What Does Top Talent Really Want?

More than vision, strategy, creativity, marketing, finance, or even technology, it is ultimately people that determine organizational success. That's why virtually every organization wants more top talent. But do you know what they're looking for? It might not be what you think! Talent Magnet will show you how to attract and keep great people.

Win the talent wars! The groundbreaking research that informs this new book by leadership expert and bestselling author Mark Miller will help leaders hire, retain and nurture the kind of top talent that will make their businesses thrive.

There is a long-standing truth in the world of organizations: those with the most talented people have the greatest chance of winning. But based on extensive research Mark Miller conducted with Aon, one of the world's largest and most respected human resource consulting practices, he discovered that what keeps and attracts top talent is different than what attracts and keeps typical talent. In Talent Magnet, Miller uses a business fable about Blake Brown, a CEO struggling with winning the war for talent, and his 16 year old son who is trying to help a village in Africa secure clean water, to reveal what top talent really want:
A Better Boss
A Brighter Future
A Bigger Story
This book pulls back the curtain on what leaders can do to attract the very best talent--a strategic need virtually every leader faces

A leading expert on risk management describes how to steer your company through a risk hurricane-the extreme risk exposure that can lead to major disruption for your business.

Risk management has become a standard part of the strategic tool kit, providing senior leaders with a forward-looking radar to scan the future and give early warnings of approaching threats and opportunities. However, even best-in-class organizations can falter in the face of extreme risk exposure. Special circumstances demand special responses, and extreme risk exposure needs very careful handling. Routine risk management approaches will fall short, but businesses that demonstrate a high degree of flexibility and resilience will have the competitive advantage and the ability to thrive where others fail.

The causes and consequences of meteorological hurricanes have parallels in the way uncontrolled risk exposure can develop in organizations. Both are caused largely by predictable factors, but both are characterized by sustained uncertainty and severe impact once they develop. If we can learn to predict a risk hurricane, prepare for it effectively, and survive its effects, then our organizations will be well placed to address the challenge of extreme risk exposure, if and when we are unfortunate enough to face it.

A leading expert on risk management describes how to steer your company through a risk hurricane-the extreme risk exposure that can lead to major disruption for your business.

Risk management has become a standard part of the strategic tool kit, providing senior leaders with a forward-looking radar to scan the future and give early warnings of approaching threats and opportunities. However, even best-in-class organizations can falter in the face of extreme risk exposure. Special circumstances demand special responses, and extreme risk exposure needs very careful handling. Routine risk management approaches will fall short, but businesses that demonstrate a high degree of flexibility and resilience will have the competitive advantage and the ability to thrive where others fail.

The causes and consequences of meteorological hurricanes have parallels in the way uncontrolled risk exposure can develop in organizations. Both are caused largely by predictable factors, but both are characterized by sustained uncertainty and severe impact once they develop. If we can learn to predict a risk hurricane, prepare for it effectively, and survive its effects, then our organizations will be well placed to address the challenge of extreme risk exposure, if and when we are unfortunate enough to face it.

A leading expert on risk management describes how to steer your company through a “risk hurricane”-the extreme risk exposure that can lead to major disruption for your business.

Risk management has become a standard part of the strategic tool kit, providing senior leaders with a forward-looking radar to scan the future and give early warnings of approaching threats and opportunities. However, even best-in-class organizations can falter in the face of extreme risk exposure. Special circumstances demand special responses, and extreme risk exposure needs very careful handling. Routine risk management approaches will fall short, but businesses that demonstrate a high degree of flexibility and resilience will have the competitive advantage and the ability to thrive where others fail.

The causes and consequences of meteorological hurricanes have parallels in the way uncontrolled risk exposure can develop in organizations. Both are caused largely by predictable factors, but both are characterized by sustained uncertainty and severe impact once they develop. If we can learn to predict a risk hurricane, prepare for it effectively, and survive its effects, then our organizations will be well placed to address the challenge of extreme risk exposure, if and when we are unfortunate enough to face it.

The workforce crisis is here—and retaining your best employees is no longer optional.

In Targeting Turnover, Dick Finnegan draws on decades of experience and groundbreaking data to reveal a stark truth: the US is running out of workers. As baby boomers retire and birthrates fall, the only sustainable path forward is to keep the good employees you already have.

This book offers a proven, research-backed strategy for doing just that—by building trust between employees and their immediate supervisors.

Forget one-size-fits-all solutions like pay and perks. The top predictor of retention and engagement is whether employees trust their boss. Yet most first-line leaders have never been trained—or held accountable—for building that trust.

Finnegan delivers a call to action: make employee retention an executive-driven priority and equip your leaders to lead differently.

You will learn how to do the following:

• Use stay interviews and practical tools to reduce turnover
• Hold managers accountable for engagement and retention
• Understand the real costs of attrition—and how to reverse them
• Apply forecasting and metrics to drive leadership behavior

At a time when there are fewer workers and more complex employee needs, Targeting Turnover gives leaders the tools to stabilize teams, improve performance, and face the workforce future with confidence.

The workforce crisis is here—and retaining your best employees is no longer optional.

In Targeting Turnover, Dick Finnegan draws on decades of experience and groundbreaking data to reveal a stark truth: the US is running out of workers. As baby boomers retire and birthrates fall, the only sustainable path forward is to keep the good employees you already have.

This book offers a proven, research-backed strategy for doing just that—by building trust between employees and their immediate supervisors.

Forget one-size-fits-all solutions like pay and perks. The top predictor of retention and engagement is whether employees trust their boss. Yet most first-line leaders have never been trained—or held accountable—for building that trust.

Finnegan delivers a call to action: make employee retention an executive-driven priority and equip your leaders to lead differently.

You will learn how to do the following:

• Use stay interviews and practical tools to reduce turnover
• Hold managers accountable for engagement and retention
• Understand the real costs of attrition—and how to reverse them
• Apply forecasting and metrics to drive leadership behavior

At a time when there are fewer workers and more complex employee needs, Targeting Turnover gives leaders the tools to stabilize teams, improve performance, and face the workforce future with confidence.

The workforce crisis is here-and retaining your best employees is no longer optional.

In Targeting Turnover, Dick Finnegan draws on decades of experience and groundbreaking data to reveal a stark truth: the US is running out of workers. As baby boomers retire and birthrates fall, the only sustainable path forward is to keep the good employees you already have.

This book offers a proven, research-backed strategy for doing just that-by building trust between employees and their immediate supervisors.

Forget one-size-fits-all solutions like pay and perks. The top predictor of retention and engagement is whether employees trust their boss. Yet most first-line leaders have never been trained-or held accountable-for building that trust.

Finnegan delivers a call to action: make employee retention an executive-driven priority and equip your leaders to lead differently.

You will learn how to do the following:

• Use stay interviews and practical tools to reduce turnover
• Hold managers accountable for engagement and retention
• Understand the real costs of attrition-and how to reverse them
• Apply forecasting and metrics to drive leadership behavior

At a time when there are fewer workers and more complex employee needs, Targeting Turnover gives leaders the tools to stabilize teams, improve performance, and face the workforce future with confidence.

Building on the success of her classic, bestselling book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, Marilee Adams shows how, by adopting a new mindset, teachers can rekindle their love of teaching and ignite their students with a love of learning.

Teaching That Changes Lives is a transformational and practical guide that will enable teachers to make an authentic difference with their students and avoid succumbing to the myriad pressures and challenges of their jobs.

Using the storytelling format that proved so successful in her previous book, Adams tells how Emma, a sixth-grade teacher on the verge of quitting her job, learns to cultivate what Adams calls the “Learner Mindset”— having the discipline, curiosity, and courage to consistently ask growth-oriented, open-minded questions of oneself and others—and to avoid the close-minded and critical “Judger Mindset.” Emma transforms her classroom, her relationships with her colleagues, and, most importantly, her students' eagerness for learning and achievement.

Teaching is more than imparting facts and skills—it's preparing students for the test of life. Featuring an innovative, easy-to-follow workbook and access to a Learner Mindset online mini-course, this inspiring book will ensure that teachers and students alike become creative, resilient problem solvers, bridge builders, and lifelong learners.

Building on the success of her classic, bestselling book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, Marilee Adams shows how, by adopting a new mindset, teachers can rekindle their love of teaching and ignite their students with a love of learning.

Teaching That Changes Lives is a transformational and practical guide that will enable teachers to make an authentic difference with their students and avoid succumbing to the myriad pressures and challenges of their jobs.

Using the storytelling format that proved so successful in her previous book, Adams tells how Emma, a sixth-grade teacher on the verge of quitting her job, learns to cultivate what Adams calls the “Learner Mindset”— having the discipline, curiosity, and courage to consistently ask growth-oriented, open-minded questions of oneself and others—and to avoid the close-minded and critical “Judger Mindset.” Emma transforms her classroom, her relationships with her colleagues, and, most importantly, her students' eagerness for learning and achievement.

Teaching is more than imparting facts and skills—it's preparing students for the test of life. Featuring an innovative, easy-to-follow workbook and access to a Learner Mindset online mini-course, this inspiring book will ensure that teachers and students alike become creative, resilient problem solvers, bridge builders, and lifelong learners.

Building on the success of her classic, bestselling book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life (over 100,000 copies sold), Marilee Adams shows in this new book how teachers and other education professionals can change their own and their students' lives by developing an active, inquiring mindset and igniting a lifelong love of learning.

Knowing how to work effectively in and through groups may be the single most important skill anyone can develop in today's collaborative, team-based workplace. Unfortunately, all of the resources available on teamwork put the emphasis on group process and ignore the role of-and benefits to-the individual. But effective teamwork isn't only a group skill set; it's an individual skill set as well. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill shows readers how to develop the skills to thrive on any team, under any circumstances. No longer will readers find themselves complaining, "I got assigned to a bad team." Instead, they'll know what to do to make any team work for them. Drawing on over twenty years of experience successfully developing professional teams in product development, R&D, and high-tech environments, Christopher Avery and his coauthors use brief thought-provoking essays, personal and teambuilding exercises, case studies, and insights from business leaders to teach readers how to build responsible and productive relationships at work. The authors show how and why your ability to assume personal responsibility-for your own work on a team and for the team's collective work-is the most important factor in ensuring a productive team experience. Teambuilding, the authors point out, is essentially a series of conversations between people who share responsibility to get something done. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill describes the way these conversations typically progress, and shows the reader how to predict and direct these conversations so that they can maximize the benefits to both themselves and to their team. Designed for easy access and for use by both individuals and groups, Teamwork Is an Individual Skill will equip readers with the mental skills and behaviors that will help them achieve personal goals while contributing to their team's success.

Knowing how to work effectively in and through groups may be the single most important skill anyone can develop in today's collaborative, team-based workplace. Unfortunately, all of the resources available on teamwork put the emphasis on group process and ignore the role of-and benefits to-the individual. But effective teamwork isn't only a group skill set; it's an individual skill set as well. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill shows readers how to develop the skills to thrive on any team, under any circumstances. No longer will readers find themselves complaining, "I got assigned to a bad team." Instead, they'll know what to do to make any team work for them.
Drawing on over twenty years of experience successfully developing professional teams in product development, R&D, and high-tech environments, Christopher Avery and his coauthors use brief thought-provoking essays, personal and teambuilding exercises, case studies, and insights from business leaders to teach readers how to build responsible and productive relationships at work. The authors show how and why your ability to assume personal responsibility-for your own work on a team and for the team's collective work-is the most important factor in ensuring a productive team experience.
Teambuilding, the authors point out, is essentially a series of conversations between people who share responsibility to get something done. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill describes the way these conversations typically progress, and shows the reader how to predict and direct these conversations so that they can maximize the benefits to both themselves and to their team.
Designed for easy access and for use by both individuals and groups, Teamwork Is an Individual Skill will equip readers with the mental skills and behaviors that will help them achieve personal goals while contributing to their team's success.

Knowing how to work effectively in and through groups may be the single most important skill anyone can develop in today's collaborative, team-based workplace. Unfortunately, all of the resources available on teamwork put the emphasis on group process and ignore the role of-and benefits to-the individual. But effective teamwork isn't only a group skill set; it's an individual skill set as well. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill shows readers how to develop the skills to thrive on any team, under any circumstances. No longer will readers find themselves complaining, "I got assigned to a bad team." Instead, they'll know what to do to make any team work for them.
Drawing on over twenty years of experience successfully developing professional teams in product development, R&D, and high-tech environments, Christopher Avery and his coauthors use brief thought-provoking essays, personal and teambuilding exercises, case studies, and insights from business leaders to teach readers how to build responsible and productive relationships at work. The authors show how and why your ability to assume personal responsibility-for your own work on a team and for the team's collective work-is the most important factor in ensuring a productive team experience.
Teambuilding, the authors point out, is essentially a series of conversations between people who share responsibility to get something done. Teamwork Is an Individual Skill describes the way these conversations typically progress, and shows the reader how to predict and direct these conversations so that they can maximize the benefits to both themselves and to their team.
Designed for easy access and for use by both individuals and groups, Teamwork Is an Individual Skill will equip readers with the mental skills and behaviors that will help them achieve personal goals while contributing to their team's success.

Own Your Story


Sometimes you get only one chance. A good introduction can create connections and open doors. A bad one can make conversation fizzle and opportunities fade. What you need is a story that tells who you are—authentically, compellingly, and concisely—and can be adapted to fit any situation. Created for dynamic beings constantly redefining themselves, their work, and the world around them, Tell Me About Yourself pairs interviews and case studies with a simple, scalable framework, helping you craft and deliver comprehensive, compelling, and generally kick-ass introductions and personal stories for yourself, your team, or your company. In an ever-changing innovation economy and a climate that demands we put our best foot forward to create change, there's no better time to learn how to articulate your usefulness to the world. 

Own Your Story


Sometimes you get only one chance. A good introduction can create connections and open doors. A bad one can make conversation fizzle and opportunities fade. What you need is a story that tells who you are—authentically, compellingly, and concisely—and can be adapted to fit any situation. Created for dynamic beings constantly redefining themselves, their work, and the world around them, Tell Me About Yourself pairs interviews and case studies with a simple, scalable framework, helping you craft and deliver comprehensive, compelling, and generally kick-ass introductions and personal stories for yourself, your team, or your company. In an ever-changing innovation economy and a climate that demands we put our best foot forward to create change, there's no better time to learn how to articulate your usefulness to the world. 

For creatives, entrepreneurs, job seekers, leaders, public figures, and speakers, Holley Murchison offers a proven six-step training process designed to help them craft and deliver comprehensive, compelling, and generally kick-ass introductions.


From artists to entrepreneurs, students looking for their first jobs to organizational leaders, public figures and speakers, Tell Me About Yourself helps bolster confidence and authentic communication in life's most vulnerable moments. Treading on a proven six-step process, founder and CEO of Oratory Glory, Holley Murchison, teaches you how to craft and deliver a comprehensive, compelling and generally kick-ass introduction.
• Step One: Revisit your introduction scenarios
• Step Two: Identify your audience
• Step Three: Clarify your response time and intent
• Step Four: Reframe the question
• Step Five: Decide what information you want to share
• Step Six: Build your story

When there's just one chance to make a first impression, the way we express who we are becomes the most important part of our conversations. Making a bad impression puts our potential for success on shaky ground, thereby stunting our growth and chance to make an impact in the world. Implementing the wisdom of this book and Murchison's methodology, even those of us who are shy can make a lasting first impression.

You know it in your gut—training and development is valuable and worthwhile. But as a trainer, you need to prove this fact over and over to clients focused on bottom-line results. While most training evaluation methods are too elaborate, too complex, too costly, too difficult to explain, or worse, produce data that nobody believes, Telling Training's Story offers a simple, compelling way of evaluating training's impact: The Success Case Method (SCM).

Based on careful analysis of participants' first-person accounts of their experiences in a training initiative, SCM doesn't just measure the impact of training, but pinpoints the very factors that make or break training success. Filled with examples, illustrations, tools, and checklists, Telling Training's Story not only shares the power of the Success Case Method to evaluate training, it also offers practical step-by-step guidelines for increasing the ROI of future learning and performance initiatives.