Introduction -- Managerial work -- Organizational storytelling -- Reports, opinions and proto-stories -- Putting stories to work -- Concluding comments -- Bibliography -- Index

We tend to assume that we may divide our activities into talk and action. In so doing we tend to suggest that talk is subordinate to action. Taking issue with these presumptions, Stories for Management Success: The Power of Talk in Organizations argues that talk is central to what managers do. Indeed it argues that, for managers, ‘walking the walk’ necessarily implies ‘talking the talk such that storytelling is now central to managerial work’. Noting that managerial talk is increasingly located within an account of storytelling the book offers a critical review of the academic debates associated with telling tales at work and uses this critical reflection to shape and guide those who would realise the power of talk. Thus, the book concludes with six key questions designed to prompt both introspection and action on storytelling in an organized context. With reflections on the relevant management research, the author provides a scholar's digest to aid management thinking and practice. This book offers an examination of the processes of organizational storytelling and has been designed to allow practitioners of management to recognise and in so doing to unleash the power of talk in organizations.

How do the best salespeople connect, influence and persuade? With stories. 'Seven Stories Every Salesperson Must Tell' takes you on a high-stakes sales journey, using stories to establish rapport and trust, deliver insight, inspire action and close the deal, and in doing so win new friends and collaborators. When you share purposeful stories in your client conversations, you'll create more new business than you thought possible. Sharing more than 50 stories from around the world, Mike draws on his diverse international sales career to teach and demonstrate the power of storytelling -- from first hello to signed contract. You'll learn stories to help you: Establish rapport and trust Present challenging insights Differentiate your solution Share your company values Unstick negotiation stand-offs Create better business outcomes. This book will change the way you think about selling. Rather than seeing your role as that of a transactional deal closer, you'll become a story master, creating new stories for your clients.

"This is the project management book I've been waiting a decade for! . . . The new world is the Project World, and this book gloriously shows the way."-Tom Peters How to get beyond the formulas and succeed in real-world project management Project Management Success Stories begins where most books on project management leave off-with the real-world experiences of professional project managers working without a net. From these stories and the lessons they teach, project managers emerge not as bureaucrats or technicians clinging to rules and formulas but as champions who challenge the status quo, set goals that extend the limits of their teams' capabilities, rely more on judgment and intuition than calculation, and are not afraid to take risks when necessary. Based on a comprehensive, NASA-sponsored research project, this practical guide takes readers beyond textbook management systems and articulates the field-proven tacit knowledge that these veteran leaders have accumulated through years of experience under fire. These stories contain lessons that extend far beyond the field of engineering; they apply in any environment, from the government task force to the corporate boardroom to the shop floor. This remarkably unconventional how-to book: * Features 70 firsthand project management success stories * Presents actionable lessons demonstrated by these success stories * Inspires and energizes readers to reach new heights in their own performance * Conveys leadership principles and intangibles in a simple, nontechnical format * Provides resources for creating success stories within any organization * Includes profiles of five "star" project managers Project management is not just for engineers anymore, and Project Management Success Stories is for anyone-engineer or generalist, project manager or team member-who wants to turn the tacit knowledge of proven professionals into hands-on solutions to the recurring challenges of a dynamic and constantly changing business and technological environment.

Business Driven PMO Success Stories was written by and with over two dozen contributing authors from the worldwide project management and project management office (PMO) community. It offers executives, managers, and all those involved in the projects of the organization, an understanding of the value a PMO can provide, the knowledge they need to determine the purpose of their PMO, and how to craft a PMO best suited to fulfill that purpose.

Shows how to link selection, direction, evaluation, and reward of employees into the larger framework of an organization's strategic goals. Gives practical advice on defining a job and finding qualified candidates, training management and non-management personnel, performance measurement, variable-reward and nonpay-reward programs, and administering a reward program. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR