Think you know your top competitors and their potential impact on your organization? Think again. Here, you will pick up sophisticated tools (some of which are based on government-intelligence models) and easy-to-apply instruction to vet out unexpected threats and hidden opportunities that will ultimately ward off challenges before they occur and turn your organization into a progressive forerunner within its industry or sector.

Have you ever thought about the fact that a craftsman has more and better tools to solve challenges on the job than the leader of a business or organization does? Leadership "tools" are usually defined as computers, spreadsheets, data, and even experience, but in reality, leaders need thinking tools that are hard to come by, so they find themselves hunting and pecking for answers in books, at seminars, through on-the-job training programs, from mentors, and at business schools, and still, they're left with gaps. Surely, most leaders are good at what they do, but the daily challenges of their jobs, like accelerating growth, increasing productivity, driving innovation, doing more with less, and balancing work with life don't come with some sort of leadership toolkit...until now. In Paid to Think, international consultant David Goldsmith presents his groundbreaking approach to leadership and management based on research revealing the twelve specific activities that all leaders perform on a daily basis, and he provides you with each activity's accompanying tools and instructions proven to boost your performance and that of your entire organization. Take the uncertainty out of everyday leading, convert ideas to realities, and maximize your intellectual value. Learn how decision makers at some of the world's most successful organizations have already used Paid to Think's universal and easily transferable tools—regardless of their industries, sectors, geographic locations, or management levels—as their greatest advantages in achieving more, earning more, and living more.

Competition seems to be an inevitable part of present-day elections in the United States. However, recent publications have debated whether we should encourage or discourage competitive elections. In Competitive Elections and Democracy in America, Heather Evans closely examines the debate over competition in elections and questions whether or not they are beneficial for democracy in the US. Evans clearly lays out the basis of the debate over competition and defines what exactly constitutes a competitive election. She then uses an innovative data set that she assembled to analyze the 2006-2010 congressional elections, testing whether the competitiveness of an election affects citizens’ political knowledge, political interest, and opinions of Congress, their representatives, and the governmental system as a whole. She subsequently evaluates the positive effects that competitive elections have on constituencies, and in turn gives equal weight to the negative effects. An examination of the effects "ugly" campaigns have on voters is also incorporated, relevant to today’s oft-used "mud-slinging" campaign tactics. Evans concludes with a thoughtful and analytical assessment of whether competition is valuable for elections, and how to increase competition if it indeed has merit for political campaigns. Through the book’s analyses, Evans demonstrates that competitive elections do have lasting effects on voters that go beyond just the length of a campaign. Her research reinforces the vital role that political competition plays in modern democracies, and offers a careful evaluation of how and why competitive elections affect citizens in the US.

This book is a comprehensive practical guide for account managers, sales teams and account leaders operating in the B2B space. It provides knowledge to excel in developing, growing and retaining top accounts in local and global environments. With a nuanced version of ‘account management’ that will potentially be a game changer, the book offers a personnel-and-process based agenda that can create a ‘competitive advantage’ on its own.

Jean Thompson lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, two of her three children and five of her seven grandchildren. She loves bonding with her grandchildren, giving honorable mention to her newest addition, Maya Ann, to her Thompson Family village. She is a sister to Charles, James, Marie, Iris, Sandy, Gail and Mary who have supported and encouraged all of her dreams how far-fetched they may have sounded. She loves to read, organize, and decorate. She abhors cooking. She is learning to garden a little. Jean enjoys a Tuesday night Bible study to share her love of God. Jean is blessed with a ‘safe place’ in her family and prays everyone could be so fortunate. And she has been a friend, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and confidant to a host of many others who make up the Thompson village.