Redesigning Work

We are not accurate because life is easy. We are positive because life can be difficult. As a manager, you will face numerous barriers, negativity, and tests. There will be moments when it seems as if everything in the world is planning against you and your vision looks more like a fantasy than a reality. That’s why positive leadership is fundamental! Positive leadership is not about pretended positivity. It is the real stuff that makes great managers great. The analysis is clear. Being a positive leader is not just a nice route to lead. It's the way to lead if you want to create a great culture, unite your business in the face of adversity, develop a related and committed team and achieve perfection and superior results.

You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions. Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era.

The world has witnessed three-step roles in technological innovation: electrification, mechanization, and computerization. These industrial revolutions led to huge increases infertility and thus the need for fewer workers. With each of these technological inventions, the power balance between businesses and workers shifted slowly to companies. The violations of that power by companies instigated worker unrest and sometimes even protected uprisings. Counterbalancing units rose to constrain firms’ power, eventually helping unions, management, and the social safety net to bring balance to the relationship.

For the past five hundred years, Europe has been the nexus of global culture and influence. But throughout most of history, most European countries have also been volatile and insecure. Some even ground zero for catastrophic wars. As Friedman examines the continent’s past region by region, he explores the centuries-long struggles for power and area among the empires of Spain, Britain, Germany, and Russia that should lead to present-day crises: economic change in Greece; breakaway states approaching the state quo in Spain.

Owning a home has always been the American Dream, and in The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, David Bach shows that buying a home and investment properties is not only possible, it is still the surest way to reach your seven-figure dreams on an ordinary income. Whether you are a renter or already own a home, Bach’s book offers a lifelong strategy for real estate based on timeless wisdom that is tried and true—in any market. He includes everything you need to know, with step-by-step instructions, including phone numbers and web sites, so you can get started right away.