"Authors William Baker and Michael O'Malley teach you that--far from popular media portrayals of corporate callousness--kindness has a very distinct and essential place in the office.
Without presenting a naive idea of kindness, this eye-opening book identifies the surprising attributes successful and resoundingly kind leaders share--revealing how traits like sincerity, honesty, and respect can benefit organizations and help them to thrive.
In Leading With Kindness, business professionals will learn how to apply these lessons in their own workplace, gaining tips for how to:
- motivate employees, committee members, and others;
- recognize unique talents while nurturing all employees;
- establish a supportive environment;
- spur continuous organizational growth;
- adapt to change;
- and prepare the next generation of leaders.
Subtly and very effectively, a gentler, more human conception of leadership has become the gold standard for excellence. Leading With Kindness shows leaders how they can leverage the deceptively complex notion of kindness as guiding principle to lead more effectively."
"For many years, there has been quite a bit of talk about employee engagement as a means to lift corporate profits and reduce absenteeism and turnover. However, this talk has not produced better companies. In fact, the evidence shows that incivility and instances of employee abuse are getting worse. Additionally, with profit as the primary goal of organizations, most employees view any benign treatment they receive as a secondary convenience that will dissipate once corporate fortunes decline. That is, many employees still believe they are expendable in the eyes of their employers.
This book turns that equation around by examining the practices of twenty-one companies that put the interests and needs of employees first. The companies featured in this book see it as their mission to offer people a better, more fulfilling life for themselves, and assist with that holistic journey by providing the organizational elements people need to reach their potential. They do this first by creating respectful and kind cultures that treat every person as an equal, sentient partner in the success of the company. Second, they diligently work to satisfy people's basic needs. The result is a web of fellow-feeling: earnest affection among people who feverishly work to live up to both the high standards of the institution and their obligations to one another."
"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Wisdom of Bees by Michael O'Malley, read by David Holt.
'It seemed to me that the bees were working on the very same kinds of problems we are trying to solve. How can large, diverse groups work together harmoniously and productively? Perhaps we could take what the bees do so well and apply it to our institutions.'
When Michael O'Malley first took up beekeeping he thought it would be a nice hobby to share with his son. But he noticed that bees not only work together to achieve a common goal but, in the process, create a remarkably productive organization, like a miniature but incredibly successful business.
O'Malley also realized that bees can teach managers a lot, identifying 25 powerful insights such as:
* Distribute authority: the queen bee delegates relentlessly and worker bees make daily decisions
* Keep it simple: bees exchange only relevant information
* Protect the future: when a lucrative vein of nectar is discovered, the entire colony doesn't rush off to mine it
Blending practical advice with interesting facts about the hive, The Wisdom of Bees is a useful and entertaining audio guide for any manager looking to get the most out of his or her organization.
Published as part of the Penguin Portfolio series of business audiobooks."
