and marketing agency employing a staff of more than 16,000 in the US and Canada. During a 12-year span, company sales grew from $3 billion to $60 billion. How did this happen? Acosta Chairman Gary Chartrand followed the advice of George Bernard Shaw: "All progress comes from unreasonable people." Chartrand's success as an unreasonable leader testifies to the value of setting a bold agenda, never being afraid to ask, and the critical importance of molding a corporate culture. His personal saga shows what can be accomplished no matter the odds of what "conventional wisdom" labels as impossible.




Unreasonable Leadership


Book Description

"Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint of how to lead and forge change in all types of economic environments. Gary Chartrand's powerful message of redefining the game, creating new pathways where there are none, leading without fear and mobilizing teams to coalesce around a goal is a timeless tool and is a must read for all who would call themselves leaders." Carla Harris, author of Expect To Win "Unreasonable Leadership should be required reading in every business school. What Gary Chartrand did to build Acosta into a industry leading sales and Marketing Juggernaut is simply remarkable and so is this book." Jon Gordon, Best-selling author of The Energy Bus and Soup "This is a smart, thought-provoking approach to leadership and how to create the ideal environment for bringing about positive change and achieving meaningful results." Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachusetts Gary Chartrand's Unreasonable Leadership provides a blueprint for leaders who are driving change not only in the corporate sector but in the social sector as well. Gary describes what it takes to be a true pioneer, to achieve unprecedented, ground breaking results despite the complexity of the work and the enormity of the challenges. We've learned through Teach for America that Unreasonable Leadership is exactly what is required to transform our entrenched public education systems. Wendy Kopp, CEO and Founder of Teach For America Achieving a vision that seemed nearly impossible, having the courage to make difficult decisions, and leading with conviction transformed a company and its entire industry. Unreasonable Leadership charts the growth of Acosta Sales and Marketing, a food brokerage firm that grew from a one-state operation employing 11 people to an international sales and marketing agency employing a staff of more than 16,000 in the US and Canada. During a 12-year span, company sales grew from $3 billion to $60 billion. How did this happen? Acosta Chairman Gary Chartrand followed the advice of George Bernard Shaw: "All progress comes from unreasonable people." Chartrand's success as an unreasonable leader testifies to the value of setting a bold agenda, never being afraid to ask, and the critical importance of molding a corporate culture. His personal saga shows what can be accomplished no matter the odds of what "conventional wisdom" labels as impossible.




Unreasonable Hope


Book Description

“Where was God when ____? How could God allow ____? Why?” These are the questions that flood our hearts and minds when the unimaginable happens. When things go horribly wrong and the world seems to be unraveling, how do you believe in God’s goodness? How do you cling to hope? Chad Veach directs readers away from clichéd Sunday school answers that fail to offer real comfort or provide faith-building insights. Instead, he draws from God’s promises in the Bible and from the story of his own daughter’s diagnosis of a devastating and debilitating disease to reveal simple, purposeful steps for dealing with pain. Resting in God’s love, remembering his past faithfulness, and realizing the distinction between having faith and clinging to hope are just some of these steps. Veach reminds us that because we know who God is, we know there is hope.




The Art of Being Unreasonable


Book Description

Unorthodox success principles from a billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad's embrace of "unreasonable thinking" has helped him build two Fortune 500 companies, amass personal billions, and use his wealth to create a new approach to philanthropy. He has helped to fund scientific research institutes, K-12 education reform, and some of the world's greatest contemporary art museums. By contrast, "reasonable" people come up with all the reasons something new and different can't be done, because, after all, no one else has done it that way. This book shares the "unreasonable" principles—from negotiating to risk-taking, from investing to hiring—that have made Eli Broad such a success. Broad helped to create the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and The Broad, a new museum being built in downtown Los Angeles His investing approach to philanthropy has led to the creation of scientific and medical research centers in the fields of genomic medicine and stem cell research At his alma mater, Michigan State University, he endowed a full-time M.B.A. program, and he and his wife have funded a new contemporary art museum on campus to serve the broader region Eli Broad is the founder of two Fortune 500 companies: KB Home and SunAmerica If you're stuck doing what reasonable people do—and not getting anywhere—let Eli Broad show you how to be unreasonable, and see how far your next endeavor can go.




The Power of Unreasonable People


Book Description

Renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw once said "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." By this definition, some of today's entrepreneurs are decidedly unreasonable--and have even been dubbed crazy. Yet as John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan argue in The Power of Unreasonable People, our very future may hinge on their work. Through vivid stories, the authors identify the highly unconventional entrepreneurs who are solving some of the world's most pressing economic, social, and environmental problems. They also show how these pioneers are disrupting existing industries, value chains, and business models--and in the process creating fast-growing markets around the world. By understanding these entrepreneurs' mindsets and strategies, you gain vital insights into future market opportunities for your own organization. Providing a first-hand, on-the-ground look at a new breed of entrepreneur, this book reveals how apparently unreasonable innovators have built their enterprises, how their work will shape risks and opportunities in the coming years, and what tomorrow's leaders can learn from them. Start investing in, partnering with, and learning from these world-shaping change agents, and you position yourself to not only survive but also thrive in the new business landscape they're helping to define.




Unreasonable Possibilities


Book Description

Through humorous examples and stories of his own journey, Jones teaches how to break through from producing reasonable, predictable outcomes to producing new powerful, positive, unreasonable possibilities in every aspect of life.




The Leadership Skills Handbook


Book Description

Winner of the CMI Management Book of the Year Awards in the 2012/2013 New Manager category, The Leadership Skills Handbook from best-selling author Jo Owen reveals the essential skills you need to be an effective leader. It shows you what works in practice, not in theory, in crucial areas such as people skills, career skills, mindset skills, organization skills, personal values and behaviours. Each skill is presented in a concise, easy to follow format, with an accompanying framework to help you deploy it in your own life. The skills are about the real challenges real leaders have to master, and as you observe and record real-life examples of skills in action, you will be developing your own unique formula for success in the context that matters to you. Based on research from over a thousand leaders throughout the world at all levels in the public, private and voluntary sectors, it identifies the practical skills to make you even more successful, and offers guidance on all key topics. This completely revised fourth edition of The Leadership Skills Handbook includes brand new content on some of the most challenging skills that successful leaders need to master through three new sections on financial skills (including budgeting, costs, pricing and creating an investment case), political skills (including influencing, negotiating, networking and partnering) and the art of strategy (including strategic models, understanding the customer, marketing, pricing and advertising). This indispensable guidance will boost your confidence, technical abilities and give you the edge on your peers.




Be Unreasonable


Book Description

When you're reasonable, you use the same strategies everyone else uses. You do things like set your goals a bit higher than last year's, say yes to things because everyone else likes them, and pad your deadlines so you can reach them on time. Being reasonable about your business will only bury you deeper in the pack. If you want to get out in front, you have to break away from yesterday's conventional thinking. Paul Lemberg shows you how unreasonable strategies can bring you unprecedented success. Through real-life case studies of successful and unreasonable businesspeople, Lemberg shows you how to BE Uncompromising by sticking to your goals no matter what. BE Demanding by expecting more, not less, from everybody. BE Critical by changing old systems that just don' t work. BE Outrageous by creating your own Business Brain Trust. BE Prepared for real success on your terms. Paul Lemberg, one of the world's leading business growth consultants, teaches top level executives and entrepreneurs how to get more out of themselves, their companies, and their clients by using strategies that sidestep the prevailing business thinking. Being unreasonable is about assessing the situation and leaping into the unknown-not foolishly, but courageously. Only by going against the norm, and perhaps ruffling feathers, can you be competitive, innovative, and successful.




Dare to Lead


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.




Toward a Dependable Peace


Book Description

A careful examination of U.S.-Soviet strategic arms negotiations, heralded as "breakthrough" and "successfully concluded," reveals that they have stimulated not a reversal, but a substantial increase of military capacities. Accompanying this vertical stockpiling of arms by the superpowers is the horizontal spread of nuclear capacity to less developed nations.