Search results for ""harvard business school publishing""

Help your employees help themselves. As a manager in today's business world, you can't just tell your direct reports what to do: You need to help them make their own decisions, enable them to solve tough problems, and actively develop their skills on the job. Whether you have a star on your team who's eager to advance, an underperformer who's dragging the group down, or a steady contributor who feels bored and neglected, you need to coach them: Help shape their goals--and support their efforts to achieve them. In the HBR Guide to Coaching Employees you'll learn how to: * Create realistic but inspiring plans for growth * Ask the right questions to engage your employees in the development process * Give them room to grapple with problems and discover solutions * Allow them to make the most of their expertise while compelling them to stretch and grow * Give them feedback they'll actually apply * Balance coaching with the rest of your workload Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

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TODAY'S LEADERS KNOW THAT SPEED and agility are the keys to any company's success, and yet many are frustrated that their organizations can't move fast enough to stay competitive. The typical chain of command is too slow; internal resources are too limited; people are already executing beyond normal expectations. As the pace accelerates, how do you inspire people's energy and creativity? How do you collaborate with customers, vendors, and partners to keep your organization on the cutting edge? What kind of organization matches the speed and complexity that businesses must master--and how do you build that organization? Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, one of the world's most revolutionary companies, shows how open principles of management--based on transparency, participation, and community--reinvent the organization for the fast-paced connected era. Whitehurst gives readers an insider's look into how an open and innovative organizational model works. He shows how to leverage it to build community, respond quickly to opportunities, harness resources and talent both inside and outside the organization, and inspire, motivate, and empower people at all levels to act with accountability. The Open Organization is a must-read for leaders struggling to adapt their management practices to the values of the digital and social age. Brimming with Whitehurst's personal stories and candid advice for leading an open organization, as well as with instructive examples from employees and managers at Red Hat and companies such as Google, The Body Shop, and Whole Foods, this book provides the blueprint for reinventing your organization.

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Don't let destructive drama sideline your career. Every organization has its share of political drama: Personalities clash. Agendas compete. Turf wars erupt. But you need to work productively with your colleagues--even difficult ones--for the good of your organization and your career. How can you do that without compromising your personal values? By acknowledging that power dynamics and unwritten rules exist--and navigating them constructively. The HBR Guide to Office Politics will help you succeed at work without being a power grabber or a corporate climber. Instead you'll cultivate a political strategy that's authentic to you. You'll learn how to: * Gain influence without losing your integrity * Contend with backstabbers and bullies * Work through tough conversations * Manage tensions when resources are scarce * Get your share of choice assignments * Accept that not all conflict is bad Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

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OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLDWALL STREET JOURNAL AND BUSINESSWEEK BESTSELLERRECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC AND IMPACTFUL STRATEGY BOOKS EVER WRITTENThe global phenomenon that has sold over 4 million copies, is published in a record-breaking 47 languages and is a bestseller across five continents—now updated and expanded with new content. Named by Fast Company as one of the most influential leadership books in its Leadership Hall of Fame. A strategy classic.In this perennial bestseller, embraced by organizations and industries worldwide, globally preeminent management thinkers W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne challenge everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success. Recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written, BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY, now updated with fresh content from the authors, argues that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves (spanning more than 100 years across 30 industries), the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors but from creating "blue oceans"—untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any organization can use to create and capture their own blue oceans. This expanded edition includes: A new preface by the authors: Help! My Ocean Is Turning Red Updates on all cases and examples in the book, bringing their stories up to the present time Two new chapters and an expanded third one—Alignment, Renewal, and Red Ocean Traps—that address the most pressing questions readers have asked over the past 10 years A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this bestselling book charts a bold new path to winning the future. Consider this your guide to creating uncontested market space—and making the competition irrelevant.To learn more about the power of BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY, visit blueoceanstrategy.com. There you'll find all the resources you need—from ideas in practice and cases from government and private industry, to teaching materials, mobile apps, real-time updates, and tips and tools to help you make your blue ocean journey a success.

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How to lead the change Analytics are driving big changes, not only in what marketing departments do but in how they are organized, staffed, led, and run. Leaders are grappling with issues that range from building an analytically driven marketing organization and determining the kinds of structure and talent that are needed to leading interactions with IT, finance, and sales and creating a unified view of the customer. The Analytical Marketer provides critical insight into the changing marketing organization--digital, agile, and analytical--and the tools for reinventing it. Written by the head of global marketing for SAS, The Analytical Marketer is based on the author's firsthand experience of transforming a marketing organization from "art" to "art and science." Challenged and inspired by their company's own analytics products, the SAS marketing team was forced to rethink itself in order to take advantage of the new capabilities that those tools offer the modern marketer. Key marketers and managers at SAS tell their stories alongside the author's candid lessons learned as she led the marketing organization's transformation. With additional examples from other leading companies, this book is a practical guide and set of best practices for creating a new marketing culture that thrives on and adds value through data and analytics.

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Silicon Valley's latest trend for creating new ventures is based on trial and error: test market needs with new product concepts and a minimum amount of capital, expect that the product may not meet the market need, so fail fast and try another product with the hope that a product-market fit will eventually emerge. But this fail fast, step-and-pivot philosophy is like taking a random walk in the forest without a compass. If You Really Want to Change the World is about helping entrepreneurs find true north. Henry Kressel and Norman Winarsky--technologists, inventors, and investors with stellar track records--provide a guide for those who wish to create a market-leading company that will have a real impact: a disciplined and staged approach they have used to launch, invest in, and develop scores of highly successful companies. If You Really Want to Change the World leads entrepreneurs through the critical stages of venture development, from concept to acquisition or public offering to maintaining a rich culture of innovation in the company. It is a guide by innovators for innovators, with approaches that are practical and timeless. Drawing on the authors' experiences as well as those of their partners from around the world, Kressel and Winarsky share the stories of their triumphs and misses, demonstrate their method in action, and inspire their readers in the process. There are more opportunities now than ever before to build breakthrough companies that touch millions of lives. If this is your goal, let this book be your guide to creating world-changing ventures.

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A Radical New Model for Unleashing Your Company's Potential In most organizations nearly everyone is doing a second job no one is paying them for--namely, covering their weaknesses, trying to look their best, and managing other people's impressions of them. There may be no greater waste of a company's resources. The ultimate cost: neither the organization nor its people are able to realize their full potential. What if a company did everything in its power to create a culture in which everyone--not just select "high potentials"--could overcome their own internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and company growth? Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey (and their collaborators) have found and studied such companies--Deliberately Developmental Organizations. A DDO is organized around the simple but radical conviction that organizations will best prosper when they are more deeply aligned with people's strongest motive, which is to grow. This means going beyond consigning "people development" to high-potential programs, executive coaching, or once-a-year off-sites. It means fashioning an organizational culture in which support of people's development is woven into the daily fabric of working life and the company's regular operations, daily routines, and conversations. An Everyone Culture dives deep into the worlds of three leading companies that embody this breakthrough approach. It reveals the design principles, concrete practices, and underlying science at the heart of DDOs--from their disciplined approach to giving feedback, to how they use meetings, to the distinctive way that managers and leaders define their roles. The authors then show readers how to build this developmental culture in their own organizations. This book demonstrates a whole new way of being at work. It suggests that the culture you create is your strategy--and that the key to success is developing everyone.

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You think you have a winning strategy. But do you? Executives are bombarded with bestselling ideas and best practices for achieving competitive advantage, but many of these ideas and practices contradict each other. Should you aim to be big or fast? Should you create a blue ocean, be adaptive, play to win--or forget about a sustainable competitive advantage altogether? In a business environment that is changing faster and becoming more uncertain and complex almost by the day, it's never been more important--or more difficult--to choose the right approach to strategy. In this book, The Boston Consulting Group's Martin Reeves, Knut Haanaes, and Janmejaya Sinha offer a proven method to determine the strategy approach that is best for your company. They start by helping you assess your business environment--how unpredictable it is, how much power you have to change it, and how harsh it is--a critical component of getting strategy right. They show how existing strategy approaches sort into five categories--Be Big, Be Fast, Be First, Be the Orchestrator, or simply Be Viable--depending on the extent of predictability, malleability, and harshness. In-depth explanations of each of these approaches will provide critical insight to help you match your approach to strategy to your environment, determine when and how to execute each one, and avoid a potentially fatal mismatch. Addressing your most pressing strategic challenges, you'll be able to answer questions such as: * What replaces planning when the annual cycle is obsolete? * When can we--and when should we--shape the game to our advantage? * How do we simultaneously implement different strategic approaches for different business units? * How do we manage the inherent contradictions in formulating and executing different strategies across multiple businesses and geographies? Until now, no book brings it all together and offers a practical tool for understanding which strategic approach to apply. Get started today.

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Whether you're dealing with a problem employee or praising the good work of a colleague, you need to communicate in a way that promotes positive change in others. Giving Effective Feedback quickly walks you through the basics of delivering feedback that gets results, including:Choosing the right time to talkEngaging in productive dialogueHelping both star and struggling performersDeveloping a plan for effective follow-up Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

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Does the character of our leaders matter? You may think this question was answered long ago. Countless business authors and analysts have assured us that great leadership demands great character. Time and again, we've seen that truth play out, as once-thriving organizations falter and fail under the guidance of leaders behaving badly. Why, then, do so many executives remain skeptical about the true value of leadership character? A winning strategy and a sound business model are what really matter, they argue; character is just the icing on the cake. What's been missing from this debate is hard evidence: data that shows not only that leadership character matters for organizational success, but how it matters; and concrete evidence that it leads to better business results. Now, in this groundbreaking book, respected leadership researcher, adviser, and author Fred Kiel offers that evidence--solid data that demonstrates the connection between character, leadership excellence, and organizational results. After seven years of rigorous research based on a landmark study of more than 100 CEOs and over 8,000 of their employees' observations, Kiel's findings show that leaders of strong character achieved up to five times the ROA for their organizations as did leaders of weak character. Return on Character goes on to reveal: * How leadership character is formed, how it creates value, and how that value spreads throughout the organization * How low-character leaders undermine the success of even the best business plans * How leaders at any level can develop the habits of strong character and "unlearn" the habits of poor character The book also provides a character-building methodology--step-by-step advice and techniques for assessing your own character habits and improving your performance and that of your organization. Return on Character provides the blueprint for building your own leadership character and creating a character-driven organization that achieves superior business results.

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Over 6.4 billion people participate in a $36.5 trillion global economy, designed and overseen by no one. How did this marvel of self-organized complexity evolve? How is wealth created within this system? And how can wealth be increased for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and society? In The Origin of Wealth, Eric D. Beinhocker argues that modern science provides a radical perspective on these age-old questions, with far-reaching implications. According to Beinhocker, wealth creation is the product of a simple but profoundly powerful evolutionary formula: differentiate, select, and amplify. In this view, the economy is a "complex adaptive system" in which physical technologies, social technologies, and business designs continuously interact to create novel products, new ideas, and increasing wealth. Taking readers on an entertaining journey through economic history, from the Stone Age to modern economy, Beinhocker explores how "complexity economics" provides provocative insights on issues ranging from creating adaptive organizations to the evolutionary workings of stock markets to new perspectives on government policies. A landmark book that shatters conventional economic theory, The Origin of Wealth will rewire our thinking about how we came to be here--and where we are going.

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Are you driven to distraction at work? Bestselling author Edward M. Hallowell, MD, the world's leading expert on ADD and ADHD, has set his sights on a new goal: helping people feel more in control and productive at work. You know the feeling: you can't focus; you feel increasingly overwhelmed by a mix of nonstop demands and technology that seems to be moving at the speed of light; and you're frustrated just trying to get everything done well--and on time. Not only is this taking a toll on performance, it's impacting your sense of well-being outside the office. It's time to reclaim control. Dr. Hallowell now identifies the underlying reasons why people lose their ability to focus at work. He explains why commonly offered solutions like "learn to manage your time better" or "make a to-do list" don't work because they ignore the deeper issues that are the true causes of mental distraction. Based on his years of helping clients develop constructive ways to deal with distraction, Dr. Hallowell provides a set of practical and reliable techniques to show how to sustain a productive mental state. In Part 1 of the book, he identifies the six most common ways people lose the ability to focus at work--what he calls "screen sucking" (internet/social media addiction), multitasking, idea hopping (never finishing what you start), worrying, playing the hero, and dropping the ball--and he explains the underlying psychological and emotional dynamics driving each behavior. Part 2 of the book provides advice for "training" your attention overall, so that you are less susceptible to surrendering it, in any situation. The result is a book that will empower you to combat each one of these common syndromes--and clear a path for you to achieve your highest personal and professional goals.

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Conducting performance reviews can be stressful. But these conversations are critical to your employees' development, allowing you to formally communicate with them about their accomplishments relative to their goals. Performance Reviews guides you through the basics. You’ll learn to: Gather and analyze the right informationDocument your assessmentAddress performance problemsSet challenging goals Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

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Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work you need to accomplish? Being pulled in different directions by competing priorities? Getting Work Done runs you through the basics of being more productive at work. You’ll learn to: Align your schedule with your prioritiesFocus your attention and avoid distractionsCreate effective daily routinesSet boundaries and learn to say no Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

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Imagine designing the best company on earth to work for ...What would that company be like? How would you build and sustain it? As a leader, you need to know. In the past, businesses made people conform to the organization's needs. But the old paradigm has shifted. Now leaders must transform their organizations so that they attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work. How do you create a culture people want to belong to? In this powerful and necessary follow-up to the classic Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, leadership and organizational sages Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones identify and illuminate the six key organizational attributes to do just that. In separate chapters, they delve deeply into each one: 1. Let people be themselves 2. Practice radical honesty 3. Magnify people's strengths 4. Stand for authenticity (more than shareholder value) 5. Make work meaningful 6. Make simple rules With vivid stories and examples from global companies, the authors illustrate the kind of strong, attractive workplace culture that leads to sustained high performance. They also provide ways of assessing how your company is doing and describe the tensions and trade-offs that leaders must manage as they transform their organizations. Why Should Anyone Work Here? is the question all contemporary organizational leaders must constantly ask themselves if they want to survive and thrive in the new world. This book will help them answer that question.

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How to close the gap between strategy and execution Two-thirds of executives say their organizations don't have the capabilities to support their strategy. In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors. Based on new research, the authors reveal five practices for connecting strategy and execution used by highly successful enterprises such as IKEA, Natura, Danaher, Haier, and Lego. These companies: * Commit to what they do best instead of chasing multiple opportunities * Build their own unique winning capabilities instead of copying others * Put their culture to work instead of struggling to change it * Invest where it matters instead of going lean across the board * Shape the future instead of reacting to it Packed with tools you can use for building these five practices into your organization and supported by in-depth profiles of companies that are known for making their strategy work, this is your guide for reconnecting strategy to execution.

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You aspire to lead with greater impact. The problem is you're busy executing on today's demands. You know you have to carve out time from your day job to build your leadership skills, but it's easy to let immediate problems and old mind-sets get in the way. Herminia Ibarra--an expert on professional leadership and development and a renowned professor at INSEAD, a leading international business school--shows how managers and executives at all levels can step up to leadership by making small but crucial changes in their jobs, their networks, and themselves. In Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, she offers advice to help you: * Redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions * Diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders * Become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiar--and possibly outdated--leadership style to evolve Ibarra turns the usual "think first and then act" philosophy on its head by arguing that doing these three things will help you learn through action and will increase what she calls your outsight--the valuable external perspective you gain from direct experiences and experimentation. As opposed to insight, outsight will then help change the way you think as a leader: about what kind of work is important; how you should invest your time; why and which relationships matter in informing and supporting your leadership; and, ultimately, who you want to become. Packed with self-assessments and practical advice to help define your most pressing leadership challenges, this book will help you devise a plan of action to become a better leader and move your career to the next level. It's time to learn by doing.

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Negotiation-whether hammering out a great job offer, settling a dispute with a client, drafting a contract, or making trade-offs between business units-is both a necessary and challenging aspect of business life. In the business world, confident negotiators are always in high demand. Bringing a difficult negotiation to a successful conclusion can be one of the most exhilarating-and valuable-aspects of business today. Packed with practical advice and handy tools, Negotiation will help any manager sharpen skills and yield a sizable payoff. Contents include: Preparing the necessary information before a negotiation Managing multiparty negotiations Assessing the position of the opposing side Determining your sources of power and authority in a negotiation Recognizing the barriers to agreement and how to overcome them Plus, readers can access free interactive tools on the Harvard Business Essentials companion web site. Series Adviser: Michael Watkins Associate Professor Michael Watkins does research on negotiation and leadership. He is the coauthor of Right From the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role (HBS Press, 1999) and the author of Taking Charge in Your New Leadership Role: A Workbook (HBS Publishing, 2001), both of which examine how new leaders coming into senior management positions should spend their first six months on the job. Harvard Business Essentials The Reliable Source for Busy Managers The Harvard Business Essentials series is designed to provide comprehensive advice, personal coaching, background information, and guidance on the most relevant topics in business. Drawing on rich content from Harvard Business School Publishing and other sources, these concise guides are carefully crafted to provide a highly practical resource for readers with all levels of experience. To assure quality and accuracy, each volume is closely reviewed by a specialized content adviser from a world class business school. Whether you are a new manager interested in expanding your skills or an experienced executive looking for a personal resource, these solution-oriented books offer reliable answers at your fingertips.

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Effective communication is a vital skill for everyone in business today. Great communicators have a distinct advantage in building influence and jumpstarting their careers. This practical guide offers readers a clear and comprehensive overview on how to communicate effectively for every business situation, from sensitive feedback to employees to persuasive communications for customers. It offers advice for improving writing skills, oral presentations, and one-on-one dealings with others. Contents include: Understanding the optimal "medium" to present information Learning the best timing to deliver a message Delivering an effective presentation Drafting proposals Writing effective e-mails Improving self-editing skills Plus, readers can access free interactive tools on the Harvard Business Essentials companion web site. Series Adviser: Mary Munter Professor Mary Munter has taught management communication for over twenty-five years, for seven years at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and since 1983 at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Professor Munter is considered one of the leaders in the management communication field. Among her publications is Guide to Managerial Communication-recently published in its sixth edition and named "one of the five best business books" by the Wall Street Journal. She has also published many other articles and books and consulted with over ninety corporate and not-for-profit clients. Harvard Business Essentials The Reliable Source for Busy Managers The Harvard Business Essentials series is designed to provide comprehensive advice, personal coaching, background information, and guidance on the most relevant topics in business. Drawing on rich content from Harvard Business School Publishing and other sources, these concise guides are carefully crafted to provide a highly practical resource for readers with all levels of experience. To assure quality and accuracy, each volume is closely reviewed by a specialized content adviser from a world class business school. Whether you are a new manager interested in expanding your skills or an experienced executive looking for a personal resource, these solution-oriented books offer reliable answers at your fingertips.

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