“Weaves together thoughts, stories, and quotes from top performers in music, business, and sports to help you achieve excellence” (Jeff Janssen, founder and president of the Janssen Sports Leadership Center). Does excellence relentlessly drive you? Does mediocrity constantly bother you? In Working Toward Excellence, Clemson University professor Paul Buyer identifies eight values for achieving excellence in work and life including hunger, effort, process, quality, consistency, leadership, time, and perseverance. Each chapter features inspiring stories, questions, and quotes from respected professionals who have achieved uncommon success in business, sports, education, and the arts such as John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Wynton Marsalis, Isaac Stern, and many others. Also included is a Working Toward Excellence Evaluation to help you and your organization reach your true potential and further develop, improve, and measure these essential attributes of success. “Working Toward Excellence has captures my attention in a big way. It is filled with valuable and practical information. It will make a major difference in your life.” —Pat Williams, Orlando Magic, senior vice president, author of Leadership Excellence

A manifesto on what it takes to be a true professional in the modern world. By common definition, a professional is anyone who possesses the skills and knowledge necessary for a career-whether as a surgeon, a software engineer, or a plumber. But according to Subroto Bagchi, our increasingly global marketplace demands more. In a world where the foolish, selfish, and unethical decisions of a few have affected the lives of millions, The Professional urges readers to act responsibly and reexamine "business as usual". By exploring a variety of professional dilemmas across many industries, Bagchi defines the qualities of true professionals and the attributes that separate them from the merely competent. These include: *Suffer no false attractions: It's always tempting to take the path of least resistance, but true professionals can separate the genuine from the phony. *Know when to say no: True professionals are not afraid to say no to things that are not worth their time, their energy, or their creativity. *Take the long view: True professionals understand that every action, decision, and relationship, no matter how small, can have a lasting impact.

Recipient of the 2020 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Business and Professional Communication provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to move from interview candidate, to team member, to leader. Accessible coverage of new communication technology and social media prepares students to communicate effectively in real world settings. With an emphasis on building skills for business writing and professional presentations, this text empowers students to successfully handle important work-related activities, including job interviewing, working in team, strategically utilizing visual aids, and providing feedback to supervisors.

What would it require for our businesses to build and sustain a unique competitive advantage based on the value-add of our team members? From both personal and corporate experience gained over the last twenty-five years, Wil Davis has come to the conclusion that businesses need to reinvent themselves around value systems that work for both the individuals in the company and the company itself. Only by successfully engaging the whole persons with whom we work can we find the collective wisdom to build sustained commercial success. This book chronicles the merits and benefits of creating a corporate culture that breeds personal excellence for our team members, which is the solid foundation for organizational excellence and lasting success. What they are saying “Warning: This book is dangerous to those whose self-image depends on executive perks or a reputation for knowing how to say ‘you’re fired.’ If you are not careful, you will find your management assumptions, your psyche, and your self-image undermined by the hard-nosed logic and corporate success of a ‘preacher’s kid’ who is not afraid to preach a gospel of empowering others to maximize your bottom line.” Steve Bell Professor of Telecommunications Ball State University Former news anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America “The information from Creating a Culture of Excellence was the most significant we’ve ever received at our annual planning meeting. Every associate wanted me to express their appreciation to you.” Richard Crist President Rutter Communications “WOW! What a difference a day makes. After working through this material with our staff, I walked away with feelings of hope and excitement! Personally and professionally, this really made a difference!” Betty McBride Open Door Health Clinic

Embrace connectivity, increase empowerment, and achieve better work-life blending We live in a new age of global companies, hyper-access to information, and accessibility to tools that enable us to bring any idea life. Strangely, our workplaces are lagging behind the promise of this open and collaborative world. Most organizations are rule-based, top-down, dreary environments optimized for conformity and little else. The Work Revolution creates a compelling portrait of a different kind of work. “I believe that freedom in the workplace is worth fighting for and that every person and every organization can be excellent.” Julie Clow articulates the rules we follow today in our work force, the reasons they no longer work, and what we can do instead. The Work Revolution deconstructs the magic behind thriving, liberated organizations (such as Google) into clear principles that any individual, leader, and organization can adopt to create sustainable and engaging lives. Provides actionable changes anyone can make, regardless of where they work, to create a more sustainable work-life blend Details concrete ways to influence existing organizations to change Guides leaders to make tangible changes in their teams to enable greater autonomy and impact Outlines organizational culture principles that support and nurture high-performance and healthy environments, providing clear options for instituting cultural change based on specific organizational challenges Rejecting productivity Band-Aids and quick fixes, The Work Revolution conceptualizes a completely new workplace that embraces the always-connected reality to create organizations in which high achievers can sustainably thrive.