"Some people just can't take criticism. And some people just can't give it--not in a positive, motivating, mutually beneficial manner, anyway. That's too bad, because criticism is essential to many aspects of business, such as performance appraisals, quality control, and team functioning, to name a few. This empowering book helps readers take the sting out of criticism--and transform it from a destructive, demoralizing disaster into an energizing, educating experience that builds relationships and increases individual and organizational success. Using real-life scenarios and the author's 21 tips to positive criticism, readers will learn to: * Think of criticism as a positive thing * Become strategic criticizers and develop their skill in using the power of positive criticism * Stay cool, calm, and collected when giving or getting criticism * Criticize their boss--without getting fired, and more."

As an entrepreneur, you need every helpful tool you can get your hands on to build your business. And if you know the tricks of the trade, perhaps nothing can gain more attention for your small business and build your company's credibility than a good, old-fashioned public-relations campaign. Whether you're an established company or a cost-conscious start-up, The Little Book of Big PR tells you all you need to know to be able to use public relations effectively as a business-building tool.Drawing on the expertise gained during her long career in public relations, Jennefer Witter shares simple, smart, and budget-friendly methods for getting your business noticed, including what she calls the seven key elements of public relations:* Self-branding* Media relations* Social Media* Networking* Speaking engagements* Cause-related marketing* Selecting a PR agencyComplete with real-world case studies and sample content (such as media pitches) to use as-is or to modify to fit your own specific needs, this all-encompassing resource will provide for you the expert guidance all entrepreneurs need to grow their business to new, attention-getting heights.

Having been named one of the top thinkers on leadership in the world, author Terry Bacon uses his years of experience as the former CEO of a global consulting firm to share insights about power and leadership with up-and-coming influencers. In Elements of Power, he teaches readers how things like their own knowledge, expressiveness, history, character, network, and reputation can open the complex combination lock to true leadership and irresistible influence. Whether you're interested in taking on a more substantial role in your professional or personal life, these tools already at your disposal are the key to achieving success. Applying the latest research on the nature of power all over the world, this invaluable guide shows readers how power works in organizations, how people use and lose power, the relationship between power and leadership, what makes famous people powerful, and how to lead and influence others more effectively. Complete with examinations of key business figures and world leaders and a handy self-assessment tool, Elements of Power offers an accessible and unprecedented pipeline to the many sources and types of internal and external power and provides insights on how to leverage each and how to exert the most important power of all: the power of will.

"In turbulent times, the ability to communicate with power and purpose becomes a crucial leadership competency. Smart executives realize that leadership communication isn't a matter of ""making nice,"" but a strategic necessity.

Organized around an original model defining the important communication roles a leader must fill, The Leader as Communicator examines roles as diverse as trust-builder and critic, renewal champion and navigator, learning advocate and provocateur. The book presents case studies of organizations including Cadillac, Emerson, and Saturn, plus dozens of other examples. Packed with strategies and tactics showing how leaders can shape the communications climate of their organizations, the book culminates with assessment exercises that let readers measure their own communication skills. This insightful book demonstrates how to become a stronger, more confident leader -- one who can use communication to build alignment, enthusiasm, and productivity."

Hold anyone accountable. Master performance discussions. Get RESULTS.

Broken promises, missed deadlines, poor behavior--they don't just make others' lives miserable; they can sap up to 50 percent of organizational performance and account for the vast majority of divorces. Crucial Accountability offers the tools for improving relationships in the workplace and in life and for resolving all these problems--permanently.

PRAISE FOR "CRUCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY"

""Revolutionary ideas ... opportunities for breakthrough ..."" -- Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

""Unleash the true potential of a relationship or organization and move it to the next level."" -- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager

""The most recommended and most effective resource in my library."" -- Stacey Allerton Firth, Vice President, Human Resources, Ford of Canada

""Brilliant strategies for those difficult discussions at home and in the workplace."" -- Soledad O'Brien, CNN news anchor and producer

""This book is the real deal.... Read it, underline it, learn from it. It's a gem."" -- Mike Murray, VP Human Resources and Administration (retired), Microsoft

"In an increasingly diverse workplace, it's more important and challenging than ever to communicate well. We must build bridges that cross our differences to connect our similarities. "The Art of Connecting" reveals five core principles and presents corresponding, specific strategies for overcoming communications barriers and connecting effectively with anyone, regardless of professional, generational, ethnic, cultural, or other differences.

The authors also explain how the most skillful connectors are able to shift perspectives -- to see a situation from three points of view: "me," "you," and "them." All of the principles and strategies are brought to life through absorbing examples and scenarios, plus engaging descriptions of "masters of connection" -- like famed National Public Radio interviewer Terry Gross -- doing what they do.

There is always a bridge. "The Art of Connecting" shows how to find it -- every time."

First impressions are often lasting impressions. How customers are treated on the phone can quickly turn them into either an ex-customer or a customer for life. This thorough, quick-reading guide shows anyone who uses the phone -- from salesperson to manager to secretary -- how to treat it as a service tool that directly impacts on company profits. Readers will be able to double their effectiveness when they learn how to: * handle irate customers * end those ""endless"" calls * take meaningful messages * handle conference calls and transfer calls * screen calls and ask focused questions * use the phone during emergencies * improve their voice effectiveness With worksheets, checklists, and fill-in forms, this desktop primer will inspire fabulous phone service.

"Just imagine being completely denied any feedback whatsoever -- no guidance, no praise, and no constructive criticism for the things you do. If you received no input at all, how much initiative would you demonstrate? Would your productivity be high, or low? What would your morale be like as time went on? And if you experienced this kind of treatment in the workplace, how likely would you be to turn down a job offer to go somewhere else? The sad fact is that most of us take feedback for granted. But interpersonal feedback is a critical nutrient for everyone, whether at home, at work, or elsewhere -- the psychological equivalent of food and water. Without strong, clear feedback to use as a reference point, people are incapable of functioning fully and productively. Yet as important as it is to let people know how they're doing, most of us lack the skill to consistently deliver good, constructive feedback. Tell Me How I'm Doing illustrates the importance of feedback using a simple fable in which a beleaguered manager recognizes the enormous impact feedback can have in his organization.by experiencing firsthand what it feels like to go without it. The book then provides step-by-step guidance for how you can improve your own ability to relate to the people around you and become more effective in every sphere of your life. The book helps you take a personal inventory of your own feedback style, and introduces you to the four distinct types of feedback -- supportive, corrective, abusive, and insignificant -- and clarifies when to use the first two, and how to avoid the others. You'll also learn about the ten essential dimensions of feedback, including how to: Use a Plan -- Give your feedback some preparatory thought, and then deliver it with a clear solution in mind. Be Specific -- Get your point across by citing particular examples of the behavior you're discussing. Focus on Behaviors -- Target the factors that can be seen or measured, rather than concentrating on personalities, attitudes, or labels. Determine Time and Place -- Know when and where to give feedback for maximum effect. Give Balanced Feedback -- Provide the right mix of supportive and corrective feedback. By understanding how to interact more constructively with your peers, you can create a positive, productive, and dynamic culture that serves everyone well. Tell Me How I'm Doing is an engaging story and an essential guidebook for understanding how to use feedback to communicate goals, improve performance, and achieve greater success in every aspect of your life."

One of the most important communication books Ive ever read. I highly recommend it!
­­Spencer Johnson, author of Who Moved My Cheese? and co-author of The One Minute Manager

...Ries and Trout taught me everything I know about branding, marketing, and product management. When I had the idea of creating a very large thematic community on the Web, I first thought of Positioning....
­­David Bohnett, Chairman and Founder of GeoCities

The first book to deal with the problems of communicating to a skeptical, media-blitzed public, Positioning describes a revolutionary approach to creating a position in a prospective customers mind-one that reflects a companys own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Writing in their trademark witty, fast-paced style, advertising gurus Ries and Trout explain how to:

• Make and position an industry leader so that its name and message wheedles its way into the collective subconscious of your market-and stays there
  
• Position a follower so that it can occupy a niche not claimed by the leader
  
• Avoid letting a second product ride on the coattails of an established one.
  

Positioning also shows you how to:

• Use leading ad agency techniques to capture the biggest market share and become a household name
  
• Build your strategy around your competitions weaknesses
  
• Reposition a strong competitor and create a weak spot
  
• Use your present position to its best advantage
  
• Choose the best name for your product
  
• Determine when-and why-less is more
  
• Analyze recent trends that affect your positioning.
  

Ries and Trout provide many valuable case histories and penetrating analyses of some of the most phenomenal successes and failures in advertising history. Revised to reflect significant developments in the five years since its original publication, Positioning is required reading for anyone in business today.

"The power not just to persuade, but to inspire.

"Anyone interested in influencing fellow human beings can benefit from this book's wise and practical advice. It's a keeper " --William Ury, Harvard Law School, Coauthor of the best-selling "Getting to Yes"

The ability to influence people's thoughts and feelings, to generate their buy-in, has emerged as the paramount leadership skill. The strongest leaders are those who create a positive vision of the future, paint a ""big picture"" that generates action by tapping into people's emotions, ask for a commitment, and inspire their listeners to take steps toward the goal. "Generating Buy-In: Mastering the Language of Leadership" will help you master the powerful language that breeds such a commitment.

Through real-world case studies and exclusive interviews, Generating Buy-In imparts a revolutionary yet practical approach to:

* Crafting a strategic story that projects a positive future to your audience

* Speaking the language of buy-in with images that mold powerful thoughts and emotions in your listeners

* Putting the language to work in service of your goal -- whether the goal is to raise sales, inspire a work force, or win a Presidential election.

""This book unlocks secrets top leaders have applied through the ages. Instinctively you know that Mark Walton has hit the bulls-eye, because it feels right in your heart and your gut. Wonderfully simple and effective "" -- Ron Kirkpatrick, National Manager, Toyota Motor Sales, USA

Complete with examples, practical exercises, sample business scenarios, and a foreword by William Ury, coauthor of the best-selling "Getting to Yes," "Generating Buy-In" is an indispensable resource for leading and succeeding in today's fiercely competitive world "

Avoid costly mistakes and create more profit by writing a strategic book. A strategic book acts like a brochure or business card on steroids. So don't waste time selling your book, let your book sell you The Seven Secrets of Successful Authors is the first step towards planning, publishing, and productising your strategic book correctly, so that it becomes a laser-focussed marketing tool that gives you more clarity, credibility, and collateral. The book describes a simple foolproof system for writing a book, with every step already planned and mapped out in detail for you to follow? The Seven Secrets of Successful Authors exposes a simple process to get your knowledge, skills and expertise out of your head and into print sooner than you ever imagined possible. The author has worked with many business-owners, entrepreneurs and specialists who aspired to become successful authors in their fields of expertise. They're people who wanted to increase their credibility FAST and stand head and shoulders above their competitors. Successful authors use a simple ABC framework to write a Strategic Book: Achieve Strategic Clarity. Planning a clear strategic direction gives focus. Boost Personal Credibility. Publishing a Strategic Book enhances your personal reputation. Create Profitable Collateral. Productising creates profit from your existing skills and knowledge by creating collateral that attracts pre-sold prospects who want to become customers. The Seven Secrets of Successful Authors was written to support authors through the first part of the ABC framework. Here is what you'll discover inside: Secret 1: WHAT to write about Secret 2: WHO to write for Secret 3: WHY your readers buy books Secret 4: HOW to design your book Secret 5: WHEN to finish writing Secret 6: WHERE to promote your book Secret 7: WHICH specialists to use

Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry Auditors, accountants, lawyers, consultants, and other highly educated and trained professionals frequently hold impressive credentials and offer clients specialized expertise in complex areas. At the same time, these professionals understandably focus on the analytical and technical components of their jobs, sometimes to the point of excluding or ignoring important soft skills critical to the success of their careers and practices. In Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry: Principles, Tasks, and Tools for Success, veteran auditor and entrepreneur Andreas Creutzmann delivers an essential discussion of often overlooked professional competencies that can mean the difference between career, engagement, and business success or failure. In the book, you'll find accessible guidance on critical soft skills that can make a difference between fulfilment and success and failure on a professional and personal level. You'll learn to handle the blending of home and the home office, how to effectively manage staff, how to market yourself and your firm, practical strategies for client and colleague communication, and how to find happiness in your day-to-day work. Each chapter stands alone and can be read in any order. They provide professionals with invaluable skills for navigating the modern--and digital--reality of work, showing you how to combine your professional education with the latest research and common sense on everything from client management to firm marketing. Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry uses the field of auditing as a template and guide, but it is highly relevant to all skilled professionals - including lawyers, consultants, medical professionals, and others. The book is a must-read for any knowledge worker trying to add to their toolbox of practical skills. Critical guidance for practicing professionals on how to build often overlooked soft skills Most highly educated and trained professionals aren't lacking in analytical or technical skills. Lawyers know the law, accountants understand double entry bookkeeping, and doctors know anatomy. However, many of us are less familiar with often overlooked--and equally essential--soft skills: client management, communication, staff and employee management, and others. In Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry, accomplished auditor, entrepreneur, and consultant Andreas Creutzmann walks you through how to build critical competencies, from self-marketing to balancing work and life when your office is in your house. The book is made up of numerous, self-contained chapters that can be read in any order, and it demonstrates how to navigate increasingly digital and insistent professional demands on your time, effectively manage client and colleague relationships, and sell new clients on the services your firm offers. An essential roadmap to achieving personal and career success, Soft Skills for the Professional Services Industry is an indispensable resource for lawyers, doctors, accountants, auditors, and any other extensively skilled professional. It offers practical tools in functional areas that are frequently neglected in formal professional training.

Employers look for more than just a good degree. Candidates are expected to be able to creatively solve problems, manage change, demonstrate commercial awareness, and collaborate and communicate at different levels. Increasingly, universities are helping their students gain these skills through team-based projects, utilising innovation to solve real-world problems. Created with direct input from students and packed with advice and guidance from leading industry experts, this textbook walks readers through the steps necessary to deliver a team-based project, facilitating the development of key employability skills along the way. Readers can also connect with each other and create their own projects and teams via the book's LinkedIn group. Suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates across all disciplines undertaking team-based modules and courses, as well as those studying independently, Design Thinking for Student Projects is the essential guide to learning practical Design Thinking and employability skills. Tony Morgan is an Associate Professor in Innovation Management Practice at the University of Leeds. Lena J. Jaspersen is a University Academic Fellow in Innovation Management at the University of Leeds.

This book is for cybersecurity leaders across all industries and organizations. It is intended to bridge the gap between the data center and the board room. This book examines the multitude of communication challenges that CISOs are faced with every day and provides practical tools to identify your audience, tailor your message and master the art of communicating. Poor communication is one of the top reasons that CISOs fail in their roles. By taking the step to work on your communication and soft skills (the two go hand-in-hand), you will hopefully never join their ranks. This is not a "communication theory" book. It provides just enough practical skills and techniques for security leaders to get the job done. Learn fundamental communication skills and how to apply them to day-to-day challenges like communicating with your peers, your team, business leaders and the board of directors. Learn how to produce meaningful metrics and communicate before, during and after an incident. Regardless of your role in Tech, you will find something of value somewhere along the way in this book.

What would happen to your team, and your organization, if everyone knew how to change the game - and make success a daily occurrence? Companies and individuals are looking for more freedom: personal freedom, creative freedom, and freedom to rethink what work really means. From dealing with COVID-19, facing diversity issues, battling burnout, zoom fatigue and more, organizations are stretched thin and must find a way to help their employees find balance and freedom in order to thrive in these unprecedented times. In Success From Anywhere: Create Your Own Future of Work from the Inside Out, bestselling author and veteran Salesforce executive Karen Mangia delivers an eyes-wide-open discussion on the future of work and what it means to find personal and professional success in the new workforce. Whether you're in a hybrid environment, or working from home, you know the importance of connection and teamwork. This compelling, practical guide explains how success is something organizations discover from the inside out - creating greater engagement, retention, and professional impact from a new understanding of the future of work. With commentary from business leaders like Tom Peters, as well as guidance from leading scientists like David Eagleman and Kelly McGonigal, Success From Anywhere shows professionals how to build success into every organizational design - regardless of company culture, leadership, or industry - and offers actionable insights on a range of timely and relevant subjects, including: Rethinking the foundations of what work really means, including work-life balance, the future of work, and where peak performance really comes from The origins of intolerance, and how to access greater diversity, inclusion, and belonging inside every organization Creating a high-impact culture in the anxious and stressful pandemic environment by redesigning the game - and creating your own rules How to overcome feelings of constriction and confinement, to find new possibilities, for your own career Getting past the feeling that you have to "do it all" in order to succeed Powerful scientific insights into stress-relief, battling burnout and becoming your best self Perfect for anyone wanting to create greater professional impact, whether working from home, leading a hybrid team, or just trying to access greater personal freedom, this principles-based guidebook will earn a spot in the libraries of executives, managers, leaders, and employees who care about creating innovative and inclusive organizations. Discover how to adapt to these changing times and the uncertain times ahead with a new playbook for yourself, your career, and your organization - that playbook is Success From Anywhere.

Offers a more academic approach to the practice of business networking than the current 'how-to' offering; Pedagogical features in each chapter include an international case study to exemplify the theory, keywords, a reading list, and a chapter summary and test questions; The blend of theory and practice makes this book appropriate for a broad range of courses, from marketing and entrepreneurship modules, to personal and professional development and employability courses.

Offers a more academic approach to the practice of business networking than the current 'how-to' offering; Pedagogical features in each chapter include an international case study to exemplify the theory, keywords, a reading list, and a chapter summary and test questions; The blend of theory and practice makes this book appropriate for a broad range of courses, from marketing and entrepreneurship modules, to personal and professional development and employability courses.

WINNER: Independent Press Award 2022 - Career Are you avoiding an uncomfortable conversation at work? If you're an executive or a team leader, strengthening your organization's ability to have difficult conversations is necessary and worth the discomfort. The key to successful dialogue starts and ends with changing the conversation. Recognizing that it takes two people to engage in meaningful outcomes, Can We Talk? outlines what each contributor needs to do to achieve the best possible result. Using examples from everyday work situations, this book offers guidance on how to create the right conditions for a meaningful discussion. The author identifies the seven key principles that enable both parties to gain a deeper understanding of what the other person may be thinking and will help establish their point of view more clearly: confidence, clarity, compassion, curiosity, compromise, credibility, courage. Can We Talk? includes examples and advice from those who have been there and thrived, as well as lessons learned from conversation failures and example scripts of productive conversations. Readers will learn how to prepare, start and manage the potentially challenging exchange of words that typically occur at work, and come away with an understanding that for any conversation to take place, both parties must be engaged.

There is a growing interest in corporate whistleblowing, but no comprehensive research has yet focused on public relations practice. Drawing on extensive research on Fortune 1000 and Wilshire 5000 corporations, this book reveals executives' attitudes and relationships toward their organizations and their impact on whistleblowing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it reveals that wrongdoing in corporations and the privileges of power coexist. Top-ranking public relations executives, who are mostly white and male, are more likely to be aware of wrongdoing but no more likely to blow the whistle, fundamentally due to their positive relationship with their employers. Using the new lens of evolutionary theory, this study explains whistleblowing, retaliation, and relationships, and in the light of the connection between whistleblowing behavior and executives' attitudes, it proposes a new theory of the phenomenon of Golden Handcuffs. As public attitudes to corporations, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and transparency harden, these findings have serious implications for companies globally. Researchers, scholars, and advanced students in public relations, organizational communication, corporate communication, strategic communication, corporate reputation, and CSR will find this book full of revealing insights.

We tend to assume that we may divide our activities into talk and action. In so doing we tend to suggest that talk is subordinate to action. Taking issue with these presumptions, Stories for Management Success: The Power of Talk in Organizations argues that talk is central to what managers do. Indeed it argues that, for managers, 'walking the walk' necessarily implies 'talking the talk such that storytelling is now central to managerial work'. Noting that managerial talk is increasingly located within an account of storytelling the book offers a critical review of the academic debates associated with telling tales at work and uses this critical reflection to shape and guide those who would realise the power of talk. Thus, the book concludes with six key questions designed to prompt both introspection and action on storytelling in an organized context. With reflections on the relevant management research, the author provides a scholar's digest to aid management thinking and practice. This book offers an examination of the processes of organizational storytelling and has been designed to allow practitioners of management to recognise and in so doing to unleash the power of talk in organizations.

This book presents a comprehensive guide for public relations and strategic communication professionals and entrepreneurs to effectively manage the communication aspects of startups in the context of business in China. Drawing on interdisciplinary theories, current issues, and updated research evidence obtained from entrepreneurs and startup leaders in China, this concise volume provides research-based insights on the best practices for public relations and strategic communication in the unique context of startups. It addresses relationships with stakeholders, public relations practice, leadership communication, and how to leverage the power of social media in the entrepreneurial context. Strategic Communication for Startups and Entrepreneurs in China will be of great benefit to public relations and strategic communication scholars and practitioners, startup leaders and entrepreneurs interested in opportunities in China, and advanced students in public relations, business communication, and entrepreneurship.

This book offers a new understanding of innovation in the built environment. The ways meaning of innovation is constructed has important implications for policymakers, project managers, academics and students. Through a longitudinal research study into innovation in firms and projects, the book addresses some key themes, challenges and concerns that practitioners face when managing innovation in the built environment. It examines the key drivers for innovation in the construction, engineering and infrastructure firms and projects. In particular, the questions of how and why innovation becomes recognised and sustained over time are explored. Different theoretical perspectives are considered to explain different aspects of innovation. This includes sensemaking, organisational and individual identity, storytelling and narration. The book has practical implications for how organisational activities become labelled as 'innovation' and for what purpose. It shares some lived stories of innovation as mobilised by practising managers. The connectivity between the formal narratives of innovation at the policy level and the lived narratives of innovation articulated by practitioners is explored. Combining the theory with practice, this book presents an insightful view on the implications of innovation in the business world today.

Discover the foundation, power, and necessity of visual communication with this essential guide Visual communication has changed. It's gone from being an optional medium for relaying information to an important method for building connections and increasing understanding. We now use visual storytelling to help us establish and strengthen relationships, engage distracted audiences, and bring clarity to complexity. Killer Visual Strategies examines how visual communication has transformed how brands connect with their customers and colleagues alike. It looks at the growing audience demand for quality visual content and how organizations must meet this demand or risk being left behind. Killer Visual Strategies traces the history of visual communication and explores why it now plays an integral role in our daily lives. As Amy Balliett tells the story of this evolving medium, she naturally incorporates visuals, such as timelines and data visualizations throughout. In addition to providing actionable rules to follow for creating high-impact visual content, Balliett also explores the latest trends, including visual search, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Then, she looks forward to what lies ahead in this dynamic field. The book's topics can benefit readers in a range of professions where visual content is now vital to sharing a message. Learn best practices for visual communication Gain inspiration from countless visual examples Stay on top of the latest trends in visual communication Understand visual communication for marketing, sales, design, HR, and more Killer Visual Strategies provides a clearer picture of the evolution of visual communication as a fundamental part of how a story is told.