Books

Leading With Strategic Thinking
Four Ways Effective Leaders Gain Insight, Drive Change, and Get Results

www.leadingwithstrategicthinking.com

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Leading With Strategic Thinking reveals what effective leaders do differently. Eschewing the one-size-fits-all leadership model, this helpful guide outlines four general leadership types and demonstrates how each type achieves success – whether through personal vision, structured process, collaboration, or by empowering others. The authors identify the actions and skills that distinguish strategic leadership, drawn from interviews and focus groups with over three hundred leaders from around the world. Examples and case studies illustrate these concepts in action, and the provided reference materials steer readers toward more advanced information on this important topic.

The disruptive forces of technology and globalization raise new challenges for leaders. This book is a manual that will help executives and aspiring leaders harness these forces and address the two central questions of strategic leadership:

• How do the best leaders develop their strategy?
• How do effective leaders drive strategic change?

Becoming a strategic leader isn’t about mimicking an icon. The most effective leaders seize opportunity in a way that consciously integrates environmental requirements, stakeholder expectations, and personal ability. Leading With Strategic Thinking shows what these leaders do and gives anyone the tools to be a more strategic leader. 

Strategic Planning
A Practical Guide to Strategy Formulation and Execution

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A search of the Internet reveals more than 80 websites listing reasons strategic plans fail. How do you ensure your organization's strategic plan will avoid those many hurdles and pitfalls?

When it comes to strategic planning, B. Keith Simerson knows from experience what works and what doesn't. Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide to Strategy Formulation and Execution weaves that knowledge into a roadmap for anyone charged with creating a strategic plan, evaluating a strategic planning process, or executing resulting strategies in an effective and efficient way. Not a one-size-fits-all solution, the book offers a menu of information and options based on a broad view of strategic planning and offers correspondingly broad applicability.

The guide focuses on two major aspects of the planning process: the multitude of factors contributing to an effective strategic planning framework and the multitude of drivers and enablers of successful execution. Armed with concrete information, readers will learn to create and execute a business strategy, a personal strategic action plan, or strategies for any kind of for-profit or nonprofit organization. Specific methodologies, tools, and techniques will guide readers to successful strategy formation—and execution.

Features

• Concrete examples and case studies. 
• Templates and samples of materials used in various public- and private-sector strategic planning efforts. 
• A bibliography of resource materials about strategic thinking, strategy formulation, strategic planning, and strategy execution. 

Highlights

• Draws from the author's proven track record of helping teams develop strategic plans for organizations of all sizes. 
• Provides options individuals can use relative to strategy formulation, whether they are acting for themselves or on behalf of their family, a community organization or association, or a private or public, for-profit or nonprofit organization. 
• Describes the skills and abilities leaders, facilitators, and participants in strategic planning must emphasize to increase the likelihood of optimal outcomes.

The Manager as Leader

www.managerasleader.com

To order, visit www.greenwood.com.

An invisible line between individual contributor and leader was once thought to exist, separating "leaders" from "followers." Two decades of downsizings and rightsizings have forever blurred this distinction and left us with three fundamental challenges: 

1. How can an organization elicit leadership from everyone?
2. How can those who choose to lead influence others to perform more effectively and efficiently than they ever thought possible?
3. How can leaders continue to be successful when the environment in which they lead is constantly changing? 

Addressing these challenges requires a certain awareness and nimbleness on behalf of the person thinking and acting as the "leader," regardless of their formal position. The Manager as Leader presents practical strategies, tools, and techniques for developing the leadership mindset and applying it on a daily basis. 

THE CONTEXTUAL LEADERSHIP® MODEL

The book introduces the Contextual Leadership® Model, which identifies:

• Nine fundamental leadership roles 
• Six common contexts in which leadership is exercised

The model guides readers toward matching their roles and actions to the particular context at hand; it also shows readers how to anticipate changes in context and adjust their roles and actions accordingly. 

Packed with illustrative examples, diagnostic tools, worksheets, and other interactive elements, and featuring an extensive listing of resources, The Manager as Leader is a hands-on guide to the art of leadership, whether you are an executive, manager, supervisor, or aspiring leader anywhere in the organization.

Fired, Laid Off, Out of a Job
A Manual for Understanding, Coping, Surviving

www.firedlaidoff.com

To order, visit www.greenwood.com.

In today's economy, job loss will likely affect each of us at some point in our careers. 

Layoffs used to happen only when times were tough, but even a bustling economy is no protection when positions are eliminated, plants are closed, and jobs are shipped overseas in search of even higher profit margins. 

A toolkit for survival and coping with unemployment, this book explains how to minimize your chances of being laid off, how to negotiate the best outcome during the severance process, and how to re-enter the job market from a position of strength.