In today's world, yesterday's methods just don't work. In Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the country. Allen's premise is simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. In Getting Things Done Allen shows how to: Apply the "do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it" rule to get your in-box to empty Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations Plan projects as well as get them unstuck Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed Feel fine about what you're not doing From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done can transform the way you work, showing you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.
From one of America's foremost economic and political thinkerscomes a vital analysis of our new hypercompetitive andturbo-charged global economy and the effect it is having onAmerican democracy. With his customary wit and insight, Reich showshow widening inequality of income and wealth, heightened jobinsecurity, and corporate corruption are merely the logical resultsof a system in which politicians are more beholden to the influenceof business lobbyists than to the voters who elected them. Powerful andthought-provoking, Supercapitalism argues that a clearseparation of politics and capitalism will foster an enviroment inwhich both business and government thrive, by putting capitalism inthe service of democracy, and not the other way around.
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.
"Now there is a single source - this book - that gives you thestep-by-step, word-by-word instructions you need to get in front ofmore people and make more sales than ever before. Keith Rosen hasbrought together, in one book, the very best techniques for gettingmore and better appointments ever written in the field ofsales." —Brian Tracy, author, Advanced Selling Strategies
One of the most popular and respected style guides ever written,this handbook by a seasoned writer with more than forty years ofexperience offers ten principles and seven axioms that professionalwriters use to express their thoughts clearly and effectively. Thislatest edition is expanded to include an extensive glossary ofAmerican idiomatic expressions, developed to assist users fromother backgrounds and cultures; new chapters with tips onlittle-known facts of usage, such as compound words, hyphenation,numeration, and capitalization; and explanations of technicalproblems encountered in writing and editing with tips and exercisesto help solve them. For anyone faced with the challenges of writtenEnglish, Writing with Precision can help readers write moreclearly, more effectively, and more precisely than they everhave. Previous editions of Writing with Precision have beenselected by the Writer's Digest , McMillan , Fortune , and Reader's Digest book clubs.
Be a pro in no time … Ideal for bookkeepers, accounting clerks, and small businessowners, this practical guide goes beyond general accountingprinciples to teach readers how to prepare and manage theircompanies’ books. In this new edition, readers will find completelyrevised and updated information on handling sales and services, andupdated tax information reflecting changes in the tax code. ? Perfect for the many practicing accountants who are unlicensedbookkeepers, accounting clerks, and small business owners ? There are 3.1 million accountants, bookkeepers, and accountingclerks in the U.S. ? There are an estimated 23 million small business owners in theU.S., many of whom manage their own books
Get ahead of the competition with some expert planning. As any business manager knows, success doesn't just happen. Ittakes hard work and planning to get the desired results. Strategicplanning is the discipline that helps businesses build on theirpresent success by analyzing all the factors that can impact thefuture and take measures to anticipate them. The Complete Idiot'sGuide(r) to Strategic Planning offers clear and concretediscussions about: ? Defining business goals in mission statements ? Proven methods to gather the information necessary to formulatea strategy ? Anticipating the competition ? Executing a strategic plan
Let's face it: very few people have studied how to solveproblems. Problems knock us down like a tsunami and we don't knowwhat to do about it. We lie awake at night worrying about it andspend our days stressing out over a situation that only seems toget worse. It doesn't have to be that way. Roger Dawson has taught hundreds ofthousands of people has to negotiate, persuade, and make decisions,with his lectures, audio programs and books, and now he has turnedhis attention to something that everyone needs: a way to solvelife's problems.
In 2008, HowardSchultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made theunprecedented decision to return as the CEO eight years after hestepped down from daily oversight of the company and becamechairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz wasdetermined to help it return to its core values and restore notonly its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he sharesthe remarkable story of his return and the company's ongoingtransformation under his leadership, revealing how, during one ofthe most tumultuous economic times in history, Starbucks againachieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificinghumanity. Offering readers a snapshot of a moment in history thatleft no company unscathed, the book zooms in to show, in rivetingdetail, how one company struggled and recreated itself in the midstof it all. The fast paced narrative is driven by day-to-day tensionas conflicts arise and lets readers into Schultz's psyche as hecomes to terms with his limitations and evolving l
A satisfied customer is a loyal customer, and in today's supercompetitive business economy few things are as crucial to a company's bottom line as the quality of its customer service. This latest title in the popular Perfect Phrases series is just the thing for customer service employees and those who train and manage them. Perfect Phrases for Customer Service gets you quickly up and running with everything you need to keep customers happy and loyal, including: Clear explanations of the reasons for difficult customer behaviors Proven tools and techniques for successfully handling even the most cantankerous customers 101 dialogues and *s organized according to types of difficult behaviors, usable as is or as part of a training program, and easily tailored to any industry and company culture
Named one of the Best Business Books of 1997 by BusinessWeek , Inside Intel is the gripping business saga of acompany that rose to dominance through technological innovation,and maintained its leadership against competitors throughaggressive marketing, tough business tactics, and liberal use oflegal firepower. In his in-depth portrait of Intel, the firsthistory/expose of the company, Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson reveals that: * Intel's corporate culture isdeterminedly secretive and authoritarian. * The company retains itsown force of private investigators to prevent its employees fromgoing astray. * Intel routinely uses the threat of lawsuits againstworkers and rivals. At the center of this story is AndyGrove , Intel's high-profile CEO and chairman, once a pennilessimmigrant who waited tables to put himself through college. It isGrove who has made the unpopular decisions which have kept Intel atthe top of the chip market. Exhaustively researched from courtrecords, unpublished documents,
The companion to the blockbuster bestseller, Getting Things Done . Since its publication in 2001, Getting ThingsDone has become, as Time magazine put it, "the definingself-help business book" of the decade. Having inspired millions ofreaders around the world, it clearly spoke to an urgent need in anincreasingly time-pressured society. Now, in the highly anticipatedsequel Making It All Work , Allen unlocks the full power ofhis methods across the entire span of life and work. WhileGetting Things Done functioned as an essential tool kit, Making It All Work is an invaluable road map, providing bothbearings to help you determine where you are in life and directionson how to get to where you want to go.
Tradition says there are three ways to grow a company’sprofits: Fire up the sales team with empty promises, cut costs anddownsize, or cook the books. But what if there’s a better way—a waythat nine amazingly profitable and well-run companies are alreadyembracing? Jason Jennings and his research team screened more than100,000 Amer?ican companies to find nine that rarely end up onmagazine covers, yet have increased revenues and profits by tenpercent or more for ten consecutive years. Then they interviewedthe leaders, workers, and customers of these quiet super?stars tofind the secrets of their astoundingly consistent and profitablegrowth. What they have in common is a culture—a community—based on ashockingly simple precept: Think big, but act small. It works forretailers like PETCO, Cabela’s, and O’Reilly Automotive,manufacturers like Medline Industries, service compa?nies likeSonic Drive-In, private educational companies like Strayer,industrial giants like Koch Enterprises, a
From two leaders in executive education at Harvard BusinessSchool, here are the mental habits and proven strategies you needto achieve outstanding results in any negotiation. Whether you’ve “seen it all” or are just starting out,Negotiation Genius will dramatically improve your negotiatingskills and confidence. Drawing on decades of behavioral researchplus the experience of thousands of business clients, the authorstake the mystery out of preparing for and executingnegotiations—whether they involve multimillion-dollar deals orimproving your next salary offer. What sets negotiation geniuses apart? They are the men andwomen who know how to: ?Identify negotiation opportunities where others see noroom for discussion ?Discover the truth even when the other side wants toconceal it ?Negotiate successfully from a position of weakness ?Defuse threats, ultimatums, lies, and other hardballtactics ?Overcome resistance and “sell” proposals using proveninfluence tactics
From the man the Wall Street Journal hailed as "theguru of Revenue Management" comes revolutionary ways to recoverfrom the after effects of downsizing and refocus your business ongrowth. Whatever happened to growth? In Revenue Management, RobertG. Cross answers this question with his ground-breaking approach torevitalizing businesses: focusing on the revenue side of the ledgerinstead of the cost side. The antithesis of slash-and-burn methodsthat left companies with empty profits and dissatisfiedstockholders, Revenue Management overturns conventionalthinking on marketing strategies and offers the key to initiatingand sustaining growth. Using case studies from a variety of industries, smallbusinesses, and nonprofit organizations, Cross describes no-tech,low-tech, and high-tech methods that managers can use to increaserevenue without increasing products or promotions; predict consumerbehavior; tap into new markets; and deliver products and servicesto customers effectively and efficiently
In his 14th book, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks tells theunforgettable story of a man whose brushes with death lead him tothe love of his life. After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smilingyoung woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, heexperiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and evensurviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems tohave an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- hislucky charm. Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman inthe photograph out of his mind and he sets out on a journey acrossthe country to find her. But Thibault is caught off guard by thestrong attraction he feels for the woman he encounters in NorthCarolina - Elizabeth, a divorced mother -- and he keeps the storyof the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embarkupon a passionate love affair, his secret soon threatens to tearthem apart -- destroying not only their love, but also theirlives. Filled with tender r
Joe Girard was an example of a young man with perseverance and determination. Joe began his working career as a shoeshine boy. He moved on to be a newsboy for the Detroit Free Press at nine years old, then a dishwasher, a delivery boy, stove assembler, and home building contractor. He was thrown out of high school, fired from more than forty jobs, and lasted only ninety-seven days in the U.S. Army. Some said that Joe was doomed for failure. He proved them wrong. When Joe started his job as a salesman with a Chevrolet agency in Eastpointe, Michigan, he finally found his niche. Before leaving Chevrolet, Joe sold enough cars to put him in the "Guinness Book of World Records" as 'the world's greatest salesman' for twelve consecutive years. Here, he shares his winning techniques in this step-by-step book, including how to: read a customer like a book and keep that customer for life; convince people reluctant to buy by selling them the right way; develop priceless information from a two-minute phone call; make word
Everyone knows that Toyota has had an amazing twenty-five- yearrun, rising from a humble Japanese start-up to a thriving globalgiant. But how did it pass Ford and GM to become the world’slargest auto manufacturer? And how does it continue to thrive whileso many competitors are struggling and failing? Journalist David Magee dug deeply into Toyota’s past and present,interviewing senior executives who rarely talk to the press, alongwith many other sources. The powerful lessons that he distills,especially about corporate culture, are valuable for managers inall industries.
We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: with ambition,drive, and talent, you can rise to the top of your chosenprofession regardless of where you started out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today aren'tmanaging their knowledge workers' careers. Instead, you must beyour own chief executive officer. That means it's up to you tocarve out your place in the world and know when to change course.And it's up to you to keep yourself engaged and productive during acareer that may span some 50 years. In Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker explains how to do it. Thekeys: Cultivate a deep understanding of yourself by identifyingyour most valuable strengths and most dangerous weaknesses.Articulate how you learn and work with others and what your mostdeeply held values are. Describe the type of work environment whereyou can make the greatest contribution. Only when you operate with a combination of your strengths andself-knowledge can you achieve true and lasting excellence
The promise and perils-mostly the latter-that Western businesses face in China's huge but chaotic market are probed in this illuminating if not quite reassuring primer. Ex-Wall Street Journal China bureau chief McGregor presents a series of case studies from capitalism's Wild East, including a rocky joint venture between Morgan Stanley and a Chinese bank; the rise and fall of a Chinese peasant turned billionaire smuggler; Rupert Murdoch's travails in bringing a satellite TV network to China; and a muck-raking Chinese financial journalist's battles with both government censorship and the private media's cozy relationships with advertisers. He caps each chapter with gleanings of wisdom ("assume your procurement department is corrupt until proven innocent") and pointers on such topics as which bribes are ethically acceptable (expenses-paid junkets to America "with generous opportunities for tourism and relaxation") and which are not (suitcases full of cash). McGregor writes with the confidence of an old China ha
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 justsaid we were going to publish a few books on the side at random.Let’s call it Random House.” So recounts Bennett Cerf in thiswonderfully amusing memoir of the making of a great publishinghouse. An incomparable raconteur, possessed of an irrepressible witand an abiding love of books and authors, Cerf brilliantly evokesthe heady 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 powerful and penetrating exploration of what separatesgreat companies and great leaders from the rest." -Polly LaBarre,coauthor of Mavericks at Work Why are some people and organizations more innovative, moreinfluential, and more profitable than others? Why do some commandgreater loyalty? In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in theworld, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, andcommunicate in the exact same way-and it's the complete opposite ofwhat everyone else does. People like Martin Luther King Jr., SteveJobs, and the Wright brothers might have little in common, but theyall started with why. Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weavestogether a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead andinspire.