These eBooks are professional and career development titles that were jointly funded by the WesternU Staff Council and the Harriet K. and Philip Pumerantz Library.
All eBooks in this collection are one concurrent users and have been updated to allow a two-week download.
Atomic Habits by
The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; design your environment to make success easier; get back on track when you fall off course; ...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
The Blueprint by
A Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lift your leadership to new heights Doug Conant, Founder of ConantLeadership, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and former President of Nabisco Foods, shares transformational insights in his new book, The Blueprint. Conant is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times bestselling author, a top 50 Leadership Innovator, a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, and a Top 100 Most Influential Author in the World. Get Unstuck In 1984, Doug Conant was fired without warning and with barely an explanation. He felt hopeless and stuck but, surprisingly, this defeating turn of events turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. Doug began to consider what might be holding him back from realizing his potential, fulfilling his dreams, and making a bigger impact on the world around him. Embarking on a journey of self-reflection and discovery, he forged a path to revolutionize his leadership and transform his career trajectory. Ultimately, Doug was able to condense his remarkable leadership story into six practical steps. It wasn't until Doug worked through these six steps that he was able to lift his leadership to heights that ultimately brought him career success, joy, and fulfillment. Reach High - Envision Dig Deep - Reflect Lay the Groundwork - Study Design - Plan Build - Practice Reinforce - Improve In The Blueprint, part leadership manifesto, part practical manual, Doug teaches leaders how to work through the same six steps that he used to transform his journey. The six steps are manageable and incremental, designed to fit practically within the pace of busy modern life. Knowing how daunting the prospect of change can be, Doug arms readers with exercises and practices to realistically bring their foundation to life in every situation. Now, today's leaders who feel stuck and overwhelmed finally have a blueprint for lifting their leadership to make meaningful change in their organizations and in the world.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Third Edition by
Keep your cool and get the results you want when faced with crucial conversations. This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever. The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today's workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation--especially difficult ones--leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, the book teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person. This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You'll learn how to: Respond when someone initiates a crucial conversation with you Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it Communicate more effectively across digital mediums When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results. Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, crucial conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.
Eat That Frog! by
Stop Procrastinating Get More of the Important Things Done--Today! There just isn't enough time for everything on our to-do list--and there never will be. Successful people don't try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure those get done. They eat their frogs. There's an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you're done with the worst thing you'll have to do all day. For Tracy, eating a frog is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task--but also the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life. Eat That Frog! shows you how to organize each day so you can zero in on these critical tasks and accomplish them efficiently and effectively. In this fully revised and updated edition, Tracy adds two new chapters. The first explains how you can use technology to remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important. The second offers advice for maintaining focus in our era of constant distractions, electronic and otherwise. But one thing remains unchanged: Brian Tracy cuts to the core of what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. This life-changing book will ensure that you get more of your important tasks done--today!
The Elevated Communicator by
Discover your communication style and elevate consciousness at work to build trust, strengthen collaboration, relieve stress, and improve well-being. Our work lives revolve around effective communication. It is essential for cultivating trust and team collaboration, as well as strengthening our motivation and well-being at work. And with teams experiencing more anxiety, stress, and burnout than ever before, strong communication skills have never been more essential. The key to this clear and effective communication begins with understanding our own personal communication styles. Bringing our whole and authentic selves to work improves relationships and teamwork. The better we know what drives us, how we impact others, and how our wellbeing impacts our communication, the faster we can close communication gaps to build healthy, successful, and satisfying work lives and more intentional careers. Drawing on more than a decade of original research on communication tendencies and proven mindfulness and habit-formation techniques, Maryanne O'Brien has developed a proprietary model of communication styles: Expressive, Reserved, Direct, or Harmonious. In The Elevated Communicator, you will find: -A self-assessment to discover your style -An in-depth style profile to strengthen self-awareness and help you play to your strengths -Strategies to manage your communication style under stress -Practices to improve your wellbeing and reduce conflict -Ways to care for your communication style and improve your wellbeing -Methods to flex toward other styles to communicate more effectively with people -Advice on building healthy, trusted, and productive working relationships Perfect for fans of StrengthsFinders 2.0 and Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies, The Elevated Communicator is a "refreshing, insightful, and user-friendly" (Tara Peyerl, executive coach and success director, Salesforce) approach to develop daily practices to spiral up, raise consciousness, inspire accountability, and discover your full potential at work.
Getting Things Done by
The book Lifehack calls "The Bible of business and personal productivity." "A completely revised and updated edition of the blockbuster bestseller from 'the personal productivity guru'"--Fast Company Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, David Allen's Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. "GTD" is now shorthand for an entire way of approaching professional and personal tasks, and has spawned an entire culture of websites, organizational tools, seminars, and offshoots. Allen has rewritten the book from start to finish, tweaking his classic text with important perspectives on the new workplace, and adding material that will make the book fresh and relevant for years to come. This new edition of Getting Things Done will be welcomed not only by its hundreds of thousands of existing fans but also by a whole new generation eager to adopt its proven principles.
The Gumbo Coalition by
Learn key lessons on diversity and inclusion from front-line expert Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans. Marc Morial knew his calling from a young age was to be a leader in the fight for meaningful change. Growing up in the segregated South and helping his father realize an incredible victory as the first African American mayor of New Orleans, Morial was shown that significant change is possible. Less than two decades later in his own mayoral race in New Orleans, Morial built what he christened the "Gumbo Coalition," an incredible mixture of all of New Orleans's ingredients--African Americans, Whites, Latinos, Asians, business leaders, grassroots community activists, business leaders, clergy, and more. Each ingredient brought its own flavor, creating a dish that was able to reduce crime and rebuild New Orleans's reputation with such power that the city successfully attracted an NBA franchise, multiple Super Bowls, and the Essence Festival, the largest African American event in the nation. Now, Morial fights on behalf of the National Urban League to create a community with a voice so strong that nothing can stand in the way of change. He is ready to teach others what he has learned along the way, by showing readers what it means to be a leader who can unite voices and create meaningful change.
The Happiness Advantage by
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * An engaging, deeply researched guide to flourishing in a world of increasing stress and negativity--the inspiration for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time "Powerful [and] charming . . . A book for just about anyone . . . The philosophies in this book are easily the best wire frames to build a happy and successful life."--Medium Happiness is not the belief that we don't need to change; it is the realization that we can. Our most commonly held formula for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that once we succeed, we'll be happy; that once we get that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But the science reveals this formula to be backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. Research shows that happy employees are more productive, more creative, and better problem solvers than their unhappy peers. And positive people are significantly healthier and less stressed and enjoy deeper social interaction than the less positive people around them. Drawing on original research--including one of the largest studies of happiness ever conducted--and work in boardrooms and classrooms across forty-two countries, Shawn Achor shows us how to rewire our brains for positivity and optimism to reap the happiness advantage in our lives, our careers, and even our health. His strategies include: * The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility so we can see and seize opportunities all around us * Social Investment: how to earn the dividends of a strong social support network * The Ripple Effect: how to spread positive change within our teams, companies, and families By turns fascinating, hopeful, and timely, The Happiness Advantage reveals how small shifts in our mind-set and habits can produce big gains at work, at home, and elsewhere.
Kiss That Frog! by
Just like the lonely princess in the fairy tale who was reluctant to lock lips with a warty frog and transform him into a handsome prince, something stops many of us short of attaining our dreams. Our negative thoughts, emotions, and attitudes can threaten to keep us from achieving all that we're capable of. Here bestselling author and speaker Brian Tracy and his daughter, therapist Christina Tracy Stein, provide a set of practical, proven strategies anyone can use to turn those negative frogs into positive princes. Tracy and Stein present a step-by-step plan that addresses the root causes of negativity, helps you uncover blocks that have become mental obstacles, and shows how you can transform them into stepping-stones to achieve your fullest potential. The book distills, in an accessible and immediately useful form, what Tracy has presented in more than 5,000 talks and seminars with more than five million people in fifty-eight countries and what Stein has learned through thousands of hours of counseling people from all walks of life. "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," the authors quote Shakespeare. The many powerful techniques and exercises in this book will help you change your mindset so that you discover something worthwhile in every person and experience, however difficult and challenging they might seem at first. You'll learn how to develop unshakable self-confidence, become your best self, and begin living an extraordinary life.
The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias by
A timely, must-have guide to understanding and overcoming bias in the workplace, from the experts at FranklinCovey. Unconscious bias affects everyone. It can look like the disappointment of an HR professional when a candidate for a new position asks about maternity leave. It can look like preferring the application of an Ivy League graduate over one from a state school. It can look like assuming a man is more entitled to speak in a meeting than his female junior colleague. Ideal for every manager who wants to understand and move past their own preconceived ideas, The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias explains that bias is the result of mental shortcuts, our likes and dislikes, and is a natural part of the human condition. And what we assume about each other and how we interact with one another has vast effects on our organizational success--especially in the workplace. Teaching you how to overcome unconscious bias, this book provides more than thirty unique tools, such as a prep worksheet and a list of ways to reframe your unconscious thoughts. According to the experts at FranklinCovey, your workplace can achieve its highest performance rate once you start to overcome your biases and allow your employees to be whole people. By recognizing bias, emphasizing empathy and curiosity, and making true understanding a priority in the workplace, we can unlock the potential of every person we encounter.
LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education by
Why does queer leadership matter? In this book, the first of its kind, 15 LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in higher education provide insight into their experiences and highlight the importance of queer leadership for the academy and the world. Prior to this century, there were few known gay or lesbian presidents in North American higher education. Mary Emma Wooley, president of Mount Holyoke College from 1901 to 1937, is documented because her life on campus with her partner, Jeanette Marks, is described in their love letters, which have been recently curated. Jacquelyn A. Mattfeld, president of Barnard College from 1976 to 1980, rarely receives recognition for braving sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia during her presidency. Theodora J. Kalikow, president of University of Maine Farmington from 1994 to 2012, bridges the few early examples to the era of contributors to this volume. In LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education, Raymond Crossman brings together 15 currently serving or retired LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in higher education to explain why, to whom, and how LGBTQ leadership matters. Writing from the perspective of their lived and specific experiences as LGBTQ presidents, these current and former leaders consider whether there is something distinctive about LGBTQ leadership. They also attempt to draw insights and principles from their personal stories. In addition, the book considers a profound question: Is being queer a superpower for these leaders, something they manage as part of their intersectional identities, or is it just another attribute of accomplished leaders? In essays ranging across 12 topics, including intersectionality, mentorship, feminism, self-care, coming out, heteronormativity, and partners and spouses, the authors address why LGBTQ leadership matters at this moment, and more broadly, why diversity, inclusion, and equity in leadership are important to meet today's challenges for higher education and human rights. The first book on this topic, LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education simultaneously archives a moment that is the forerunner to new, enormous, and necessary evolutions in the practice of leadership. Contributors: Terry L. Allison, Peggy Apple, Nancy "Rusty" Barceló, Raymond E. Crossman, Erika Endrijonas, James Gandre, Richard J. Helldobler, Susan E. Henking, Ralph J. Hexter, Theodora J. Kalikow, Daniel López, Jr., Charles R. Middleton, DeRionne Pollard, Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Regina Stanback Stroud, Boris Thomas, Karen M. Whitney
The Power of a Positive Team by
A book about teams to help teams become more positive, united and connected. Worldwide bestseller -- the author of The Energy Bus and The Power of Positive Leadership shares the proven principles and practices that build great teams - and provides practical tools to help teams overcome negativity and enhance their culture, communication, connection, commitment and performance. Jon Gordon doesn't just research the keys to great teams, he has personally worked with some of the most successful teams on the planet and has a keen understanding of how and why they became great. In The Power of a Positive Team, Jon draws upon his unique team building experience as well as conversations with some of the greatest teams in history in order to provide an essential framework, filled with proven practices, to empower teams to work together more effectively and achieve superior results. Utilizing examples from the writing team who created the hit show Billions, the National Champion Clemson Football team, the World Series contending Los Angeles Dodgers, The Miami Heat and the greatest beach volleyball team of all time to Navy SEAL's, Marching bands, Southwest Airlines, USC and UVA Tennis, Twitter, Apple and Ford, Jon shares innovative strategies to transform a group of individuals into a united, positive and powerful team. Jon not only infuses this book with the latest research, compelling stories, and strategies to maintain optimism through adversity... he also shares his best practices to transform negativity, build trust (through his favorite team building exercises) and practical ways to have difficult conversations--all designed to make a team more positive, cohesive, stronger and better. The Power of a Positive Team also provides a blueprint for addressing common pitfalls that cause teams to fail--including complaining, selfishness, inconsistency, complacency, unaccountability--while offering solutions to enhance a team's creativity, grit, innovation and growth. This book is meant for teams to read together. It's written in such a way that if you and your team read it together, you will understand the obstacles you will face and what you must do to become a great team. If you read it together, stay positive together, and take action together you will accomplish amazing things TOGETHER.
Professional Communication 4e by
Professional Communication: Deliver effective written, spoken and visual messages Fourth Edition is aimed at all professionals and students in business, industry and higher education institutions. It offers sound advice, clear guidelines and numerous practical examples, and this latest edition includes managing digital communication platforms, creating templates, being interviewed for a job, raising funding, and conducting and managing Internet research. Designed and written as an easy, instant reference and practical aid for all levels of readers, it has proved its success as a textbook in academia, and as a resource in industry. Some of the topics this new edition covers are: -Analysis and audience reach: confident presentations, visuals and graphics -Design: social media platforms, and document and PowerPoint templates -Digital research techniques: sourcing data and referencing, writing for academia -Final delivery: industry reports, academic proposals and theses, CVs and applications -Workspaces: business plans, meetings, agendas and minutes, negotiation, ethics and teams.
Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager by
No project management training? No problem! In today's workplace, employees are routinely expected to coordinate and manage projects. Yet, chances are, you aren't formally trained in managing projects--you're an unofficial project manager. FranklinCovey experts Kory Kogon, Suzette Blakemore, and James Wood understand the importance of leadership in project completion and explain that people are crucial in the formula for success. Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager offers practical, real-world insights for effective project management and guides you through the essentials of the people and project management process: Initiate Plan Execute Monitor/Control Close Unofficial project managers in any arena will benefit from the accessible, engaging real-life anecdotes, memorable "Project Management Proverbs," and quick reviews at the end of each chapter. If you're struggling to keep your projects organized, this book is for you. If you manage projects without the benefit of a team, this book is also for you. Change the way you think about project management--"project manager" may not be your official title or necessarily your dream job, but with the right strategies, you can excel.
Quiet by
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Experience the book that started the Quiet Movement and revolutionized how the world sees introverts--and how introverts see themselves--by offering validation, inclusion, and inspiration "Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a fascinating read, Quiet is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand the gifts of the introverted half of the population."--Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People * O: The Oprah Magazine * Christian Science Monitor * Inc. * Library Journal * Kirkus Reviews At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts--Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak--that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts--from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves. Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader's guide and bonus content
Salsa, Soul, and Spirit by
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED One of America's historic strengths is the ability to incorporate aspects from many different cultures to create a stronger whole. Our music, literature, sports, architecture, food, and fashion have all benefitted. But current leadership approaches are overwhelmingly written by White males and remain distressingly Eurocentric. Juana Bordas has set out to change this. In this influential book, she shows how incorporating Latino, Black, and American Indian approaches can enrich leadership and offers a more viable model for our expanding multicultural society.
Start with Why by
The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time--with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever. START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way--and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.
Teamwork 101 by
Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships. Let John C. Maxwell teach you how teamwork is the heart of great achievement in the game of business. Teamwork is a vital part of success in sports, pop culture, and every other industry--including business. In this essential guidebook, New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert John C. Maxwell explains why teamwork is so critical and shows you how to prioritize teamwork and collaboration to achieve winning results. In Teamwork 101, you'll learn how to: build a team that lasts; create positive energy on the team; harness a team's creativity; identify weak players who negatively impact your team; and judge if your team can accomplish the dream. You'll also discover how a winning team is self-fulfilling fuel: because everyone wants to be part of the winning team, you'll continue to attract only the best talent--and stay on top. A great team is the key to great results--for individual employees, leaders, and the company as a whole. Teamwork 101 demonstrates how to build and maintain one for yourself so you can leverage the benefits--and fun--of exceptional teamwork.