On a landscape that seems to be transforming itself with every new technology, marketing tactic, or investment strategy, businesses rush to embrace change by trading in their competencies or shifting their focus altogether. All in the name of innovation. But this endless worrying, wriggling, and trend watching only alienates companies from whatever it is they really do best. In the midst of the headlong rush to think "outside the box," the full engagement responsible for true innovation is lost. New consultants, new packaging, new marketing schemes, or even new CEOs are no substitute for the evolution of our own expertise as individuals and as businesses. Indeed, for all their talk about innovation, most companies today are still scared to death of it. To Douglas Rushkoff, this disconnect is not only predictable but welcome. It marks the happy end of a business cycle that began as long ago as the Renaissance, and ended with the renaissance in creativity and collaboration we're going through today. The age of mass production, mass media, and mass marketing may be over, but so, too, is the alienation it engendered between producers and consumers, managers and employees, executives and shareholders, and, worst of all, businesses and their own core values and competencies. American enterprise, in particular, is at a crossroads. Having for too long replaced innovation with acquisitions, tactics, efficiencies, and ad campaigns, many businesses have dangerously lost touch with the process -- and fun -- of discovery. "American companies are obsessed with window dressing," Rushkoff writes, "because they're reluctant, no, afraid to look at whatever it is they really do and evaluate it from the inside out. When things are down, CEOs look to consultants and marketers to rethink, rebrand, or repackage whatever it is they are selling, when they should be getting back on the factory floor, into the stores, or out to the research labs where their product is actually made, sold, or conceived." Rushkoff backs up his arguments with a myriad of intriguing historical examples as well as familiar gut checks -- from the dumbwaiter and open source to Volkswagen and The Gap -- in this accessible, thought-provoking, and immediately applicable set of insights. Here's all the help innovators of this era need to reconnect with their own core competencies as well as the passion fueling them.

On a landscape that seems to be transforming itself with every new technology, marketing tactic, or investment strategy, businesses rush to embrace change by trading in their competencies or shifting their focus altogether. All in the name of innovation. But this endless worrying, wriggling, and trend watching only alienates companies from whatever it is they really do best. In the midst of the headlong rush to think "outside the box," the full engagement responsible for true innovation is lost. New consultants, new packaging, new marketing schemes, or even new CEOs are no substitute for the evolution of our own expertise as individuals and as businesses. Indeed, for all their talk about innovation, most companies today are still scared to death of it. To Douglas Rushkoff, this disconnect is not only predictable but welcome. It marks the happy end of a business cycle that began as long ago as the Renaissance, and ended with the renaissance in creativity and collaboration we're going through today. The age of mass production, mass media, and mass marketing may be over, but so, too, is the alienation it engendered between producers and consumers, managers and employees, executives and shareholders, and, worst of all, businesses and their own core values and competencies. American enterprise, in particular, is at a crossroads. Having for too long replaced innovation with acquisitions, tactics, efficiencies, and ad campaigns, many businesses have dangerously lost touch with the process -- and fun -- of discovery. "American companies are obsessed with window dressing," Rushkoff writes, "because they're reluctant, no, afraid to look at whatever it is they really do and evaluate it from the inside out. When things are down, CEOs look to consultants and marketers to rethink, rebrand, or repackage whatever it is they are selling, when they should be getting back on the factory floor, into the stores, or out to the research labs where their product is actually made, sold, or conceived." Rushkoff backs up his arguments with a myriad of intriguing historical examples as well as familiar gut checks -- from the dumbwaiter and open source to Volkswagen and The Gap -- in this accessible, thought-provoking, and immediately applicable set of insights. Here's all the help innovators of this era need to reconnect with their own core competencies as well as the passion fueling them.

These great collections let men sing four-part a cappella harmony with a professionally recorded barbershop quartet. The books include TTBB parts and the CDs feature full performances. Just turn on the CD, open the book, pick your part, and sing along! Volume 3 songs include: Coney Island Baby/We All Fall * He's Got the Whole World in His Hands * Hey, Little Baby O' Mine * In the Good Old Summertime * The Star Spangled Banner * Take Me Out to the Ball Game * This Little Light of Mine/Do Lord * Water Is Wide.

Douglas Rushkoff was one of the first social commentators to identify the new culture around the internet. He has spent nearly a decade advising companies on the ways they can re-orient their businesses to the transformations the internet has caused. Through his speaking and consulting, Rushkoff has discovered an important and unrecognized shift in American business. Too many companies are panicked and operating in survival mode when the worst of the crisis has already passed. Likening the internet transformation to the intellectual and technological ferment of the Enlightment, Rushkoff suggests we have a remarkable opportunity to re-integrate our new perspective with the work we actually do. Instead of running around trying to "think out of the box," Rushkoff demonstrates, now is the time to "get back in the box" and improve the way we do our jobs, run our operations and drive innovation from the ground up. Combining stories gleaned from his consulting with a thrilling tour of history's dramatic moments and clever readings of cultural shift we've just experienced, Rushkoff offers a compelling vision of the simple and effective ways businesses can re-invigorate themselves.

Barbership singing is often dismissed by its critics as merely an enjoyable hobby. Though long popular with both its public and participants, it has been relatively neglected in the field of music studies. Robert A. Stebbins demonstrates that barbershop singing is an elaborate and complicated form of serious leisure that provides its participants with distinctive lifestyles. The Barbershop Singer is a unique case study of this significant musical genre, describing the social world of the barbershop singer and exploring its appeal for both male and female singers. Robert Stebbins traces the history of barbershop singing and compares and contrasts the worlds of jazz, classical music, and barbershop as serious leisure pursuits. Stebbins also reveals its costs and rewards, its complex organizational structures, the social marginality felt by its more dedicated participants, and the main problems facing the art today.Although barbershop singing is clearly a circumscribed social world, understanding how it works expands current knowledge of the variant forms of social participation available to citizens of the modern world. The Barbershop Singer will be of interest to sociologists as well as those involved in the world of barbershop.

Douglas Rushkoff was one of the first social commentators to identify the new culture around the internet. He has spent nearly a decade advising companies on the ways they can re-orient their businesses to the transformations the internet has caused. Through his speaking and consulting, Rushkoff has discovered an important and unrecognized shift in American business. Too many companies are panicked and operating in survival mode when the worst of the crisis has already passed. Likening the internet transformation to the intellectual and technological ferment of the Enlightment, Rushkoff suggests we have a remarkable opportunity to re-integrate our new perspective with the work we actually do. Instead of running around trying to "think out of the box," Rushkoff demonstrates, now is the time to "get back in the box" and improve the way we do our jobs, run our operations and drive innovation from the ground up. Combining stories gleaned from his consulting with a thrilling tour of history's dramatic moments and clever readings of cultural shift we've just experienced, Rushkoff offers a compelling vision of the simple and effective ways businesses can re-invigorate themselves.

Job loss. Foreclosure. Relationship woes. Health issues. Dire financial straits. If recent history has taught us anything, it's that nobody goes through life unscathed-no matter how rich, how smart, how talented, or how fortunate they may be. White collar, blue collar, or no collar, there is an undeniable commonality to the raw emotion that strikes people when they are knocked down. University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has seen the bottom - from two very distinct and very public setbacks-but he has learned that bad situations are only permanent if you allow them to be. Fired from his job as head coach 20 games into his third season with the NBA's New Jersey Nets in 1999, Calipari was publicly humiliated and emotionally devastated. But Calipari never allowed the negative to overcome him or those around him, and he began plotting a course for his first bounce back. It was a journey that took him to the University of Memphis and, in 2008, to the NCAA's marquee event, the men's basketball Final Four. When that trip culminated in a crushing, overtime defeat in the title game, Calipari began to bounce back again-this time armed with the knowledge and fortitude he gained in overcoming the Nets' firing. One year after that defeat, from where he watched his team lose a nine-point lead with two minutes and twelve seconds left in regulation, Calipari was tabbed as the head coach of college basketball's all-time winningest program, the University of Kentucky Wildcats. In ten years, he went from his lowest low to landing his dream job at a dream program. What Coach Cal -as players, peers, and fans affectionately call him - learned from his experiences was the importance of having the right attitude when dealing with life's major impediments: with every hard knock comes an occasion to reevaluate and reinvent. Now Coach Cal asks that you join his team of Bounce Backers and allow him the privilege of coaching you through what may, at times, seem to be an insurmountable challenge. With a combination of tough love and understanding, Coach Cal takes you under his wing in much the same fashion he guides the young men who play for him. By becoming an active participant in your own resurrection-through practice exercises and tips from Coach Cal and his deep bench of highly successful people who have survived their own bounce backs-you too will gain the tools and insight to understand that it's never a matter of how far you have fallen, but instead it's about how high you bounce back.

Over 80% of the businesses in the United States are family-owned and managed. From the corner deli or barbershop to global empires in brewing, media, and cleaning products, family businesses embody the entrepreneurial spirit that drives innovation and economic growth and that represents the hopes and dreams of millions for independence, self-sufficiency, and wealth. And yet the track record for entrepreneurial businesses is poor: over three-quarters will fail during the first five years and only 10% will survive a decade. Family business statistics show that fewer than one-third pass succesfully to a second generation, often the result of insufficient planning. Drawing from numerous in-depth examples (both positive and negative), Edward Hess offers a fascinating glimpse into the dynamics of family business management and specific strategies to promote the health of the enteprise. A comprehensive guide, The Successful Family Business covers the spectrum of topics from creating a family values statement and code of conduct to resolving conflicts among siblings to managing transitions in leadership and the potential sale of the business. Other issues include: defining perks and benefits (for family and non-family members), working with the board of directors, and going public. Hess concludes with a series of operating rules that apply to every family business and a listing of practical references and resources.

If recent history has taught us anything, it’s that nobody goes through life unscathed—no matter how rich, how smart, how talented, or how fortunate they may be. White collar, blue collar, or no collar, there is an undeniable commonality to the raw emotion that strikes people when they are knocked down. University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has experienced his share of public setbacks, but he has learned that bad situations are permanent only if you allow them to be. What Coach Cal—as players, peers, and his legion of fans that make up the Big Blue Nation call him—learned from his experiences was the importance of having the right attitude when dealing with life’s major impediments. On the court and off, he emphasizes to his players that a big part of success is being able to handle obstacles. Now he is offering you the chance to learn the same strategies that he teaches the young men who play for him. By becoming an active participant in your own resurrection—through practice exercises and tips from Coach Cal and his deep bench of highly successful people—you too will gain the tools and insight to understand that it’s never a matter of how far you have fallen, but instead it’s about how high you bounce back.

From the bestselling author of "My Man Michael." Gillian is a PR expert hired to smooth out the rough edges on hotheaded sports club president Drew Black. He's rough, raw, and ready for any challenge Gillian throws his way. But which one's going to end up on top? Original.

Doug has penned Money in Motion: A Back to Basics Approach to Build Your Business. In addition to providing a step-by-step guide to building sales, the appendixes include a Kick Start Checklist, scripts, questionnaires, call sheets, worksheets for projects, seminars, value proposition and presentations. Everything you need to kick start your business! Doug's philosophy and approach to success is a fundamental belief that "The Relationship Curve" - building relationships of trust and patiently positioning yourself for the time when there is a need and "money goes in motion", drives the business development process. At this moment you must have a value proposition and presentation that will land the customer - many times you do not get a second chance. "Productivity is achieving the greatest results in the shortest period of time." In Doug's book, he explains how to get back to basics. How to be organized; focused; how to find people just like your best customers; how to meet them and start a relationship with them; how to build a relationship of trust with a powerful and systematic "slow drip"; and how finally to articulate your value proposition and build a dynamic presentation template that lands the customer every time. "Leverage is achieving the greatest results with the least amount of effort." Doug discusses how to use projects to get many things done; how to leverage time with seminars and networking activities; how to leverage relationships through Centers of Influences; and how to leverage efforts by finding other people to execute activities for you. Most importantly, Doug shows how applying some simple fundamental principles and focusing short bursts of high energy into them over a period of days, weeks, months and years builds a momentum which takes your business to new heights of success.

In Keepin’ It Hushed: The Barbershop and African American Hush Harbor Rhetoric, Vorris L. Nunley investigates the role of the hush harbor (a safe place for free expression among African American speakers) as a productive space of rhetorical tradition and knowledge generation. Nunley identifies the barbershop as an important hush harbor for black males in particular and traces the powerful cultural trope and its hidden tradition of African American knowledge through multiple texts. From Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” to the recent Barbershop movies and the provocative rhetoric of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Nunley’s study touches on a range of time periods and genres. Nunley’s introduction connects African American Hush Harbor Rhetoric (AAHHR) to everyday considerations of what may or may not be spoken in public and how African American speakers manage numerous hidden transcripts. In the first three chapters, Nunley charts different iterations of hush harbors and their function in the context of residual and emergent rhetorical traditions. He investigates public sphere theory and its application (and misapplication) to black civil society and hush harbors and connects AAHHR to nommo, the power of the word. In chapters 4 and 5, Nunley examines the ubiquity of the hush harbor trope in African American culture and considers barbershops as pedagogical sites, using literature, poetry, philosophy, and film to make his case. In chapter 6, he analyzes the Barbershop movie in detail, arguing that the movie’s commodified, neoliberal version of AAHHR did not represent a hush harbor, although that was ostensibly the aim. Keepin’ It Hushed concludes with a presentation of a hush harbor pedagogy in chapter 7 and a distinctive analysis of hush harbor oriented speeches by then-Senator Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Rhetoricians and readers interested in African American life and culture will appreciate the cogent analysis in Nunley’s volume.

In the early 1950s, Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) opened a barbershop he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. A whittler since boyhood, he soon began carving figures from wood in his spare time. He decorated the outside of his barbershop and filled the inside with his reliefs and freestanding carvings. During his lifetime, Davis created more than three hundred works, producing a varied but unified body of wood sculpture that reflects his faith, humor, and dignity.Davis's sculptures range in height from six to more than forty inches, and can be divided into several major categories: religious images, patriotism, works influenced by African forms, abstract decorative objects, and portraits of African and American leaders. The latter includes what many regard as Davis's masterwork--a series of forty carved busts of all the U.S. presidents through George H. W. Bush. Because the artist rarely sold his sculptures, his carvings have had limited exposure outside of Georgia. Davis wanted his work to stay together after he died, and most of his sculpture is now held by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation in Savannah.The Treasure of Ulysses Davis accompanies an exhibition organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. The definitive introduction to Davis's work, the book features full-color reproductions of 120 sculptures.

The couch. A lonely refuge after facing a setback. Failed business, job loss, or worse. Any blow, whether business or personal, has the power to send the strongest of characters to the couch feeling unworthy and unmotivated. What even the most disheartened may not know is, every person has a "next great thing" and this book will help you find it! Read your way back to success! Be inspired, empowered and confident! What are you waiting for? It is time to get off the couch and get back to business!

Is fear holding you back from taking the action needed to turn your business around and make it grow? Your business doesn't have to be the next victim of economic disaster. No matter how bleak your situation may be, there is hope for a brighter future. Gene Pepper, an experienced business turnaround consultant and Stanford University graduate, shares his best insider strategies on how to take control over your business, stop the bleeding and turn a difficult situation into real business growth in his ground-breaking new book: "How to Save Your Business and Make it Grow in Tough Times." This hefty guide is loaded with real-world advice that you won't find anywhere else. You will learn how to: • Identify the early warning signs of trouble • Take a hard look at the problems you have been avoiding • Solve cash flow troubles and regain control • Evaluate your management structure and make necessary improvements • Understand the difference between cash and profit • Analyze your customers and improve relations • Communicate with your team, vendors and creditors Once you have assessed the damage, you will begin developing a plan to move from survive to thrive. You will learn key strategies for turning your company into a top brand, how to develop a bulletproof business plan and how to build a better business so that you never have to worry about the future again. A huge collection of bonus materials include: • Sample scripts for communicating with your bank, creditors, and employees • More than a dozen real-life case studies of businesses that went from the brink of disaster to unprecedented success • Chapters on how to sell your business and how to buy a business • The author's personal rolodex of contacts and resources The longer you wait, the harder it will be to turn the corner. This book provides the answers you need to take back control and build a better, stronger company. Don't live another day in fear and turmoil. Now is the time to get out of denial and take action. About the Author Gene Pepper is a business consultant and turnaround expert who has been selling, buying and helping companies for over 40 years. His early training as a Marine Corps infantry officer gave him a solid foundation in developing strategic plans with defined objectives. He is a graduate of Stanford University and throughout his business career has served on corporate boards as well as non-profit boards where his fine leadership qualities were strikingly effective. Visit Gene Pepper online at www.HowToSaveYourBusiness.com.

As the effects of the global recession linger, consumers everywhere are changing their purchasing patterns, paying greater attention to what and why they are buying, and from whom. While many feel rampant spending is hard-wired into the modern psyche and that we will be back to our wasteful ways soon enough, there are clear indications of a permanent shift in the way we shop. Even before the economic downturn, consumers’ definitions of value had begun to change.  People were becoming more mindful about their purchases and more attuned to the social and environmental implications of their choices. To better understand this important evolution and its ramifications for business, Andrew Benett and Anne O’Reilly launched a groundbreaking study on the New Consumer and the escalating dissatisfaction over hyperconsumerism. Here, for the first time, is an in-depth look at the new face of the global consumer, showing that:• A significant majority in the seven markets surveyed are deeply worried about the direction in which our consumption-obsessed society is moving. They believe people have become both physically and mentally lazy, and that, as a society, we have lost sight of what truly matters.• Two-thirds believe they would be better off if they lived more simply, and a quarter say they would be happier if they owned fewer things. • Half of Americans surveyed are deriving a sense of satisfaction from reducing their purchases during the downturn, and three-quarters are feeling good about cutting back on the amount of waste they create. • A majority of Americans have no intention of going back to their old shopping patterns, even when the economy rebounds. Now, as the consumer voice signals its changed priorities, forward-thinking companies are responding by rejecting excess and artificiality in favor of products and communications that offer authenticity, substance, and interconnectedness—all values today’s more mindful consumer craves. In this book, the brand experts look at corporations as diverse as Glenmorangie and Wal-Mart to see what lessons they can offer to businesses attempting to grow in the postconsumerism era. They also spoke with corporate leaders in a variety of industries to learn how they are recasting their businesses and brands in order to prepare for the changes ahead. Through cutting-edge research and a sharp look at new industry models, Consumed provides real direction for marketers and managers.

As the effects of the global recession linger, consumers everywhere are changing their purchasing patterns, paying greater attention to what and why they are buying, and from whom. While many feel rampant spending is hard-wired into the modern psyche and that we will be back to our wasteful ways soon enough, there are clear indications of a permanent shift in the way we shop. Even before the economic downturn, consumers' definitions of value had begun to change.  People were becoming more mindful about their purchases and more attuned to the social and environmental implications of their choices. To better understand this important evolution and its ramifications for business, Andrew Benett and Anne O'Reilly launched a groundbreaking study on the New Consumer and the escalating dissatisfaction over hyperconsumerism. Here, for the first time, is an in-depth look at the new face of the global consumer, showing that:* A significant majority in the seven markets surveyed are deeply worried about the direction in which our consumption-obsessed society is moving. They believe people have become both physically and mentally lazy, and that, as a society, we have lost sight of what truly matters.* Two-thirds believe they would be better off if they lived more simply, and a quarter say they would be happier if they owned fewer things. * Half of Americans surveyed are deriving a sense of satisfaction from reducing their purchases during the downturn, and three-quarters are feeling good about cutting back on the amount of waste they create. * A majority of Americans have no intention of going back to their old shopping patterns, even when the economy rebounds. Now, as the consumer voice signals its changed priorities, forward-thinking companies are responding by rejecting excess and artificiality in favor of products and communications that offer authenticity, substance, and interconnectedness--all values today's more mindful consumer craves. In this book, the brand experts look at corporations as diverse as Glenmorangie and Wal-Mart to see what lessons they can offer to businesses attempting to grow in the postconsumerism era. They also spoke with corporate leaders in a variety of industries to learn how they are recasting their businesses and brands in order to prepare for the changes ahead. Through cutting-edge research and a sharp look at new industry models, Consumed provides real direction for marketers and managers.

Chinese entrepreneurs have founded more than thirty million private businesses since Beijing instituted economic reforms in the late 1970s. Most of these private ventures, however, have been denied access to official sources of credit. State banks continue to serve state-owned enterprises, yet most private financing remains illegal. How have Chinese entrepreneurs managed to fund their operations? In defiance of the national banking laws, small business owners have created a dizzying variety of informal financing mechanisms, including rotating credit associations and private banks disguised as other types of organizations. Back-Alley Banking includes lively biographical sketches of individual entrepreneurs; telling quotations from official documents, policy statements, and newspaper accounts; and interviews with a wide variety of women and men who give vivid narratives of their daily struggles, accomplishments, and hopes for future prosperity. Kellee S. Tsai’s book draws upon her unparalleled fieldwork in China’s world of shadow finance to challenge conventional ideas about the political economy of development. Business owners in China, she shows, have mobilized local social and political resources in innovative ways despite the absence of state-directed credit or a well-defined system of private property rights. Entrepreneurs and local officials have been able to draw on the uncertainty of formal political and economic institutions to enhance local prosperity.

It’s been called “Camaro Hair,” “The Kentucky Waterfall,” “Hockey Hair,” “The MacGyver,” and “The Joe Dirt,” but most people know it as the Mullet, and it may be the most talked about and controversial hairstyle of all time. In its glory days in the 1970s and 80s, it was worn with pride across America and the globe, from glam rocker David Bowie to TV matriarch Florence Henderson (who sported a Femullet—female mullet—on The Brady Bunch). And, of course, it remains the unofficial hairstyle of hockey players everywhere. This humorous pictorial celebration of the Mullet through the years will make those who love the style proud…and provide some ammunition to those who would like to see it disappear forever. It’s as funny, terrifying, and mystifying as the hairstyle itself.

It's been a year since Giulia Falcone fled the nunhood and now she must face her worst nightmare: going back. A young novice has died at Giulia's former convent and the formidable Superior General hires Driscoll Investigations, hoping the P.I. firm will confirm the death was suicide in order to squelch a lawsuit. Gathering every ounce of courage to confront the past, Giulia dons the dreaded habit and returns to the Motherhouse to investigate. What she uncovers is less than holy.

Over 80% of the businesses in the United States are family-owned and managed. From the corner deli or barbershop to global empires in brewing, media, and cleaning products, family businesses embody the entrepreneurial spirit that drives innovation and economic growth and that represents the hopes and dreams of millions for independence, self-sufficiency, and wealth. And yet the track record for entrepreneurial businesses is poor: over three-quarters will fail during the first five years and only 10% will survive a decade. Family business statistics show that fewer than one-third pass succesfully to a second generation, often the result of insufficient planning. Drawing from numerous in-depth examples (both positive and negative), Edward Hess offers a fascinating glimpse into the dynamics of family business management and specific strategies to promote the health of the enteprise. A comprehensive guide, The Successful Family Business covers the spectrum of topics from creating a family values statement and code of conduct to resolving conflicts among siblings to managing transitions in leadership and the potential sale of the business. Other issues include: defining perks and benefits (for family and non-family members), working with the board of directors, and going public. Hess concludes with a series of operating rules that apply to every family business and a listing of practical references and resources.

In this companion book to the bestselling I Love My Hair, a young boy, Miles, makes his first trip to the barbershop with his father. Like most little boys, he is afraid of the sharp scissors, the buzzing razor, and the prospect of picking a new hairstyle. But with the support of his dad, the barber, and the other men in the barbershop, Miles bravely sits through his first haircut. Written in a reassuring tone with a jazzy beat and illustrated with graceful, realistic watercolors, this book captures an important rite of passage for boys and celebrates African-American identity.

In this companion book to the bestselling "I Love My Hair!, " a young boy, Miles, makes his first trip to the barbershop with his father. With the support of his dad, the barber, and the other men in the barbershop, Miles bravely sits through his first haircut.

As an exciting sequel to his smash business bestseller 100 Ways to Motivate Others, Steve Chandler has teamed with Sam Beckford to write an astonishing wake-up call to the more than 20 million people in the United States and Canada who now own small businesses but don't know how to make them really pay off. By exposing the nine most common (and often fatal) myths in business, Chandler and Beckford offer simple and inspired solutions to the self-induced problems created by small business owners every day. The surprising truths countering each lie – lies such as "It Takes Money to Make Money," "I Am A Victim of Circumstance," and "I Can Do This On My Own"—have been battle-tested for years by Sam Beckford and his hundreds of successful small business coaching clients. Now, these same truths are delivered to millions of eager readers with the added kick of Chandler's trademark lively and entertaining writing style and powerful self-motivational tools. This book tells you not only how to guarantee that your business will be profitable, but also how to motivate yourself each day to do it! Steve Chandler is one of America's best-selling authors whose eight books—including the bestsellers 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself and Reinventing Yourself—have been translated into more than 11 languages. Chandler is also a world-famous public speaker who was described by four-time Emmy-award winning PBS screen writer Fred Knipe as "an insane combination of Anthony Robbins and Jerry Seinfeld." Chandler was recently named to the faculty at the University of Santa Monica where he teaches in the graduate program of soul-centered leadership. Sam Beckford is known throughout the United States and Canada as the "Small Business Millionaire." A five-time business failure who became a millionaire on attempt number six, his story has been told in books, on radio and television, and used in seminars across North America to help other business owners convert their own failures into successes. Beckford has successfully coached and been consulted by hundreds of business owners on how to get extraordinary results from ordinary small businesses, based on lessons from his own real-life experience.

Enhance Fundamental Value and Establish Competitive Advantage with Leadership Agility   Whether you’re leading an organization, a team, or a project, Stand Back and Deliver gives you the agile leadership tools you’ll need to achieve breakthrough levels of performance. This book brings together immediately usable frameworks and step-by-step processes that help you focus all your efforts where they matter most: delivering business value and building competitive advantage.   You’ll first discover how to use the authors’ Purpose Alignment Model to make better up-front decisions about where to invest limited resources–and how to filter out activities that don’t drive market leadership. Next, you’ll learn how to collaborate in new ways that unleash your organization’s full talents for innovation. The authors offer the Context Leadership Model for understanding the unique challenges of any project, and they help you tailor your leadership approach to address them. You’ll find a full chapter on organizing information to promote more effective, value-driven decision-making. Finally, drawing on decades of experience working with great leaders, the authors focus on a critical issue you’ll face over and over again: knowing when to step up and lead, and when to stand back and let your team produce results.   Coverage includes Effectively evaluating, planning, and implementing large system projects Reducing resistance to process improvements Bringing greater agility to the way you manage products, portfolios, and projects Identifying the tasks that don’t create enough value to be worth your time Developing the forms of collaboration that are crucial to sustaining innovation Mitigating project risks more effectively–especially those associated with complexity and uncertainty Refocusing all decision-making on delivering value to the organization and the marketplace Making decisions at the right time to leverage the best information without stifling progress