Politics is a way of life in every organization. Like it or not, managers must develop political savvy in order to succeed as leaders; every interaction has political undertones that affect their performance in the workplace. As politicians, managers are called upon to bring together parties with different (and often competing) agendas, and to demonstrate the experience, capabilities, and qualities necessary to solve problems and make decisions in a timely fashion. As politicians, managers must be keenly aware of the human and organizational aspects of conflict--along with techniques to resolve it--while successfully balancing individual, group, and organization-wide goals and priorities. The Manager as Politician examines the dynamics of organizational power plays and interpersonal communication, and shows managers how to step over landmines, overcome challenges, and develop the skills and instincts necessary for political survival. Jerry W. Gilley outlines the key roles and responsibilities of the political "navigator," who is adept at identifying allies and foes, building trust, and delivering results. Featuring personal assessment and development tools and an extensive listing of related books, journals, organizations and web sites, The Manager as Politician is an essential resource for managers looking to establish effective relationships with employees, colleagues, and organizational leaders, while enhancing their authority and influence.

If you're relying on luck to maximize your real estate value, then you're making a serious mistake. With "True Net Cash Flow," you can eliminate the guesswork and consistently make educated, highly profitable real estate investment choices.

Investment gurus Dan Ahmad and Jim Files offer the ultimate resource for real estate investors and the professionals who help them. With more than fifty-five years of combined experience in the tax, financial, and business industries, Ahmad and Files guide you step by step through the real estate investment process and help you establish specific goals, manage your expectations, and outline your responsibilities as investors. You'll learn how to:

Increase net income Preserve current equity Reduce taxes paid on sale Minimize management responsibilities Find a better way to name a replacement property in forty-five days Improve the quality of owned property

With this expert guide, you can simplify your life and make owning real estate less complicated and potentially more rewarding. Take your next step toward enhancing the financial strength of your real estate holdings and achieve long-term financial success with "True Net Cash Flow"

Portfolio management is an ongoing process of constructing portfolios that balances an investor's objectives with the portfolio manager's expectations about the future. This dynamic process provides the payoff for investors. Portfolio management evaluates individual assets or investments by their contribution to the risk and return of an investor's portfolio rather than in isolation. This is called the portfolio perspective. Thus, by constructing a diversified portfolio, a portfolio manager can reduce risk for a given level of expected return, compared to investing in an individual asset or security. According to modern portfolio theory (MPT), investors who do not follow a portfolio perspective bear risk that is not rewarded with greater expected return. Portfolio diversification works best when financial markets are operating normally compared to periods of market turmoil such as the 2007-2008 financial crisis. During periods of turmoil, correlations tend to increase thus reducing the benefits of diversification. Portfolio management today emerges as a dynamic process, which continues to evolve at a rapid pace. The purpose of Portfolio Theory and Management is to take readers from the foundations of portfolio management with the contributions of financial pioneers up to the latest trends emerging within the context of special topics. The book includes discussions of portfolio theory and management both before and after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. This volume provides a critical reflection of what worked and what did not work viewed from the perspective of the recent financial crisis. Further, the book is not restricted to the U.S. market but takes a more global focus by highlighting cross-country differences and practices. This 30-chapter book consists of seven sections. These chapters are: (1) portfolio theory and asset pricing, (2) the investment policy statement and fiduciary duties, (3) asset allocation and portfolio construction, (4) risk management, (V) portfolio execution, monitoring, and rebalancing, (6) evaluating and reporting portfolio performance, and (7) special topics.

An urgent wake-up call and radical action plan for business leaders everywhere While it focuses primarily on Canadian business, this important book shares valuable insights of benefit to transformational business leaders everywhere. Without sugar coating his message, author R. Douglas Williamson, head of the prestigious consultancy, The Beacon Group, points to complacency, lack of leadership sophistication, and an inward focus as the chief reasons why Canadian companies are at risk of falling behind the rest of the world. Issuing an urgent call to action, Williamson helps leaders understand the four principle challenges facing the modern leader and describes the eight essential leadership competencies required to navigate the future. He provides powerful strategies, tools and techniques for how to reframe thinking about leadership and reform leadership strategies. * Case Studies from The Beacon Group s wide and diversified client base include The Four Seasons, Scotiabank, Nortel Networks, Research in Motion, The Hudson s Bay Company, Export Development Canada, Holt Renfrew, and many others. * An impassioned call to action for leaders everywhere combined with practical advice and tools to help leaders take up the responsibility of transformational leadership during a period of unprecedented change and monumental global challenges. * One of the rare books to focus on Canadian business and business leadership, it explains why that country's competitiveness is in serious jeopardy and what can be done about it.

A practical guide for anyone called to be a good leader, " Leadership Ethics & Spirituality" explains why and how you can be both effective and ethical as a successful leader while walking by faith. From a biblical worldview, it draws upon leadership research and ethics theory to explain what practices and character qualities you need to be a good leader and how you can develop and apply them successfully to the challenges faced in twenty-first-century organizations-effectively, ethically, and with spiritual-mindedness. Although written primarily to Christian leaders, it offers useful insights for those from other spiritual traditions and perspectives as well.

Thinkivity is a dynamic new way of thinking for harnessing the power of creativity within organizations seeking an enterprise-wide roadmap for change. In addition to building internal processes for continuous improvement, it is an effective, convincing guide for enabling deeper and more meaningful connections with a company's key customers. With the second book of her Rx for Business series, Sandra Evans introduces the revolutionary Thinkivity continuum, an internal workflow system that builds a strong bridge between the internal processes of a business and the external relationships with customers, partners, and services. Drawing on her experiences of more than two decades as a manager and change agent for some of the most dynamic corporations in the United States, Evans has created a pragmatic and well-thought-out model for using creative thinking to connect a company's vision with its customers' most urgent needs. Beginning with designing the structure for an actionable strategic vision and mission, this essential guide then provides careful instruction for building the capabilities within an organization necessary to meet those goals. Complete with case studies and graphics to support and illustrate Evans's innovative process, Thinkivity is a pioneering system that enables performance breakthroughs for companies of any size.

One of the most valuable roles a manager can perform in today's rapidly changing environment is to mentor and inspire the people around them to learn. By nurturing talent, motivating individual development, and encouraging excellence, a manager's mentoring can enhance individual performance and the organization's prospects for success. Mentoring is not an easy skill to develop, and many managers, who may excel at leading or coaching, may be disasters as mentors when it comes to creating a bond and bringing out untapped qualities in others. The Manager as Mentor goes beyond traditional approaches to explore the newest techniques in mentoring and collaboration. Featuring personal development tools, worksheets, and references, The Manager as Mentor will enable managers to bring out the best in themselves, the people they guide, and their organizations. Mentoring is an age-old practice, tracing its roots in ancient Greek folklore to Odysseus' friend, Mentor, whom the Homeric hero entrusted as guide to his son's development. Today, with the ascendance of the knowledge age and the transformation of the workplace into an environment of continual learning, mentoring has emerged as one of the most important and valuable roles a manager can perform. By serving as a role model, providing feedback, nurturing talent, inspiring individual development, and facilitating excellence, a manager's mentoring strengthens relationships within the organization, and ultimately contributes to such critical factors as improved job performance, low turnover, and greater profitability. Mentoring is not an easy skill to attain, however, and many managers who may excel at leading teams or coordinating projects may be disasters as mentors. The Manager as Mentor explores emerging trends and approaches to help managers master the skills of effective mentoring—and enhance themselves, their proteges, and their organizations in the process. Drawing from extensive research, dozens of examples, and their own practical application in training managers around the world, the authors argue that exceptional mentoring skills can be developed. They guide the reader toward understanding the key roles that mentors play and the activities and techniques they can employ for maximum impact. Diagnostic exercises will help readers assess their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for development, and create a step-by-step action plan for achieving goals—either individually or in groups. The authors also offer an extensive listing of resources for more in-depth information on various aspects of mentoring, such as problem solving, active listening, and employee advocacy. Ultimately, The Manager as Mentor offers the tools by which managers can promote learning, empowerment, and insight to create vibrant organizational cultures.

The dynamic interplay of routines, strategies and management allows companies to successfully move forward within their industries. This book contributes to a coherent conceptualization of strategy, organization and management from a practice perspective, identifying strategy as realized in the action.Simon Grand provides a theoretical framework and detailed exploration in the context of two attractive empirical cases. He discusses topics such as theorizing routine dynamics, managerial engagement and managing routines as strategies to provide a detailed exploration of the importance of organizational routines for strategy. This book will be of interest to researchers in the areas of organizational studies, strategic management, technological innovation and the creative industries. The empirical case studies will also be of use to students and scholars of various disciplines.

"This is a very authoritative book. Anyone - particularly CEOs, HR professionals, brand marketing specialists, communications experts - serious about living the assertion that people are the definitive source of business success will find this book an invaluable source. Alan cuts through the hype, buzzwords and common misconceptions surrounding engagement. In doing so, he challenges the reader to make an honest re-assessment of their own understanding. He offers clear, practical advice about the what and the how if engagement is to have meaningful and lasting impact, and not go the way of so many other well intentioned business initiatives." Jim Kennedy, Global VP Human Resources, Coopervision "This book is 24 carat gold. It is the one-minute-manager of engagement. I read it three times and learned something new each time." Andrew Cooksey, Chief Executive, Jaggard Mackenzie "Well structured, joined-up thinking for business leaders highlighting the importance of the many facets of employee engagement - an ongoing journey not a destination." David Cheyne, Chairman, Criticaleye.

"I believe that David has struck upon the foundational benchmark of service for the next business generation. It is a true master that can impart knowledge in an entertaining fashion. This book is the valuable resource for any proactive success-minded leader that intends on exceeding expectations." -Dr. Julian L. Evans "A fresh look at putting the customer at the heart of marketing. It's an enjoyable look at creating an experience that customers will associate positively with your product or service." -Dr. Diane Troyer, president, Cy-Fair College "The key to success for any business is customer satisfaction, and this little book gets to the essence of how to take care of customers in an entertaining, memorable, and effective manner. It is a valuable tool for all of us that are striving to earn loyal customers." -Darcy Mingoia, president, Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce

The role of, and the means to achieve, resilience (the capacity to be sustainable through the impact of multitudinous future changes in a connected, dynamic environment) are increasingly the focus of corporate strategy departments and government think tanks. The increasing volatility in economic markets, the natural environment and society generally require new tools to think about, and take meaningful action towards, the achievement and maintenance of resilient policies and practices. The field of Complexity Thinking arguably has a significant role to play in both informing and assisting our organizations in achieving resilience in this context. This workshop aimed to explore the nature of this role and the ways in which Complexity Science may be combined with other disciplines to increase resilience in many areas of human endeavor. We hope that the papers offers here represent a broad basis from which to begin such an exploratory discussion.