Most consultants are content to solve problems. Extraordinary consultants alter the culture of the client organization itself, changing the way the organization operates. Keith Merron shows that the most powerful tool for making a real difference is the consultant's inner stance--the attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, goals, and strategies that underlie the consulting practice. In other words, it is the inner qualities of the consultant that differentiate a great consultant from the rest of the pack. Consulting Mastery explores the deep inner shift required to become an extraordinary consultant. Through vivid examples, Merron contrasts the goals, strategies, and tactics used by most consultants with those used by masterful consultants to reveal the qualities and characteristics that will help you make the biggest difference with your clients. If you yearn to have a bigger impact on your client organizations, or even on the world as a whole, Consulting Mastery shows how to transform yourself from a problem solver to an empowering partner. Following a natural flow of learning, it details the conceptual foundation of consulting mastery, provides a vision of mastery in action, and outlines a clear path to attaining mastery in oneself.Most consultants are content to solve problems. Extraordinary consultants alter the culture of the client organization itself, changing the way the organization operates. Keith Merron shows that the most powerful tool for making a real difference is the consultant's inner stance--the attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, goals, and strategies that underlie the consulting practice. In other words, it is the inner qualities of the consultant that differentiate a great consultant from the rest of the pack. Consulting Mastery explores the deep inner shift required to become an extraordinary consultant. Through vivid examples, Merron contrasts the goals, strategies, and tactics used by most consultants with those used by masterful consultants to reveal the qualities and characteristics that will help you make the biggest difference with your clients. If you yearn to have a bigger impact on your client organizations, or even on the world as a whole, Consulting Mastery shows how to transform yourself from a problem solver to an empowering partner. Following a natural flow of learning, it details the conceptual foundation of consulting mastery, provides a vision of mastery in action, and outlines a clear path to attaining mastery in oneself.

• Shows consultants how to go beyond simply solving clients' problems to creating fundamental and lasting organizational change
• Draws on interviews with 14 master consultants to explore what distinguishes masterful consulting from ordinary consulting
• Takes the reader on a five-stage journey to becoming a master consultant

Reveals the profound impact of the global corporate economy on our daily lives Details 75 immediate and long-term Action Steps for empowering ourselves both individually and as a society Offers specific tips, ideas, and resources on how to pare down our lives and open up our time Provides questions for reflection that help readers to think in new ways about what matters most to them Corporate structures, products, and processes permeate our society -but what do they really mean to us in our daily lives? The bottom-line mentality that drives corporate America, say Ellen Augustine (formerly Schwartz) and Suzanne Stoddard, is creating a world unresponsive to human needs, corrosive to the democratic process, and destructive to the planet itself. Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance shows the links between our mundane everyday struggles and the global corporate economy, image-driven media, and the relentless pace which consumes us all. And it tells us how we can change things by transforming both our work and leisure. The authors use hard-hitting examples and illuminating personal vignettes about confronting fear, anger, death, family problems, and the stultifying effects of staying in the "comfort zone." They detail over 75 steps for personal and societal actions-some quick and immediate, others in-depth and long term-for retaking control of our lives. The authors include provocative questions for reflection that shock, prod, and jump-start the reader into thinking about what matters most to them. Deeply moving, outrageous, encouraging, compelling, and inspiring, Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance blends unrelenting candor with the comfort of real-life stories of hope-and ultimately shows us that choice is the most important tool we have for reviving our lives and our world.

• Reveals the profound impact of the global corporate economy on our daily lives
• Details 75 immediate and long-term Action Steps for empowering ourselves both individually and as a society
• Offers specific tips, ideas, and resources on how to pare down our lives and open up our time
• Provides questions for reflection that help readers to think in new ways about what matters most to them

Identifies five distinct vocal colors within the human voice and demonstrates how to put them to work in your life.

"Your voice matters. Based on your tone and expression alone listeners make up their minds about you before they even process the meaning of your words. And if what you say is at odds with how you say it, they can miss your message altogether. Barbara McAfee offers a fun, tested method to harness the power of your voice to become a more effective and flexible communicator. She identifies five distinct vocal sounds—earth, fire, water, metal, and air—explaining how to cultivate each one. You’ll learn how to use your voice to support the meaning and message you want to convey. Using this book along with her free online practice videos you’ll experience an authentic shift in how you express yourself – and how you listen to others as well. You’ll discover how opening your full voice connects you to sources of untapped potential, power, and aliveness. "

The only book that tackles how to manage the human factors and provide leadership before, during, and after catastrophic events provoked by nature, accidents, or acts of violence. The potential damage that can occur due to inadequate preparation makes this an issue too important to ignore.Sooner or later, most organizations will face some kind of disaster--flood, fire, hurricane, earthquake, workplace violence, bombings, even the arrest or sudden death of the CEO. Existing books on crisis management deal almost exclusively with physical breakdowns, logistics issues, data losses and environmental and economic impacts. But it is people who actually make a business run, and Leading People Through Disasters is the first book to deal with the all-important human side of recovery. Kathryn McKee and Liz Guthridge show how to ensure that your business continuity plan addresses human as well as business issues and they offer detailed advice on what to do when disaster actually strikes--how to keep people safe, calm, and informed; help managers care for employees; and deal with employees' immediate and ongoing emotional and psychological needs while getting the organization back on its feet. This comprehensive guide features a wealth of examples, checklists, forms, and other practical tools that will help you take action when you need it most.

• Focuses on the human side of disaster planning and recovery
• Prescribes a definitive course of action based on real-world examples
• Includes sample forms, checklists, and a wealth of other practical tools
• Learn more at www.LeadingPeopleThroughDisasters.com

Real organizational change isn't brought about by decree, pressure, permission, or even persuasion. Sustained change comes when people are passionately and personally committed to a future that they have helped to shape. If you want to turn your organization's cynics into owners, give them a voice in the decisions that impact their work. Consensus Through Conversation shows how. Consensus is a cooperative process in which all of a group's members develop and agree to actively support a decision. It's not mere acquiescence--consensus goes several steps beyond, transforming people from resigned instruction-followers to dedicated champions of an idea. Larry Dressler shows you exactly how to prepare for a successful consensus-building process, takes you step-by-step through that process, and offers tips for success and traps to avoid. Throughout, he provides a host of tools and examples that make this an eminently practical and immediately useful guide. Consensus Through Conversation will give you the tools you need to use consensus effectively in your organization. It is a handy, vital reference that you will turn to again and again in your efforts to tackle high stakes issues, make high quality decisions, and build enthusiasm and commitment to action.

• A concise, comprehensive guide to consensus and a powerful technique for building shared commitment around critical decisions
• Filled with practical tips, tools, and examples

Exposes the damage caused by the myth of the "self-made man" and reveals how wealth is actually created.

The Self-Made Myth exposes the false claim that business success is the result of heroic individual effort with little or no outside help. Brian Miller and Mike Lapham bust the myth and present profiles of business leaders who recognize the public investments and supports that made their success possible—including Warren Buffett, Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s, New Belgium Brewing CEO Kim Jordan, and others. The book also thoroughly demolishes the claims of supposedly self-made individuals such as Donald Trump and Ross Perot. How we view the creation of wealth and individual success is critical because it shapes our choices on taxes, regulation, public investments in schools and infrastructure, CEO pay, and more. It takes a village to raise a business—it’s time to recognize that fact.