Book Description

What do you get when you bring a Fortune 500 CEO and a forward thinking Pastor together? Leadership Unbound.

Leadership Unbound explains in clear, simple to understand terms the ways in which a dynamic, forward thinking pastor created a successful new church community in the middle of the desert by applying business principles and how anyone can apply these lessons to their own success plan. ... Read more

Book Description

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Book Description

"I hate to lose. And what I really hate about it is that it takes exactly the same effort to lose as it does to win. So, if you're going to make that effort, why not make the effort to win?"
--Tom Whidden, three-time America's Cup winner, president of North Marine Group

America's Cup winner Peter Isler shows how the skills and strategies used in professional sailing apply equally well to competition, teamwork, and success in the world of business.

Some of the most prominent and successful CEOs and executives in America are sailors--and with good reason. In both business and sailing, only the best-led, best-trained, most highly motivated teams win. In At the Helm, two-time America's Cup winner Peter Isler translates the secrets of success in the fast-paced world of grand-prix sailboat racing into a series of specific lessons that managers and businesspeople can apply to their day-to-day jobs. In the world of business and sailing, building a successful "team" takes years of planning, training, practice, and cooperation, with an absolute commitment to winning.

Liberally sprinkled with entertaining, insightful, and cautionary stories from the worlds of sailing and business, At the Helm shows why it is essential to be able to change course quickly; how to "stack the deck" in your favor; how to plan for the unexpected. In addition, Peter includes a section on assessing your strengths and weaknesses, and offers suggestions on how to become a better "sailor."

The first book to apply the strategies required for putting together a world-class sailing crew to the world of business, At the Helm is the perfect mix of business and pleasure.


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Reviews (7)

Enjoyable Read
Overall I enjoyed the book. Different sections focused in on specific events that had occurred in the world of yachting and how the lessons learned could be applied to a business enviroment. While there may not be anything earth shattering in the book, it does demonstrate that there are a core group of values that can be universal.

Insightful!
Champion sailor Peter Isler (with help from business writer Peter Economy) shows how victory in sailing's America's Cup race demonstrates lessons that can be applied to success in business. The same practices that contribute to winning the sailing race also lead to business triumphs. Isler distills the principles of good sailing into seven key rules. These fairly familiar rules include making a total commitment, creating a strong team effort, being ready to change, leveraging every opportunity to your advantage, expecting the unexpected, pushing the limits and having the right inner attitude. However, the parallels between sailing and business make the book especially interesting, as do Isler's compelling examples from his sailing experiences. He also includes apt quotes from other sailors with business backgrounds. We at getAbstract.com (who are bravely resisting the urge to make ocean-going puns here) recommend this book not only to top executives, but also to general business readers, especially those who like sailing. Ahoy.

Great book on leadership
I really liked this book. I never realized just how much of a business sailboat racing is, or that it costs $60 million to run an America's Cup campaign. That's more money than most small businesses will ever see in a decade! Anyway, the authors have written a great book about some of the world's top businesspeople, who just happen to be some of the world's top sailors, too. Ted Turner, Roy Disney, Elizabeth Myers -- they're all here -- and they all have terrific lessons in business leadership to teach, and for us to learn. Buy this book! You'll learn a lot, and you'll have a lot of fun doing it!

If you don't sail you may not want to read it.
Well it had a lot inspiring teamwork and hardwork ethics sort of stuff that I see in so many sports/business books, but the importance of many events was lost on me. Interesting tales no doubt for sailors.

Sailing is analogous with life
This book solidifies many beliefs I have had throughout life that sailing prepares one well for all aspects of life, including the business world. Peter has selected a great group of successful businessmen who have great stories to tell. This book will be used as a gift to several of my clients come Christmastime.

As a Star sailor, my favorite story involves Malin Burnham retiring from a race for hitting a mark even though no one else witnessed the event. It cost him the Star World Championship, yet he never thought twice about doing it any other way. This is a great example of an era when ethics and a man's word was everything. We can only hope that it may become that way once again.

Thanks, Peter for a very good book. ... Read more

Book Description

Waste-eliminating, performance-improvement weaponsDiscover the best ways to overcome todayÆs most stubborn business issues: waste of resources, personnel, and opportunity. Performance Improvement Methods, by H. James Harrington and Kenneth C. Lomax, details the 85 most effective performance-enhancing weapons you can use to get the most from the least, and get the jump on your competitors. You'll learn about activity-based costing...design of experiments...failure mode and effect analysis...matrix data analysis...process benchmarking, redesign,and reengineering...QFD...simulation modeling...the six-sigma system...value-added analysis...and all the other strategies performance experts have identified as the best ways to promote efficiency and productivity, and maximize opportunities in every arena. This book/CD-ROM package gives you ready-to-download sample forms, agreements and analyses, plus exercises, games,definitions, case histories and more that help you put these creative and efficient tools to work. ... Read more

Book Description

Teams have evolved into an important structure in business today--and are now needed more than ever.

An insightful collection of activities, Team Workout provides facilitators, trainers, leaders, and managers with a wide variety of tools to increase team effectiveness and upgrade skills and knowledge within today's challenging organizational environment. The book focuses on such current team issues as virtual teams, trust-building, customer satisfaction, recognition, and respect. Trainers will learn the key ideas that underlie all of the activities in this manual, including:

* Each team has a common purpose, mission, or goal
* Members are interdependent; they need each other to achieve their purpose
* Agreement that working together effectively will help to reach their goal.

This collection will help team leaders, team-building specialists, trainers, and others interested in creating collaborative, harmonious and effective work teams. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Applies to Real-World work situations
This book gave me some fresh material to incorporate into a leadership program that I was creating. These aren't fun and games type of activities. They seem to be geared more toward assessing a group and getting information from the group to measure skill-set. This book would probably be more appropriate for a manager to use with his/her own group, compared to an instructor/student setting. ... Read more

Book Description

Original Title The Fifth Discipline, Translation by Carlos Gardini, Cover Design Amrico Ruocco, 490 pages,size 15*22*2.8cm ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excelente, es un clasico !
Esta debe de ser una lectura obligada en todas las universidades, que bueno que esta disponible en Español ... Read more

Book Description

From Ken Blanchard, renowned management expert: "The Teamwork Chronicles provides sound advice for anyone who wants to build teamwork in the workplace." In the new book The Teamwork Chronicles, Steven H. Carney chronicles his experience with various teams and companies after being a company manager for 12 years. During this career change, he became an undercover observer of startling management and team dysfunction. The Teamwork Chronicles uses many colorful examples of these problems to provide valuable insights and lessons. Principles, techniques, and suggestions are added to improve the teamwork and performance of the modern workplace. Many of these situations are contrasted with his previous experience as the team-oriented manager of a manufacturing company. The book balances "how to" and "how not to" elements to give a sometimes blunt and credible view of the modern workplace-- one that many employees will recognize. The Teamwork Chronicles will empower employees who are concerned about the lack of teamwork and wake up managers who are not true team players. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A valuable and recommended asset
The Teamwork Chronicles by Steven H. Carney is a business book filled from cover to cover with a wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques for motivating teamwork in one's company; putting a halt to endless in-house power games and squabbles; and handling inevitable office conflicts professionally. Drawing upon real life cases, The Teamwork Chronicles is a valuable and recommended asset to improving the overall quantity and quality of employee interaction and results. ... Read more

Book Description

Show your team how to chart its own course, evaluate its progress, and self-correct.

Many books talk about teamwork, but few address the actual process of creating and managing effective teams. You'll learn to approach teamwork as a journey with a beginning, middle, and satisfying And. Find out how to construct a blueprint to carry your team along.

Discover the two factors essential for well functioning teams: getting work done and building and maintaining the spirit and momentum of the team.

Frequently teams are built and challenged to work as a unit, but the team members aren't clear about what steps to take and when to take them. Keep your team from becoming confused, frustrated and ultimately giving up. Develop step-by-step proceedures to get work done!

You'll learn these ten steps:

• Focusing the team
• Assigning roles
• Establishing guidelines
• Planning the work
• Doing the work
• Reviewing team performance
• Completing the work
• Publishing the results
• Rewarding the team
• Moving on

Create teams that work together to increase productivity, improve quality, and achieve high levels of customer satisfaction.

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Book Description

Team leaders of all types, from educators to youth group leaders to board members to corporate trainers will put the contents of this book to good use. With chapters formatted as "aisles" you can pick and choose the tools that you have on your shopping list now and pick up a few more later. Aisles include tools for:

• Revisiting your team's goals
• Redefining team members' roles
• Reestablishing ground rules
• Rejuvenating team meetings
• Rebuilding a climate of trust
• Regaining team member commitment
• Reassesing team performance
• Rewarding team success
• And much more!

Attend a featured author workshop at the 13th International Conference on Work Teams: Collaborating for Competitive Advantage, September 23-25, 2002, in Dallas, TX. For information, contact the Center for the Study of Work Teams at 940 565 3096 or visit them online at www.workteams.unt.edu. ... Read more

Book Description

More than a fad, teaming is proving to be a new way of organizational life, with eight out of every ten employees now involved in some kind of teamwork. But how exactly does one play on a team at work? While there are plenty of manuals, trainers, and theories that help managers create, lead, and reward teams, actual team members are often left struggling without a handbook or a coach.

With refreshing clarity and common sense, Maureen O'Brien, a team expert with more than twenty years of experience as a player, coach, and business consultant, offers one-on-one coaching tips to team players in Who's Got the Ball? The author covers all the bases, from setting a team's goals and articulating its noble purpose, to banishing boring meetings, deciding how to make decisions, and even using flip charts effectively. Friendly and conversational, O'Brien offers experience-based, easy-to-implement guidelines that are eminently practical and surprisingly fun. Her concise coaching notes, wonderfully illustrated by real-life organizational situations, address every aspect of daily team life, including: creating a workable team structure * being a valuable team member * avoiding common teamwork traps * running an effective team meeting * making and implementing decisions * leading a team.

From developing a new team and determining just what kind of game your team is playing--individualistic baseball, interdependent basketball, or tightly orchestrated football--to dealing with personality-based conflicts, knowing when to take a time-out, and honoring a project's most valuable player, Who's Got the Ball? is an invaluable guide to surviving--and thriving--on today's work teams.

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Reviews (1)

wonderful motivational book
A wonderful motivational book that any coach will find useful. It is also designed for business application, but most of the philosophies deal with team sports. ... Read more

Book Description

Virtual teams are a relatively new phenomenon and by definition work across time, distance, and organizations through the use of information and communications technology. Virtual Teams: Projects, Protocols and Processes gathers the best of academic research on real work-based virtual teams into one book. It offers a series of chapters featuring practical research, insight and recommendations on how virtual team projects can be better managed, as well as in depth discussion on issues critical to virtual team success, including the place of virtual teams in organizations, leadership, trust and relationship building, best use of technology, and knowledge sharing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One of the best books on virtual teaming
David Pauleen has pulled together an excellent book here. It has a practitioner / user orientation, backed-up by scholarly research, but not an indigestible amount of the latter. There's real data here too - many chapters report empirical study of virtual teams from surveys, interviews etc. It's positioned exactly right for a reader who wants an authoritative account of major issues in virtual teaming and summaries of best practices, plus helpful reviews of the literature, but without overdosing on academic theorising.

What particularly makes this book refreshing is that authors aren't shy of challenging assumptions and orthodoxies, especially about trust and leadership. Although every chapter makes its contribution, two particularly stand out.

I really enjoyed the chapter by Walter Fernandez who reports trust (and mistrust) development in a large virtual team project. Great common sense here mixed with business insight (usually so missing), a healthy dose of cynicism, and empirical data.

Also remarkable is the final chapter by Peter Murphy. He uses a metaphor of 'the organization as city' to put virtual teaming in the context of physical centres of trade and knowledge. This chapter is brimful of ideas which challenge those of the earlier chapters, and Pauleen has cleverly used it as a coda to this valuable book.

Dr A J Gundry
Director, Knowledge Ability Ltd
Malmesbury UK ... Read more

Book Description

It is written that, Teamwork is separate from the business … Leadership is shared … The team has primary responsibility for team success … There is no "I" in team … Teams make consensus decisions … Teamwork is about relationships … Teamwork requires more meetings … Teams do work. And these are lies, all lies!

8 Lies of Teamwork exposes the myths surrounding teamwork and the sources of organization resistance that often prevent teamwork from succeeding. It provides you with a tested and proven teamwork foundation you can use to set teams free to overachieve in your business.In a unique approach to the topic, every chapter opens with a brief fairy tale, in which the views of the "wonderful wizard" and "petty sorcerers" introduce concepts.The book debunks much of what passes for team training. It teaches you the tools "petty sorcerers" use to undermine teamwork. It exposes the lies of teamwork, and lays them bare.For each teamwork lie, the author offers a corresponding truth and guidance on how to successfully implement teamwork.Illustrative examples are drawn from interviews with over 100 CEO’s and middle managers and from the author’s 18 years experience as a management consultant. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Recent MBA
As a recent MBA graduate (and one who's landed a job in this market), I found 8 Lies an excellent source for "real world" examples. Wachter's book is filled with useful anecdotes from his years of business experience. I'd recommend this book to any business school student as an opportunity to learn valuable management techniques that are not often taught in the classroom, nor practiced in countless inefficient organizations. Wachter's insight will open your eyes to a refreshing different perspective not offered by more traditional textbooks - an excellent tool for spurring on discussion in the classroom!

Petty Sorcerers can weave spells that make teams fail.
Michael Wachter's book reveals the magic you need to release the full power of teamwork. This book is a "must read" for everyone from Executive Sponsors to each team member who is charged with achieving results. It reveals ways of removing barriers and freeing team members to succeed. These essential concepts need to be shared throughout the organization. Refuse to work on any team if the Executive Sponsor has not read this book!

A must for any future business leader
This book provides great insight to being a successful team member/leader. If you have aspirations of becoming a manager of any sort or even if you are one and are looking to improve, this book is a valuable collection to your bookshelf.

The Key to Productive Teams
Wachter's book has had a tremendous impact on my business. It uncovers the truth about teamwork. As a result, my teams have grown exponentially more productive. In addition, my staff and I have learned how to better manage and support teams. A must read!

Truth about Lies
Wachter's'8 Lies.. is to Teamwork, like Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is to hiring systems, both improve the results for the organization and the participant. This book is written in a clear and accessible format. Mike provides useful operational definitions and case examples that drive home the key points of what makes Teamwork work. While the Lies perspective captures one's attention, the value to the reader resides in the Truths offered as the actionable items to raise the bar of team performance and hold at bay those forces seeking to sabotage team productivity.

Having danced with lip service support for quality circle teams who's' mission was to "pick low hanging fruit" in the early Eighties, I have both spread lies and worked to reverse their legacy. Anyone working in team based business processes will find this a book to make you cry, make you smile, and most importantly, make you question the culture and expectations you hold for your teams. It holds the opportunity to take your efforts up a notch.

Joseph P. Murphy
Principal
Shaker Consulting Group
Business Results, People Solutions ... Read more

Book Description

A practical approach to problem-solving and decision-making in business. Revised edition. ... Read more

Book Description

An unorthodox, yet highly effective approach to team learning.

Part novel, part workbook, Light Bulbs for Leaders is brimming with insights, ideas, tools, and step-by-step guidelines all packaged in a down-to-earth, easy-to digest form.

Book I, "A Tale of Teamwork and Continuous Learning," tells the fictional story of Fulcrum Corporation and its efforts to regain the considerable ground it has lost in recent years. Faced with rapidly shrinking budgets and mounting competition, CEO Gary Anderson concludes that radical culture change is Fulcrum's only hope for survival.

He appoints a learning team of six senior managers, Janice, Ted, Pat, Andy, Lois, and John, to thrash out the details of just how this can be accomplished. As the story unfolds, you follow the team's adventures as they attempt to fulfill their mission and to transform Fulcrum from a fractious collection of brilliant high-tech cowboys into a learning organization of team players. You experience their setbacks and successes as they attempt to surmount the psychological and procedural obstacles every team must overcome before achieving its goals. And you follow them as they take what they've learned back to their own groups to successfully lead the team learning process. Along the way, you gain valuable insights into the human subtleties of team learning and acquire practical lessons that you can apply in your own team-building efforts.

Book II, "The Light Bulbs," lists the 88 epiphanies—moments in the story when the team "got it"—that are crucial to creating a high-performing team.

Book III, "A Guide to Team Learning," helps you make effective use of the lessons learned in Books I and II. Packed with checklists, exercises, charts, and other visual aids, this handbook helps you master the skills you need to overcome impasses in the team learning process and to achieve ever higher levels of team performance and productivity.

An enlightening and entertaining read and a valuable blueprint for transforming any organization into a learning organization, Light Bulbs for Leaders is a must-have management and training resource.

"There cannot be a successful organization in America today that doesn't depend upon teamwork for superior performance and growth. During a time when rapidly shifting societal and economic changes are scrambling conventional notions about personal interactions, Light Bulbs for Leaders is the perfect descrambler. Its technical approach is the right mix of creativity, boldness, and scar tissue, all presented in an arrestingly readable package."—Norman R. Augustine, CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation

"An excellent book . . . on leadership."—The Honorable Ike Skelton, 4th District, Missouri, U.S. House of Representatives

"An excellent, practical, and useful tool for the modern workplace."—Hyler J. Bracey, PhD, CEO, The Atlanta Consulting Group, author of Managing from the Heart

"This 'how to' book provides helpful, practical insights into the complexities of teams and teamwork. It is an attractive and handy compilation of notes and guidelines which any busy manager can relate to, with a rare discussion of the nuances of individual differences . . . that in reality can make or break an effort for team building."—Walter F. Ulmer, Jr., Former CEO and President, Center for Creative Leadership ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A must buy!
Wow! This is definetely a five star book and I highly recommend it!! It is filled with lots of great information and tools to help teams move through problem areas and perform at peak levels. It is easy to read and understand, and the information is immediately transferable to real life situations. Great suggestions on how to handle problem situations - especially the Problem Matrix which lists common team/group problems and tools to help you work through them. At one time or another I have seen all 17 problems listed in the matrix. The tools in the book which help you work through and overcome these problems are all practical and useful!

The findings published in Light Bulbs for Leaders are an
interesting, lively, and very readable treatment on the topic of leadership. Like In Search of Excellence, the material has a curiously inspirational quality which is particularly compelling. This book should be essential reading for those in positions of leadership and those aspiring to be - a welcome, well founded book on the topic.

Light Bulbs for Leaders is a truly powerful book for teams
and leaders. It captures those behaviors that are so important, but are often forgotten in the rush of working together. Light Bulbs for Leaders isolates the behaviors so that leaders and teams can use them as needed. It is a practical and useful tool. I keep it in my briefcase and refer to it often. ... Read more

Book Description

There is more and more evidence that economic effectiveness and quality in customer relations must be viewed as a separate strategic issue in marketing. The attributes of exchanges, i.e. reciprocity, interdependence, partnership and transparency vis-a-vis every single customer create more and "market dominance". This book encompasses strategical as well as operational points of view and gives a complete overview of strategic relationship marketing and the theoretical rationals and paradigms. The authors introduce the concept of relationship networks and discuss how to deal with the influence of relationship. Relationship marketing is dealt with as a real marketing discipline integrating economics, institutional factors, behavioral aspects and strategy. ... Read more

Book Description

Explains what self-managing teams are, why they are effective, and how to establish them. ... Read more

Book Description

If you're a manager coping with a recent employee layoff, you are no doubt caught between the twin forces of employee discontent and upper management pressure. You and your remaining employees must grapple with the emotions of shock, fear, and betrayal, while upper management pushes you for immediate results.

Leading After a Layoff guides you through this challenging process, helping your team regroup, rethink, and rebuild with confidence. Outlining five essential tips you can implement right away, this practical book from the trenches shows you how to:

Book Description

A succinct, to-the-point tutorial on project management--part of the expert-authored B.E.S.T. (Basic Engineering Series and Tools) series. Enhances the reader's comprehension of critical technical competencies in project management; team development dynamics and interpersonal problem-solving; and project scope, time, and cost management. Sparks critical thinking through cases, vignettes, and problems that provide a context for text material. ... Read more

Book Description

Today's team leader L.I.S.T.E.N.S. for success with these seven essential coaching skills:

Leading by Example
Interactive Listening
Stimulating Innovation
Trusting the Team
Empowered Decision Making
Nurturing Dialogue
Solution-focused Coaching

Mastering Team Leadership includes:
• Over 101 tips for honing those skills. • Profiles of effective team leaders. • Dialogues between team leaders and their coaches. • The attitudes you need to maximize cooperation. • Self-assessment tools to help you get started. • A few cartoons to help it all go down a little easier.

The chapter on solution-focused coaching introduces the C.O.A.C.H. Model:

Clarification of the situation.
Objectives of the individual or team.
Actions taken so far.
Creative options.
How did we do?

Written by practicing executive coaches, management consultants and psychologists, it's practical and easy-to-read. And it's from MK Books, so you know it will be good! ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Very helpful in improving my team leadership skills
The book is easy to read with practical and memorable examples, tips, personal development suggestions, and even cartoons! I will immediately implement many of the suggestions to improve my team leadership abilities, and I expect both my company and myself to greatly benefit from the wisdom in this how to manual. It's one of the best leadership/coaching books I've read.

A must-read for managers
Being an effective manager isn't easy, but this book touches on what may be the most important dimensions of managerial leadership. I particularly liked the clear, straightforward language. The book just tells it like it is. It's quite easy to read--even entertaining at times. Which is amazing, because the points it makes are so useful, so on-target. I'd recommend this book to anyone who serious about kicking their leadership skills up a notch.

Excellent Packaging

This is a very clear, sharp guide that addresses a common on-the-job problem -- although many can follow, few can lead, and even fewer know they can lead when they land the leadership position.

What impressed me most was the excellent packaging of the idea -- using the seven skills (with the acronym), the lists of questions, the step-by-step plans, the boxed tips, and the self assessments to help reinforce learning and retention.

The sample dialogues were particularly helpful. Even when you give people specific instructions, seeing them acted out successfully by others can be exactly what's needed for complete understanding.

Attention: Managers, Supervisors, and Team Leaders!
Kelly and company hit the market in their new book "Master Team Leadership". Instead of offering the "do's and don'ts" so often prescribed in other management mantra, the authors help their readers examine thier own leadership issues in a series of cleverly crafted dialogues. The dialogues represent authentic interviews in a real life context between a manager and an executive coach. In these dialogues, the managers share issues while a coach listens in a consultory capacity.

These dialogues serve as models for anyone who is leading a team. Ask yourself: "Have you ever known that you are supposed to act as a coach in a particular situation, but not known how to really do that?" If so, the answer to that question and more on coaching is covered in this book.

Along with the dialogues are descriptions and examples of the behaviors that a good coach elicits during those difficult conversations with team members.

Moreover, the model illustrates an empowering leadership posture, a coaching-based approach towards leading a team, and the necessary skills associated with successful team leadership.

In an age where so many books are story based, this text helps readers to gain a concrete understanding of the fundamentals of coaching. The practical paperback would be ideal to accompany any workshops on training managers, supervisors or line employees on coaching behaviors or for any workshops with a coaching component.

Mastering Team Leadership - A "To do" list for team leaders
Mastering Team Leadership is a very straightforward guide to mastering communications skills in a group environment. Technology has served to accentuate the need for these skills. Mark Kelly provides and framework for pulling the team together and getting everybody pulling in the same direction. This book is a good read for all team members wishing to develop their team skills. ... Read more