How to build a company with a Participation Age culture and eliminate the common management practices still in use from the Industrial Age.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

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To stay on top, companies need to do more than just tread water—they need to grow. And that means that their employees need to develop and improve their skills at the same pace. More than ever, managers are being encouraged to improve employee performance through effective coaching, but so few of them have the time—or the knowledge—it takes to do it successfully. Brian Emerson and Ann Loehr have spent years showing some of the country’s top companies how to develop their most promising employees. Now in this helpful manual they guide managers through every step of the coaching process, from problem solving to developing accountability. Readers will discover:the top 10 tips every manager should know before he starts to coach • how to handle difficult conversations, conflicting priorities, and problem team members • how to hold follow-up meetings after goals and priorities have been set • sample questions they can adapt to various situations • examples of common problems and how they can use coaching to address them.Clear, practical and straightforward, this is an invaluable tool that will help all leaders coach employees, colleagues, and themselves to excellence.

Why do some companies prosper while others fail? Despite great amounts of research, many of the studies that claim to pin down the secret of success are based in pseudoscience. THE HALO EFFECT is the outcome of that pseudoscience, a myth that Philip Rosenzweig masterfully debunks in THE HALO EFFECT. THE HALO EFFECT highlights the tendency of experts to point to the high financial performance of a successful company and then spread its golden glow to all of the company's attributes - clear strategy, strong values, and brilliant leadership. But in fact, as Rosenzweig clearly illustrates, the experts are not just wrong, but deluded. Rosenzweig suggests a more accurate way to think about leading a company, a robust and clearheaded approach that can save any business from ultimate failure.

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.

Indisputable evidence reveals that the greatest threat to America’s economy isn’t off-shoring labor, the need for downsizing, or unethical corporate practices--it’s employee disengagement. This widespread malady is the cause of billions of dollars lost, hours of dissatisfaction, and work lives lacking true value. In this game-changing guide, author Michael Stallard shares the three essential leadership actions necessary to transform even a lethargic, disconnected organization or office into an impassioned, innovative, and thriving workplace. By teaching readers what motivates their teams, providing essential tools for effective leadership, and analyzing the methods of twenty of the world’s greatest leaders, Fired Up or Burned Out offers everything you need to influence, motivate, and inspire your team to achieve greatness. Complete with a twenty-day learning plan and an assessment that will help you determine the health of your organization’s culture, this must-read book provides the key to establishing a happier, healthier workplace that’s not only good for business--it’s invigorating to the people who make it happen.