Perhaps you’re familiar with The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. Recently released in its 4th edition, the book has been called “the most trusted resource on becoming a leader” and continues to be a bestseller after twenty years in print.

Inspired by this leadership classic and new on bookshelves this year is The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable by Robert Thompson, a long-time master facilitator of The Leadership Challenge workshops. From the publisher:

Drawing on the leadership theories in the management classic The Leadership Challenge, Robert Thompson effortlessly incorporates these ideas into a fable of leadership and growth. Based on a company’s three-day offsite meeting, we follow this tale of transition through the eyes of two former rival pharmaceutical companies creating a joint sales strategy. The characters ultimately learn how to adopt The Five Practices that form the Leadership Challenge:

• Model the Way
• Inspire a Shared Vision
• Challenge the Process
• Enable Others to Act
• Encourage the Heart

The book also explores and addresses the fears and concerns participants may have especially around 360 degree feedback, the key component of the Leadership Challenge model and workshops.

For anyone preparing to attend a leadership training off-site, leadership developers, program planners, or for professionals looking to hone their leadership skills, this book will be an invaluable resource and a succinct introduction or refresher to The Leadership Challenge.

Whether you’re involved in leadership, planning off-site meetings, or both, The Offsite is a fun read in the vain of many of today’s popular business fables written by authors such as Ken Blanchard and Patrick Lencioni.

And if you do organize off-site meetings for your organization, you may be interested in knowing that Robert has also crafted a new keynote presentation based on The Offsite which presents the famous Five Practices of the Leadership Challenge in the form of “Robert’s Rules” for leadership:

1. Show up (Model the way)
2. Speak up (Inspire a shared vision)
3. Step up (Challenge the process)
4. Serve up (Enable others to act and encourage the heart)

Bringing to life some of the key characters from his book, Robert’s keynote presentation is dynamic and engaging and sure to make an impact on your attendees. For more information, view Robert Thompson’s speaker profile on The Speakers Group web site at www.thespeakersgroup.com/Robert_Thompson or contact The Speakers Group at (615) 866-1062.

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Speaker News, Uncategorized

Perhaps you’re already familiar with Vince Poscente’s New York Times Bestseller from 2007, The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World. If not, you may soon be… Random House just announced that they will be re-releasing the book as their lead paperback for the Fall of 2008 - hitting shelves on August 26.

While the book was originally focused on business readers, the new release has been tweaked to reach a broader audience of people struggling for more balance and less busyness in our ‘more, faster, now world.’ Here’s an excerpt:

“The new world of change assembled itself within a decade. And in the next ten years, the same thing will happen again-only this time the revolution is speed. Culture, business, and the individual experience are undergoing another major shift-one that is equally powerful and has the potential to be equally positive. If we can accept the positive potential that speed offers, we can do more, be more, live more. The change movement is a template that can guide us through the Age of Speed: rather than bucking speed, vowing to find solutions for moderating it, we should embrace it and find ways to create more of it.

Our resistance to speed was motivated by forces that have undergone dramatic change in recent years. Not all the values we once had to apply to the concept of speed are relevant. Though we have been taught that if we embrace speed, we will be forced to compromise quality, cost, our values, and our peace of mind, those rules don’t necessarily apply in the Age of Speed. And when they do apply, we don’t have to reject speed outright; we simply have to be more mindful of the value of our experiences. We no longer have to assume that we will always have to make compromises when we make speed a priority. We don’t have to assume that if we embrace speed, our lives will just get busier and busier. We’re in a new environment, a new game, and we need to play by different rules. We need to adapt, evolve, and shed our outdated or misguided perceptions of speed. We need to reshape the way we define, manage, and categorize our time.”

Be on the lookout for the new book, and if you’re looking for a great speaker to help your team members, association members or other constituents thrive in this “Age of Speed,” look no further than Vince Poscente. Read more about him here: www.thespeakersgroup.com/Vince_Poscente.

Posted under Book Review, Motivational Speakers, Speaker News

The new Leadership Development Carnival is up and running at Great Leadership, hosted by Dan McCarthy. With a focus on content related to leadership, management, and executive development, this month’s Carnival is a collection of advice and commentary from over 30 leadership pundits. We appreciate Dan including TSG Speakers Bureau Blog’s review of Pete Luongo’s 10 Truths About Leadership.

This is the first edition of the Leadership Development Carnival, with new installments coming every month. Look for “episode two” on August 2.

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence

Sales and marketing guru Michael Port was a featured guest on the July 1 episode of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch (on CNBC), focused on “The New Art of Selling.”

Through his first two books, Book Yourself Solid and Beyond Booked Solid, and numerous keynote speaking engagements, Michael has shown thousands of readers and audience members how to discover and set their business foundation, build trust with their target audience, and earn credibility within their marketplace - all with an emphasis on “smarter marketing.”

In his next book, The Contrarian Effect, due out in September, he takes aim exclusively at sales - “the most vital function in any business” - and shows us how to leverage the power of collaboration, build credibility through honest conversations, relate and listen to customers rather than just sell to them, realize that customers are smarter than most salespeople give them credit for, and attract them through “enthusiastic buying.”

I just spoke to Michael today and learned that the book is endorsed by Neil Rackham, a rock star in the world of professional selling, best known for books such as SPIN Selling and Rethinking the Sales Force. Neil has been busting myths about professional selling practices for years and Michael continues the theme, demonstrating how doing the exact opposite of the traditional sales wisdom, when done right, leads to better relationships and more sales.

From Michael: “For anyone who wants to discover a new way to sell—and do it successfully—The Contrarian Effect is the first step in a new direction.”

Be sure to pick up the book in a couple of months, and in the meantime, you can read a full chapter on CNBC’s web site here.

Also, if you’re looking for a dynamic speaker to shake things up for your sales force and help you reach higher levels of performance, “The Contrarian Effect” is also newly available as a keynote presentation. Learn more by contacting The Speakers Group.

Posted under Book Review, Sales Management, Speaker News, Uncategorized

We’re very appreciative of Brad Trnavsky at Sales Management 2.0 featuring our recent review of Pete Luongo’s 10 Truths About Leadership book (see “Pete Luongo Presents 10 Simple Truths About Leadership“) in this week’s Carnival of Sales & Management Success.

Brad has assembled links to lots of interesting blog posts, such as:

• “Promoting Employee Engagement in the Workplace”
• “Avoiding Uncomfortable Discussions with Your Prospects and Clients”
• “When to Delegate”
• “Why Everyone Should Experience a Sales Job”

And many more - a total of 26 posts!

If you’re involved in sales or sales management, please visit and check out some of the insightful content.

Posted under Book Review, Organizational Excellence, Sales Management, Suggested Links