Blog / ChangeThis

What If Sellers Behaved as Leaders?

By James Kouzes, Barry Posner, Deb Calvert

"It is time we start making a shift. Research shows you can make more sales by abandoning sales-y behaviors buyers resist and replacing them with leadership behaviors buyers desire. Sellers do extraordinary things when they stop pushing people to buy before they're ready, and start guiding buyers by transforming values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards."

Blog / ChangeThis

The Speed Trap: When Taking Your Time (Really) Matters

By Tom Peters

"Speed-for-speed's-sake is about the most counterproductive* approach imaginable. (*I use counterproductive because it's impolite to use "stupid"—which is what I really believe.) While we must indeed evolve and experiment rapidly, the process of getting things done (especially radical-ish things that upset apple carts) is all about people. And working with people to get those interesting things done effectively, well, takes time, in fact lots of time."

Blog / ChangeThis

Futureproof: 8 Ways to Win the Innovation Long Game

By Alice Mann

"The future is at your doorstep. It's a drone. And it's delivering the 3D printed bespoke shoes you ordered just a few hours earlier from your driverless car. Ok, that exact scenario may only play out in the virtual pages of Wired, but it's also likely to be a totally unremarkable event in three years. What is certain is that the kind of disruptions in supply chain, product design, material sourcing, and online retail that the drone delivery suggests are already happening. The future, it's also clear, doesn't have to arrive in glitzy packaging to have a major impact on how we do business. Technological innovations like intelligent buildings, AI, or robotics will transform energy consumption, leadership, and people practices in innumerable ways. Rapidly changing demographics and cultural norms will transform how we develop talent. Dynamic markets in the developing world and an era of regulatory uncertainty will make investing and planning more complicated. The future always looms large. So how do successful leaders plan for it.

Blog / Excerpts

Next Is Now: 5 Steps for Embracing ChangeBuilding a Business that Thrives into the Future

By 800-CEO-READ

Lior Arussy, in this excerpt from his new book _Next Is Now_, discusses "The Secret to Employee Engagement."

Blog / Book Giveaways

Pick Three: You Can Have It All (Just Not Every Day)

By Porchlight

Randi Zuckerberg found that the secret to a more balanced life overall was, ironically, to live lopsided day to day—and she'll teach you how.

Blog / Editor's Choice

Would You Do That to Your Mother?: The "Make Mom Proud" Standard for How to Treat Your Customers

Book Review by Dylan Schleicher

Jeanne Bliss provides a single question that will make our businesses better, in every sense of the word "better."

Blog / Staff Picks

10 Books for New Graduates

Book Review by Blyth Meier

These ten books make perfect gifts for your new grads, as they begin to navigate the Rest of Their Lives.

Blog / Book Giveaways

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

By Porchlight

Simon Winchester's history of precision engineering is surprisingly wide-ranging and entertaining, and helped by the beauty and eloquence of his writing.

Blog / Editor's Choice

High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia

Book Review by Dylan Schleicher

Will Doig's book on Chinese expansion is a quick and concise guide through that terrain that will take you just a few hours.

Blog / Excerpts

Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism

By Dylan Schleicher

Ian Bremmer's new book is a great resource for making sense of the present political moment, for understanding what has prompted the rise of populism and backlash against globalism.