Cool Book Of The Day

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Anyone interested in improving their ability to manage conflict and hold difficult conversations will benefit from reading Unlikely Teachers.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This book on Aikido and conflict is a practical tool to help the reader generate more power, presence, and flow in their relationships and in their life. Aikido is a martial art that views a physical attack as a gift of energy. Unlikely Teachers applies the Aikido metaphor to non-physical conflict—what we might call life’s “attacks”—such as arguments, everyday hassles, and the more serious problems we all face at some point in our lives.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I have been a writer, workshop leader, and black belt in Aikido for over 15 years and teach internationally on conflict transformation—the conversion of difficult challenges into useful energy.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Unlikely Teachers is more than a “how-to” book. It offers personal stories, reflection, and direction on how to manage ourselves in difficult moments.

Q: Anything else we should know about this book?
A:One of my favorite things about Unlikely Teachers is its focus on practice. It offers simple, profound ways to begin to re-pattern responses to conflict that no longer work. Leadership author, Margaret Wheatley, endorsed the book saying:

This book is deliciously wise. It’s filled with stories that delight and teach in the same moment. And its wisdom, which is eternal, illuminates the path that leads us out of conflict and into deeper relationship with others and with ourselves.

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Leaders with responsibility for organizations, teams, tasks, and personal relationships. That includes executives, managers, and team leaders, as well as anyone interested in becoming more effective by improving their professional and personal relationships.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This is a guidebook to effective apology. The central conclusion of Effective Apology is that the willingness and ability to apologize are critical requirements of leaders today. The book supports this conclusion with over 75 examples of apology, both effective and ineffective, taken from the worlds of business, politics, sports, popular culture, and relationships. Leaders who believe that accountability, transparency, and humility are the hallmarks of modern leadership must understand the role apology plays in earning confidence, maintaining trust, and repairing mistakes.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: As a practicing business journalist for over 30 years, I’ve had the opportunity to study thousands of companies and their leaders. Many years ago I began to notice something interesting. Organizations and leaders that had a culture of apology and taking responsibility for their mistakes tend to be more successful than those which resist apologizing and deny responsibility.

I have also seen that personal relationships follow the same pattern. Marriages, friends, parent-child relationships all benefit when one or both parties know how to apologize. I have been successfully married for 34 years not because I haven’t made any mistakes, but because I have a certain capacity for taking responsibility for those mistakes and apologizing sooner rather than later.

This book brings together my professional and personal experiences to support my conclusion that apology is not free, but it’s less expensive than the alternatives of lying, denial, spinning, and stonewalling.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Effective Apology is a practical, hands-on fieldbook on how to apologize. It offers practical suggestions, lists, suggested wording, and concrete advice on when to apologize and how to apologize in a variety of recognizable situations. Other books on apology tend to be philosophical or academic.

My book is hands-on. It shows you what to say and what not to say. It focuses on the role of apology in repairing relationships and further reconciliation. The book argues that there is but one test of effective apology: does the apology tend to repair the relationship that has been strained and support the eventual reconciliation of the parties.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The book defines apology as the practice of extending yourself because you value the relationship more than you value the need to be right.

How do you know when you have apologized? Try this test.

Did you state in plain language what you did wrong? Did you accept responsibility for those errors without defensiveness or hedging? Did you express remorse (“I’m sorry”) in direct and personal terms? Did you offer appropriate restitution? Did you promise not to repeat the offense?

If your apology embraces each of these five components, you have offered a wholehearted apology. The book describes these five steps as the Five Rs: Recognition (“yes, I lost the cell phone you I borrowed from you.”), Responsibility (“I’m responsible. I was thoughtless with your property.”), Remorse (“I’m sorry.”), Restitution (“Of course, I’ll replace your phone.”), and Repetition (“I promise to be more careful in the future”).

Apology in a networked world is about giving up the desire to control the conversation. The willingness to apologize signals strength, character, and integrity—real leadership is impossible without it. Human progress occurs one apology at a time.

More information about the book is available www.effectiveapology.com

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Executives, emerging leaders, managers, business owners, and any professional who aspires to one day lead a company or work in a management role.

Q: What is the book about?
A: In today’s turbulent economy, more managers and executives than ever need to become leaders of employees – and that requires they know how to motivate and inspire a workforce like the most forward-thinking CEO.

“Motivating like a CEO” means connecting people with purpose and passion toward a common goal. This book addresses the necessity for leaders to discover purpose; communicate it to employees in a clear and powerful way; connect them to it in a shared sense of purpose; and help them fulfill their own, individual purposes.

Motivate Like a CEO will show you how to:
• Inspire people to embrace and share your vision
• Speak with energy and confidence in tough situations
• Turn challenges into opportunities
• Get your team engaged, in the loop, and tracking real results
• Make time in your schedule for sharing your message of motivation throughout your company

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: As the founder and CEO of Bates Communications, Inc., I’ve worked with top leaders and CEOs of companies from the Fortune 500 to startups on improving their communication skills. My team helps these leaders and emerging leaders deliver powerful speeches, successful sales presentations, impactful media interviews, and develop strategic communications plans. Over the years, we’ve noticed one factor that makes successful companies stand out from the rest – their leaders’ ability to motivate and inspire employees, customers, and stakeholders in any situation.

My first book, the bestselling Speak Like a CEO (McGraw Hill 2005), addressed the qualities leaders need to speak with impact and command attention. What evolved from that book was the need to address the motivational aspect of leadership communications. The companies that are going to succeed through these turbulent times are the ones whose leaders tell a genuine story, get people connected with a purpose and a vision, and inspire employees to discover their own passion. These are the companies that will achieve their strategic goals. Now, more than ever, I think this is essential for getting our economy back on track and rejuvenating our workforce.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: There are many books out there on motivation, and quite a few more on how to speak effectively, but this book ties in the two. I also wrote the book with executives and a business audience in mind, and interviewed dozens of successful CEOs and leaders who have found the “secret” to engaging their employees to achieve strategic goals.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: For me, one of the most exciting aspects of writing the book was being able to tell these unique, wonderful stories of CEOs and leaders who really “get it” – it being how to motivate and inspire. Some of the stories featured are those of the CEOs of Raytheon, Dow Chemical, and The North Face. One of the stories featured is that of a former executive of United Health who used the power of motivation and communicating a vision to get the entire company on board and “jazzed” about changing a long-standing operating procedure.

Lastly, I’m proud to announce that the book has been endorsed by many leading business authors (Marshall Goldsmith, Charles H. Green, Ken Blanchard) and CEOs themselves. Their thoughts can be found here: http://www.bates-communications.com/motivate/endorsements.php

More about the book can be found on my website: www.bates-communications.com/motivate/ or just by checking it out on amazon.com.

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Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Although the book is written for leaders and managers, Who’s in the Driver’s Seat? is a book for anyone who wants three easy steps they can apply, in any situation that will assist them to behave and communicate in ways that will always bring about a positive collaborative outcome.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?: Using Spirit to Lead Effectively, is a groundbreaking book that openly and honestly confronts the high operational cost of leadership ego. Dr. Gluckman provides some staggering statistics showing the degree to which leader ego is a measurable financial liability. She proposes that leadership spirit, on the other hand, is a quantifiable financial asset and competitive edge. Spirited Leaders display behavior and communication skills that build authenticity, unity, courage, collaboration and accountability.

The book is built around two leaders. George and Dave tell their stories, chapter by chapter, of how the different behaviors and language styles of the ego-driven George, and the spirited Dave, impact the performance of their respective teams. This is a practical, hands-on book that can be read quickly and applied easily.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: This practical, hands-on book is the culmination of many years of research and experience working with leaders around the globe. I have spent a large part of my life studying and working with great and not so great leaders in all industries. This has given me a deep understanding of the leadership traits and qualities that bring success and those that do not.

Originally, my expertise in leadership traits came from growing up in an apartheid South Africa led by arrogant, self-righteous, self-serving leaders. Their egos convinced them that being white made them superior and helped them to justify the shocking practice of apartheid.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison and became president of South Africa, I worked with the leaders of the major organizations in South Africa who had to completely transform themselves and their organization to re-engage with millions of alienated employees.

Some leaders were able to reinvent themselves; others were not. This was when I discovered how the human spirit, when skillfully applied to business goals, will have a remarkable impact on the organization’s culture and economic performance.

I witnessed that the leaders who were able to energize the spirit of their employees were able to motivate them to move mountains. These leaders all possessed the same fundamental leadership traits which I describe in Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?

I am a sought after keynote speaker and talk show guest and have lectured for the Executive MBA Program at TWU and the University of Dallas, Graduate School of Management. I have published extensively in business journals and authored a chapter in Mission Possible.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book offers a model for significantly increasing the ROI delivered by leaders and their teams – from boardroom to backroom. The groundbreaking concept behind Who’s in the Driver’s Seat? is that every organization possesses a powerful energy and spirit but most leaders do not know how to tap into it and apply it to the business goals. This is the first and only leadership book that teaches a model of how to use corporate spirit as a quantifiable financial asset.

Who’s in the Driver’s Seat? is a practical, easy-to-read book that offers a step-by-step process for energizing and operationalizing organizational spirit. This model is known as Spirited Economics™.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Ego is not a bad thing. We all need ego as long as we recognize how it shows up for us, when it shows up for us and how to keep it in check.

Organizations are now giving serious attention to ego as an unnecessary expense that is drastically hurting their bottom line because leadership ego de-energizes employees.

There are approximately 22 million switched-off employees in the USA today, costing the economy up to $350 billion a year (Gallup, 2007). This book provides practical tools to replace ego with leadership behavior and communication that energizes the spirit of the people and creates a sustainable organization.

Visit my website http://www.sandygluckman.com to get a free download of a white paper on Spirited Economics™, browse my blogs or to buy my book.