Business & Economics

The Ultimate Guide to Power & Influence arms its readers with intellectual, technical, and moral weapons—tools you need to get and stay ahead in the increasingly competitive and ever-evolving business world. Acquiring both power and influence is crucial to advancing not only your personal interests, but also a more prosperous society at large.

Drawing from current-day lessons and the wisdom of hundreds of drivers of change in all fields of business, The Ultimate Guide to Power & Influence is Robert Dilenschneider’s latest guide to harnessing the universal principles for success. It provides anecdotes and insights on a wide range of keys to success, including how to seize opportunity amid crisis, manage your network, communicate effectively, and take full advantage of social media to bolster your image.

A leader in the sphere of public relations and the founder of The Dilenschneider Group, which provides strategic advice to Fortune 500 companies and leading figures around the world—with experience in everything from mergers and acquisitions to government affairs and international media—Robert Dilenschneider writes with experience and authority to help readers acquire and amplify their power.

For corporate professionals, those just starting out, and anyone in between, The Ultimate Guide to Power & Influence is an essential guide to charting the ever-changing waters of the business world with imagination, competence, and grace.

Essential skills for today’s leaders: learn how to embody your ethics, earn your team’s trust, and dismantle toxic work culture

Leaders and managers everywhere are learning the importance of creating safe, satisfying workplaces rooted in principles of social justice. But many of us who try to lead with ethics and integrity struggle with embracing a position of power and authority. You might worry about “being bossy,” unintentionally disrespecting others, or making the wrong call—and in the process, put your mind and body under so much stress that you burn out.

Somatic educator and coach Pavini Moray argues that the secret to being an ethical, inspirational boss is rooted in our own bodies. In more than 30 simple exercises, reflections, and daily practices, you’ll learn how to:

-Nurture trust with clients and coworkers
-Ground and re-center when you’re thrown off by a mistake or problem
-Soothe the “Ouch!” of negative feedback
-Break away from grind and hustle culture
-Turn workplace conflict into a source of positive change and growth
-Help your employees voice their own needs and feel heard
-Understand the nuances of consent beyond contract negotiations
-Gracefully acknowledge mistakes
-Repair relationships with employees, colleagues, and clients

Drawing from client case studies and their own experience as a manager, Moray teaches foundational embodiment practices—breath, grounding, observing, centering, and moving—through concrete examples that show how to use these skills in a variety of common workplace settings. By learning to practice embodied leadership presence, you can become a boss who truly listens to your employees; leads with inspiration; and brings your whole self to work every day.

What passes for strategy in too many businesses, government agencies, and military operations is a toxic mix of wishful thinking and a jumble of incoherent policies. Richard P. Rumelt’s breakthrough concept is that leaders become effective strategists when they focus on challenges rather than goals, pinpointing the crux of their pivotal challenge—the aspect that is both surmountable and promises the greatest progress—and taking decisive, coherent action to overcome it.

Rumelt defines the essence of the strategist’s skill with vivid storytelling, from how Elon Musk found the crux that propelled the success of SpaceX to how the American military came to grips with the weaknesses of its battle strategy. Musk’s core challenge, for example, was rocket reusability. His intense focus on the soft landing of SpaceX’s rockets enabled them to be used again—radically reducing the cost of putting a pound in orbit. Musk’s strategy was not based on how value is created or how to position SpaceX in its industry. It was a design foraction, the mental maneuver that focuses energy on what really made a difference through understanding the crux and creating an effective response that led to breakthrough.