What Would It Be Like to Restore Sanity? What would it be like to work together again in creative and generous ways? What would it be like to be curious about who you're with rather than judging or fearing them? What would it be like to engage together in exploring possibilities rather than withdrawing in conflict or disagreement? What would it be like to be working well together?

From 50 years working with leaders globally, I state with full confidence that leadership has never been more difficult. And it's not our fault. We've been good and caring leaders, we've led people in empowering, engaging ways to create meaningful, productive work. But now we face external conditions far beyond our control to change, dynamics intensifying at shocking speed.

The perfect storm is here, created by the coalescence of climate and human-created catastrophes. As leaders dedicated to serving the causes and people we treasure, confronted by this unrelenting tsunami, what are we to do? I state my answer to this also with full confidence:

We need to restore sanity by awakening the human spirit. We can achieve this only if we undertake the most challenging and meaningful work of our leader lives: Creating Islands of Sanity.

An Island of Sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge created by people's commitment to form healthy community to do meaningful work. It requires sane leaders with unshakable faith in people's innate generosity, creativity, and kindness. It sets itself apart as an island to protect itself from the life-destroying dynamics, policies, and behaviors that oppress and deny the human spirit. No matter what is happening around us, we can discover practices that enliven our human spirits and produce meaningful contributions for this time.

Winner of the 2025 North American Book Award Bronze Medal for Leadership and Management, and selected by Porchlight Book Company as one of the Best Business Books of 2025.

“What’s wrong with nice?!” A simple and powerful question. It demands we interrogate the unspoken rules that shape our lives, often without our realizing it.

“It costs nothing to be nice!” What a travesty of logic. Niceness is not free—it comes at a steep price. It’s a velvet glove over an iron fist, stifling dissent, prioritizing comfort over progress, and conditioning us to accept the status quo. Niceness is one of the most insidious social constructs, keeping us compliant, silent, and complicit in inequity. If we don’t question it, we stay exactly where power wants us—agreeable, easy to manage, and stuck.

The Price of Nice is about breaking free. Amira Barger deconstructs our cultural obsession with niceness, exposes its hidden costs, and offers a practical framework for real change. With sharp analysis and personal insight, she helps readers disrupt the narratives that keep them stuck and reclaim their power.

Guided by four dimensions rooted in social psychology—think, feel, do, revisit—this book offers immediate, adaptable practices for creating change. Because breaking free isn’t only what you know—it’s what you do next.

If you're tired of “good enough,” this book will challenge you, change you, and call you to more.

Ranked #7 on Forbes.com's Top 10 Customer Experience Books of 2024

True inclusion happens when leaders stop relying on HR practitioners to own full responsibility for DEI initiatives. The small, intentional daily leadership practices in this book are the key to creating truly inclusive organizations.

Diversity and inclusion training and books have flooded the market, but the gap between what is promised and what is delivered is beginning to undermine the progress that has been made.

There are millions of people who strive to make a difference in workplace diversity and inclusion. And with this practical, leader-friendly framework, Daily Practices of Inclusive Leaders will equip readers with the actionable tools they've been searching for.

Leaders will learn:
● Why they are the key to inclusion
● Insights for the lifelong journey
● Successful practices they can start today
● And more

With the era of big DEI coming to an end, leaders will make big strides through small daily changes in their processes that lead to creating an inclusive workplace culture. With this toolkit of actions, activities, and tactics leaders will become the foundation of diversity and inclusion in their organization.

Recognized as a Foreword Indies Gold Award winner, a Pencraft Winter 2025 Award winner, and a Global Ebook Awards Silver winner.

A practical guide to tackling unconscious bias in a polarized world.

Learn to recognize your unconscious bias and create positive change.

Respected DEI expert Sara Taylor presents a down-to-earth guide on how to tackle unconscious biases and foster true equity in our rapidly changing world. Through relatable examples and practical strategies, readers learn to deliberately slow down their thought processes and become aware of their filters in various situations. Taylor encourages readers to question their own assumptions by asking, "Do I know that what I'm thinking is actually true?" and "Why might I be reacting this way?"

The book demonstrates the importance of a clear set of competencies, skills, and strategies for addressing unconscious bias. By developing a culturally competent mindset and using a shared, holistic language to discuss these issues, readers gain the tools to understand, discuss, and implement change both at home and in the workplace. This approach avoids blame or shame, making it accessible and empowering for everyone.

The book's insights extend beyond individuals; it demonstrates how organizations can scale up cultural competence to transform their structures and systems. With a strong sense of hope, readers are empowered to make a difference, creating a more just and equitable world for all.

“Providing guidance throughout, Dabbs prompts the reader with questions. She believes a better understanding of past experiences and how society has established systemic barriers to entry can help people design their future.”-The Financial Times

In a world overcrowded with labels, don't allow your identity to be defined by other people. Learn how to take back your power, choose to feed the aspects of your identity that serve you, and let go of those that don't.

Everyone feels like an outsider at some point in their life-when we walk into a room and think to ourselves, “I don't belong here.” To avoid these feelings of exclusion, many of us hide our authentic selves and allow others to define our identity.

You Belong Here offers a new framework that allows each of us to define how we want to be seen, heard, and valued on our own terms so we feel a sense of belonging in any situation. Further, it serves as a launchpad for organizational leaders and culture builders to create safe spaces for individuals to show up as their authentic selves.

Readers will explore our four identities:
• Our Lived Identity is made up of the aspects of our identity we inherit when we are born into the world.
• Our Learned Identity includes the parts of our identity that we've chosen or claimed as we make our way through the world.
• Our Lingering Identity is the identity we default to when we feel like an outsider and fall back into as a survival mechanism.
• Our Loved Identity is where we find our authentic selves and see ourselves through a lens of empowerment.

In the journey to understand our past experiences and how society has established barriers to entry, we can design our own future, rooted in our Loved Identity. We learn to rewrite the stories that aren't serving us and embrace the ones that do. Rather than look for a seat at someone else's table, we find the tools to build our own.

When we fully leverage this and live with authenticity and purpose, we can be seen, heard, and valued in a way that gives us a sense of belonging at home, at work, and in society. Belonging is realized when we understand everyone is an outsider and it's the power to create space for those differences that unite us all.

This is the first authoritative book on building employee resource groups (ERGs) to empower underrepresented employees and positively impact diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within organizations and in society at large.

Employee resource groups (ERGs) have been present for decades. Originating out of affirmative action policies, they have evolved into powerful sources of employee activity and engagement that organizations have leveraged to support business goals. But ERGs can help create a more inclusive and just world at the same time that they serve company interests.

The focus for this book is on both how to manage ERGs effectively and why organizations should pay close attention to these groups as a source for engagement, innovation, belonging, feedback, and direction on tough issues. Farzana Nayani provides foundational tools and frameworks for starting and supporting an ERG. She also offers guidance for how ERGs can create impact in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and can motivate action toward a more equitable society overall.

This is not just a handbook or a reference guide. It also serves as a deeper call to action around how, with more effective ERGs, we can truly progress toward the DEI goals that we are all setting out to accomplish.

Why are we so divided today? Paradoxically, Howard Ross, author of Everyday Bias, says it's our compulsion to belong to a group--something hardwired into us-- that ends up making us deeply connected with some, yet deeply divided from others. Ross shows how we can overcome this growing tribalism.

We are living in a world of almost unparalleled separation. People are no longer disagreeing, but are instead disavowing each other's rights to an opinion. What is driving this polarization, and how can we overcome it? Howard Ross says that ironically it's our profound need to belong. He delves deeply into the powerful psychological, neurological, and biological forces that drive us to want to identify so strongly with a group we're sometimes even willing to sacrifice our individual identity.
Drawing on his decades of leadership in the diversity and inclusion field, Ross probes the depth and impact of this growing tribalism, the role social media plays in exacerbating it, the ways it impacts every aspect of the daily lives, and how to combat it. Readers will gain tools for exploring contentious dialogue in healthier ways and guidelines for breaking down barriers and building bridges across difference, and organizations and institutions will be able to develop approaches that can open dialogue and encourage mutual understanding.

Social justice work is more crucial than ever, but it can be physically and emotionally draining. Longtime activist Denise Collazo offers three keys to help Hispanic women keep their focus, morale, and energy high.

Winner of the gold medal at the International Latino Book Awards for Best Latina-Themed Book and Best Self-Transformational Book!



Doing the work of social change is hard. Waking up every day to take on the biggest challenges of our time can be overwhelming, and sometimes progress is hard to see. And Latina activists face the additional challenges of racism and sexism in a predominantly white, patriarchal society.

Denise Collazo has been there. She is the first Latina, the first woman of color, and the first woman period to raise a family and stay in the work of community organizing at Faith in Action, an international progressive network of 3,000 congregations. Drawing on her own experiences and those of other Latina activists, Collazo lays out three keys to thriving in the movement for social change: leading into your vision, living into the fullest version of yourself, and loving past negatives that hold you back. She also warns about the three signs that you may be checking out, giving up, or passively standing by while problems get worse. This honest, practical, and inspirational book will help Latina activists to burn bright, not burn out.

Revolutionize Your World: The Power of Radical Engagement

In a world crying out for change, Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems is your guidebook for action. Adam Kahane, the best-selling author of Collaborating with the Enemy and a global authority on solving tough problems, delivers game-changing advice for anyone ready to make a difference.

This is a manifesto for world-changers. Drawing on decades of work with leaders from national and organizational presidents to front-line managers and grass-roots activists, Kahane distills seven potent habits that enable ordinary citizens to become extraordinary agents of transformation.

Imagine:
•Cracking open entrenched systems with simple actions
•Collaborating across deep divides to achieve the impossible
•Uncovering hidden leverage points others miss
•Persevering through setbacks with renewed purpose and energy

Through riveting real-world examples, Kahane shows how these habits have sparked revolutions, brokered peace, and reimagined societies. Now he's handing you the keys to that transformative power.

Whether you're battling climate change, reinventing healthcare, or simply trying to make your community better, this book is your essential guide. It's time to stop feeling powerless and start creating the change you want to see.

Don't just survive in a changing world-step in to transform it.

“This book shows how using business as a force for good, not just pursuing short-term profits, can be better for consumers, employees, local communities, the environment, and your company's long-term bottom line.”
-Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.

More than 2,4570 companies from 130 industries and 50 countries are leading a global movement to redefine success in business. They're called B Corporations, and they create high-quality jobs, build stronger communities, and restore the environment, all while generating solid financial returns. Coauthor and B Corp owner Ryan Honeyman worked with over 100 B Corp CEOs and senior executives to share their tips, advice, and best-practice ideas for how to build a better business, and how to meet the rigorous standards for-and enjoy the benefits of-B Corp certification.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion measures have now become a key part of achieving B Corp certification. In this second edition, new coauthor and B Corp owner Tiffany Jana contributes an introduction about DEI, and works with Honeyman to integrate new DEI frameworks, and provide advice and end-of-chapter discussion questions to get companies talking about critical DEI issues at every stage of the certification process.

Second edition of this bestselling book on creating robust, thriving, positive communities using seven ancient principles any organization can follow.

Now with 25% new content, including a chapter on building virtual communities.

Healthy communities strive for their members to support one another, share their passions, and achieve personal growth. This book will help you learn to be connected and defeat loneliness by understanding where and how we belong. No matter the kind of organization, company, or social group, this book is a guide for leaders seeking to build a community or strengthen the ones they already have.

Drawing on both 3,000 years of history and his personal experience, Charles Vogl lays out seven time-tested principles for developing connected communities that last. These include:
•Boundary: The boundary between members and outsiders
•Initiation: The activities that mark a new member
•Rituals: The things we do that have meaning
•Temple: A place set aside to find our community
•Stories: What we share that allows others and ourselves to know our values
•Symbols: The things that represent ideas that are important to us
•Inner Rings: A path to growth as we participate

With hands-on tools for applying these principles to any group-formal or informal, mission driven or social, physical or virtual-this book will guide you in your journey to become a community builder that brings people together

The international bestseller on conflict resolution has been updated with a powerful new discussion guide for creating lasting change in organizations, relationships, and communities.

New from the Arbinger Institute, the authors of the bestselling Leadership and Self-Deception, comes an updated edition of its transformative work on conflict resolution.

What if the conflicts in our lives-from personal disagreements to workplace tensions to global divisions-all stem from the same root cause? The Anatomy of Peace shows how our biases and behaviors perpetuate cycles of conflict and, more importantly, how we can break free from these patterns to create lasting peace and meaningful change.

This book unfolds as a story. Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab, and Avi Rozen, a Jew, each lost his father at the hands of the other's ethnic cousins. The Anatomy of Peace is the story of how they came together, how they help warring parents and children come together, and how we too can find our way out of the personal, professional, and global conflicts that weigh us down, even when war is upon us.

This new edition includes a new preface and an extensive discussion guide that helps readers apply these principles in practical ways, making it an invaluable resource for organizations, teams, and individuals seeking to transform conflict into cooperation.

A fast and engaging read, Equity helps leaders create more inclusive organizations using human-centered design and behavior change principles.

Even the most passionate advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion have been known to treat equity as the middle child – the concept they skip over in order to get to the warm, fuzzy feelings of inclusion. But as Minal Bopaiah shows throughout this book, equity is critical if organizations really want to leverage differences for greater impact.

Equity probes the unconscious biases that blind us to seeing systems, making explicit what is often unseen. This slender book introduces us to leaders who have overcome the obstacles to equity and led transformative change. Managing partners at a consulting firm who learn to retell their story of success by crediting the system that supports them. News managers at NPR who discover how they can create systemic support for diversifying sources on the air. A philanthropic foundation that collaborates with grantees to better communicate the importance of equity in healthcare to policy-makers. And creative professionals who have begun weaving inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility into the content they create, thereby transforming how customers and audiences view the world.

Filled with humor, heart, and pragmatism, Equity is a guidebook for change, answering the question of “how?” that so many leaders are asking today.

What would life be like if you committed to something larger than yourself? Find out in the newest book from global transformation thought leader Lynne Twist.

How does one person make a difference in the world? People constantly seek to discover meaning in their lives, but as humans take on the challenges facing us in this decade and beyond, we're searching for it now more than ever.

Living a Committed Life demonstrates the power of dedication that goes beyond the self and teaches how to live a committed life that enables you to draw on resources and capacities from your most authentic self. In five parts, Lynne Twist shows how to make and keep commitments, engage in individual and collective action, and discover ways to connect and collaborate to make a difference.

By sharing stories and perspectives from her life, Twist reveals her unique experience as a thought leader and activist in multiple causes, from ending world hunger and protecting the Amazon rainforest to empowering women's leadership. The book presents the guiding principles that have enabled her own success and that turn inspiration into action for everyone.

Using a proven three-part framework, this book shows how anyone-from a CEO to frontline employee-can play a pivotal role in creating a diverse and welcoming workplace.

Creating a diverse workplace needs to be an ongoing effort, not just the subject of occasional training. As Celeste Warren says, needed change won't take place unless all employees feel that they have a role to play in creating the culture they would like to see in their organization.

Regardless of what position you hold, you have the ability to impact change and create a more inclusive environment. Anyone can commit to becoming an unofficial Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador in his or her organization. Warren offers a straightforward three-stage model:

Become aware of your strengths, weaknesses, and conscious and unconscious biases.Take an inventory of your surroundings: what is getting in the way of there being an inclusive environment in your organization? Develop a personal action plan.
Depending on your position, the actions you take can be as simple as consistently raising DEI-related issues in staff meetings or as far-reaching as leading an Employee Resource Group or developing a new hiring policy. In separate chapters, Warren offers specific advice for chief diversity and inclusion officers, C-suite leaders, first-line managers, human resources practitioners, and individual contributors. This book features examples, exercises, and practical tools that show you how to assess where your organization is at and develop a purpose and strategy that can make diversity a workplace reality.

Author of the bestselling DEI Deconstructed returns with a companion workbook filled with practical and actionable techniques for changemakers at all stages of their DEI journey.

The next step in your DEI journey starts here. Building on the knowledge base of DEI Deconstructed, Lily Zheng offers a workbook with 40 original exercises, worksheets, and other tools to help guide you and your organization toward more substantive and lasting DEI outcomes. Whether you're a new or veteran DEI practitioner looking to improve your practice, a leader looking to grow your leadership skills, or an advocate looking to play more powerful roles in movements, this book will give you the practical tools to do just that.

From self-work to organizational change, this workbook will upskill you with the core competencies required for impactful DEI work, such as – diagnosing inequity, working with constituents, building movements, creating psychological safety, stewarding inclusive cultures, resolving conflict and harm, and achieving systems change. Most importantly, it will give you valuable experience putting these skills into action. Each activity can stand on its own and is designed to stimulate valuable reflection and practice. Included are recommendations for targeted exercise roadmaps to supplement your learning journey. Taken all together, these exercises are a complete masterclass in any practitioner's DEI education.

Creating justice-centered organizations is the next frontier in DEI. This book shows how to go beyond compliance to address harm, share power, and create equity.

Traditional DEI work has not succeeded at dismantling systems that perpetuate harm and exclude BIPOC groups. Proponents of DEI have put too much focus on HR solutions, such as increasing representation, and not enough emphasis on changing the deeper organizational systems that perpetuate inequities-in other words, on justice. DEIJ work diverges from traditional metrics-driven DEI work and requires a new approach to effectively dismantle power structures.

This thought-provoking, solutions-oriented book offers strategic advice on how to adopt a justice mindset, anticipate and address resistance, shift power dynamics, and create a psychologically safe organizational culture. Individual chapters provide pragmatic how-to guides to implementing justice-centered practices in recruitment and hiring, data collection and analysis, learning and development, marketing and advertising, procurement, philanthropy, and more.

DEIJ pioneer Mary-Frances Winters and her coauthors address some of the most significant aspects of adding a justice focus to diversity work, showing how to create a workplace culture where equity is not a checklist of performative actions but a lived reality.

DEI isn't just a box to check.

After being in corporate America for nearly a decade as a triple minority who passes for a straight white woman, Dannie Lynn Fountain knows that corporations' modern plague is the story of its DEI duality. Time and time again, she has witnessed companies pretend to care about DEI for public relations fodder and then discriminate against employees or ignore their identities.

Dannie's solution to this problem? Rage against the system by refusing to accept mediocre-at-best action.

This story isn't just about how messed up corporate DEI currently is; it also takes a hard look at what is necessary to get diversity right in three parts:

● The context of corporate DEI
● Why the change in perspective
● What's not working and how to change

Ending Checkbox Diversity gives readers an understanding of exactly how corporate America is failing underrepresented identities and offers a plan for what to do next, with clear examples and metrics for evaluating DEI in their own careers and aligning themselves with companies that are actually doing the work.