Showing results by narrator "Erik Synnestvedt" in All Categories

Summer, 1966: For 13-year-old Gus LeGarde, summertime always means Loon Harbor, his grandparents' idyllic fishing resort on Great Pond. The season is a grand tradition of swimming, boating, and new adventures with his best friends, twins Siegfried and Elsbeth. But this summer, everything changes when a new lodge down the shore threatens the resort - and triggers a chain of events that will transform Gus and his friends forever.

Business leaders are in charge. They are in charge of people, of budgets, of production lines. Most leaders also believe that they are in charge of their greatest resource - their own brain. But how true is that? The more we understand about how the brain works, the clearer it becomes that our brain often kicks in before we do.

A powerful and important new work that will help listeners develop their spiritual instincts and move from a life of fear to one of freedom. In seeking truth, success, and ultimately a happy life, there is no escaping fear; even while we may not always perceive it, fear is ever present. But what is it? What are we afraid of-really-and what can we do about it? These are the questions that Jeff Golliher answers in Moving Through Fear, a sensitive, personal, and wholly inspiring work of guidance.

Is Social Security really going bust, and what does that mean to me? If I hire an immigrant, am I hurting a native-born worker? How much can presidents really affect economic outcomes? Why does the stock market go up when employment declines? What's a "living wage?" Why do I feel so squeezed? If you'd like to know the answers to these questions, premier economist Jared Bernstein is here to help.

Critically acclaimed author Clyde Prestowitz reveals the shocking extent of the deterioration of American economic strength that has put the United States on the brink of irreversibly losing our supremacy on the world stage and our prosperity at home. While the financial crisis has been a devastating blow, he shows that the wreckage of our economic might started much earlier.

Does your work life "balance" feel anything but? Most people will probably tell you that you need to be more strict about separating your office and home lives, and WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T TAKE THE OFFICE HOME WITH YOU! To this, husband-and-wife authors Caitlin and Andrew Friedman say: Think again! In Family Inc., they share how they were able to use the organizational strategies they'd relied on in their professional lives to bring the joy - and yes, the sanity - back into their home.

When young Gus LeGarde befriends a cranky old hermit in the woods who speaks to an Oneida Indian spirit named Penaki, he wonders if the man is nuts. But when Penni rattles tin cups, draws on dusty mirrors, and flips book pages, pestering them to find evidence to avenge her past and free her from earthly bondage, things change.

Lifelong learning has become a multibillion-dollar business, with more than 60 million adults currently engaged in webinars, webcasts, in-house training, continuing education classes, and more. But it is also an industry in flux, as newcomers topple old-guard organizations that can’t keep pace with the need for instant access to materials and flexible delivery methods, as well as demands for community and connection.

Why do so many deals that look good on paper end up in tatters? Deal makers often treat the handshake or signed contract - getting to "yes" - as the final destination in their bargaining journey rather than the start of a cooperative venture. Even worse, most companies reward negotiators on the basis of the number and size of the deals they're signing, giving them no incentive to negotiate deals that actually work.

What is it that separates the doers, leaders, and success stories among us from the dreamers, also-rans, and wannabes? To best-selling author James P. Owen, it's all about having The Try - the quality of giving 110 percent to the task or challenge at hand. In The Try - a dozen true stories of ordinary people who've done extraordinary things across varied fields of endeavor—Owen reveals The Try as a character trait that can be forged in several ways.

A veteran book reviewer, Yanofsky has spent a lifetime immersed in literature (not to mention old movies and old jokes), which he calls shtick. This account of a year in the life of a family describes a father’s struggle to enter his son’s world, the world of autism, using the materials he knows best: self-help books, feel-good memoirs, literary classics from the Bible to Dr. Seuss, old movies, and, yes, shtick. Funny, wrenching, and unfailingly candid, Bad Animals is both an exploration of a baffling condition and a quirky love story told by a gifted writer.

Most companies talk about excellence, but what does excellence really mean? What specific attitudes and practices lead to excellence? Drawing on years of study and decades of experience, authors Harry Paul, John Britt, and Ed Jent have zeroed in on five core qualities of excellence. In this entertaining and enlightening book, they tell how to give and be your best in each of these five critical dimensions and foster excellence in your organization and in your life.

Tony Little is the definition of the American dream. He’s a fitness icon, and the quintessential example of a self-made entrepreneur. But he didn’t start out that way. In There’s Always a Way, Tony relates his incredible rags-to-riches story—from a promising career in bodybuilding that ended with a car accident, a painful recovery, and years of self-pity, to an incredible new start as a self- made fitness icon, infomercial and TV shopping pioneer, and multi-millionaire.

Today when the competition, technology, and the economy are evolving faster than ever before, organizations and the people like us who work in them need a proven approach to help us adapt - and succeed. The key, according to Paul B. Brown, is to think like an entrepreneur, no matter what your position or industry. What works for the most successful entrepreneurs will work for us, Brown argues, whether we want to stay employed working for someone else or are thinking of going off on our own.

Feeling uninspired? If you’re a creative professional - or just someone who’d like to be more creative in your work and daily life - look no further than Designers Don’t Have Influences. Creative director, writer, advocate, and design cheerleader Austin Howe’s elegant, incisive, and amusing essays are sure to appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. Howe chronicles the lives, philosophies, and work processes of leaders in disparate fields from art to spirituality and even ice hockey, many of whom have never before been profiled in print.

These two masters of marketing want to pass their most powerful success strategies on to you! Learn to: slash marketing costs and boost profits by making your business as green and ethical as possible; easily turn your customers, suppliers, and even competitors into your unofficial sales force; understand how to turn business acquaintances into powerful joint-venture partners; cut your advertising budget and build revenues using social media, traditional media, and the power of your own brain - even get paid to do your marketing; and more!

We have all experienced it: the jolt of an insight arriving like a thunderclap, the metaphorical light bulb over your head as you drive to work, take a shower, or unload the dishwasher. These all-too-elusive "aha moments" come sporadically and without warning. But what if insights could be accessed more reliably in everyday life? Charles Kiefer and Malcolm Constable have the tools to make this possibility a reality.

Today, business moves at the speed of thought. The web enables a perpetual cycle of interaction and feedback, and every status update or tweet that mentions your company or brand either helps or hurts you reputation in real-time. Customers expect a level of attentiveness and responsiveness that most companies can’t live up to. Can you?

Most organizations realize that to succeed in today’s turbulent world, they need to perform as an integrated whole to tap into innovations and good ideas. Yet many still find it difficult to capture the collective intelligence of their employees and customers. Companies don’t know what they know—but they need to learn soon.

Political gridlock in Washington…the lingering effects of the financial crisis…structural problems such as unemployment and the skills gap of our work force…the mediocre K-12 educational system. Are our best days behind us? Joel Kurtzman persuasively shows why all the talk about America's decline is not only baseless but dead wrong. Our best days, are, in fact, ahead of us.