Professional Career Development

In 1998, the thought of launching a startup in San Antonio was ludicrous. Just over two decades later, the scrappy little underdog that no one believed in is a billion-dollar business with more than 6,000 employees worldwide. The rocket-ship growth was exhilarating, but exposed Rackspace’s early flaws. The Rack We Built is Lorenzo’s recollections from those days, told only as he can tell it. With the principles in the book, you can create the type of culture that makes people want to volunteer their best.

The Sunday Times number-one best seller. How people succeed and how you can, too. Alastair Campbell knows all about winning. As Tony Blair’s chief spokesman and strategist, he helped guide the Labour Party to victory in three successive general elections, and he’s fascinated by what it takes to win. How do sports stars excel, entrepreneurs thrive, or individuals achieve their ambitions? Is their ability to win innate? Or is the winning mind-set something we can all develop?

Delane Parnell is not your typical tech entrepreneur. He was raised in a gang-riddled neighborhood on Detroit’s west side, bouncing between homes as his mother tried to make ends meet. Many of his closest friends and family members ended up in jail or dead. This makes it even more incredible that Delane became the 25-year-old founder and CEO of PlayVS, a Los Angeles company that is forever changing the gaming landscape in America.

When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula - seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals - but with a twist: as the first person to top one million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups. A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.

He started his life out in the shadows of the steel mills in Gary, Indiana. Instead of home or school being his safe places to learn and grow, Tom Pado found his own ways of learning. All the adventures led him into a life of excitement and success as he pioneered the offshore remotely operated vehicle (ROV) industry for deep-sea oil drilling. His ideas powered the industry that powers the world. In Damn the Pressure, Full Speed Ahead, Pado shares the story of how he made his way across the globe and built a multimillion-dollar company that has truly altered the world.

Why this book? Why now? Being a teacher is more demanding than ever. Up to 50 percent of new teachers leave the field within five years, and many veteran teachers are pondering second careers. With the guidance and proper support offered in this book, teachers can find joy and success in education and make a difference in the lives of our youth.

Elon Musk's management style is characterized by a combination of visionary leadership, hands-on involvement, and relentless pursuit of excellence. At the core of his approach is a clear and ambitious vision, such as transitioning the world to sustainable energy through Tesla or making humanity multi-planetary with SpaceX. Musk uses this vision to inspire teams, align organizational efforts, and set audacious goals that push the boundaries of what is possible.

It’s an age-old question: Why do some great ideas or inventions take off and soar while others never get off the ground? Today, with more and more young entrepreneurs seeking to incorporate social justice, economic equity, climate concerns, and communal health into their endeavors, the need for practical-yet-think-big answers is great. Thibault Manekin has a few.

Have you ever been reduced to a quivering mass of jelly when handed a wine list? Wondered why a sommelier was hovering near your table? Felt out of your element at a nice restaurant with clients, colleagues, or friends? Professional Drinking will boost your confidence and squash the fear of embarrassment. Sommelier and executive coach Jim Schleckser teaches you to handle yourself like a pro in a restaurant or bar, at a business event, or in any social situation.

When 21-year-old Michael Dell asked E. Lee Walker to be the president of his fledgling computer company, PC’s Limited, Walker, in his mid-40s, immediately thought about all the people who had helped him through life - as an undergraduate at Texas A&M, a graduate student at Harvard, and a once-young entrepreneur himself. As he and Dell created the foundation of what would become one of the most successful companies in the world, Walker was guided by the lessons of his past business ventures, his belief in the power of imagination, and his relationships with people.

Several prominent brother teams pioneered the American automobile industry: Horace and John Dodge, Charles and Frank Duryea, Francis and Freelan Stanley, five Studebaker brothers and James and William Packard. However, the seven burly Fisher brothers were not only the most numerous of all the families, each one extensively involved in developing the famous "Body by Fisher" brand and subsequently General Motors, they were also among the most successful of the automobile titans.

Throughout her illustrious career, Charlotte Beers has been a CEO, a chairman, an undersecretary of state, and the first woman to appear on the cover of Fortune magazine. But none of those titles compare to what Charlotte is called today: a teacher, educating women across the United States and Europe on how to break the glass ceiling in what she calls “the era of forging ahead for women.” Now, Charlotte shares her extensive knowledge and experience in I’d Rather Be in Charge, detailing concrete solutions to the most serious issue facing working women today....

Richard Branson, one of the world's most famous and admired business leaders, argues that it's time to turn capitalism upside down - to shift our values from an exclusive focus on profit to also caring for people, communities and the planet. As he writes: "It's a vibrant and definite sea change from the way business was always done, when financial profit was a driving force. Today, people aren't afraid to say, Screw business as usual!-and show they mean it."

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, read by Sarah Jes Austell. The first thing Sophia Amoruso sold online wasn't fashion. It was a stolen book. At age 17 she was a dumpster-diving, shoplifting anarchist. By 29 she was the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, a $100 million-plus fashion empire. Filled with brazen wake-up calls ("You are not a special snowflake"), frank observations ("Failure is your invention"), and behind-the-scenes stories....

Many think that a start-up needs to raise millions of dollars from investors to create a big and successful business. Or that a business owner needs to hire employees as fast as they can. That’s just simply not true. In Bootstrapped to Millions, you’ll explore numerous ways to build a business that continues to grow year after year without needing to hire employees or pour your hard-earned profit back into the business. Starting a business today has never been easier, but it takes focus, determination, and a clear vision to create a successful business.

Life was good for Jorge Newbery. A high school dropout and serial entrepreneur, he had built a real estate empire of over 4,000 apartments across the USA. Taking risks and working tirelessly were the ingredients to his rise. But, he took one risk too many. An ice storm on Christmas Eve 2004 triggered his collapse. He was maligned, publicly shamed, and financially gutted - even arrested. He lost everything and ended up $26 million in debt.

The pioneer who gate-crashed his way to the top, Subhash Chandra, the promoter of Essel/Zee Group, is an unlikely mogul. Hailing from a small town in Haryana, where his family ran grain mills, Chandra has been a perennial outsider, repeatedly aiming high and breaking into businesses where he was considered an interloper. Starting work as a teen to pay off family debts, Chandra had to rely on bluff, gumption, and sheer hard toil to turn things around.

In 2001, Adam Neumann arrived in New York after five years as a conscript in the Israeli navy. Just over 15 years later, he had transformed himself into the charismatic CEO of a company worth $47 billion. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Neumann looked the part of a messianic Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The vision he offered was mesmerising: a radical reimagining of work space for a new generation. He called it WeWork.

Leal llegó a los Estados Unidos sin un centavo cuando era adolescente, casi sin hablar inglés; literalmente durmió en la sala de calderas de una fábrica de queso de Wisconsin durante meses antes de que lo atraparan. A través del trabajo duro, la determinación y el ingenio, Leal lanzaría su propio negocio. Se le atribuye ampliamente el mérito de introdujo quesos mexicanos en el mercado estadounidense e hizo crecer su empresa hasta convertirla en una historia de éxito multimillonaria.

In Five Attributes to a Successful Career, Carla Mashinski enables others to learn from her revealing, real-life career journey by combining examples from her career with practical advice. The authenticity of her examples brings to light the challenges that are faced in the workplace and how to overcome the obstacles. She has effectively translated what she has learned into a practical guide for a successful career. The successful and not-so-successful experiences she gained throughout her career provide a valuable blueprint for others to follow to avoid mistakes and achieve success. Carla ...