The hardest part of a manager's job isn't staying organized, meeting deliverable dates, or staying on budget. It's dealing with people who are too comfortable doing things the way they've always been done and too afraid to do things differently—workers who are, as author Bill Treasurer puts it, too “comfeartable.” Such workers fail to exert themselves any more than they have to, equating “just enough” with good enough. By avoiding even mild challenges, these workers thwart forward progress and make their businesses dangerously safe. To combat this affliction, Treasurer proposes a bold antidote: courage. In Courage Goes to Work, he lays out a comprehensive, step-by-step process that treats courage as a skill that can be developed and strengthened. He Treasurer shows how managers can build workplace courage by modeling courageous behavior themselves, creating an environment where people feel safe taking chances and helping workers deal with fear. To make the concept of courage more concrete, Treasurer identifies what he calls the Three Buckets of Courage: Try Courage, having the guts to take initiative; Trust Courage, being willing to follow the lead of others; and Tell Courage, being honest and assertive with coworkers and bosses. He illustrates each with a variety of vivid real-world examples and offers proven practices for helping your workers keep each bucket full. Aristotle said that courage is the first virtue because it makes all other virtues possible. It's as true in business as it is in life. With more courage, workers gain the necessary confidence to take on harder projects, embrace company changes with more enthusiasm, and extend themselves in ways that will benefit their careers and their company. Courage Goes to Work is the first book to take a systematic approach to developing a vital but overlooked component of business success.

In The Courage to Collaborate, school turnaround expert Ken Futernick makes the case that collaboration between school management and teacher unions is a necessary condition for educational improvement. The author cites evidence showing that collaboration often leads to increased trust, stronger professional relationships, better policies, better implementation of programs and, ultimately, to better outcomes for students. Drawing on new research, his own experience, and the experience of dozens of other district and union leaders, Futernick details key features and benefits of labor-management collaboration. He also identifies and addresses several obstacles preventing its widespread adoption, including resistance to change, myths about what collaboration really means, skepticism about unions, lack of technical support, and misguided education policy. The Courage to Collaborate recommends strategies and tactics for educators, policy makers, and others interested in embracing collaboration over confrontation. Both sides--unions and management--must make changes so that collaboration becomes the norm, rather than the exception, Futernick argues. While not sufficient in itself, labor-management collaboration is a necessary ingredient for creating an education system in which all students have an opportunity to attend good schools.

Achieve more, do more, create more with the power of creative courage Creative Courage challenges you to step outside of your comfort zone and truly make an impact. Set aside the same old routine and break the status quo—because you can only rise to new heights if you first smash the ceiling. Written by the former Executive Creative Director of Creations at Cirque du Soleil, this book shows you how to step up your game, flex your creativity, and make big things happen. Whether you work independently or as part of a team, whether you're self-employed or part of an organization, and even if you think creativity isn't a part of the work that you do—this book gives you the perspective, courage, and kick start you need to think differently about the things you do every day. Creative courage is more than a strategy, it's a way of life. It opens your mind—and the minds of those around you—to new approaches, new ideas, and new schools of thought that can revolutionize the way you work. This book invites you to experience the freedom and power at the intersection of courage and creativity so you can finally: Foster a more collaborative culture Bring depth and meaning to every project Turn challenge into opportunity Create work that matters The value of creative thinking extends far beyond the arts, but the work it allows you to produce has the power to touch like great art can. You gain the ability to make a more profound impact, and you inspire and motivate others to do the same; you become a catalyst for bigger, better things, driven by the enormous potential of the free-thinking mind. Creative Courage helps you break out of the box and start making things happen today.

This book offers a refreshing approach that provides unique insights, examples, tools, techniques, checklists, and templates for successful collaborations. Now, more than ever before, organizations are encouraging work collaboration both in-person and remotely to increase productivity, enhance innovation, and attain the best results. However, leaders and teams often lack the essential knowledge, tools, and techniques required to avoid failure and achieve optimal outcomes. This book offers a refreshing approach that provides unique insights, examples, tools, techniques, checklists, and templates for successful collaborations. It opens with a review of the collaboration decagon of competencies–a self-test to reveal strengths, gaps, and practical tips to apply. Then, collaboration mindfulness is explained and guidelines based on the COIN model explain how to put this crucial mindset into action. Next, practical advice is offered for how to both encourage and manage discussion and disagreement throughout all four phases of the collaboration process. Having a clear focus for the collaboration topic as a problem or an opportunity is reviewed in detail, with tips on how to decide and discuss most efficiently. Guidelines for how to manage conflict and deal with challenging people are offered, based on strategies for each of the four conflict stages. Additionally, whole-brain techniques are explained to help collaboration teams invent the most unique options and solutions for innovation and change. The book concludes with proven strategies for how to overcome eight common obstacles to collaborations with confidence.

This third edition of Collaboration: What Makes It Work—written nearly 25 years after the first edition was published—is an example of the enduring importance of collaboration. Reaction to the first edition, published in 1992, showed that researchers and practitioners alike found it a useful tool. They appreciated its emphasis on providing a practical reference for decision-making that built upon credible, research-based information. The 21st century has brought with it rapid changes and increasingly complex challenges. This third edition in large part responds to the complexity witnessed daily in the authors' work with community, nonprofit, and government organizations. It offers new research and insights paired with practitioner wisdom, adding a “how-to” perspective to help readers put the success factors to work. Nearly 25 years after the first edition was published, it is not just the "how" of collaboration that has changed—who we are collaborating with has changed as well. Today, nearly every collaboration involves some degree of working across difference. Bringing together diverse people, organizations, or sectors in a way that will foster collaborative success requires a unique set of skills. This third edition will ground you in the factors that support successful collaboration and assist you in incorporating those factors into your work.

A Wall Street Journal bestseller The #1 New York Times bestselling author on how to use radical adaptability to win in a world of unprecedented change. You've shed antiquated systems and processes. You went all-in on digital. Your teams settled into new, often better, ways of doing things. But did your organization change enough to stay competitive in the post-pandemic world? Did you fully leverage the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leap forward and grow stronger? Are you shaping the new environment to your advantage? If not, it's not too late to learn from the best. New York Times #1 bestselling author Keith Ferrazzi, along with coauthors Kian Gohar and Noel Weyrich, shows leaders how to shape their organizations and practices to remain competitive in a new, post-pandemic context. Based on an ambitious global research initiative involving thousands of executives, innovators, and changemakers who redefined their strategies, business models, organizational systems, and even their cultures, Competing in the New World of Work: Offers a bold new vision for the organization of the future Reveals the workplace innovations that emerged during the pandemic Defines the new model of leadership—radical adaptability—for sustaining continuous change throughout the coming years of opportunity and transformation Competing in the New World of Work is both your inspiration and your road map to embracing new realities, motivating talent, and winning bold frontiers.

Appreciative Team Building: Positive Questions to Bring Out the Best of Your Team provides your team with everything it needs to discover the keys to past successes and future possibilities. Learn how to enhance your team's performance by igniting engaging conversations. Providing 48 positive questions, sample interview guides, and a step-by-step process for self-managed inquiry, Appreciative Team Building breaks new ground in the development of high performance teams. Choose positive questions on any one of eight topics that are pivotal to high performance and team development: Clear and shared goals Clear and shared roles and responsibilities Supportive and empowering relationships Clear and shared procedures Nurturing and challenging leadership Evolving energy and spirit Productivity and performance Complete, purposeful and uplifting communication Then follow a step-by-step self-managed appreciative inquiry process that guides your team-your unique collection of relationships-towards its highest potential. Hear what people are saying about Appreciative Team Building: "This book is full of provocative and positive questions that will develop and enhance your team's performance, yielding faster and better results." -Julie Meiresonne Director, Customer Relations Hunter Douglas Window Fashions Division, Broomfield, CO "Take time to savor every page of this book. The questions are free and intentionally different. They draw you in, transforming how you and others work together on a day-to-day basis. It is a meaningful contribution to the field. Grab it." -Jane Galloway Seiling Senior Editor, Focus Book Series, The Taos Institute Consultant and Author, The Membership Organization and The Meaning and Role of Organizational Advocacy