Make every communication count—with a simple, four-step speaking model Whether it's among colleagues at lunch or an audience of a thousand, a leader's role is to move and inspire others. It's not only the big occasions that test a leader's mettle, but the little ones as well—in a casual conversation in the elevator, in phone calls, or one of many incidental, seemingly «insignificant» interactions in everyday work life. Written by one of the world's leading communications coaches, Speaking as a Leader shows you how to make the most of your daily communications, creating a presence on the job as a genuine and constant leader. In this eye-opening guide, aspiring (and established) leaders can enhance their reputations and influence by following a few simple steps. Speaking as a Leader: Shows how to structure your thoughts and message in any situation using a four-step model Offers tips on listening effectively, in three dimensions Details why you are the best visual and how to avoid «Death by PowerPoint» Offers guidance on taking the «numb» out of numbers Includes tips on moving from subject to message With Speaking as a Leader, you'll learn to tap into your innate leadership skills at every occasion—whether small or large—and earn the sort of respect that creates devoted friends and passionate supporters.
As you might expect from a company responsible for renting so many thrillers, there’s rarely a dull moment at LOVEFiLM. From start-up, through mergers and fast paced growth, culminating in a takeover by an internet giant, few corporate adventures encapsulate the archetypal modern business story as neatly as that of LOVEFiLM. In the 6 years from inception to the defining deal with Amazon, the company underwent a near constant process of change and evolution. They simply didn’t sit still for a minute. As the chief executive who guided LOVEFiLM through these fast-paced times, Simon Calver tells the story of how they grew the company from a series of small start-ups into a multi-million pound enterprise and well-love household name. Calver offers his personal insights and key lessons on everything from how to manage spectacular growth, to the importance of taking big risks and how small entrepreneurial companies can benefit from big companies thinking. Success the LOVEFiLM Way is an essential read for anybody who wants to start and grow a successful business, and learn how to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing and growing industry. “The LOVEFiLM story offers interesting insights into the way modern businesses, and particularly those backed by venture capital, succeed. There are useful lessons for anyone looking to start or grow a business using this route. Simon Calver explains both the challenges and opportunities that VC funding raises. Calver is right to describe this as the classic modern business story.” Alex Mitchell, Head of Influencer Relations, IoD “The LOVEFiLM story was a great read. It’s honest, insightful and very entertaining. It shows most importantly the power of leadership to create an exceptional company. Frankly, everyone in the UK needs to read this book right now.” Julie Meyer, Managing Partner, ACE Fund “I met Simon at the annual Real Business awards in 2009, and was delighted when he asked King of Shaves to become a founding member of The Consumer Forum – an association of SME’s that put the customer first. The success of LOVEFiLM, and his leadership of this disrupting business, was entirely down to his ‘putting customers first’ – by giving them what they wanted, when they wanted it, always embracing the latest in cutting edge technology. Firstly by sending the latest film releases through the post, and now by it streaming on demand. I’ve been lucky enough to spend personal quality time with him, and now you can learn how he helped LOVEFiLM grow so astonishingly, in a constantly changing digital environment. If you Lovefilm, and LoveCustomers, then you’ll Love this book!” Will King, Founder, King of Shaves “The LOVEFiLM story shows the importance of organizational agility, trust and the relentless focus of taking customers, stakeholders and employees with you on your journey. Above all it demonstrates the importance of understanding what you do and why you do it, and why it’s important to have a business model that delivers for the customer and the business.” Jo Causon, CEO, Institute of Customer Service “It took Simon’s dedicated hard work bringing together a series of smaller businesses to make LOVEFiLM one of the true internet success stories. In Simon Calver’s book, he shares his business philosophies that led LOVEFiLM to the successful takeover by Amazon. The book is not just a compelling narrative, but lessons that all businesses and entrepreneurs can benefit from.” Mar
A revised and updated edition of the bestselling «no-nonsense guide to beating the competition.»-Publisher's Weekly Becoming a Category of One reveals how extraordinary companies do what they do so well and gives you the tools and ideas to help your business emulate their success. Packed with real case studies and personal reflections from successful business leaders, it helps you apply the best practices of the best companies to set yourself apart from your competitors and turn your business into a market leader. Whether you run a multinational corporation or a two-person start-up company, the lessons you'll find here apply to any business. This Second Edition includes a new chapter on «tie breakers,» updated examples of today's category of one companies, and special contributions from business experts, bestselling authors, and CEOs on the future category of one business. Revised and updated to remain relevant to today's market conditions and new innovations A new edition of the bestselling title from the author of Indispensable and Work Like You're Showing Off Today's struggling economy puts even greater importance on the theory and practice of business differentiation This edition includes 20 percent new material; if you liked the original edition, you'll love this new Second Edition Reliable, proven advice that works for businesses of any size in any industry Now more than ever, you have to differentiate your business from the competition to succeed. Becoming a Category of One gives you the blueprint for building your own extraordinary business.
The fastest, easiest way to shift culture toward engagement and productivity Change Your Space, Change Your Culture is a guide to transforming business by rethinking the workplace. Written by a team of trail-blazing leaders, this book reveals the secrets of companies that discovered the power of culture and space. This insightful guide reveals what companies lose by viewing office space as something to manage or minimize. With practical tips and implementation details, the book helps the reader see that the workspace is, in fact, a crucial driver of productivity and morale. Change Your Space, Change Your Culture was born out of recent studies that expose truly outrageous «Oh, my God» realities: More than 70 percent of the workforce either hates their job or they are just going through the motions. Half of all office space is wasted. Those shattering facts exist because office space is generally regarded as «overhead» or «sunk cost.» Most buildings today clearly communicate the low priority placed on people-friendly design. Poor workforce engagement is baked into the culture. This book provides guidance on turning this around, by rethinking and reshaping space to align with the way people work. Specifically, this book moves from the high-altitude view down to the details on how to: Discover the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective way to shift culture Add square footage by using space more effectively Boost employee engagement and vitality by the creative use of space Learn how space can become a powerful productivity tool We all know that design, space, and flow have a powerful effect on the human psyche. Our homes, museums, sports arenas, places of worship, and even airport terminals reveal that. Environment can inspire dread or enthusiasm, distraction or focus, collaboration or isolation. That's why the office must be designed to inspire the desired culture and workflow – if it's not properly designed, no program, training or rules will be effective over time. Change Your Space, Change Your Culture is the practical guide to office space, the foundation of an engaging culture.
The inside story of what really happened at Lehman Brothers and why it failed In The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, investigative writer and Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward takes readers inside Lehman's highly charged offices. What Ward uncovers is a much bigger story than Lehman losing at the risky game of collateralized debt obligations, swaps, and leverage. A can't put it down page turner that opens the world of Wall Street to view unlike any book since Bonfire of the Vanities, except that The Devil's Casino isn't fiction. Details what went on behind-the-scenes the weekend Lehman Brothers failed, as well as inside Lehman during the twenty years preceding it Describes the feudal culture that proved both Lehman's strength and its Achilles' heel Written by Vicky Ward, one of today's most connected business and finance writers On Wall Street, Lehman Brothers was cheekily known as «the cat with nine lives.» But as The Devil's Casino documents, this cat pushed its luck too far and died?the victim of men and women blinded by arrogance.
Right now, Congress, the Fed, and the Treasury are all gambling with your future and your money. And it's contagious. Economies around the globe are suffering from the biggest multitrillion-dollar bets ever wagered on big governments and miraculous financial interventions in pretend «free markets.» One man saw it all coming and told his readers well in advance of today's crisis. Bill Bonner reports on the true health and well-being of the world's largest economy to over half a million readers each day in The Daily Reckoning. His newsletter is to the mainstream financial press what the Gnostic Gospels are to the King James Bible. Back in 2000, Bill Bonner sounded like a prophet crying in the wilderness. While everyone scrambled to purchase shares of the latest and hottest dot-com, Bill announced his Trade of the Decade: Sell dollars, buy gold. Back in 2000, you could get an ounce for around $264. Today, you could pay as much as $1,400 for that same ounce. Finally, some of Bonner's best pronouncements, predictions, and profitable analysis are collected in one place. Dice Have No Memory gather's Bonner's richest insights from August 1999 through November 2010 to form a chronological narrative of economics in America. Here's a fraction of what you'll find inside: *Gold says «I Told You So» *Three out of Four Economists Are Wrong *Imperial Overstretch Marks *Why Debt Does Matter *Economic Zombies Shuffle Towards Bankruptcy Bonner's Dice Have No Memory offers elegies for economists, tips for investors, tirades against wasteful warfare past and present, and practical guides to modern finance with graceful prose, well-earned intelligence, and riotous irreverence. Bill Bonner's common sense genius rips the window dressing off modern finance – a world normally populated by misguided do-gooders, corrupt politicians, and big bankers empowered by dubious «mathematical» truths. The investing game is rigged, just like Monte Carlo. Instead of giving you magic formulas, this archcontrarian teaches you how to think clearly. And Dice Have No Memory gives today's investor the next moves he should make…before it's too late.
The 2008-2009 market meltdown and house price collapse has reset the credit and property cycles, and smart investors are now looking for the upside. But Where Will the Next Bull Runs Come From, and How Can Investors Take Advantage? The world is now facing staggering change, including exponential performance growth in many technologies. We can expect computers that are smarter than people, self-driven cars and a truly intelligent Internet. We are also facing a biotechnological revolution enabling personalized medicine, fourth generation biofuels, radical extension of human life expectancy, exponential growth in farm yields, and even the recreation of extinct species. Furthermore, our energy sector is facing a complete transformation which will eventually make our energy supply limitless. Meanwhile, our population will grow, age and urbanize, and – largely due to emerging market growth – global purchasing power will have quadrupled by 2050. What will this mean for commodity prices, the environment and growth sectors such as real estate, global finance and luxury? Supertrends explains not only what will happen, but also how and why. Having himself run several hugely profitable funds through seeking out long term opportunities and having set up and sold several award winning technology and new media companies, author Lars Tvede shows readers how to identify and profit from the investment opportunities of the future. If you need to be prepared for the rest of your life, this is the book for you.
Janet Tavakoli takes you into the world of Warren Buffett by way of the recent mortgage meltdown. In correspondence and discussion with him over 2 years, they both saw the writing on the wall, made clear by the implosion of Bear Stearns. Tavakoli, in clear and engaging prose, explains how the credit mess happened beginning with the mortgage lending Ponzi schemes funded by investment banks, the Fed bailout and its impact on the dollar. Through her narrative, we hear from Warren Buffett and learn how his enduring principles caused him to see the mess that was coming well in advance and kept him and his investors well out of the way.
Praise for Brand Advocates «Ignite your Advocates! Fuggetta shows you how.» —SCOTT MONTY, Head of Social Media, Ford «Creating and amplifying authentic Advocates should be front and center on every marketer's agenda. This book is a blueprint for how to turn genuine Advocates into a powerful marketing force.» —SUSAN HELSTAB, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts «Advocacy is the ultimate goal for every brand. And Rob Fuggetta has given us the ultimate guidebook to brand advocacy. Simple, clear, and filled with practical advice, this book shows you how to turn your enthusiastic customers into a powerful Brand Army.» —PORTER GALE, former Vice President of Marketing, Virgin America «In an era of connected consumerism, advocacy puts the word in word of mouth. Nothing is more authentic or effective. This book shows you exactly how to find and engage your advocates.» —BRIAN SOLIS, Principal Analyst, Altimeter Group, and author, The End of Business as Usual «Inspiring Advocates is one of Method's seven obsessions. Get this book and be inspired. Highly recommended!» —ERIC RYAN, Cofounder, Method «Fuggetta's equation for building great brands in the social media age is proven and powerful. Every hotel marketer should read this book.» —CHIP CONLEY, Founder, Joie De Vivre Hospitality, and author, Emotional Equations «Brand Advocates is a book every public relations professional should read. It's the definitive guide to authentic advocacy.» —AEDHMAR HYNES, Chief Executive Officer, Text 100 Public Relations «Companies aren't trusted, brands aren't trusted, and nor are your executives. People trust each other, and now they have the tools to communicate with each other using social technologies and mobile, with or without brands involved. As a result, trust has shifted to the participants. Many brands, knowing their credibility has diminished, rely on advocacy programs where trusted members of the community are given a platform and encouraged to speak. Fuggetta shows you exactly how to create an advocacy program that empowers your trusted Advocates.» —JEREMIAH OWYANG, Partner, Altimeter Group
A companion Workbook to the text Retirement Portfolios Retirement is one of the most important parts of the financial planning process. Yet only two percent of financial advisors describe themselves as competent in retirement planning. Constructing a retirement portfolio is viewed as a difficult endeavor, and the demands facing financial advisors responsible for this task continue to grow. The pressures are particularly intense due to events such as the financial crisis and oncoming rush of retiring baby boomers. It is imperative that financial advisors be equipped and ready to create appropriate retirement portfolios. That's why Michael Zwecher-a leading expert on retirement income-has created Retirement Portfolios and the Retirement Portfolios Workbook. In the text Retirement Portfolios, leading retirement income expert Michael Zwecher provides financial professionals with complete coverage of the most important issues in this field. The Retirement Portfolios Workbook offers you a wealth of practical information and exercises that will solidify your understanding of the tools and techniques associated with this discipline. This comprehensive study guide Provides chapter summaries and end of chapter questions to the main book Test your knowledge of the information addressed in Retirement Portfolios, before you put it to work in real world situations Helps you learn to solve problems while setting up tools you can use in practice Puts the management of risks related to retirement portfolios in perspective If you want to gain a firm understanding of the information outlined in Retirement Portfolios, the lessons within this workbook can show you how.