International bestselling author of The First 90 Days Michael D. Watkins presents an actionable new framework to help aspiring leaders learn to think strategically—a set of skills more necessary than ever in a world of constant change.

Pattern recognition. Systems perspective. Mental agility. Structured problem-solving. Visioning. Political savvy. For every good leader who has mastered of one of these disciplines is a great leader who knows and has mastered all of them.

Michael D. Watkins, an expert on leadership transitions and organizational success, returns to the page with a new how-to guide for the modern leader. Here, he presents the six disciplines that separate the great from the good. Developed over the course of his storied career, Watkins’ approach to strategic thinking—"a set of mental disciplines leaders use to recognize potential threats and opportunities, establish priorities, and mobilize themselves and their organizations to envision and enact promising paths forward”—is the model followed by some of today’s most successful first-time CEOs and new business leaders.

The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking is a comprehensive and practical guide to strategic thinking, offering a wealth of insights and tools for leaders at all levels.

Your next professional move can make or break your career. Are you ready? In business, especially today, you are only as successful as your next career transition. Do well, and you'll be on the fast track to even more challenging roles. Fail, and you could irreparably harm your career--and your organization. In his international bestseller The First 90 Days, transition guru Michael D. Watkins outlined a set of basic principles for getting up to speed quickly in new professional roles. Since that book was published Watkins has worked with thousands of leaders, helping them to accelerate their transitions. These leaders posed challenging questions on how to apply the basic principles in real-life situations. The truth that emerged: the First 90 Days framework can be applied in every transition, but the way you apply it is entirely different when you have been promoted to a higher level than it is when you are joining a new organization or taking a role in a different country. Master Your Next Move answers a distinct need, focusing on the most common types of transitions leaders face and the unique challenges posed by each. Based on years of research, and now with a new introduction, this indispensable book explores eight crucial transitions virtually everyone encounters during their career, including promotion, leading former peers, onboarding into a new company, making an international move, and turning around a business in crisis. With real-world examples and many practical models and tools, Master Your Next Move is your guide to surviving and thriving as you make your next move . . . and every one after that.

Are you a good boss--or a great one? Get more of the management ideas you want, from the authors you trust, with HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People (Vol. 2). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you master the innumerable challenges of being a manager. With insights from leading experts including Marcus Buckingham, Michael D. Watkins, and Linda Hill, this book will inspire you to: Draw out your employees' signature strengths Support a culture of honesty and civility Cultivate better communication and deeper trust among global teams Give feedback that will help your people excel Hire, reward, and tolerate only fully formed adults Motivate your employees through small wins Foster collaboration and break down silos across your company This collection of articles includes "Are You a Good Boss--or a Great One?," by Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback; "Let Your Workers Rebel," by Francesca Gino; "The Feedback Fallacy," by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall; "The Power of Small Wins," by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer; "The Price of Incivility," by Christine Porath and Christine Pearson; "What Most People Get Wrong About Men and Women," by Catherine H. Tinsley and Robin J. Ely; "How Netflix Reinvented HR," by Patty McCord; "Leading the Team You Inherit," by Michael D. Watkins; "The Overcommitted Organization," by Mark Mortensen and Heidi K. Gardner; "Global Teams That Work," by Tsedal Neeley; "Creating the Best Workplace on Earth," by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones.

Even the best-run companies can get blindsided by disasters they should have anticipated. These predictable surprises range from financial scandals to operational disruptions, from organizational upheavals to product failures. In "Predictable Surprises", Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins show you how to minimize your risk by understanding and lowering the psychological, organizational, and political barriers preventing you from foreseeing calamity. They then describe the powerful tools - including incentives and formal coalitions - that business leaders can use to ferret out and fend off threats invisible to insiders. Failure see what's coming exposes your company to predictable surprises. Given the stakes involved, this book should count among every business leader's most trusted resources.

Stay on top of your leadership game. Leadership isn't something you're born with or gifted as a reward for an abundance of charisma; true leadership stems from core skills that can be learned. Get more of the leadership ideas you want, from the authors you trust, with HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership (Vol. 2). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you maximize your own and your organization's performance. With insights from leading experts including Michael D. Watkins, Herminia Ibarra, and Michael E. Porter, this book will inspire you to: Identify areas for personal growth Build trust with and among your employees Develop a more dynamic and sophisticated communication style Try out different leadership styles and behaviors to find the right approach for you--and your organization Transform yourself from a problem solver to an agenda setter Harness the power of connections Become an adaptive and strategic leader This collection of articles includes "Leadership Is a Conversation," by Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind; "How Managers Become Leaders: The Seven Seismic Shifts of Perspective and Responsibility," by Michael D. Watkins; "Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills," by Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland; "The Authenticity Paradox," by Herminia Ibarra; "'Both/And' Leadership," by Wendy K. Smith, Marianne W. Lewis, and Michael L. Tushman; "Are You a Collaborative Leader?" by Herminia Ibarra and Morten T. Hansen; "Cross-Silo Leadership," by Tiziana Casciaro, Amy C. Edmondson, and Sujin Jang; "How CEOs Manage Time," by Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria; "The Best Leaders Are Great Teachers," by Sydney Finkelstein; "Nimble Leadership," by Deborah Ancona, Elaine Backman, and Kate Isaacs; and "The Focused Leader," by Daniel Goleman.

Learn to lead others, while managing yourself. Becoming a manager for the first time means mastering a new set of business and personal skills. HBR's 10 Must Reads for New Managers Collection offers the ideas and strategies to help get you there. Included in this set are HBR's 10 Must Reads for New Managers, HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People, HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself, and HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Across Cultures. This unique compilation offers insights from world-class experts on the topics most important to your success as a new manager, including assessing your team and enhancing its performance; developing your emotional intelligence and persuasion skills; navigating relationships with your employees, bosses, and peers; dealing with conflict; giving effective feedback; managing diverse teams; and fortifying your own physical and mental energy. The collection includes forty articles selected by HBR's editors from renowned thought leaders including W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, and Daniel Goleman and features the indispensable article "Managing Oneself," by Peter F. Drucker. It's time to develop the mindset and presence to successfully manage others for the first time. HBR's 10 Must Reads for New Managers Collection will help you do just that. HBR's 10 Must Reads series is the definitive collection of ideas and best practices for aspiring and experienced leaders alike. These books offer essential reading selected from the pages of Harvard Business Review on topics critical to the success of every manager. Each book is packed with advice and inspiration from leading experts such as Clayton Christensen, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, John Kotter, Michael Porter, Theodore Levitt, and Rita Gunther McGrath.