ChangeThis
The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.
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Blog / ChangeThis
Becoming the New Boss
By Naphtali Hoff, PsyD
"A story is told about a reporter who was interviewing a successful bank president. He wanted to know the secret of the man's success. 'Two words,' the president replies; 'right decisions.' 'And how do you make right decisions?' asked the reporter. The reply: 'One word: Experience.' The reporter pressed on. 'And how do you get experience?' he asked. To which the banker replied, 'Two words: Wrong decisions.' New leaders often feel trapped in this catch-22."
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Good and Bad of Grit
By Caroline Adams Miller
"The moment people understand how passion, hard work, and dedication to a goal fit into a traditional description of grit, they usually think of someone they know who fits the definition in a good way, like Gandhi or someone in their extended family who showed them early that work pays off. But it isn't long before they get a puzzled look and ask about Hitler. [...] In order to make it easier to understand the differences between good grit and bad grit, I've divided up the types of positive Authentic Grit that I see in the world, along with examples to help flesh out their significance and meaning."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Work/Life Balance Is Hurting Us: A Manifesto for a Better Life Because of Work, Not Despite It
By Jennifer Moss
"I believe that work/life balance is killing us. Why? Because it makes us believe that work is hard and horrible—that life is fun and work is tolerated. Too many of us cling to the weekend after just 'getting by' every other day of the week. Life shouldn't begin on Friday and end on Sunday."
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Blog / ChangeThis
A Values-Based Culture
By Robert Spector, breAnne O. Reeves
"If 'vision' embodies the head of your organization, and 'mission' personifies the heart, then 'values" symbolize the soul. Every organization can cite its vision and mission statements, but few recognize the existential value of values. [...] In order to stay competitive, organizations must be guided by philosophies, practices, and strategies that deal with current and future market conditions. In order to ensure longevity and loyalty, organizations must have a foundation built on its non-negotiable values."
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Blog / ChangeThis
A Call to Lead with Courage, Authenticity and Service
By Kevin Cashman
"With the escalating volatility, complexity and disruptions in today's world, it would be understandable, even easy, to become discouraged. Another viable response is to pull inspiration from those leaders exemplifying courageous, authentic leadership, and to go deeper within ourselves to reframe our challenges as a potent call to step up and lead with heightened courage, values, purpose and authenticity. The toughest situations are often a call to go deeper into self first in order to serve others with greater impact."
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Blog / ChangeThis
Think Bigger! Change Your Thinking. Change the World.
By Michael W. Sonnenfeldt
"Most people don't think big enough, which could be the biggest factor limiting their success. And, yes, that includes you. Ponder that for a second. Sure, there are lots of outside forces that could be holding you back—I am certain you could come up with a laundry list. And I am not saying those impediments aren't real. But, what I am saying is that one of the main things that is probably holding you back is inside you, and not some outside force."
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Blog / ChangeThis
Archaic "Best" Business Practices Toxic to Resilience, Innovation, and Change (Plus, What To Do Instead!)
By Carol Sanford
"The concept of 'best practices' is no protection against toxic practices. Most of these 'Best Practices' have never been validated, and some are particularly toxic themselves—whether that is in how they develop strategy, lead people, or change an industry. Most are marketing hype invented by a consultant company. Of course, everyone wants to have the 'best' way to work. But by what standards? Most businesses just layer on a new program to soften the negative effects of last year's program. But they are not examined rigorously before they are adopted. Lost is the deep reconceptualization of how to design and carry out work in a way that develops the highest aspect of human beings. Some programs and practices even undermine our role as citizens. Amazingly, the practices even outlast the companies that adopt them, carried forward by Human Resource professionals and leaders who are hired elsewhere."
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Blog / ChangeThis
Calling All Leaders
By Constance Dierickx PhD
"High-Stakes Leadership has a ring of drama, for good reason. When risk is great and uncertainty low, missteps can have catastrophic results. When we think of high-stakes most of us can name the obvious situations. Too often, we think that people who lead in high-stakes matters are special people. They are not. You do not need to be a special person, with super-human powers and nerves of steel as the examples in this manifesto will show. What do you need? Courage, character, judgment, and fortitude."
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Expectant Non-Profit: A Guide for Navigating the Healthy Growth of Organizations
By Maxine Harris PhD
"Non-profit organizations can be fragile things. In the beginning, they need a lot of tender loving care. But just because you make it out of that first rough year, don't expect smooth sailing. Fewer than 50% of all non-profits make it to their 5th birthday! Not exactly a mortality rate to be proud of. Just like new parents often need a 'how to' book, so do new non-profit CEOs. So here it is, a guide for helping your organization flourish and live well into old age ... "
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Blog / ChangeThis
What Your Career Needs Now Is Some Relational Intelligence
By Angie McArthur, Dr. Dawna Markova
"Likely you have been schooled in many rational strategies, but you probably never received any training that fosters relational intelligence. Relational Intelligence is the ability to connect with those who think differently through communication, understanding, learning and trust. It is what enables you to grow yourself with another. In this age of complexity, chaos, and constantly changing teams, the more skill you have to work and relate across differences, the more effective and happier you will be. For twenty years the two of us have been passionately developing and offering strategies for senior leaders around the world that increase relational intelligence."
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