You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from subordinates, your supervisor, peers, and customers. You're not alone. As Linda Hill and Kent Lineback reveal in Being the Boss, becoming an effective manager is a painful, difficult journey. It's trial and error, endless effort, and slowly acquired personal insight. Many managers never complete the journey. At best, they just learn to get by. At worst, they become terrible bosses. This new book explains how to avoid that fate, by mastering three imperatives: Manage yourself: Learn that management isn't about getting things done yourself. It's about accomplishing things through others. Manage a network: Understand how power and influence work in your organization and build a network of mutually beneficial relationships to navigate your company's complex political environment. Manage a team: Forge a high-performing "we" out of all the "I"s who report to you. Packed with comp

Often managers need to assess both financial and non-financialperformance. What process would you use to measure things that arenot easily quantifiable?

This volume captures the spirit of discovery that pervades"Great Groups". It describes the free-form organization of suchteams, more interested in their mission than their hierarchy. Theauthors discuss how "Great Groups" believe both that they'reunderdogs up against a powerful foe and that they're bound tosucceed. The book also illuminates the roles of a "Great Group"leader as a gatherer of talent, a source of inspiration and abridge to the outside world. Today, organizations require creativethinking from every member, not just a few. The world's complexityand pace mean that people can no longer rely on individual leadersand "Lone Rangers" to solve problems. Rather, people must learn towork together, to identify their own missions, to form their own"Great Groups". The stories and advice from the book show readershow. Warren Bennis is the author of "On Becoming a Leader","Leaders" and "Learning to Lead".

In this visionary book, C. K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamyexplore why, despite unbounded opportunities for innovation,companies still can't satisfy customers and sustain profitablegrowth. The explanation for this apparent paradox lies inrecognizing the structural changes brought about by the convergenceof industries and technologies; ubiquitous connectivity andglobalization; and, as a consequence, the evolving role of theconsumer from passive recipient to active co-creator of value.Managers need a new framework for value creation. Increasingly,individual customers interact with a network of firms and consumercommunities to co-create value. No longer can firms autonomouslycreate value. Neither is value embedded in products and servicesper se. Products are but an artifact around which compellingindividual experiences are created. As a result, the focus ofinnovation will shift from products and services to experienceenvironments that individuals can interact with to co-constructtheir own experiences. The

Making persuasive presentations isn't just amatter of charisma and fancy charts: it requires concrete skillsthat are vital to keeping your audience engaged and involved. Thishandy guide contains key information on how to customize yourpresentations to keep people focused and produce the results youwant.

The annual budgeting process is a trap. Pressured by fixedtargets and performance incentives, managers focus on making thenumbers instead of making a difference, meeting set goals insteadof maximizing potential. With their compensation at stake, managersoften resort to deceitful-even unethical-behavior. In the end,everybody loses-the employee, the company, and ultimately thecustomer.Now, finance experts Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser revealthe results of an intensive study aimed at fixing the brokenbudgeting process. They argue that companies must abandontraditional budgeting contracts in favor of a radical new modelthat links performance measurement to evolving competitivebenchmarks-and shifts the firm's focus from controlling employeebehavior to delivering customer value. The Beyond Budgeting modelis built on the best practices of companies that have successfullyrevised their centralized planning and budgeting processes. Itcombines a leadership vision that devolves more authority tooperating managers a

Andrew Grove is President of Intel, America's leadingmanufacturer of computer chips. However, the management techniqueshe unveils in this bestselling and user-friendly guide are equallyapplicable for sales managers, accountants, consultants, eventeachers--anyone whose job entails getting a group of people toproduce something of value.