Blog / ChangeThis

How to Win by Being Your Own Worst Enemy

By Bryce G. Hoffman

"Many of the business tools we have relied on for decades no longer work in a world where incremental improvement is not enough to stay in business, let alone succeed in it. We need new processes, new methodologies, and new ways of thinking if we are to become one of the disruptors, rather than one of the disrupted. One of the most promising and powerful of these new approaches is red teaming—a system developed by the military and intelligence agencies after 9/11 to help organizations stress-test their strategies, challenge their assumptions, and make better decisions. How? By becoming their own worst enemy."

Blog / ChangeThis

Learning to Recognize Your Leadership Gap

By Lolly Daskal

"It's the one problem that even some of the most successful CEOs I've worked with never see coming and have no idea how to resolve. The problem is that one day, suddenly, what once worked so well to propel their rise stops working. And the very same traits that had worked for them actually start working against them. Another stellar career comes to an abrupt end. Another high-flying executive is brought swiftly back down to earth. This is the moment when leaders confront a critical and very uncomfortable question: What if there's a gap in what I think I know?"

Blog / ChangeThis

The Operational Excellence Manifesto

By Joseph F. Paris Jr.

"When a company reaches a state of readiness, it attains a situational awareness and command of its capabilities—the ability to see and anticipate opportunities and threats. Along with it comes the ability to react in a meaningful and expeditious manner to any such challenges that may present themselves—keeping in mind this awareness will never be perfect and will need to be perpetually refined. As Mike Tyson famously said, 'Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.' That is to say, even though you are talented, trained, professional, and on the offensive pursuing your plan, the business that is better prepared to identify and engage an unforeseen challenge more quickly than its competition has a strategic and tactical advantage."

Blog / ChangeThis

G.R.I.T.: The Stuff of Leaders and Champions

By Scott Petinga

"Success is rarely, if ever, easily obtained. It rises from the ashes of multiple failures like the proverbial phoenix, having to be fought for, chased and desired above all else. That is particularly true in this day and age when competition is fiercer, criticism is deeper, and expectations are higher. A thousand and one obstacles will be thrown up along your journey, seeking to stop your career and even your very existence. I know because I have failed at most things in my life and was even diagnosed with cancer. I shouldn't be a success, but I learned to apply certain foundational characteristics that I have found to be the 'stuff' of entrepreneurs, leaders, and champions. [...] These characteristics, if applied, will make your life's ambitions much easier to obtain and more successful than dreamed. I have come to know these characteristics as Guts, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity—or—G.R.I.T."

Blog / ChangeThis

Bringing Passion and Evangelism Together in Your Business: The Unquenchable Spirit of Co-Creation

By David Nour

"Do you co-create value with others? Do you understand—deep in your gut—that you cannot succeed in the future by going at it alone? Co-creation means banding together with another organization or person to build something together that you could not have built alone. To do this right, you must intertwine your futures together in a highly significant manner. Taking a step like that requires the heartfelt belief that the two of you are much better off together than you were on your own. This belief must survive obstacles, setbacks, delays, disappointment, and even (gasp) looming failure."

Blog / ChangeThis

Capitalists Arise!

By Peter Georgescu

"For the past four decades, capitalism has been cannibalizing itself. It's going on in plain view and yet no one is talking about it because only a few people recognize what's happening. Those few are either very troubled or very scared. The bull market is setting historical records, and the unemployment rate seems reasonable again, so most casual observers—meaning almost all of the media—think America is back on track and growing. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Blog / Staff Picks

Double Bind: Women on Ambition

Book Review by Sally Haldorson

Robin Romm has edited a book of essays from successful women that takes on "the last feminist taboo"—ambition.

Blog / Excerpts

Good People: The Only Leadership Decision That Really Matters

By 800-CEO-READ

In Good People, Anthony Tjan explains how kindness and caring for others is good for business.

Blog / Editor's Choice

The Land of Enterprise: A Business History of the United States

Book Review by Dylan Schleicher

Benjamin C. Waterhouse opens up the grand sweep of American history by looking at it from a business perspective.

Blog / News & Opinion

Legends and Losers Podcast: The Power of Business Books with our General Manager Sally Haldorson

By 800-CEO-READ

Our General Manager Sally Haldorson talks with Christopher Lochhead about the power of business books, and how "our company is the reverse of an algorithm."