Drawing from his thirty-five years as a CEO, popular leadership literature, and the Scriptures, Eugene Habecker makes the case of the integration of soft skills, like emotional intelligence and character quality, in building healthier professional and personal lives and healthier organizations.

This edited volume explores different models, conceptualizations, and measures of leader interpersonal and influence "soft skills" that are so necessary for effective leadership. These include the communication skills, persuasion skills, political savvy, and emotional abilities used by leaders to inspire, motivate, and move followers toward the accomplishment of goals. The book emanates from the two-day-long 21st Kravis-de Roulet leadership conference, which brought together top scholars working in this area. The intent of the conference and this edited volume is to increase understanding of the interpersonal and influence skills, or "soft skills," of the leader, to highlight state-of-the-art research on the topic, and to provide clear, research-based guidelines for the development of leader skills.Chapter authors are recognized experts in their respective areas, and each section of the book will be introduced by an editor-authored chapter reviewing the specific topic area in brief.

As public schools face hard times, disenchantment and the continual barrage of criticism call for more successful schools. The "soft" sides of leadership-trust, imagination, creativity, respect, and dignity-are the critical intangibles that connects people in deep and rewarding relationships to improve the climate for children and their ability to learn. Leaders who connect with people and build exciting relationships are needed, as teachers and other educators feel the loss of public support and esteem. Soft leadership begins with an introspective inquiry into leadership and the obligation leaders have to people, purpose, and relationships. Through the use of poetry and philosophical principles, Soft Leadership for Hard Times provides practitioners with a clear understanding of relationships that touch people and connect them to their calling and purpose. It addresses the need for leadership that does not take a re-engineering and a metrical approach to creating exciting places for teachers and students. This book will be of interest to superintendents, principals, and students of leadership.

***BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2021 WINNER: SELF DEVELOPMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR*** Everyone says a great leader needs EQ, Emotional Intelligence, soft skills, blah, blah, blah. What does that even mean? Where do you start? Where’s the line for that on the P&L? You might think that business is all about facts and figures. You probably prefer it that way. The truth is that as uncertainty and business complexity increases, successful leaders need to embrace soft skills to get the best out of their people in a sustainable manner. In this succinct, no-nonsense approach, Anne Taylor shares: Key soft skills relevant for leadership and practical applications of how to use them every day drawn from real-life case studies Straightforward tools to better understand yourself, because your leadership starts with YOU Simple frameworks to communicate with others to get things done while building a stronger relationship with them (at the same time, how efficient!) Logical ideas you can try immediately with on-line support if you want it. All done in an easy to read, logical, organized manner for people who prefer facts and don’t consider themselves natural ‘people people.’ In a direct yet professional manner, Anne combines the results-oriented focus from her extensive business background in Fortune 100 corporations with her passion for personal awareness and conscious choice to help you get better results through your people, fast. The Practical Principles in this book, when applied, practiced and honed, can improve your effectiveness, impact and bottom-line results.

The definitive playbook for driving impact as a middle manager Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization delivers an insightful and practical guide for the backbone of an organization: those who have a boss and are a boss and must lead from the messy middle. Accomplished author and former P&G executive Scott Mautz walks readers through the unique challenges facing these managers, and the mindset and skillset necessary for managing up and down and influencing what happens across the organization. You’ll learn the winning mindset of the best middle managers, how to develop the most important skills necessary for managing from the middle, how to create your personal Middle Action Plan (MAP), and effectively influence: Up the chain of command, to your boss and those above them Down, to your direct reports and teams who report to you Laterally, to peers and teams you have no formal authority over Anyone in an organization who reports to someone and has someone reporting to them must lead from the middle. They are the most important group in an organization and have a unique opportunity to drive impact. Leading from the Middle explains how.