“Applicants looking for the competitive edge in gettingaccepted at the business school of their choice may want to perusethis book.” –Security Traders Handbook Every year, thousands apply for a finite number of places inbusiness schools. With similar grades, backgrounds, and goals,sometimes the only thing that can make an applicant stand out isthe application essay. It’s the best chance you have to shine andtip the balance in your favor. Essays That Worked for Business Schools shows that the bestessays are brief, sincere, and personal. Some are off the wall,some are bold, all are unique to their creator. One applicantwrites about starting his own airline. Another tells about thecorruption in his job as a defense contractor. And a third reflectson his license plate. From the thousands submitted each year, theforty essays in this book were considered some of the best byadmissions officers at the nation’s top business schools. As thiscollection demonstrates, with creativity and effor

If you're ever favored enough to catch a few minutes of a corporate CEO's time, and feel bold enough to ask what their job entails, chances are you'll hear something lofty about developing strategy, empowering employees, seeing the big picture. But if you ask to see their calendar for the past month, you'll probably find they've spent very little, if any, time doing those things. The look-at-last-month's-calendar trick was devised by Donald Laurie, a Boston-based management consultant, to help top executives figure out how best to lead their companies. Laurie sees a leader as the person who climbs out on the balcony and sees the company from above, the one who sees how all the parts connect to make a smoothly running machine. At the same time, if the leader stays up on that balcony for too much of the day, he or she can't hear the grumbling below. And what's being grumbled about is often the information that could save the CEO's job. As an example of this, Laurie relates the story of Xerox Corp. when it

Michael Goldhaber, writing in Wired, said, "If there isnothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you applyyourself you won't get noticed and that increasingly means youwon't get paid much either. In times past you could be obscure yetsecure -- now that's much harder." Again: the white collar job as now configured is doomed. Soon.("Downsizing" in the nineties will look like small change.) Sowhat's the trick? There's only one: distinction. Or as we call it,turning yourself into a brand . . . Brand You. A brand is nothing more than a sign of distinction. Right? Nike.Starbucks. Martha Stewart. The point (again): that's not the waywe've thought about white collar workers--ourselves--over the pastcentury. The "bureaucrat" on the finance staff is de factofaceless, plugging away, passing papers. But now, in our view, she is born again, transformed frombureaucrat to the new star. She works in a professional servicefirm and works on projects that she'll be able to brag about yearsfrom now. I call

In 1984, The LittleKingdom told the story of Apple's first decade alongside thehistories of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Now Moritz revisits hisclassic biography in light of what Apple has become, offering forthe first time in paperback the only from the ground up account ofApple's early years.

On December 21, 2012, the Mayan calendar will end. Manysee it as an apocalyptic sign. But is it? In The Twelfth Insight, the long-awaited fourth book in thebeloved Celestine Series, we again follow our Hero and his closefriend Wil. They have just received a portion of another ancientand mysterious manu* that describes a secret approach tospirituality that is silently arriving in the second decade of the21st Century. But the manu* is only available in fragments. To understand its full meaning for mankind, our Hero and Wilbegin an urgent search to find the message in its entirety. As theyembrace the power of Synchronicity and begin their search, they areconfronted by powerful political forces and religious extremiststhat stand in the way of these spiritual revelations. Utilizing what he calls the "parable effect," and based on hisown sources, James Redfield explores the similarities anddifferences that exist among the world religions, revealing theessential

In this updated paperback edition of a "rich, readable, andauthoritative" Fortune) book, Wall Street Journal reporterPetzinger tells the dramatic story of how a dozen men, includingRobert Crandall of American Airlines, Frank Borman of Eastern, andRichard Ferris of United, battled for control of the world'sairlines Radio drive-time pubilcity.

It’s not good enough to want it. You’ve got to know how to get it. Real estate titan, bestselling author, and TV star Donald J. Trump is the man to teach you the billionaire mind-set–how to think about money, career skills, and life. Here is crucial advice on investing in real estate from the expert, everything from dealing with brokers to renovating to assessing the value of property, buying and selling, and securing a mortgage. Trump will show you how to cut costs, decide how much risk to assume in your investments, and divide up your portfolio. He’ll also teach you how to impress anyone, how to correct or criticize someone effectively, and how to know if your friends are loyal–everything you need to know to get ahead. And once you’ve earned your money, you’ve got to learn to spend it well. Trump presents his consumer guide to the best things in life, from wine to golf clubs to engagement rings. Check out the billionaire lifestyle–how they shop and what they buy. Even if you’re not s

In a book that looks at the power of collaboration, the authorsdefine eight archetypes of leaders and followers and then explainhow readers can take 60 different cases of successful collectivebehavior and apply them to their own organizations.

An Apple Store customer asks for the latest iPhone in blackbut suddenly changes to white when he sees others choosing it. Acitizen of a former communist country picks~ a drink at random;soda is soda, he says. A young man and woman decide tomarry--knowing that they'll meet for the first time on theirwedding day. In THE ART OF CHOOSING, Columbia University profes- sor SheenaIyengar, a leading expert on choice, asks fascinating questions:Are our choices innate or created by culture? Why do we sometimeschoose against our best interests? How much control do we reallyhave? What's the relationship between choice and freedom? Drawingon her award-winning, discipline: spanning research, thisremarkable book illuminates the joys and challenges ofchoosing--and shows us how we can choose better, one choice at atime.

"A major contribution." Washington Post The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson,perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was acomplex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy whoenjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, arevolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rightswho did much to further the power of the federal government.Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship andfresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is amonument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.

《的战争:波音与空客的全球竞争内幕》内容简介：10000公里的航程足以覆盖世界上有人居住的所有地方，但是在民用航空领域，还没有一个飞行器拥有如此惊人的续航能力——无论是波音还是空客。尽管如此，在可以预计的未来，只要乘飞机旅行，你十有八九只能选择这两家公司的产品，但是，你知道那些带你飞翔的“大家伙”有怎样的出身与来历吗？ 越来越多的人需要飞往更遥远的地方，航空制造商需要回答，究竟是要承载更多的乘客，还是要飞得更远？这永远都是一个难以破解的悖论。可是，哪怕在这一问题上微小的进展也足以让竞争对手多一分忌惮。在这项全球为复杂的商战中，两家公司都竭尽全力企图将对手抛开，尽管事实是各自的市场份额越来越接近50%。 20年弹指一挥间，波音与空客的竞争刚刚上演了序曲。回顾短暂的过去，航空制造业的竞

Tom Hopkins carries the standard as a master sales trainer andis recognized as the world’s leading authority on sellingtechniques and salesmanship. Over 3,000,000 people on five continents have attended Tom’shigh-energy live seminars. Tom personally conducts 75 seminars eachyear traveling throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, NewZealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines. Tom Hopkins is a distinguished charter member of the NationalSpeakers Association and was among the first to receive itsprestigious Council of Peers Award for Excellence. Tom’s talent ofteaching in a creative and entertaining style has brought him atremendous following, as well as constant demand for appearances atregional and national conventions each year. Tom Hopkins has been the subject of countless articles inpublications such as U.S. News and World Report, The New YorkTimes, The Los Angeles Times, Personal Selling Power, Peoplemagazine, Selling magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, and TheWashington Post.

Most people think success comes from good luck or enormoustalent, but many successful people achieve their accomplishments ina simpler way: through self-discipline. No Excuses! shows youhow you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life,including your personal goals, business and money goals, andoverall happiness. Each of the 21 chapters in this book shows you how to be moredisciplined in one aspect of your life, with end-of-chapterexercises to help you apply the "no excuses" approach to your ownlife. With these guidelines, you can learn how to be moresuccessful in everything you do--instead of wistfully envyingothers you think are just "luckier" than you. A littleself-discipline goes a long way…so stop making excuses and readthis book!

The bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership now brings us EcologicalIntelligence —revealing the hidden environmental consequences ofwhat we make and buy, and how with that knowledge we can drive theessential changes we all must make to save our planet andourselves. We buy “herbal” shampoos that contain industrial chemicals thatcan threaten our health or contaminate the environment. We divedown to see coral reefs, not realizing that an ingredient in oursunscreen feeds a virus that kills the reef. We wear organic cottont-shirts, but don’t know that its dyes may put factory workers atrisk for leukemia. In Ecological Intelligence , DanielGoleman reveals why so many of the products that are labeled greenare a “mirage,” and illuminates our wild inconsistencies inresponse to the ecological crisis. Drawing on cutting-edge research, Goleman explains why we asshoppers are in the dark over the hidden impacts of the goods andservices we make and consume, vict

A compelling vision. Bold leadership. Decisive action.Unfortunately, these prerequisites of success are almost always theingredients of failure, too. In fact, most managers seeking tomaximize their chances for glory are often unwittingly settingthemselves up for ruin. The sad truth is that most companies haveleft their futures almost entirely to chance, and don’t evenrealize it. The reason? Managers feel they must make choices withfar-reaching consequences today, but must base those choices onassumptions about a future they cannot predict. It is thiscollision between commitment and uncertainty that creates THESTRATEGY PARADOX. This paradox sets up a ubiquitous but little-understood tradeoff.Because managers feel they must base their strategies onassumptions about an unknown future, the more ambitious of themhope their guesses will be right – or that they can somehow adaptto the turbulence that will arise. In fact, only a small number oflucky daredevils prosper, while many more unfortunate, bu

Business revolves around making decisions, often riskydecisions, usually with incomplete information and too often inless time than we need. Executives at every level, in everyindustry, are confronted with information overload, less leeway formistakes, and a business environment that changes rapidly. In lightof this increased pressure and volatility, the old-fashioned waysof making decisions–depending on intuition, common sense, andspecialized expertise–are simply no longer sufficient. Distillingover thirty years of groundbreaking research, WinningDecisions , written by two seasoned business advisers and worldleaders in behavioral decision studies, is a comprehensive,one-of-a-kind guide to the proven methods of making criticalbusiness decisions confidently, quickly–and correctly. Decision-making is a business skill which managers often take forgranted in themselves and others–but it's not as easy as some mightthink. The authors, whose expertise has been sought out by over ahundred companies, includi

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principalcharacteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact;and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appearless random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishingsuccess of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For NassimNicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about ourworld, from the rise of religions to events in our own personallives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans untilafter they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is thathumans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focusedon generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and timeand time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know.We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, toovulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, andnot open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the“impossible.” For years, Taleb has studi

The Profit Zone, a Business Week Top Ten Book of the Year,examines 12 of today's great success stories--from GE toSwatch--and reveals how vital adaptations kept these companies onthe edge of the ever-changing profit zone. Charts graphsthroughout.

“I’ve got the name for our publishing operation. We just saidwe were going to publish a few books on the side at random. Let’scall it Random House.” So recounts Bennett Cerf in this wonderfullyamusing memoir of the making of a great publishing house. Anincomparable raconteur, possessed of an irrepressible wit and anabiding love of books and authors, Cerf brilliantly evokes theheady days of Random House’s first decades. Part of the vanguard of young New York publishers whorevolutionized the book business in the 1920s and ’30s, Cerf helpedusher in publishing’s golden age. Cerf was a true personality,whose other pursuits (columnist, anthologist, author, lecturer,radio host, collector of jokes and anecdotes, perennial judge ofthe Miss America pageant, and panelist on What’s My Line? )helped shape his reputation as a man of boundless energy andenthusiasm and brought unprecedented attention to his company andto his authors. At once a rare behind-the-scenes account of bookpublishing and a fascinat

We find ourselves engaged in various kinds of negotiationsevery day, from trying to land a new account or win a promotion atwork, to buying a house or a car, or bargaining down a cell phonebill, or settling a dispute with a friend or spouse. In thisgroundbreaking book, negotiation expert Ed Brodow shows us how tosettle conflicts amicably to reach a win-win solution everytime. Using the no-nonsense, results-oriented boot camp approach,Brodow drills readers on the basic skills needed to master the artof negotiation. After completing Brodow’s basic training program,you will have learned how to: · Conquer your fear of confrontation and overcome the negativebehaviors that hold you back · Identify and develop your personal negotiation style · Assess the other side’s strengths and weaknesses · Get the other side to make concessions without giving up any ofyour goals · Master the art of listening to understand the other side’sposition and strengthen your own