Books published by publisher AMACOM

Is your job just a way to pay the bills? Are you a drudge Monday through Friday only so you can be more yourself on Saturday? It doesn’t have to be this way! Never before in history has there been such an eclectic variety of money-making opportunities and cutting-edge vocations than there are in today’s marketplace. There is no need to settle! And when you find the career that fits your personality, you’ll discover that the work hours you once begrudged with every fiber of your being now bring you tremendous satisfaction and success.Career Match contains the ten-minute self-assessment that can change your life! After a simple quiz to determine your personality style, turn to the corresponding chapter that reads as if it was written just for you and discover what ideal work options there are for you. In this invaluable resource for all personalities:• Identify career choices that will exhilarate you• Recognize the type of work environment and boss you need to thrive• Learn to leverage your natural strengths• Customize and speed your job searchThis second edition has been updated to include trending new careers in areas such as gaming, web design, alternative energy, cybersecurity, food science, and more. Whether you are a recent graduate looking for direction or a burned-out veteran seeking new inspiration, this indispensable guide will help you match who you are with what you’re meant to do--with a success rate vastly greater than that of your typical match maker!

Whether you’re trying to communicate a vision, sell an idea, or inspire commitment, storytelling is a powerful business tool that can mean the difference between lackluster enthusiasm and a rallying cry. Addressing a wide variety of business challenges, including specific stories to help you overcome twenty-one difficult situations, Lead with a Story gives you theability to engage an audience the way logic and bullet points alone never could. This how-to guidebook shows readers how powerful stories can help define culture and values, engender creativity and innovation, foster collaboration, build relationships, provide coaching and feedback, and lead change. Whether in a speech or a memo, communicated to one person or a thousand, storytelling is an essential skill for today’s leaders. Many highly successful companies use storytelling as a leadership tool. At Nike, all senior executives are designated “corporate storytellers.” 3M banned bullet points years ago and replaced them with a process of writing “strategic narratives.” Procter & Gamble hired Hollywood directors to teach its executives storytelling techniques. Some forward-thinking business schools have even added storytelling courses to their management curriculum. Complete with examples from these and many other high-profile companies, Lead with a Story gives readers the guidance they need to spin a narrative to stunning effect.

INSTANT BUSINESS BESTSELLERIn leadership as in life, only practice makes perfect. Habits are powerful. They can lock us into negative behaviors (like snacking and smoking) or train us to act automatically in ways that benefit us (such as putting on a seat belt). Routines quietly undergird large portions of what we do and how we function. Habit formation can speed success in the workplace as well--even in complex areas like leadership. The Leader Habit spotlights 22 essential leadership abilities, breaking them down into a series of small, learnable behaviors. The accompanying 5-minute exercises help you practice each of these new skills until they stick. Drawn from a study of hundreds of leaders across the globe, the book's simple formula focuses on developing one skill at a time: sell the vision, delegate well, innovate often, empower others, overcome resistance, build strategic relationships, focus on customers, listen actively, negotiate effectively, and more. Many of us aspire to great leadership . . . consuming books and training. But unless you intentionally reinforce the right behaviors, results are fleeting. This eye-opening and original book builds the "muscle memory" to turn leadership skills into lasting habits.

Over 100,000 copies sold! Now with 20 all-new write-ups! Managers may dread dealing with performance problems, but this sanity-saving guide by HR expert Paul Falcone is here to help. Revised to reflect the latest developments in employment law, the third edition of 101 Sample Write-Ups for Documenting Employee Performance Problems explains the disciplinary process and provides ready-to-use documents that eliminate the stress and second-guessing about what to do and say. These expertly crafted, easily customizable write-ups address: Absenteeism * Insubordination * Sexual harassment * Drug or alcohol abuse * Substandard work * Email and phone misuse * Teamwork issues * Managerial misconduct * Confidentiality breaches * Social media abuse * And more With a focus on getting employees back on track, each sample document includes an incident description, a performance improvement plan, outcomes and consequences, and a section for employee rebuttal. Whether you're addressing an initial infraction or handling termination-worthy transgressions, this trusted resource ensures every encounter remains clear, fair, and-most importantly-legal.

Today’s board rooms, think tanks, and staff lounges are more diverse than ever before. But these cultural differences can either lead to gridlock among stubborn, single-minded thinkers or they can catalyze innovation and growth among an expansive team of creative, distinctive individuals.Diverse teams are far more creative than homogenous teams--but only when they are managed effectively. Driven by Difference identifies the management practices necessary to minimize conflict while maximizing the informational diversity found in varied values and experiences. Drawing on the cultural intelligence, or CQ, of diversity success stories from Google, Alibaba, Novartis, and other groundbreaking companies, this must-have resource teaches managers of diverse groups how to:• Create an optimal environment• Consider the various audiences when selecting and selling an idea• Design and test for different users• Fuse differing perspectives• Align goals and expectations• And moreNew perspectives and talents have joined your company’s ranks in recent years. Are you seeing the increased innovation and success that should be resulting from such diversity?

So you’re not a numbers person? No worries! You say that you can’t understand how to read, let alone implement, these complex software programs that crunch all the data and spit out . . . more data? Not a problem either! There is a costly misconception in business today--that the only data that matters is BIG data, and that elaborate tools and data scientists are required to extract any practical information. But actually, nothing could be further from the truth.In Behind Every Good Decision, authors and analytics experts Piyanka Jain and Puneet Sharma demystify the process of business analytics and demonstrate how professionals at any level can take the information at their disposal and in only five simple steps--using only Excel as a tool!--make the decision necessary to increase revenue, decrease costs, improve product, or whatever else is being asked of them at that time. Readers will learn how to:• Clarify the business question• Lay out a hypothesis-driven plan• Pull relevant data• Convert it to insights• Make decisions that make an impactPacked with examples and exercises, this refreshingly accessible book explains the four fundamental analytic techniques that can help solve a surprising 80 percent of all business problems. It doesn’t take a numbers person to know that is a formula you need!

Network marketing-also known as direct selling and multilevel marketing-has turned millions of people into successful business owners. But to truly reach their earning potential, network marketers need to successfully grow their businesses by recruiting the right people. Written by a true network marketing superstar who personally enlisted over 1,000 people in her first year, the book reveals a proven, innovative approach to recruiting that gets results fast. Readers will learn how to: * discover their own recruiting style * identify people who will become a great part of their team * do and say the right things to turn prospects into partners * overcome objections with confidence * attract people who never considered network marketing Filled with advice and inspiration, this indispensable guide gives network marketers the know-how and confidence they need to grow their enterprise and become top earners.

Network marketing-also known as direct selling and multilevel marketing-has turned millions of people into successful business owners. But to truly reach their earning potential, network marketers need to successfully grow their businesses by recruiting the right people. Written by a true network marketing superstar who personally enlisted over 1,000 people in her first year, the book reveals a proven, innovative approach to recruiting that gets results fast. Readers will learn how to: * discover their own recruiting style * identify people who will become a great part of their team * do and say the right things to turn prospects into partners * overcome objections with confidence * attract people who never considered network marketing Filled with advice and inspiration, this indispensable guide gives network marketers the know-how and confidence they need to grow their enterprise and become top earners.

What hidden skill links successful people in all walks of life--across cultures, industries, generations . . . all of time? The answer is surprisingly simple: they know how to ask the right questions at the right time. Questions help us break down barriers, discover secrets, solve puzzles, and imagine new ways of doing things. The right question can provide for us not only the answer we need right then but also the ones we’ll need tomorrow. Emmy award–winning journalist and media expert Frank Sesno wants to teach you how to question others in a methodical, intentional way so that you can find the same success that others have found by mastering this simple skill. From the author’s illuminating interviews that he has included in the book, you will learn:• How the Gates Foundation used strategic questions to plan its battle against malaria• How turnaround expert Steve Miller uses diagnostic questions to get to the heart of a company's problems• How creative questions animated a couple of techie dreamers to brainstorm Uber • How journalist Anderson Cooper uses confrontational questions to hold people accountableThroughout Ask More, you’ll explore all different types of inquiries--from questions that cement relationships, to those that will help you plan for the future. By the end, you’ll know what to ask and when, what you should listen for, and what you can expect as the outcome.

For some, a job is just a way to pay the bills. For others -- those whose careers fit their passions and personalities -- it is a source of great satisfaction and success. Career Match is designed to help people discover their ideal work. Using the author's revealing ten-minute self-assessment, the book helps readers determine their personality style, then walks them through the range of career choices best for them. This indispensable guide will enable anyone to:* identify the type of work that will inspire and exhilarate them* recognize the type of boss and work environment they need to thrive* confirm the rightness of the path they are on -- or help them find a better one* speed up their job searchThe book includes in-depth chapters for each personality type, detailed explanations of career options, and inspiring real-life stories of people who have found fulfillment in work that suits their personality. This invaluable resource will help anyone in need of direction match who they are with what they should do -- for a lifetime of gratifying work and greater success.

People forget facts, but they never forget a good story. Unfortunately it’s never that simple, though. Because for most, there’s nothing easy about crafting a memorable story, let alone linking it to professional goals. But material for stories and anecdotes that can be used for your professional success surround you! Let the Story Do the Work shows you how to mine your experience for simple narratives that will achieve your goals. You can learn to:• Capture attention• Engage your audience• Change minds• Inspire action• Pitch persuasively• And more!When you find the perfect hook, structure your story according to its strengths, and deliver it at the right time in the right way, you’ll see firsthand how easy it is to turn everyday communications into opportunities to connect, gain buy-in, and build lasting relationships.

"In a team situation, many issues -- like lack of trust and commitment, unresolved conflicts, and the inability of individuals to understand how their actions impact the rest of the team -- can stop even the most promising groups from delivering great results. This simple, easy-to-use book gives managers, supervisors, and team leaders activities to help their teams overcome emotional obstacles and become more effective. Readers will find powerful, proven exercises they can use to help employees: * identify individual and team mood * deal with anger and emotional triggers * avert, rather than avoid, conflict * encourage communication * overcome fear and other obstacles * understand and manage competition * honor differences * assess team strengths and weaknesses * pick up on cues from teammates * control the emotional climate of the team Each activity is followed by a discussion of its purpose, how to use it, and a list of post-activity questions to help solidify each lesson. This practical, effective collection of proven exercises will elicit the best from any team."