If you want to be a successful leader in today’s business world, you need to think like an activist. If you want to be a successful leader in today’s business world, you need to think like an activist. This urgent and essential book shows how to do just that. The Activist Leader argues that the world needs a new kind of business leader, one that thinks differently about their role in today’s challenges. From climate change to inequality, the major crises facing society have become critical issues for business, and the world expects companies to step up. This is a pragmatic book. Jon Miller and Lucy Parker show what it takes to do business in these challenging times, taking a close look at companies such as Apple, Mastercard, Nestle, Maersk, JP Morgan Chase and Walmart. Most people feel powerless when they look at the problems facing the world – but if you’re a leader in a big business, you’re not powerless. Whether you’re a top executive or earlier in your working life, this book shows that thinking like an activist can have a transformative impact – for yourself, for your businesses, and for broader society.

Is big business part of the problem or part of the solution? Sometimes it seems as if business exists purely to enrich a small elite. While the world is facing unprecedented challenges, it appears that businesses are only interested in making profits or paying bonuses. Big businesses are powerful machines. We all know they have the potential to harm; but with their resources and expertise they can also be great engines of positive change. Rather than fighting the power of business, should we be seeking to harness it? Everybody's Business is a journey through the business world. We meet the companies that are driving business forward by mobilising to tackle the challenges we all face. At its heart, this is a story of businesses doing what they do best: delivering products and services that people need, creating jobs and finding new ways to solve old problems. It's a story of people taking the initiative, and finding inspiration in the positive impact of their actions. We see how some of today's leading companies are realising that lasting success comes from having a purpose broader than making a profit. They know that business should benefit customers, employees, suppliers, neighbours and the wider world, as well as shareholders. Enduring value comes from making business work for everybody. Start a conversation about the role of big business in the world and, often even before you reach the end of your first sentence, you'll find you've unleashed a furious response. To many, it feels as though business has become detached from society it seems like part of the problem, not part of the solution. That's not good for the world: we're facing global challenges of unprecedented magnitude, and business has the scale, resources and expertise to make a positive difference. This book puts a powerful argument that if you want to fix the world, you're better off harnessing the power of business, rather than fighting it. Royalties from this book will support the work of TechnoServe - an NGO working on business solutions to poverty.

"Lucy Parker writes deliciously fun enemies-to-lovers perfection!" - Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author Beloved author Lucy Parker pens a delicious new romantic comedy that is a battle of whisks and wits. Ready... Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere. When Sylvie's unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has used her fame to fulfill her dream of opening a bakery. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers...and a princess. Set... Dominic is His Majesty the King's favorite baker and a veritable British institution. He's brilliant, talented, hard-working. And an icy, starchy grouch. Learning that Sylvie will be joining him on the Operation Cake judging panel is enough to make the famously dour baker even more grim. Her fantastical baking is only slightly more troublesome than the fact that he can't stop thinking about her pink-streaked hair and irrepressible dimple. Match... When Dominic and Sylvie learn they will be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bake a cake for the upcoming wedding of Princess Rose, the flour begins to fly as they fight to come out on top. The bride adores Sylvie's quirky style. The palace wants Dominic's classic perfection. In this royal battle, can there be room for two?

Following Battle Royal, beloved author Lucy Parker pens another delicious romantic comedy about a fake relationship between a grumpy royal bodyguard and the charming, sunny assistant who melts his cold, hard exterior. Petunia De Vere enjoys being the personal assistant to lovable, bumbling Johnny Marchmont. But the job has its share of challenges, including the royal’s giant, intimidating bodyguard, Matthias. Pet and Matthias are polar opposites—she’s spontaneous and enthusiastic, he’s rigid and stoic—but she can sense there’s something softer underneath that tough exterior… For Matthias Vaughn, protecting others is the name of the game. But keeping his royal charge out of trouble is more difficult than he imagined because everywhere Johnny goes, calamity ensues, and his petite, bubbly assistant is often caught in the fray. Matthias hates the idea of Pet getting hurt and he’s determined to keep everyone safe, even if it means clashing with his adorable new coworker. When a clumsy moment leads to a questionable tabloid photo, the press begins to speculate that Pet is romantically involved with Johnny. To put an end to the rumors, the royal PR team asks Pet and Matthias to stage a fake relationship and the two reluctantly agree. But as they spend more time together outside of work, they begin to wonder what real emotions this pretend connection might uncover. Especially when a passionate kiss leaves both of their heads spinning… 

Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch: From Hagiography to History is a study of the authority of the holy man and its limits in times of crisis. Lucy Parker investigates the tensions that emerged when increasingly ambitious claims about the powers of holy men came into conflict with undeniable evidence of their failures, and explores how holy men and their supporters responded to this. The work takes as its central figure Symeon Stylites the Younger (c.521-592), who, from his vantage point on a column on a mountain close to Antioch, witnessed a period of exceptional turbulence in the local area, which, in the sixth century, experienced plague, earthquakes, and Persian invasion. Through an examination of Symeon's own writings, as well as his hagiographic biography, it reveals that the stylite was a divisive figure who played upon social tensions and upon culturally sensitive areas such as paganism to carve out a role for himself as prophet and spiritual authority in the face of considerable opposition. It sets Symeon's life and cult in the context of Antioch and eastern Roman society, offering a new perspective on the state of the empire in the period before the rise of Islam. It argues that hagiography is an exceptionally rich source for the historian, offering insights into debates and tensions which reached to the heart of Christianity.

Mr Oak can't help feeling annoyed that everyone just won't leave him alone and now, to top it all off, a family of rooks have nested in his branches Kate and Karl had no idea what they were letting themselves in for when they chose to nest in Mr Oak, but they are soon warned by their new friends in Acorn Meadow. Will they stay and befriend Mr Oak? Or will they be forced to leave by his rudeness and mean tricks? This is an enchanting story of unlikely friendships and unexpected kindness, ideal to read aloud or for independent readers.

If you want to be a successful leader in today's business world, you need to think like an activist. If you want to be a successful leader in today's business world, you need to think like an activist. This urgent and essential book shows how to do just that. The Activist Leader argues that the world needs a new kind of business leader, one that thinks differently about their role in today's challenges. From climate change to inequality, the major crises facing society have become critical issues for business, and the world expects companies to step up. This is a pragmatic book. Jon Miller and Lucy Parker show what it takes to do business in these challenging times, taking a close look at companies such as Apple, Mastercard, Nestle, Maersk, JP Morgan Chase and Walmart. Most people feel powerless when they look at the problems facing the world - but if you're a leader in a big business, you're not powerless. Whether you're a top executive or earlier in your working life, this book shows that thinking like an activist can have a transformative impact - for yourself, for your businesses, and for broader society.

‘A must read for all current and aspiring leaders’ PAUL POLMAN, former CEO Unilever If you want to be a successful leader in today’s business world, you need to think like an activist. If you want to be a successful leader in today’s business world, you need to think like an activist. This urgent and essential book shows how to do just that. The Activist Leader argues that the world needs a new kind of business leader, one that thinks differently about their role in today’s challenges. From climate change to inequality, the major crises facing society have become critical issues for business, and the world expects companies to step up. This is a pragmatic book. Jon Miller and Lucy Parker show what it takes to do business in these challenging times, taking a close look at companies such as Apple, Mastercard, Nestle, Maersk, JP Morgan Chase and Walmart. Most people feel powerless when they look at the problems facing the world – but if you’re a leader in a big business, you’re not powerless. Whether you’re a top executive or earlier in your working life, this book shows that thinking like an activist can have a transformative impact – for yourself, for your businesses, and for broader society. ‘There is no doubt that the challenges of inequality of access and climate change are not easy. They need long term solutions, while society tends to want short term results. The call to action for today’s leadership is what this book is all about, with some terrific insights and down to earth advice’ AJAY BANGA, PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BANK, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO MASTERCARD ‘The Activist Leader captures the essence of what the public around us wants and expects: Business as a force for good, while staying true to what it is – a business, creating value for its shareholders and all relevant stakeholders. The roadmap for this delicate balancing act is still under development and this book, which builds on many specific examples, will serve as an important milestone’ MARK SCHNEIDER, CEO NESTLÉ