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

A newly revised edition of this guide to achieving successthrough the art of persuasion offers winning advice on how toincrease self-confidence, cultivate a taste for success, and muchmore. By the author of Think and Grow Rich.

In this practical book, Richard A. Swanson offers a comprehensive approach to forecasting and analyzing the financial implications of any HRD initiative. Packed with step-by-step tools and worksheets, illustrated through a variety of case studies, and featuring the author's state-of-the-art insights, this book offers HRD professionals an essential resource for planning and budgeting, presenting recommendations to executives and department leaders, and keeping their organizations on the cutting edge.

It's great to be a woman . . . most of the time. Lisa Birnbach, Ann Hodgman, and Patty Marx have come up with 1,003 hilarious reasons why it's great all of the time. Pantyhose, high heels, lipstick, maxi pads, chocolate-all things feminine are covered. These three witty and wise women have delivered yet another hysterical list of 1,003 great things. Each writer has a unique (and much appreciated) take on being a modern-day woman. After all, today's females need to be tough, talented multitaskers with an amazing sense of humor-and that's just to compete with the males in grade school!

Malcolm Gladwell is the master of playful yet profound insight. His ability to see underneath the surface of the seemingly mundane taps into a fundamental human impulse: curiosity. From criminology to ketchup, job interviews to dog training, Malcolm Gladwell takes everyday subjects and shows us surprising new ways of looking at them, and the world around us.Are smart people overrated? What can pit bulls teach us about crime? Why are problems like homelessness easier to solve than to manage? How do we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job? Gladwell explores the minor geniuses, the underdogs and the overlooked, and reveals how everyone and rything contains an intriguing story. What the Dog Saw is Gladwell at his very best - asking questions and seeking answers in his inimitable style.

In todqy's ultracompetitive,lean-and-mean workplace,your professional success won'tbe determined by your family background,college affiliation,or educational major.Yoru intelli-gence,talent,drive,and ambition don't matter,either.Yoru success will depend on one thing only :learning the ropes of the working world-and figuring out how to be happy within it-during the first fourteen years of your professional life. Why fourteen years?Because once you aproach your mid-to-late thirties,you won't be easily forgiven fou business mistakes-for power struggles with the boss or cluelessness about marketing yourself,for mishandling office politics of for the megative attitude that comes from feeling "stuck"in an ill-fitting career. If you don't fit in,you're liable to be considered"work illiterate,"and your oportunities will be limited accordingly.It's imperative to know the ways of the work world. Based on personal experience,interviews with experts,and extensive research,The Critical 14Years of Your Professional Lif

Use these basic business reports to compare company earnings, examine historic performance, and evaluate investments and avenues of operation. There are plenty of guides available on setting up a business and organizing paperwork; but very few which delve into the basics of using an annual report or prospectus. Gelb's simple title is crucial to understanding the real progress of a company, using its own powerful tools as a source.

The last career book anyone will ever need! At last, after all those books on clawing your way to the top, here's the real truth about the good and bad moves made in the workplace that determine ultimate success or failure. You ask interviewees penetrating philosophical questions. +10 "If you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" -10 "Do you think I'm cute?" -50 You nickname your office. +5 "The Cave." -10 "The Cool-bicle." -45 You volunteer to organize the softball team and company outings. +5 You call yourself the company "funmeister." -20 It's much easier than your actual job.-60 From your trumped-up résumé to the disastrous company picnic, and covering every aspect of working life including meetings, office antics, fun with machines, and the right and wrong way to ask for a raise, Greg Gutfeld focuses his trademark point system on the place where we all spend the biggest part of our lives.

How to Have All the Answers When the Questions Keep Changing is filled with advice and tips for developing a new way of thinking about life and work and getting rid of long-held beliefs that are no longer reliable. It helps you find the answers to questions that change day to day. This concise, dependable guide will boost your confidence so you can ask the right questions to determine (and improve) your job status, look for a new career and pursue your dreams. Karin Ireland clearly shows you how to take charge of your life, rely on yourself and change the way you think so you can thrive in today's fast-paced, unstable work environment. Karin Ireland is the author of 11 books, including The Job Survival Instruction Book and The Best Christmas Ever, both published by Career Press.

As America's premier management consultant, Philip Crosby has made "quality" the corporate buzz word in America's top-tier firms. Now, as he has before, this bold, brilliant, and very practical mover-and-shaker has set out to disturb the complacency and stir the creative capacity of American management. The result is a book that raises the credo of quality to a higher level--the level demanded in the fiercely competitive marketplaces of today and tomorrow. Crosby's message to management is as powerful as it is plainspoken. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, no com- pany can afford to ignore any part of its operation--whether it is the goods and services it offers, the needs of the customers it serves, the loyalty and nitiative of the people who work for it, or the bottom-line results on inex- orable computer printouts. Success in attaining quality in all these areas iswhat the author means by Completeness. It's the whole picture. And this valuable book shows how to put it clearly into focu

Never again hesitate when selecting a fork from a fancy place setting， making a formal introduction， hosting a business dinner， or dining on awkward foods。The experts at the Protocol School of Washington will save you from embarrassing future faux pas！

Get students thinking economically with Elementary Economics. Each book in this series contains two complete center-driven units. Students and teachers design a store, stock its shelves, and price its merchandise. The store is the focus of real-life class activities that teach the economic principles of producers and consumers, scarcity, rarity, supply and demand, and more. Each unit includes reproducible worksheets and economics games that reinforce the skills and concepts taught in the lessons. Field trip ideas and literature suggestions allow the teacher to make connections across the curriculum. This innovative and refreshing approach to economics will delight both students and teachers.

PreS-Gr. 2. This simple picture book relates the time on a clock to the pattern of a young child's day. Each page shows an analog clock and a digital clock displaying the time, from seven o'clock one morning through the day and night to seven the next morning. The illustrations show the child's activities and, in the night, his dreams. The text consists of a simple phrase or sentence, for example, "Wake-up time--a great big stretch." Very young children will enjoy watching others playing, bathing, eating, and going to bed, while older ones may begin to grasp the concept of time and the techniques of telling time. Soft pencil drawings delineate the rounded forms of children engaged in their daily activities. The rich colors of the washes glow against the white backgrounds, which give the pages a clean look. The last double-page spread suggests a few other books as well as activities and discussions. An appealing, practical choice from the MathStart series. Carolyn Phelan Copyright American Library Associatio

In this book you'll learn the answers to these questions and much more. American Politics in the20th Century is the perfect book for anyone interested in the political history of the United States. You'll read about the formation of the "Bull Moose" Party right through to the formation of the Reform Party. You'll also read about the struggles by women and African-Americans to gain equal voting rights, in addition to the various scandals that threatened and destroyed political careers and presidential administrations. Along the way you'll meet dozens of political bosses, politicians, lobbyists, speechwriters, spin doctors, pollsters, campaign strategists and other political movers and shakers. It's remarkable to look back over the past century and examine how politics has evolved, as well as how it has stayed the same. The struggle for control is constant, while the rules and means of gaining control have been periodically changed in response to public demands. Each book in the 20th Century Series cont

In 1984, Brem diagnosed with two types of cancer kept knocking at the doors of car dealerships until someone hired her. Today, as president and CEO of Love Chrysler, she is one of the most successful Latinas in business in the U.S. She explains the principles that sustained her even at her lowest (e.g., know your self-worth; be creative; be passionate about your work), offering numerous anecdotes about women who succeeded against tremendous odds. Readers will empathize with Brem, who speaks frankly and sensitively. This eminently inspiring book, reminiscent of Deborah Rosado Shaw's Dream Big, will find a wide audience.

Get the secrets of success in this great bestseller (over nine months on the "New York Times" bestseller list) that can change your life for the better. Claiming that the world is a giant negotiating table, renowned negotiator Cohen teaches the art of negotiation with dozens of concrete examples.