How to build lasting connections through meaningful communication Developing successful relationships is critical to our success in both our personal and professional lives. The Power of Understanding People shows you how to establish and develop extremely effective relationships by providing you with techniques to better identify and understand the intrinsic needs of others. As a result, you will achieve better team dynamics, increased sales and client satisfaction, higher levels of employee engagement and performance, and even more satisfying marriages and friendships. This book provides the tools to understand others' unique communication style as well as your own. Get detailed advice on how to adjust to diverse communication styles, develop a unifying language for the organization, and better match motivational techniques to team members. Through storytelling and experiential exercises, author Dave Mitchell helps you gain insight into your own unique interaction style and teaches you how to communicate, motivate, sell, and service more successfully no matter the personality types involved. Offers insight into the behavior cues and questions to ask to better understand someone's interactive preferences Explains how to enhance your sales efforts by better targeting your brand message to the client's style so that your products/services resonate with them more Examines strategies for creating a high performing work environment and achieve greater customer service excellence Contains conflict resolution strategies, including how to effectively work out differences within a team, between work units, with customers, and even in your personal life Armed with the ability to interpret the behavior of the people around you, you will achieve greater levels of success at work and at home while also learning how to better handle the difficult situations involving people in your life.
Tami Longaberger is CEO of The Longaberger Company, the premier U.S. manufacturer of handcrafted baskets and other home and lifestyle products. With great tenderness, transparency, and candor, this book opens her heart, offering readers a glimpse of her unique “American Dream”—the kind not handed down or given freely—but earned by hard work and fierce tenacity. Whether sharing memories of her impoverished childhood in Appalachia or accounts of reaching out to business women of the Middle East, Longaberger evokes a balanced nostalgia for the sweetness of the past comingled with a passionate call for hope for the future. Weaving Dreams prompts readers to dream bigger, think more broadly, and risk taking the road less traveled in business and in life. The life lessons remind us that we are all much more similar than distinct, that we have much for which to be grateful, and that the love of family is a treasure to be valued above all else. In Weaving Dreams: The Joy of Work, the Love of Life, Tami Longaberger emerges as a clear voice of encouragement and inspiration, challenging us all to live each moment to the fullest.
The dismal truth about hedge funds and how investors can get a greater share of the profits Shocking but true: if all the money that's ever been invested in hedge funds had been in treasury bills, the results would have been twice as good. Although hedge fund managers have earned some great fortunes, investors as a group have done quite poorly, particularly in recent years. Plagued by high fees, complex legal structures, poor disclosure, and return chasing, investors confront surprisingly meager results. Drawing on an insider's view of industry growth during the 1990s, a time when hedge fund investors did well in part because there were relatively few of them, The Hedge Fund Mirage chronicles the early days of hedge fund investing before institutions got into the game and goes on to describe the seeding business, a specialized area in which investors provide venture capital-type funding to promising but undiscovered hedge funds. Today's investors need to do better, and this book highlights the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the returns and risks are biased in favor of the hedge fund manager, and how investors and allocators can redress the imbalance. The surprising frequency of fraud, highlighted with several examples that the author was able to avoid through solid due diligence, industry contacts, and some luck Why new and emerging hedge fund managers are where generally better returns are to be found, because most capital invested is steered towards apparently safer but less profitable large, established funds rather than smaller managers that evoke the more profitable 1990s Hedge fund investors have had it hard in recent years, but The Hedge Fund Mirage is here to change that, by turning the tables on conventional wisdom and putting the hedge fund investor back on top.
The final word on passive vs. active investing The debate on active investing-stock picking and market timing-versus passive investing-markets are highly efficient and almost impossible to outperform-has raged for decades. Which side is right? In The Quest for Alpha: The Holy Grail of Investing, author Larry E. Swedroe puts an end to the debate, proving once and for all that active investing is likely to prove futile as the associated expenses-costs, fees, and time spent analyzing individual stocks and the overall market-are likely to exceed any benefits gained. The book Presents research, data, and quotations that reveal it's extremely difficult to outperform the market Explains why investors should focus on asset allocation, fund construction, costs, tax efficiency, and the building of a globally diversified portfolio that minimizes, if not eliminates, the taking of idiosyncratic, uncompensated risks Other titles by Swedroe: The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You'll Ever Need and The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan Investors are on a never-ending search for a money manager who will deliver returns above the appropriate risk-adjusted benchmark, aka the «Holy Grail of Investing.» The Quest for Alpha demonstrates that it's a loser's game-while it's possible to win, it's so unlikely that you shouldn't try.
Knowledge Works is a handbook full of ideas to help you draw on people's knowledge to keep ideas fresh, reduce waste, and build competence and capability. You can either dip into it according to your needs, or work through it in a more systematic way to create a plan to improve your organization's performance. «Knowledge Works is a very practical book that provides proven solutions for important knowledge-related problems in organizations including: how to convince managers that knowledge is important, how to create a knowledge-sharing culture, and how to improve the quality of conversations. A must-read for all managers of knowledge-intensive organizations.» Daan Andriessen, Professor of Intellectual Capital, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands «To be successful as a manager, you need to make better decisions, be more innovative and to do more with less. In this highly practical handbook, Christine Van Winkelen and Jane McKenzie offer new ideas to challenge your current thinking and achieve this. Their work is soundly based on 10 years collaborative research with the Knowledge Management Forum at the Henley Business School.» David Gurteen, Founder and Director, Gurteen Knowledge Community «This book shows in a very inspiring and hands-on way how knowledge works. This is an utmost important understanding in the growing intellectual economy for increased operational knowledge effectiveness. The book has in an impressive way systematized many challenging K-works perspectives, from knowledge mapping and flows to social media and knowledge creating conversations. It is demonstrating a number of insightful real life stories and projects during 10 years of the Henley KM Forum, as well as providing valuable reading notes. Happy Knowledge Work …» Leif Edvinsson, Honorary Chairman for the Henley KM Forum, The World´s First Professor of Intellectual Capital
Bestselling author John Talbott outlines the troublesome economic times ahead and what can be done about them Tough times are here, and author John Talbott-who accurately predicted the dot.com technology stock collapse as well as the recent housing, mortgage, and financial crises-argues that the coming global recession will be unlike anything we've ever seen. In Contagion, Talbott turns his attention to this crisis and offers insights on what can be done to navigate such treacherous terrain. Talbott sets the stage by discussing how government borrowing and spending on the war, healthcare, Social Security, and corporate giveaways combined with dramatic increases in personal spending, fueled by credit card and mortgage debt, have funded unsustainable levels of personal and government consumption. Offers practical suggestions as to how investors and homeowners can best weather this storm with straightforward advice on where to invest Examines real estate and housing issues to help you make the best decisions possible in this arena Details the best ways to utilize stocks, bonds, TIPS, and commodities, and to prosper during this global crisis If you really want to protect yourself from the unfolding economic crisis, then Contagion is the book you need to read.
Have you ever thought about investing in the stock market but weren't sure where to start or what to buy? Share investing is easier than you think! Women are becoming increasingly financially savvy. They want to improve their financial future and are looking to the stock market to help them achieve their goals. Tracey Edwards is one of these savvy investors. In this completely revised edition of the best-selling Shopping for Shares, she let you in on her investing secrets and step-by-step plan for researching and selecting the right companies at the right time so that you too can profit from the stock market. Written in a no-nonsense, conversational style Shopping for Shares will show you: how much money you need to start investing—it's less than you think the psychology of making your first trade—it doesn't have to be scary 'rules' for trading in the short term or investing for the long term the best times to buy and sell what you should do when the market takes a downward turn how you can still invest if you don't have a lot of time—a.k.a. the 'lazy girl's guide to investing'.
Praise for Endgame «This is an extremely powerful, sobering, well-written and highly accessible book. It will demonstrate to you why there are no painless solutions to the mounting debt problems around the world—something that too many people are yet to realize. It will take you on a well-documented journey through the debt supercycle, making stops around the world and at critical junctures. And it is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the global debt dynamics and ways to protect against its bad consequences.» —Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO, PIMCO, and author of When Markets Collide «No one has thought more creatively about the economy. Mauldin's weekly newsletter is a must-read, and his book is even more important if you want to understand a rapidly changing world.» —Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives «Successful investors explore all possibilities. You should read this book so you can succeed in case the Endgame is our future.» —Jim Rogers, author of A Gift to My Children «I read everything John Mauldin writes. He travels the world and shares his financial stories like a good friend sharing a drink. Mauldin is that rarity—a skeptical optimist—who calls 'em straight and rewards his clients and fans.» —Rich Karlgaard, Publisher and Columnist, Forbes magazine «There's clearly something important going on in the world economy. Something big. Something powerful and dangerous. But something as yet undefined and uncertain. We are all feeling our way around in the dark, trying to figure out what it is. John Mauldin must have night vision glasses. He does an excellent job of seeing the obstacles. You should read this book before you knock over a lamp and stumble over the furniture.» —William Bonner, President and CEO, Agora Inc., and author of Dice Have No Memory and Empire of Debt «Endgame is not only a highly readable and informative account of the causes of the recent global economic and financial meltdown, but it also provides investors with a concrete investment strategy from which they can benefit while this final act in financial history is being played out.» —Marc Faber, Managing Director, Marc Faber, Ltd., and Editor, Gloom, Boom & Doom Report
Greece isn't the only country drowning in debt. The Debt Supercycle—when the easily managed, decades-long growth of debt results in a massive sovereign debt and credit crisis—is affecting developed countries around the world, including the United States. For these countries, there are only two options, and neither is good—restructure the debt or reduce it through austerity measures. Endgame details the Debt Supercycle and the sovereign debt crisis, and shows that, while there are no good choices, the worst choice would be to ignore the deleveraging resulting from the credit crisis. The book: Reveals why the world economy is in for an extended period of sluggish growth, high unemployment, and volatile markets punctuated by persistent recessions Reviews global markets, trends in population, government policies, and currencies Around the world, countries are faced with difficult choices. Endgame provides a framework for making those choices.
An all-weather, tactical approach to asset management utilizing Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) In Asset Rotation, portfolio management pioneer Matthew P. Erickson demonstrates a time-tested approach to asset management that has worked throughout the history of capital markets, in good times and bad. Providing investors with strong participation in rising markets, but more importantly with a discipline to reduce participation in prolonged declines. Over time this revolutionary approach has yielded superior returns, with significantly reduced levels of risk; providing the engine for true, long-term sustainable growth. The investment world as we know it has changed, and the paradigm has shifted. What has worked in the past may no longer work in the future. No longer may bonds be regarded as a safe haven asset class, as for the first time in generations, investors in fixed income face losses as interest rates rise from historical all-time lows. For those adhering to a conventional Modern Portfolio Theory based investment approach to asset management, what was once regarded as safe and stable, may very well soon become our greatest impediment. Asset Rotation provides investors with a practical solution for today's real world problems. This tactical approach to asset management provides us with concrete proof that there is indeed a better way. We are standing on the precipice of an Investment Renaissance. What was previously impossible, is now possible. Find out how. Presents an easy-to-understand price momentum-based approach to investing Illustrates the benefits of asset rotation Offers a systematic approach for securing a sound financial future Provides further insights as to how to customize your own asset rotation portfolio Matthew Erickson gives investors a hands-on resource for how to navigate an increasingly difficult investment landscape, by providing them with keen insights into the most rapidly growing segment of the investment markets.