Showing results by narrator "Dana Hickox" in All Categories

In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from our solar system to the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life, what forms extraterrestrial life might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid.

Based on the authors' extensive experience working with international board-level teams, Challenging Coaching suggests that for too long coaches have shied away from adopting a more challenging stance in their work - a stance that can provoke greater performance and unlock deeper potential in business leaders and their teams. In particular, the authors offer a new coaching approach, FACTS, to help coaches develop this challenging stance.

Stealing the Corner Office is mandatory listening for smart, hardworking managers who always wonder why their seemingly incompetent superiors are so successful. It is a unique collection of controversial but highly effective tactics for middle managers and aspiring executives who want to learn the real secrets for moving up the corporate ladder. Unlike virtually all other business books, Stealing the Corner Office explores the unconventional tactics people less competent than you use to get ahead and stay ahead.

There is no simple strategic method for dealing with the multidimensional nature of digital change. Even the sharpest leaders can become disoriented as change builds on change, leaving almost nothing certain. Yet to stand still is to fail. Enterprises and leaders must remaster themselves to succeed. Leaders must identify the key macro forces then lead their organizations at three distinct levels: industry, enterprise, and self. By doing this they can not only survive but clean up.

With Obfuscation, Finn Brunton and Helen Nissenbaum mean to start a revolution. They are calling us not to the barricades but to our computers, offering us ways to fight today's pervasive digital surveillance - the collection of our data by governments, corporations, advertisers, and hackers. To the toolkit of privacy-protecting techniques and projects, they propose adding obfuscation: the deliberate use of ambiguous, confusing, or misleading information to interfere with surveillance and data-collection projects.

The Devil's Financial Dictionary skewers the plutocrats and bureaucrats who gave us exploding mortgages, freakish risks, and banks too big to fail. And it distills the complexities, absurdities, and pomposities of Wall Street into plain truths and aphorisms anyone can understand. An indispensable survival guide to the hostile wilderness of today's financial markets, The Devil's Financial Dictionary delivers practical insights with a scorpion's sting.

When children are late in hitting developmental milestones, parents worry. And no delay causes more parental anxiety than late talking, which is associated in many parents' minds with such serious conditions as autism and severe intellectual disability. In fact, as children's speech expert Stephen Camarata points out in this enlightening book, children are late in beginning to talk for a wide variety of reasons.

Between 1959 and 1989, Soviet scientists and officials made numerous attempts to network their nation - to construct a nationwide computer network. None of these attempts succeeded, and the enterprise had been abandoned by the time the Soviet Union fell apart. Meanwhile, ARPANET, the American precursor to the Internet, went online in 1969. Why did the Soviet network, with top-level scientists and patriotic incentives, fail while the American network succeeded? Find out.

Presented by a trusted expert, Dr. Sanjiv Chopra's The Big Five includes easily digestible data and startling results from real studies conducted by reputable universities and involving thousands of subjects. Listeners of The Big Five can hear for themselves that without a doubt, these five simple actions offer many more proven benefits than the latest expensive supplements, fad diets, jazzy exercise programs, and state-of-the-art gym equipment.

Whether you're the new kid in a cubicle, the boss in the executive suite, or self-employed, you have huge potential for greater productivity and fulfillment. Even very high performers in excellent organizations - large and small, for profit and nonprofit - report that 30 to 40 percent of their talent is untapped. Imagine what lies waiting for you.

Enough of the imbalance that is causing the degradation of our environment, the demise of our democracies, and the denigration of ourselves. Enough of the pendulum politics of left and right and paralysis in the political center. We require an unprecedented form of radical renewal. In this book Henry Mintzberg offers a new understanding of the root of our current crisis and a strategy for restoring the balance so vital to the survival of our progeny and our planet.

Increasingly, new employees and junior members of any profession are encouraged - sometimes stridently - to "find a mentor!" Four decades of research reveals that the effects of mentorship can be profound and enduring; strong mentoring relationships have the capacity to transform individuals and entire organizations.

We humans live by stories, says David Korten, and the stories that now govern our society set us on a path to certain self-destruction. In this profound new audiobook, Korten shares the results of his search for a story that reflects the fullness of human knowledge and understanding and provides a guide to action adequate to the needs of our time.

Based on a unique three-year study of nearly 200 self-made millionaires, The Millionaire Mystique uncovers the surprising secrets, individual stories, and pivotal career decisions of successful and happy millionaire women. Startlingly, the research shows that no silver spoon is required, and personal setbacks and career detours challenged - but did not stop - later success.

Organizations are coming to the reality that work-life balance is no longer solely an issue for working women. As we progress further into the 21st century, workers and ways of working are changing. We have four generations operating together in the workplace and a tremendous variety of professional expectations, values, goals, and needs. People want to work, but more and more need work to work better in their lives.

Many people fear public speaking more than death. Most wish they could do it better, or at least avoid the sweating, stuttering jitters that plague them before any presentation or speech. Vikas Jhingran has been there. He was so poor at speaking in public that his supervisor wouldn't let him make presentations to clients - even when he had done all the work. Surprisingly, few professional speakers and presenters understand speeches or presentations at a fundamental level.

Why do as many as 75% of change initiatives fail? We live in an era where constant change is the norm rather than the exception. Given globalization, increased competition, and constant technological turnover, no organization can run in place: change is not optional. However, the sad fact is that the vast majority of change efforts fail. As authors Gregory P. Shea and Cassie A. Solomon argue, they do not fail for a lack of trying or leadership. Chances are you have led or been part of a failed change.

Companies spend millions of dollars every year trying to court consumers. They invest in flashy advertising, celebrity endorsements, loyalty programs, websites ... you name it. And they spend millions more trying to build their businesses through elaborate "relationship management" software. The result? Most marketers still aren't emotionally connecting with consumers. Married to the Brand tells the story of what makes profitable brand relationships work - through the eyes of the consumer, not the marketer.

National polling indicates that for the first time in American history, people believe their children will not be as well off as they are. The primary reason for this? The lack of performance by government. The public sector receives trillions of American taxpayer dollars every year, and yet because of its seeming inability to run effectively, government is not delivering the level of service the people are paying for.

Birds of a feather flock together. We're all in the same boat. Great minds think alike. While just figures of speech to some, they reflect a simple truth - it's the company we keep that often determines the level of personal growth and professional success we achieve in life. Business leaders exchange information and ideas. They network to make deals and build partnerships. They work together to optimize best practices, and they reach out to leaders outside their companies to accelerate growth.