The HR Answer Book or Grant Writing for Dummies

The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Human Resources Professionals

Author: Shawn A Smith

The HR Answer Book addresses 200 questions that every employer needs to deal with, from recruiting and hiring to discipline and termination, compensation and benefits to training and employee relations. Accessible and concise, this on-the-job companion offers expert guidance on all types of "people" issues, enabling managers and human resources professionals to:

• Save time, money, and trouble
• Increase employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention
• Attract and hire the best candidates while avoiding the inferior ones*
• Handle tough issues like sexual harassment, Internet and e-mail usage, performance problems, and more — fairly, sensitively, and legally.

The HR Answer Book is an easy-to-use problem solver that can be read cover-to-cover or as a quick reference in specific situations. An appendix of tools, templates, and lists of additional resources completes this excellent and valuable guide.

Author Biography: Shawn Smith (Harrison, NY) is an attorney, former corporate executive, and the founder of Next Level Consulting, LLC. Her articles have appeared in numerous legal and business publications. Rebecca Mazin (Larchmont, NY) is cofounder of Recruit Right, an HR consulting firm, and has held key positions at organizations including Hyatt Hotels, Owens Corning, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Training magazine

"...a handy guide to the various facets of Human Resources administration."

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

What Human Resource Managers Should Know
HR managers and other professionals in the field need to know what to do in sticky employee situations, whether they involve compensation and benefits, or discipline and termination. To help those in human resources deal with the tough questions that frequently come up during the course of their work, attorney and consultant Shawn Smith and HR expert Rebecca Mazin have compiled 200 questions and answers to some of the most vexing problems in HR today.

The HR Answer Book tackles numerous employee issues in a format that poses a question, then answers it with professional guidance backed up by several bulleted points highlighting the specific elements of the solution. Within those points, the authors present questions that should be asked and ideas that should be taken into consideration. What results is a well-rounded description of a complete HR response, which includes reflections on greater issues that comprise the problem as well as straightforward advice from professionals who have used the strategy in their work.

Worth Repeating
Along with the questions, answers and points that comprise these words of guidance, the authors also present several boxed sidebars that put their solutions into perspective. For example, when discussing an organization's need for a mentor program, the authors offer a boxed paragraph called, "Worth Repeating: Mentor Up." In it, the authors write that "Intel Corp. and some other large companies have instituted mentor programs that encourage learning relationships up the hierarchy. Senior managers can find out firsthand about new levels of the organization, and gain the confidence of the next generation of managers." These types of real-world examples provide HR managers with standards by which they can balance their own business practices.

Another type of boxed sidebar that appears throughout The HR Answer Book is a "Better Forgotten" story that describes an HR mistake made by a company that should have chosen a different tack when making a crucial management decision. In the boxed story titled, "Better Forgotten: 'What Were Those Survey Results?'" the authors describe a scenario where a midsized employer hired an outside consultant to design and administer an employee opinion survey. After the results were compiled, sent to key managers, and a committee was formed to create action plans, nothing was done. Later, when another survey was distributed around the company, only 5 percent of employees responded.

When discussing employee recruitment, the authors provide HR managers with detailed descriptions of the best ways to find candidates, conduct interviews, test prospects, and make job offers.

To help HR managers create an effective employee handbook, the authors present their readers with extensive lists of relevant topics from which they can choose policies for employment and compensation, equal employment opportunity, time off, employee benefits, safety, discipline and termination. After providing the options that are available, the authors describe the ways language and tone can make the handbook even more accessible and useful for employees.

Other helpful bits of advice in The HR Answer Book include when to use an attorney, how to develop a performance management system, how to keep good employees, how to make a benefits package competitive, and the best ways for handling violence and substance abuse in the workplace.

Additional Resources
Not only does The HR Answer Book provide numerous guiding examples of sound HR management principles, but it also contains a lengthy resource guide that holds dozens of addresses, Web sites, and telephone numbers of the agencies and organizations that can be invaluable in the quest for a successful HR program.

In addition to these links to the current universe of HR experts, the authors also provide readers with a section filled with tools and templates, including questions HR managers should ask candidates before scheduling an interview, an application flow log, a trainer's checklist, an exit interview questionnaire, several sample forms, as well as many other helpful documents that can serve as a starting place for a comprehensive HR management system. By presenting so many tools and strategies in a single resource, The HR Answer Book serves as a convenient reference book that can provide any HR manager with the knowledge and know-how to navigate through the many expected and unexpected situations that can arise during the course of managing an organization's employees.

Why We Like This Book
The HR Answer Book not only offers thorough solutions to the many human relations problems and questions that arise in day-to-day business operations, but it also asks the proper questions that should be considered to get to the right results in times of crisis. The authors have presented their expertise in an easy-to-use format that makes referencing their wisdom effortless. The inclusion of an up-to-date reference section makes this book a vital resource for perfecting the HR system of any organization. Copyright © 2004 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	ix
	Preface	xi
1	Employee Selection: How Do I Find, Attract, and Select the Best?	1
	Finding Your Candidates	1
	Conducting the Interview	15
	Preemployment Testing and Screening	21
	Making the Job Offer	25
2	HR Policies: Why Do We Need Them and What Should They Look Like?	29
	The Employee Handbook	30
3	Performance Management: How Do I Evaluate Performance and Conduct Meaningful Performance Reviews?	41
	Developing a Performance Management System	42
	The Performance Appraisal Process	46
	Conducting the Performance Appraisal	55
4	Training and Development: How Do Successful Companies Improve and Enhance Workforce Skills?	60
	Orienting the New Employee	61
	Continuing Employee Development	64
5	Employee Relations and Retention: How Do I Keep Good Employees and Maintain Working Relationships at All Levels?	75
	Fostering Effective Workplace Communication	75
	Structuring Reward and Recognition Programs	83
	Maintaining Work-Life Balance	87
	Resolving Workplace Conflicts	93
	When Employees Leave: Conducting the Exit Interview	96
6	Compensation: How Should Employees Be Paid?	98
	Wage and Hour Laws	98
	The Compensation System	104
	Variable Pay: Bonuses and Incentives	113
7	Benefits: What Makes a Benefits Package Competitive?	117
	Legally Required Insurance Programs	118
	Benefits That Provide Economic Security	121
	Benefit Days: Holidays, Sick Days, and Vacation	125
	Health Insurance	127
	Employee Assistance Programs	136
	Retirement Benefits	136
	Other Benefits	141
8	Regulatory Issues: What Are the Major Employment Laws and How Do I Comply with Them?	143
	Laws Prohibiting Discriminatory Practices	143
	The Family and Medical Leave Act	158
	Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1979	162
	Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986	165
9	When Bad Things Happen to Good Employers: How Do I Handle Volatile Workplace Issues?	169
	Electronic Mail, Internet, and Computer Usage	171
	Violence in the Workplace	175
	Substance Abuse in the Workplace	179
	Monitoring Other Workplace Dishonesty	184
	Conducting Employee Investigations	188
10	Termination and Discharge: How Do I Fire an Employee Legally and Humanely?	194
	The Termination Process	195
	Post-Termination Compensation and Benefits	200
	Other Post-Termination Matters	206
	Resource Guide	209
	Tools and Templates	219
	Index	235

Look this: Guia Sobre la Hepatitis C or The Forever Factor

Grant Writing for Dummies

Author: Beverly A Browning

Are you writing a grant application for the first time? Maybe you’re a veteran fundraiser looking to sharpen your grant writing skills. No matter how experienced you are at writing requests for money, people and organizations are not going to support you just because you’re in need.

Grant Writing for Dummies, 2^nd Edition shows you the most effective way to compose a grant proposal and get funding from governments, corporations, foundations, and more! This hands-on, step-by-step guide leads you through researching options, dealing with application forms, handling potential sponsors, and getting the money you need. Revised and up-to-date, this book covers everything you need to know to:

• Fill out federal grant application kits

• Win grants from corporations and foundations

• Gain support from an individual grantor

• Obtain grants from international funds

• Meet the review criteria of government grants and contracts

• Choose the right word to win funds

• Master cover letters, abstracts, and more

• Let prospective grantors know your deal

• Put the finishing touches on your application

Demystifying the process of grant writing, this all-out guide gives you just the facts with no information withheld. You’ll get savvy tips on organizing your writing, developing your style, personalizing your requests, and how to handle your rejection and move forward. Also included is a complete example of a grant application narrative. With Grant Writing for Dummies, 2^nd Edition, you’ll be able tocraft effective proposals and go for the gold!

Screwed or The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - and What We Can Do About It

Author: Thom Hartmann

Nationally syndicated radio host and bestselling author Thom Hartmann exposes the covert war conservatives, and corporations are waging against America's middle class'a war that's reducing the rest of us to a politically impotent working poor. This book asks: How did this happen? Who's benefiting? And how can we stop it?

Look this: Living Long Loving It or Pathological Gambling

The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants

Author: John C Maxwell

John C. Maxwell takes the pain out of knowing what makes a team tick. If you want to have a better team, you have to develop better players.

The qualities Maxwell teaches quickly take you to the heart of teamwork. Anybody can understand them and apply them-whether at home, on the job, at church, or on the ball field. If you learn the seventeen essential qualities of a team player, you can become the kind of person every team wants. If everyone on your team does it, there will be no holding you back.

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
1	Adaptable: If You Won't Change for the Team, the Team May Change You	1
2	Collaborative: Working Together Precedes Winning Together	10
3	Committed: There Are No Halfhearted Champions	19
4	Communicative: A Team Is Many Voices with a Single Heart	28
5	Competent: If You Can't, Your Team Won't	37
6	Dependable: Teams Go to Go-To Players	46
7	Disciplined: Where There's a Will, There's a Win	55
8	Enlarging: Adding Value to Teammates Is Invaluable	63
9	Enthusiastic: Your Heart Is the Source of Energy for the Team	71
10	Intentional: Make Every Action Count	80
11	Mission Conscious: The (Big) Picture Is Coming in Loud and Clear	89
12	Prepared: Preparation Can Mean the Difference Between Winning and Losing	98
13	Relational: If You Get Along, Others Will Go Along	107
14	Self-Improving: To Improve the Team, Improve Yourself	116
15	Selfless: There Is No I in Team	125
16	Solution Oriented: Make a Resolution to Find the Solution	134
17	Tenacious: Never, Never, Never Quit	141
	Conclusion	150
	Notes	152
	About the Author	156

Lean Six Sigma for Service or Maxwell 3 in 1 Special Edition

Lean Six Sigma for Service: How to Use Lean Speed and Six Sigma Quality to Improve Services and Transactions

Author: Michael L Georg

Bring the miracle of Lean Six Sigma improvement out of manufacturing and into services

Much of the U.S. economy is now based on services rather than manufacturing. Yet the majority of books on Six Sigma and Lean--today's major quality improvement initiatives--explain only how to implement these techniques in a manufacturing environment.

Lean Six Sigma for Services fills the need for a service-based approach, explaining how companies of all types can cost-effectively translate manufacturing-oriented Lean Six Sigma tools into the service delivery process.

Filled with case studies detailing dramatic service improvements in organizations from Lockheed Martin to Stanford University Hospital, this bottom-line book provides executives and managers with the knowledge they need to:

• Reduce service costs by 30 to 60 percent
• Improve service delivery time by 50 percent
• Expand capacity by 20 percent without adding staff

Michael L. George is founder and President of The George Group, the largest Lean Six Sigma consulting practice in the United States. He wrote the successful and influential Lean Six Sigma, also published by McGraw-Hill.

Look this: Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun or Creative Capitalism

Maxwell 3-in 1 Special Edition: The Winning Attitude, Developing the Leaders Around You, Becoming a Person of Influence

Author: John C Maxwell

In The Winning Attitude John Maxwell shares insights from real life experiences showing how to recognize and attain the winning attitude to overcome life's difficulties, win people over, and turn problems into opportunities.

Developing the Leaders Around You takes personal leadership one step further by showing you how to identify and train potential leaders and foster a productive team spirit.

Whatever your vocation or aspiration, you can increase your impact on others by Becoming a Person of Influence. Learn simple insightful ways to interact more positively with others, and watch you personal and organizational success go off the charts. With influence, you can achieve success at home, work, and in every other area of life.

Lean Six Sigma for Service or Maxwell 3 in 1 Special Edition

Lean Six Sigma for Service: How to Use Lean Speed and Six Sigma Quality to Improve Services and Transactions

Author: Michael L Georg

Bring the miracle of Lean Six Sigma improvement out of manufacturing and into services

Much of the U.S. economy is now based on services rather than manufacturing. Yet the majority of books on Six Sigma and Lean--today's major quality improvement initiatives--explain only how to implement these techniques in a manufacturing environment.

Lean Six Sigma for Services fills the need for a service-based approach, explaining how companies of all types can cost-effectively translate manufacturing-oriented Lean Six Sigma tools into the service delivery process.

Filled with case studies detailing dramatic service improvements in organizations from Lockheed Martin to Stanford University Hospital, this bottom-line book provides executives and managers with the knowledge they need to:

• Reduce service costs by 30 to 60 percent
• Improve service delivery time by 50 percent
• Expand capacity by 20 percent without adding staff

Michael L. George is founder and President of The George Group, the largest Lean Six Sigma consulting practice in the United States. He wrote the successful and influential Lean Six Sigma, also published by McGraw-Hill.

Look this: Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun or Creative Capitalism

Maxwell 3-in 1 Special Edition: The Winning Attitude, Developing the Leaders Around You, Becoming a Person of Influence

Author: John C Maxwell

In The Winning Attitude John Maxwell shares insights from real life experiences showing how to recognize and attain the winning attitude to overcome life's difficulties, win people over, and turn problems into opportunities.

Developing the Leaders Around You takes personal leadership one step further by showing you how to identify and train potential leaders and foster a productive team spirit.

Whatever your vocation or aspiration, you can increase your impact on others by Becoming a Person of Influence. Learn simple insightful ways to interact more positively with others, and watch you personal and organizational success go off the charts. With influence, you can achieve success at home, work, and in every other area of life.

Nothing to Fear or Never Eat Alone

Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America

Author: Adam Cohen

From New York Times editorial board member Adam Cohen, a revelatory account of the personal dynamics that shaped FDR's inner circle and a political narrative of the hundred days that created modern America.

Publishers Weekly

New York Times editorial board member Cohen (coauthor, American Pharaoh) delivers an exemplary and remarkably timely narrative of FDR's famous first "Hundred Days" as president. Providing a new perspective on an oft-told story, Cohen zeroes in on the five Roosevelt aides-de-camp whom he rightly sees as having been the most influential in developing FDR's wave of extraordinary actions. These were agriculture secretary Henry Wallace, presidential aide Raymond Moley, budget director Lewis Douglas, labor secretary Frances Perkins and Civil Works Administration director Harry Hopkins. This group, Cohen emphasizes, did not work in concert. The liberal Perkins, Wallace and Hopkins often clashed with Douglas, one of the few free-marketers in FDR's court. Moley hovered somewhere in between the two camps. As Cohen shows, the liberals generally prevailed in debates. However, the vital foundation for FDR's New Deal was crafted through a process of rigorous argument within the president's innermost circle rather than ideological consensus. Cohen's exhaustively researched and eloquently argued book provides a vital new level of insight into Roosevelt's sweeping expansion of the federal government's role in our national life. (Jan. 12)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

William D. Pederson - Library Journal

This year marks the 75th anniversary of "The Hundred Days" in 1933 that signified the beginning of Franklin D. Roosevelt's assumption of the presidency. Cohen (assistant editorial page editor, New York Times; American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Dailey) displays his strong prose style and research skills in this story of the precedent set by FDR against which later Presidents are judged: the so-called honeymoon period after inauguration and before the media and the opposition inevitably begin to critique and attack. Cohen wisely tells the New Deal story through the biographies of five of its most important players: Raymond Moley and Lewis Douglas (director, bureau of the budget)-both of whom broke with FDR rather early on-and the more liberal Henry Wallace (secretary of agriculture), Frances Perkins (secretary of labor), and Harry Hopkins. The author presents FDR as a nonideological pragmatist who adapted to the times and the New Deal as an ad hoc program rather than a blueprint for the social welfare state. Frances Perkins, who served FDR the longest, emerges as the hero of the story. Though disliking the media and showing little interest in aiding congressional patronage, Perkins was the driving soul behind the New Deal. Cohen does not uncover new information, but he presents a crucial human story which goes beyond that found in most FDR biographies. Superbly readable and informative, this is an essential purchase for all public and academic libraries. The current financial meltdown and the eve of inaugurating a new president make it that much more timely a purchase.

Kirkus Reviews

Journalist Cohen (The Perfect Store: Inside eBay, 2002, etc.) delves into the New Deal archives to fashion an elucidating, pertinent and timely work on the makings of government. The slew of progressive legislation passed during Franklin Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933 broke with the old order of laissez faire economics and redefined the nature of government's responsibilities vis-a-vis its citizens. These policies had critics, to be sure, but they worked, Cohen notes, alleviating people's misery during the Great Depression by offering relief, jobs and, most important, hope. While FDR largely garnered the credit for the country's recovery-and aroused alarm with his autocratic proclamations and tactics-his handpicked minions worked tirelessly behind the scenes to forge the New Deal's landmark programs, often by trial and error. Cohen closely examines the five members of Roosevelt's inner circle who left the most lasting mark on the legislation forged during those 100 days, looking in turn at where they came from, how they gained the president's trust and how they used their experience to make history. Since the banking crisis was FDR's first concern, he chose trusted aide and speechwriter Raymond Moley to work alongside the Treasury Department on the Emergency Banking Act, which tackled the essential tension between spending more to fight the Depression and spending less to balance the budget. Budget Director Lewis Douglas, a conservative, pushed through Congress the Economy Act, a major budget-reduction measure, but he resigned in 1934 when Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace saved the farm belt with the AgriculturalAdjustment Act; Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member, persuaded FDR to support her ambitious progressive agenda, including workers' rights protections; Harry Hopkins became the leading public-works administrator. Ambitious yet well focused-a marvelously readable study of an epic moment in American history.

Book review: Understanding Crohn Disease and Ulcerative Colitis or Look Speak Behave for Men

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

Author: Keith Ferrazzi

Do you want to get ahead in life?

Climb the ladder to personal success?

The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships-so that everyone wins.

In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps-and inner mindset-he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his Rolodex, people he has helped and who have helped him.

The son of a small-town steelworker and a cleaning lady, Ferrazzi first used his remarkable ability to connect with others to pave the way to a scholarship at Yale, a Harvard MBA, and several top executive posts. Not yet out of his thirties, he developed a network of relationships that stretched from Washington's corridors of power to Hollywood's A-list, leading to him being named one of Crain's 40 Under 40 and selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the Davos World Economic Forum.

Ferrazzi's form of connecting to the world around him is based on generosity, helping friends connect with other friends. Ferrazzi distinguishes genuine relationship-building from the crude, desperate glad-handling usually associated with "networking." He then distills his system of reaching out to people into practical, proven principles. Among them:

Don't keep score: It's never simply about getting what you want. It's about getting what you want and making sure that the people who are important to you get what they want, too.

"Ping" constantly: The Ins and Outs of reaching out to those in your circle of contacts all the time-not just when you need something.

Never eat alone: The dynamics of status are the same whether you're working at a corporation or attending a society event- "invisibility" is a fate worse than failure.

In the course of the book, Ferrazzi outlines the timeless strategies shared by the world's most connected individuals, from Katherine Graham to Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan to the Dalai Lama.

Chock full of specific advice on handling rejection, getting past gatekeepers, becoming a "conference commando," and more, Never Eat Alone is destined to take its place alongside How to Win Friends and Influence People as an inspirational classic.

Publishers Weekly

The youngest partner in Deloitte Consulting's history and founder of the consulting company Ferrazzi Greenlight, the author quickly aims in this useful volume to distinguish his networking techniques from generic handshakes and business cards tossed like confetti. At conferences, Ferrazzi practices what he calls the "deep bump"-a "fast and meaningful" slice of intimacy that reveals his uniqueness to interlocutors and quickly forges the kind of emotional connection through which trust, and lots of business, can soon follow. That bump distinguishes this book from so many others that stress networking; writing with Fortune Small Business editor Raz, Ferrazzi creates a real relationship with readers. Ferrazzi may overstate his case somewhat when he says, "People who instinctively establish a strong network of relationships have always created great businesses," but his clear and well-articulated steps for getting access, getting close and staying close make for a substantial leg up. Each of 31 short chapters highlights a specific technique or concept, from "Warming the Cold Call" and "Managing the Gatekeeper" to following up, making small talk, "pinging" (or sending "quick, casual" greetings) and defining oneself to the point where one's missives become "the e-mail you always read because of who it's from." In addition to variations on the theme of hard work, Ferrazzi offers counterintuitive perspectives that ring true: "vulnerability... is one of the most underappreciated assets in business today"; "too many people confuse secrecy with importance." No one will confuse this book with its competitors. (On sale Feb. 22) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Summary - Soundview Executive Book Summaries

In Never Eat Alone, marketing and sales consultant Keith Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps, and inner mind-set, that he uses to connect with thousands of colleagues, friends and associates.

The secret to accomplishing personal career objectives, Ferrazzi tells us, can be found in reaching out to other people. What distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships so that everyone wins.

Ferrazzi's advice is based on generosity and helping friends connect to other friends and he offers specific tips on handling rejection, getting past the gatekeepers, becoming a "conference commando," and building and broadcasting your personal brand.

Reaching out to people is a way to make a difference in their lives as well as a way to explore, learn and enrich your own, Ferrazzi explains. Building a web of relationships isn't the only thing you need to be successful. But building a career, and a life, with the help and support of friends, family and associates has many virtues.

The Mind-Set
Knowing what you want will inform you how to build relationships to achieve your goals. The author makes two recommendations:

1. Put your goals on paper. Write down what you want to achieve in 10 years, three years, one year, and 60 days to work backward from great visions to the specific steps you must start taking immediately to get there.
2. Think about who can help you achieve those goals. Write both the names of people and types of people you need to know for your success. Now, there are two questions you ask and answer for each of your target contacts: How can you reach them? And what can you offer them, or how can you contribute to their success, too?

The Skill Set
Ferrazzi outlines the skill set that is needed to build relationships:

• Do your homework. Before you meet someone new, get information about that person. The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to connect, bond and impress.
• Take names. Maintain an electronic record of all the people you know and add to it whenever you meet new people or whenever you learn about people you want to meet.
• Warm up the cold call. Think of meeting new people as a challenge and an opportunity. Find a mutual friend to introduce you. Show you know their problems and that you have solutions. Talk a little and say a lot. Offer a compromise. Ask for more than you want at first, so you can later settle for something that's still desirable.
• Manage the gatekeeper artfully. Make the gatekeepers your allies.
• Never eat alone. Invisibility is far worse than failure.
• Share your passions. Get involved in activities you enjoy and causes you believe in, and invite others to join you.
• Follow up or fail. Give yourself 12-24 hours to follow up. Focus on what you might be able to do for them.
• Be a Conference Commando. Know your targets ahead of time, strike early, work the breaks, skip the small talk as quickly as possible, and remember that you're there to meet the attendees, not the speakers.
• Connect with connectors. Super-connectors such as restaurateurs, headhunters, politicians and journalists should be the cornerstones of any flourishing network.
• Expand your circle. A great method for expanding your circle is sharing networks with a friend.
• The Art of Small Talk. We all have what it takes to charm everyone around us. But having it and knowing how to work it- that's the difference between going though life in the shadows and commanding center stage. Charm is simply a matter of being yourself. Your uniqueness is your power.

Ferrazzi tells us there's never been a better time to reach out and connect than right now. The more everyone becomes connected to everyone else, the quicker and smoother our ascent toward our goals will be. Creativity begets more creativity, money begets more money, knowledge begets more knowledge, and success begets even more success.

Ferrazzi concludes, "Just remember: You can't get there alone. We're all in this together." Copyright © 2006 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

What People Are Saying

"Your network is your net worth. This book shows you how to add to your personal bottom line with better networking and bigger relationships. What a solid but easy read! Keith's personality shines through like the great (and hip) teacher you never got in college or business school. Buy this book for yourself, and tomorrow go out and buy one for your kid brother!"
—author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and leadership coach at Yahoo!

Jon Miller
"Everyone in business knows relationships and having a network of contacts is important. Finally we have a real-world guide to how to create your own high-powered network tailored to your career goals and personal style."
—CEO, AOL

Tim Sanders
"Your network is your net worth. This book shows you how to add to your personal bottom line with better networking and bigger relationships. What a solid but easy read! Keith's personality shines through like the great (and hip) teacher you never got in college or business school. Buy this book for yourself, and tomorrow go out and buy one for your kid brother!"
—author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and leadership coach at Yahoo!

Klaus Kleinfeld
"I've seen Keith Ferrazzi in action and he is a master at building relationships and networking to further the interests of an enterprise. He's sharing his playbook for those who want learn the secrets of this important executive art."
—CEO-designate, Siemens AG

Og Mandinos Great Trilogy or The Leadership Challenge

Og Mandino's Great Trilogy: The Greatest Salesman in the World, The Greatest Secret in the World, The Greatest Miracle in the World

Author: Og Mandino

Here, in one volume, are the three most famous and beloved of Og Mandino's twenty-two books:

• The Greatest Salesman in the World: Originally published in 1968, Mandino's first book combines the power of parable with profound psychological insights. It recounts the legend of Hadid, a lowly camel boy, who is given ten ancient scrolls that contain the wisdom he needs to achieve all his goals.
• The Greatest Secret in the World: A Complete guide to putting the wisdom of the scrolls to work.
• The Greatest Miracle in the World: A touching tale of Mandino meeting the mysterious Simon Potter, who reveals ageless knowledge, hope, and inspiration.

Book about: Myths Lies and Downright Stupidity or Tribes

The Leadership Challenge

Author: Barry Z Posner

When it was initially written in 1987, few could have predicted that The Leadership Challenge would become one of the best-selling leadership books of all time. Now, faced with the new challenges of our unpredictable global business environment, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner--two of the country's premier leadership experts--have completely revised and updated their classic book. Building on the knowledge base of their previous books, the third edition of The Leadership Challenge is grounded in extensive research and based on interviews with all kinds of leaders at all levels in public and private organizations from around the world. In this edition, the authors emphasize that the fundamentals of leadership are the same today as they were in the 1980s, and as they've probably been for centuries. In that sense, nothing's new. Leadership is not a fad. While the content of leadership has not changed, the context has-and in some cases, changed dramatically.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

From the ten commitments of leadership to the emphasis on actions and relationships, this valuable book is full of enduring wisdom and practical insights essential for success in challenging times. (Harvard Business School, best-selling author of "Evolve! Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow")

John C. Maxwell

For twenty-five years I have written about and taught leadership. The Leadership Challenge is one of the five best books I have ever read. I continually recommend it to others. (founder, The INJOY Group, and author, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership")

Warren Bennis

The first edition was seminal and totally original. It became a modern classic on leadership practically overnight. With this new edition, with new cases and concepts and action steps that are even riper and more important, Kouzes and Posner go way beyond their earlier work and have made yet another brilliant contribution to leadership studies. This new book, a product of an unusual collaboration, is essential reading for everyone involved or concerned with leading. (distinguished Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California, and coauthor, "Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders")

David S. Pottruck

This book is one of the very best on the topic of leadership, offering extraordinary stories from leaders at various ages and stages of their lives. Whether you’re now in a leadership role and want to further strengthen and hone your skills, or you simply have the desire to learn to make a difference and help guide your company—or even friends and family members—to higher levels of success, you’ll benefit by reading The Leadership Challenge. (president & CEO, The Charles Schwab Corporation)

Publishers Weekly

An inspirational and practical handbook, this expanded revision of a bestselling manual originally published in 1987 offers sound advice to corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, to managers and employees and to aspiring leaders in retail, manufacturing, government, community, church and school settings. Drawing on interviews and a questionnaire survey of more than 3000 leaders, the authors identify five fundamental practices of exemplary leadership: challenge the status quo; inspire a shared vision; enable others to act; model the way forward by setting an example; tap individuals' inner drives by linking rewards and performance. Kouzes, chairman and CEO of TPG/Learning Systems, and Posner, managing partner of Santa Clara University's Executive Development Center in California, write insightful, down-to-earth, jargon-free prose. This new edition has been substantially updated to reflect the challenges of shrinking work forces, rising cynicism and expanded telecommunications. An appendix includes the author's Leadership Practices Inventory, a tool for assessing leadership behavior. 75,000 first printing; Executive Program Book Club main selection; author tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Kouzes gives workshops in executive development and managing growth companies; Posner conducts seminars in communication, group dynamics, etc. Their excellent book on leadership for business executives covers identifying and developing leadership qualities, building commitment into action, and other important topics. In addition to discussing the theoretical foundations of leadership, the authors use many examples from work situations to demonstrate application. In a field in which many books are available, this one is readable, interesting, and up-to-date. Highly recommended for collections serving business executives and students. Grace Klinefelter, Ft. Lauderdale Coll. Lib., Fla.

Table of Contents:

	Preface: Everyone's Business - Leadership for Today and Tomorrow
Pt. 1	What Leaders Do and What Constituents Expect
1	The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership	3
2	Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership	23
Pt. 2	Model the Way
3	Find Your Voice	43
4	Set the Example	75
Pt. 3	Inspire a Shared Vision
5	Envision the Future	109
6	Enlist Others	141
Pt. 4	Challenge the Process
7	Search for Opportunities	173
8	Experiment and Take Risks	205
Pt. 5	Enable Others to Act
9	Foster Collaboration	241
10	Strengthen Others	279
Pt. 6	Encourage the Heart
11	Recognize Contributions	315
12	Celebrate the Values and Victories	351
Pt. 7	Leadership for Everyone
13	Leadership Is Everyone's Business	383
	App.: Guide to the Research	401
	Notes	403
	Acknowledgments	423
	About the Authors	427
	Index	431

10 Big Lies about America or The World is Flat

10 Big Lies about America

Author: Michael Medved

“It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble,nineteenth-century humorist Josh Billings remarked. “It’s the things we know that just ain’t so.”


In this bold and brilliantly argued book, acclaimed author and talk-radio host Michael Medved zeroes in on ten of the biggest fallacies that millions of Americans believe about our country—in spite of incontrovertible facts to the contrary. In The 10 Big Lies About America, Medved pinpoints the most pernicious pieces of America-bashing disinformation that pollute current debates about the economy, race, religion in politics, the Iraq war, and other contentious issues.

The myths that Medved deftly debunks include:

Myth: The United States is uniquely guilty for the crime of slavery and based its wealth on stolen African labor.

Fact: The colonies that became the United States accounted for, at most, 3 percent of the abominable international slave trade; the persistence of slavery in America slowed economic progress; and the U.S. deserves unique credit for ending slavery.

Myth: The alarming rise of big business hurts the United States and oppresses its people.

Fact: Corporations played an indispensable role in building America, and corporate growth has brought progress that benefits all with cheaper goods and better jobs.

Myth: The Founders intended a secular, not Christian, nation.

Fact: Even after ratifying the Constitution, fully half the state governments endorsed specific Chris­tian denominations. And just a day after approving the First Amendment, forbidding theestablishment of religion, Congress called for a national “day of public thanksgiving and prayer” to acknowledge “the many signal favors of Almighty God.”

Myth: A war on the middle class means less comfort and opportunity for the average American.

Fact: Familiar campaign rhetoric about the victimized middle class ignores the overwhelming statistical evidence that the standard of living keeps rising for every segment of the population, as well as the real-life experience of tens of millions of middle-class Americans.

Each of the ten lies—widely believed among elites and taught as truth in universities and public schools—is a grotesque, propagandistic distortion of the historical record. For everyone who is tired of hearing America denigrated by people who don’t know what they’re talking about, The 10 Big Lies About America supplies the ammunition necessary to fire back the next time somebody tries to recycle these baseless beliefs. Medved’s witty, well-documented rebuttal is a refreshing reminder that as Americans we should feel blessed, not burdened, by our heritage.

Book about: Le Rapport d'ASHE-ERIC Higher Education, la Compréhension et le fait de Faciliter le Changement D'organisation au 21e siècle :la Recherche Récente et la Conceptualisation, Vol.4

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Further Updated and Expanded)

Author: Thomas L Friedman

"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005.

In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures.

The World Is Flat 3.0 is an essential update on globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its drawbacks--environmental, social, and political, powerfully illuminated by the Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree.