Peter Thomas has lived a tremendously successful and fulfilling life, despite personal tragedy and occasionally grave financial circumstances. He founded and built Century 21 Real Estate into the largest real estate network in Canada, and profitably spearheaded dozens of large-scale real estate developments all over North America. He has founded several more wildly successful businesses, the not-for-profit organizations LifePilot and the Todd Thomas Institute for Values-Based Leadership, flown a helicopter, dived to 850 feet in a submarine, and raced motorcycles. So why him? Peter Thomas doesn’t believe he is a particularly gifted person or any smarter than the average man or woman in the street, but his achievements in business and philanthropy are world class. So what is the secret to building an exceptional life? The answer is that there are many paths to success, but what they all have in common is being true to the people on them, and you get to – have to – pick your own. Thomas shares his life, experience, and wisdom with you to illustrate his Five Foundations for achieving the life you want: Values: Clarify your personal values and live them. Focus: Understand the power of focus and how to apply it. Visualization: If you can picture your goal, you can work towards it. Inspiration: Celebrate the genius within you. Reflection: Tap into positive forces you control. For Peter Thomas, learning and applying these principles has brought him fame and fortune, aligned with a resolute conviction to help the less fortunate. There is no limit to what we are capable of achieving. Be Great is a manual for unlocking human potential.

Two centuries ago, the Russians pushed out of the cold north towards the Caucasus Mountains, the range that blocked their access to Georgia, Turkey, Persia and India. They were forging their colonial destiny, and the mountains were in their way. The Caucasus had to be conquered and, for the highlanders who lived there, life would never be the same again. If the Russians expected it to be an easy fight, however, they were mistaken. Their armies would go on to defeat Napoleon and Hitler, as well as lesser foes, but no one resisted them for as long as these supposed savages. To hear the stories of the conquest, I travelled far from the mountains. I wandered through the steppes of Central Asia and the cities of Turkey. I squatted outside internment camps in Poland, and drank tea beneath the gentle hills of Israel. The stories I heard amplified the outrages I saw in the mountains themselves. As I set out, in my mind was a Chechen woman I had met in a refugee camp. She lived in a ragged, khaki tent in a field of mud and stones, but she welcomed me with laughter and kindness. Like the mountains of her homeland, her spirit had soared upwards, gleaming and pure. Throughout my travels, I met the same generosity from all the Caucasus peoples. Their stories have not been told, and there fame is not great, but truly it deserves to be.

A bold new approach to performance by one of the top coaches in the country. In trying to improve-on the playing field, in the office, or even at home-most people seek out new information to get to the next level. They read a book, attend a class, or hire an expert to give them an edge. But Alan Fine, an accomplished tennis, golf, and executive coach and a renowned authority on peak performance, believes that this "outside-in" method is precisely what's holding you back from doing your best work. He's found the biggest obstacle to improved performance isn't not knowing what to do; it's not doing what you already know. Ironically, the quest for information and instructions designed to help you get ahead can often interfere with your ability to focus on doing something. Fine reveals his simple and proven approach to achieving breakthrough performance. It starts with reducing the interference that blocks your potential through an amazing process called G.R.O.W. (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward). No matter who you are or what you do, You Already Know How to Be Great will help you eliminate what is standing in the way of your goals.

Do you aspire to be a more effective leader who guides your team or organization to higher levels of lasting success? Would you like to look forward to each day and know that you are having a positive impact on the world around you? This is possible for everyone, regardless of your title or position. In fact, Serve to Be Great: Leadership Lessons from a Prison, a Monastery, and a Boardroom will train you to make this a reality. Although it’s not an easy process, it is a worthwhile one. By making a shift in your approach to leadership, you can become a highly effective leader who enjoys your work and makes the world a better place. The shift is simply a matter of gradually becoming more focused on how you can serve others and increase your capacity to do so. Being an extraordinary leader does not require a MBA or PhD. The reality is that anyone can be a great leader. Author Matt Tenney has survived – and thrived – in situations where most people would have been quickly broken. In Serve to Be Great, he offers his life experiences and unique insights to help leaders apply the powerful principles of servant leadership. Servant leaders are not weak or timid. Motivated by the aspiration to serve, they achieve true power by empowering others to achieve excellence. This is a practical guide to becoming a leader people want to follow. By shifting focus from short-term gain to serving others, leaders can create great workplace cultures that deliver superior, long-term results. Serve to Be Great is the perfect playbook for realizing the ultimate in personal and business success. In keeping with the spirit in which Serve to Be Great was written, all author proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to charity.

In January 2006, after the Republic of Liberia had been racked by fourteen years of brutal civil conflict, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—Africa's "Iron Lady"—was sworn in as president, an event that marked a tremendous turning point in the history of the West African nation. In this stirring memoir, Sirleaf shares the inside story of her rise to power, including her early childhood; her experiences with abuse, imprisonment, and exile; and her fight for democracy and social justice. This compelling tale of survival reveals Sirleaf's determination to succeed in multiple worlds: from her studies in the United States to her work as an international bank executive to her election campaigning in some of Liberia's most desperate and war-torn villages and neighborhoods. It is also the story of an outspoken political and social reformer who, despite danger, fought the oppression of dictators and championed change. By sharing her story, Sirleaf encourages women everywhere to pursue leadership roles at the highest levels of power, and gives us all hope that, with perseverance, we can change the world.

The author of the number-one New York Times bestseller How to Have More in a Have-Not World gives us her most passionate—and personal—book yet. In her trademark witty, straight-talking style, Terry Cole-Whittaker reveals a seven-step program that teaches readers to become the successful, happy people God has designed them to be.