2026 Awards – Success

Goody Business Book Awards Winners and Finalists for 2026 Banner for Business Success

2026 best book awarded to authors on the subject of Success.

Displaying 1 - 6 of 6

Results

Winner

Spilling the Beans: Leadership Lessons About Clarity, Accountability, Conflict, and the Strange Things Humans Do at Work

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Author:

Marlene D Chism

HOW is this book helping people?

Spilling the Beans helps leaders and employees alike pause, reflect, and make wiser choices in the moments that shape their work and relationships. Through 52 concise lessons and thought-provoking questions, readers learn to recognize drama, challenge assumptions, communicate more clearly, take personal responsibility, and approach conflict with greater courage.

Created to address serious workplace patterns with both humor and humanity, the book contains 52 “beans," one for each week of the year. Each pairs a short narrative with a simple truth and an executive insight that can be used for individual reflection, coaching, team meetings, retreats, or leadership conversations. Readers can absorb one idea at a time, discuss it with others, and immediately apply it. The result is an approachable path to clearer communication, stronger accountability, healthier workplace relationships, and more courageous leadership.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Customer Success Mindset

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Author:

Jyo Shukla

HOW is this book helping people?

Every business knows how to win customers. Very few know how to keep them, and fewer still know how to turn them into advocates who grow the business for you. Customer Success Mindset is built on a philosophy that takes the well-known concept of a growth mindset and applies it to how businesses grow. It shows that when every person in a business genuinely believes in delivering value to customers, those customers stay longer, spend more, and refer others naturally. It translates that philosophy into practical, easy-to-follow frameworks that help business owners put customers at the centre of everything they do, not just in one team or function but across the entire organisation.

For founders and owners of scaling businesses, it replaces the costly cycle of constant customer acquisition with a smarter, more sustainable path to growth. For the people leading that work inside those businesses, it gives them the tools and confidence to get every team, product, sales, and marketing, movi

Book available for purchase.

amzn.asia

Winner

Secrets for Success in Business: How Entrepreneurs Gain Clarity, Improve Judgement, and Make Better Decisions in an Overwhelming Business World

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Author:

Nader Zadi

HOW is this book helping people?

Secrets for Success in Business helps entrepreneurs and business leaders cut through mental overload, strengthen judgment, and make better decisions under pressure. Readers consistently point to its usefulness in clarifying priorities, navigating uncertainty, and seeing business challenges from a fresh perspective. One reader described the book as especially helpful for “constant decisions and competing priorities,” while others highlighted its practical treatment of clarity, judgment, and decision-making. Its frameworks help readers distinguish urgency from importance, recognize the forces that distort judgment, and focus attention on what matters most. The result is not simply more information, but clearer thinking, stronger prioritization, and greater confidence when facing consequential business decisions.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

The Black Book of Reshoring: The Essential Guide to America's New Manufacturing Boom

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Author:

Douglas Brown

HOW is this book helping people?

The Black Book of Reshoring helps readers succeed in a changing global economy by turning reshoring from a political slogan into a practical business strategy. It helps companies save money by uncovering the real costs of offshoring, improve resilience by reducing supply-chain risk, and grow more effectively by aligning production closer to customers, talent, and innovation. Beyond corporate performance, the book helps policymakers, workers, and communities understand how reshoring can drive job creation, rebuild industrial capability, and strengthen long-term economic competitiveness.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

Corporate Trauma: The toxic legacy of a crisis

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Author:

John Oliver

HOW is this book helping people?

"Corporate Trauma: The toxic legacy of a crisis" provides a groundbreaking "Big Idea" that shifts the blame for organizational failure away from individual leaders and toward the hidden scars left by a past crisis. By introducing the concept of "Corporate Epigenetics," Prof. John Oliver helps leaders and employees understand how a single traumatic event - such as a hostile takeover, a pandemic, or a massive PR scandal - can embed dysfunctional patterns into a company’s "DNA" that persist for generations. This book helps others by providing a vocabulary and a diagnostic framework for "unresolved organizational trauma" allowing CEOs to stop fighting symptoms and start healing the root cause of low morale and stagnant productivity. Ultimately, Prof. Oliver’s work empowers the global business community to break the cycle of "toxic legacies," fostering healthier, more resilient workplaces where trust can finally be restored.

Book available for purchase.

lnkd.in

Finalist

The Ripple Effect: How Social Sector Leaders Build Networks That Transform Culture

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Author:

Elizabeth Scott

HOW is this book helping people?

The Ripple Effect helps leaders understand why traditional approaches to organizational change often fall short and how relationships can become a powerful driver of culture, collaboration, and performance. Dr. Scott provides practical, research-backed strategies for identifying influential networks, breaking down silos, strengthening trust, engaging informal leaders, and creating lasting cultural change. Through real-world examples and actionable frameworks—including a practical 90-day plan—readers can move beyond simply recognizing that relationships matter to intentionally building the connections that help organizations thrive. The book is especially valuable for nonprofit and mission-driven leaders, but its lessons apply broadly to anyone leading teams through change.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

2026 Awards – Real Estate

Goody Business Book Awards Winners and Finalists for 2026 Banner for Business Real Estate

2026 best book awarded to authors on the subject of Real Estate.

Displaying 1 - 3 of 3

Results

Winner

The Future of Bulk Wi-Fi: Managed Bulk Wi-Fi, Integrating Wi-Fi Camera Security, TV Services & Property Access Hardware, and Why it All Matters

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Author:

Kenneth Carnesi

HOW is this book helping people?

This book is written for the person who manages real properties with real budgets, real tenants or guests, and real accountability to owners, boards, or government oversight committees. It's written for someone who doesn't have an IT department on speed dial and doesn't want to need one. Every concept in here gets explained in plain English.

Book available for purchase.

bookspace.com

Winner

The Architecture of Demand: How to Make a Buyer Want Your Home Before They Ever See It

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Author:

Bent Danholm

HOW is this book helping people?

The Architecture of Demand helps homeowners and real estate professionals understand what makes buyers want a home—and how to use that insight before the first showing. Readers consistently highlight the book’s practical approach to buyer psychology, pricing, presentation, positioning, and the critical digital first impression. Rather than simply focusing on a home’s features, it explains how buyers form perceptions of value and emotional connection, and how sellers can deliberately influence those perceptions.

The strategies are practical and easy to understand, giving sellers a clearer framework for decisions about staging, marketing, photography, pricing, and overall presentation. Readers say the book changed how they think about preparing and presenting a property and gave them strategies they could actually apply. Ultimately, the book helps sellers move beyond simply putting a home on the market toward creating the conditions that make the right buyer genuinely want it.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

Finalist

CRITICAL EVENT MANAGEMENT: A Business Guide for Commercial Properties

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Author:

Todd L. Greenwald

HOW is this book helping people?

This book addresses a critical vulnerability in the commercial real estate sector which is the "normal" reliance on antiquated, reactive emergency protocols. My comprehensive guide introduces a sophisticated framework for transforming facility management and operations using several different strategic pillars of asset resilience. My goal was to create a blueprint that can be used to integrate Critical Event Management into the day-to-day business operations of commercial properties. The book moves beyond basic life-safety procedures to tackle the complexities between operational continuity, reputation management and Net Operating Income protection. I believe readers will find actionable strategies to leverage PropTech, manage communication, and minimize structural downtime. This is a fantastic resource for property leaders seeking to safeguard their portfolios against the escalating threats of the modern workplace ensuring both human safety and financial solvency.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

2026 Awards – Problem Solving

Goody Business Book Awards Winners and Finalists for 2026 Banner for Business Problem Solving

2026 best book awarded to authors on the subject of Problem Solving.

Displaying 1 - 6 of 6

Results

Winner

The Uncertainty Playbook: 14 Strategies for Work Success in a Chaotic World

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Author:

Cindi Baldi

Co-Author Names

Geoffrey Tumlin

HOW is this book helping people?

The Uncertainty Playbook is positively impacting readers by reframing uncertainty from something to weather into something leaders can use as a strategic advantage. Drawing on decades of research and consulting experience, organizational scientists Dr. Cindi Baldi and Dr. Geoffrey Tumlin synthesize behavioral science into a field guide of 14 practical strategies for making better decisions in uncertain conditions. The book helps leaders and professionals reduce anxiety, avoid decision paralysis, take smart risks, boost performance, and act with confidence in unstable environments. Packed with tools, frameworks, and prompts, each strategy is brought to life through real stories from their work with executives, teams, and organizations navigating high-stakes change. In a crowded business-book field, this one stands out because it does not promise certainty, but instead teaches readers how to thrive without it.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Leadership is Tough: Skills. Decisions. Disciplines. What Great Leaders Do Differently

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Author:

Mary C. Kelly

Co-Author Names

Peter B. Stark

HOW is this book helping people?

Leadership is Tough: What Great Leaders Do Differently helps leaders navigate today’s increasingly complex workplace with greater clarity, confidence, and resilience. The book provides practical strategies for leading through uncertainty, managing change, building trust, improving communication, strengthening accountability, and developing stronger teams. The book delivers actionable tools, real-world examples, and practical frameworks leaders can immediately apply in their organizations and communities. Readers learn how to make difficult decisions under pressure, lead people through change fatigue and burnout, improve workplace culture, and mentor future leaders. Drawing from decades of experience in military leadership, economics, executive coaching, and organizational consulting, the authors provide realistic guidance for senior leaders facing workforce challenges, rapid technological change, and economic uncertainty.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Brilliant Doubt: Harnessing uncertainty to lead with impact

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Author:

Jenny Fiona Williams

HOW is this book helping people?

In a world where uncertainty has become the norm, meeting uncertainty with certainty is futile. Yet many leaders still feel pressure to project confidence, suppress doubt and pretend they have all the answers. Brilliant Doubt offers a different approach, helping leaders navigate uncertainty with greater clarity, courage and impact. The book reframes doubt as a professional capability and introduces the original concept of Professional Doubt through three interconnected forms: self-doubt, situational doubt and systemic doubt. Rather than treating doubt as a weakness to overcome, it shows how leaders can use it to think more clearly, make wiser decisions, better relationships and adapt more effectively. At the heart of the book is Active Doubt: a practical way of turning uncertainty into curiosity, learning and purposeful action. Through accessible frameworks, reflective questions and real-world examples, Brilliant Doubt helps create more adaptive leadership and better outcomes.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.co.uk

Finalist

Becoming a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt

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Author:

Husain A. Al-Omani

Co-Author Names

Hemant Urdhwareshe, Thomas J. West

HOW is this book helping people?

This book is ideal for all those who wish to get trained and certified as Master Black Belts and train others to achieve breakthrough results using Six Sigma to shape and execute improvement projects. The book has the right balance between topics such as strategic planning, project selection, stakeholder management, and training design, to advanced statistical techniques such as propagation of errors, destructive measurement systems, general linear models and components of variation, and complex blocking structures in Design of Experiments. This book was written by three expert Master Black Belts certified by the American Society for Quality (ASQ). This book is a culmination of our collective experience and knowledge, and we are excited to share it with the Six Sigma community worldwide. Also be very useful to professionals in many other functions, such as operational excellence, project management, continuous improvement, and leadership roles.

Book available for purchase.

routledge.com

Finalist

Seeing Early: Why the Best Operators See What Others Miss

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Author:

Ranjan Bhattacharjee

HOW is this book helping people?

Most business problems do not begin when leaders discover them. They begin earlier, while the signals are still weak, fragmented, or hidden in everyday operations. Seeing Early helps leaders shorten that gap. The book gives executives and operating leaders practical ways to recognize important changes sooner—before margin erodes, customers are affected, problems compound or strategic options disappear. Its central idea is simple: every problem has two dates. The day it begins. And the day leadership finds out. The distance between those two dates is where value quietly disappears.

Drawing on decades of operating experience, the book helps readers distinguish information from true visibility, identify where signals are being lost, and build organizations that surface reality sooner. The benefit is not prediction. It is earlier awareness—giving leaders more time, more options and a better chance to act before small problems become expensive ones.

Book available for purchase.

booktopia.com.au

Finalist

The Right Call: A Leader’s Guide to Ethical Decision-Making in Practice

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Author:

Tremaine du Preez

HOW is this book helping people?

The Right Call helps leaders make faster, more defensible decisions in the grey areas where the rulebook falls short and judgement has to take over. It helps them spot a real ethical dilemma before it becomes a crisis, and work through it with a repeatable process rather than instinct alone. Every sector needs this: tools embedded in organisational culture, used by real people, and fit for the complexity of their work. The book helps organisations explore what "doing the right thing" means in practice, to their employees, helping leaders make values and stakeholder trade-offs, lead values-based conversations, and diagnose tensions before they escalate. Its INTEGRITI™ model, a disciplined nine-step approach, offers a clear method for navigating stakeholder tensions and turning good intentions into decisions that hold up under pressure. This book is for anyone who has paused and wondered if they were making the right call.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

2026 Awards – Philanthropy

Goody Business Book Awards Winners and Finalists for 2026 Banner for Business Philanthropy

2026 best book awarded to authors on the subject of Philanthropy.

Displaying 1 - 8 of 8

Results

Winner

The DAF Revolution: Making a Difference in Our Modern World

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Author:

Ted Hart

HOW is this book helping people?

The DAF Revolution: Making a Difference in Our Modern World helps people make better, more effective decisions about charitable capital, resources already committed to the public good but often underutilized. As the first comprehensive book focused on donor-advised funds (DAFs), the fastest-growing vehicle for philanthropic support of nonprofit organizations, it provides practical guidance that directly influences financial planning, charitable strategy, and social impact.

This book helps donors and advisors use DAFs to improve tax efficiency, integrate philanthropy into estate and legacy planning, and align giving with personal values. It helps nonprofits understand how to engage DAF donors sustainably and responsibly. It also provides frameworks for vetted global giving, impact-oriented investing, and the use of emerging technologies to increase transparency and access. This book defines success as better stewardship, smarter planning, and greater societal impact.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

Winner

Karma Capitalism: Why Being a Good Business is Good Business

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Author:

James Reed

HOW is this book helping people?

Many reasons make the time right to change capitalism for the better not least that governments can no longer solve society's problems. Karma Capitalism: Why Being a Good Business is Good Business – part call to arms, manifesto and guide – shows that businesses everywhere can step forward to make positive lasting societal change by becoming a Philanthropy Company (PhilCo). Being a PhilCo is not just a different way of doing business, it is a different karma way of being a business. Author James Reed notes: We need to reclaim the narrative that business can be an engine of progress and can be good for society as a whole. And we can take hope from the fact that there are many people who see the potential for business to be a positive agent for change through a new battalion of firms [PhilCos] dedicated to this new form of ownership.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Your Nonprofit’s 360Win: How to Build Relationships that Pay Off, for Everyone

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Author:

Patricia Rachel Schwartz

HOW is this book helping people?

Would you like your nonprofit organization to flourish, and for you and the others involved to experience increased wellbeing in the process? Have you ever wondered how to engage the right people to support your good work? This book focuses on building and leveraging relationships for long term success. It is a step-by-step guide to igniting the energy of your board, catalyzing donor prospects and capturing the power of the community – a win for everyone involved, especially those you are committed to serve! Draw everyone closer to your mission and reap the benefits of financial support and participation through the story-based approach, Relationship Building for Prosperity®, upon which the book is based.
The practical tools provided guide you in authentic, strategic ways to invite your prospects to invest, create partnerships and recruit new board leaders while increasing empowerment, wellbeing, and resilience for future challenges.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

Winner

BE SEE DO: The Art of Humane Leadership

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Author:

Jerry White

HOW is this book helping people?

Whether you are an aspiring leader, a nonprofit changemaker, or a philanthropist seeking meaningful impact, BE SEE DO offers an extraordinary guide and practical compass for turning vision into meaningful change. When he was twenty, the author Jerry White lost his right leg to a landmine explosion and went on to share the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. He is recognized for leading high-impact strategies and negotiating treaties that have improved millions of lives. Who will benefit most from learning to Be-See-Do? Entrepreneurs struggling to scale their innovative ideas for impact; nonprofit leaders experiencing burnout and lack of focus; policymakers looking for new approaches to intractable problems; and philanthropists who don't want to waste resources on naive "well-meaning" initiatives. Learn to BE yourself, SEE what's possible, and DO something useful, by helping yourself and others to flourish.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

Protect Your Mission: The finance framework for nonprofit leaders

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Author:

Ryan Alexander

HOW is this book helping people?

Protect Your Mission helps nonprofit CEOs, executive directors, and boards build the financial infrastructure necessary to sustain and scale their work. The book introduces the IMPACT Framework for Nonprofits™, a practical model developed from more than two decades of experience working with organizations across the sector. The framework provides guidance for strengthening internal controls, improving grant management, aligning budgets with strategy, and producing reliable financial reporting. By organizing these financial functions into a structured approach, the book helps nonprofits strengthen oversight, reduce operational risk, and build the systems that support greater stability, transparency, and long-term impact.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

The Nonprofit Paradox

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Author:

Nehal Gandhi

HOW is this book helping people?

The Nonprofit Paradox helps donors, nonprofit leaders, and boards make more informed decisions about giving and social change. Drawing on 25+ years in nonprofit finance and philanthropy, Nehal Gandhi reveals how funding restrictions, overhead expectations, compliance demands, and partnerships affect organizations and the communities they serve. Donors gain a clearer understanding of what their gifts need to support, including the people, systems, and infrastructure behind effective programs. Nonprofit leaders gain language to explain financial pressures, advocate for realistic funding, and build more candid relationships with funders. Boards gain perspective on the decisions that shape organizational resilience.
Through accessible stories and reflection, the book encourages readers to ask better questions, recognize the full costs of nonprofit work, and align generosity with community needs, helping create stronger organizations and more thoughtful giving.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

The School in the Market: How Localization Is Helping Africans Start Their Own Education Revolution

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Author:

Irene Prizker

HOW is this book helping people?

The School in the Market demonstrates that business innovation can solve some of the world's most persistent social challenges. Through real-world outcomes in underserved communities, the book provides a roadmap for how financial tools—like microloans and business training—can empower local leaders to strengthen their communities and economy from the ground up. Rather than reinforcing aid dependency, Irene's approach to philanthropy treats underserved schools as small, community-focused enterprises that generate jobs and improve infrastructure while providing better learning opportunities for children.

Irene's book encourages business leaders, philanthropists, and policymakers to rethink how they invest in social change, and to adopt strategies that build economic resilient. The School in the Market creates a strong case for reimagining philanthropy as a catalyst for independence and lasting opportunity.

Book available for purchase.

a.co

Finalist

The Nonprofit Flywheel: A Playbook for Sustainable Growth, Smarter Strategy and Lasting Impact

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Author:

Suzanne Naomi Smith

HOW is this book helping people?

Nonprofits are expected to solve complex problems while often operating with limited capacity, fragile systems and constant pressure to do more. *The Nonprofit Flywheel* strengthens the organizations behind those missions. This field-tested, interactive Playbook helps nonprofit leaders, boards and changemakers assess where their organizations are stuck, identify priorities and turn insight into action. Its six interconnected drivers — Impact, Brand, Revenue, Operations, Culture and Governance — show readers how decisions across an organization can work together to create alignment and momentum. Reflection questions, assessments and practical tools allow teams to apply the framework during staff meetings, board retreats and strategic planning conversations. By helping nonprofits build resilience, sustain their people and adapt to change, the Playbook enables them to serve their communities more effectively over time. Its digital edition is free, removing cost as a barrier.

Book available for purchase.

meetsuzanne.com

2026 Awards – Negotiating

Goody Business Book Awards Winners and Finalists for 2026 Banner for Business Negotiating

2026 best book awarded to authors on the subject of Negotiating.

Displaying 1 - 5 of 5

Results

Winner

Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World

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Author:

Susan Coleman

HOW is this book helping people?

Collaborative Hardball is both a rallying cry and a practical guide for women—and anyone who supports the rise of the feminine—to reclaim power, redefine negotiation, and dismantle the systems holding us back. In this book, the author outlines how to improve negotiation skills through steps anyone can take. The guidance shared in Collaborative Hardball will help readers to sharpen their voice, ignite their confidence, and equip them to lead with purpose in every arena of their lives—from boardroom deals, to bedroom negotiation. In this way, Collaborative Hardball is strengthening and supporting women as they show up in every area of both their business dealings and personal lives.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Fight Less, Win More: How Master Negotiators Influence Hearts, Minds, and Deals

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Author:

Jonathan B. Smith

Co-Author Names

Derek Gaunt

HOW is this book helping people?

Providing qualitative improvements to the reader's negotiating skills from a leading business strategist and a top expert in hostage negotiation, this book reframes day-to-day business as negotiations and equips the reader with skills they need to come out on top with less resistance.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Winner

Exit Right: How to Sell Your Company

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Author:

Tim Vorhoff

HOW is this book helping people?

Tim Vorhoff’s 'Exit Right: How to Sell Your Company' is transforming outcomes for business owners by demystifying one of the most complex and consequential moments in their lives. Designed as an education-first resource, the book equips founders, particularly those leading family-owned and mid-market companies, with a clear, step-by-step playbook to maximize the value of their businesses. By translating complex financial and transactional concepts into practical, accessible guidance, Vorhoff enables owners to navigate the sale process with confidence, avoid costly mistakes, and maintain control in high-stakes negotiations.

At its core, Exit Right advocates for the often-overlooked seller, helping protect entrepreneurs from predatory deal dynamics and reactive, underprepared exits. The result is tangible impact: better-informed decisions, stronger negotiating positions, and, ultimately, significantly improved financial outcomes for the people who built these businesses.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

Winning With Ancient Wisdom: Negotiation Strategies From Asia and Europe

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Author:

Jean-Baptiste Deal

HOW is this book helping people?

Winning With Ancient Wisdom helps leaders and negotiators handle high‑stakes conversations with more courage, clarity, and respect. Drawing on Aesop’s fables and Asian stratagems, it translates timeless stories into concrete negotiation playbooks that busy professionals can apply immediately in sales meetings, salary discussions, and cross‑cultural deals. Readers learn to negotiate beyond language and cultural barriers, gaining clarity, control, and influence. Practical tools, checklists, and real cases from Asia and Europe show how to defuse tension, protect relationships, and still achieve ambitious business results. The book is especially helpful for rising leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts who were never formally trained in negotiation but now must influence without formal authority. It gives them a shared language and simple frameworks they can bring back to their teams to improve everyday decisions and build long‑term partnerships.

Book available for purchase.

amazon.com

Finalist

Rethinking China: Challenging Our Economic Assumptions & Opportunities for Lasting Prosperity

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Author:

Zhengyu Z Huang

HOW is this book helping people?

Rethinking China helps business leaders, policymakers, educators, students, and engaged citizens make better decisions about one of the world's most consequential relationships by challenging false, incomplete, and oversimplified narratives with rigorous, evidence-based analysis. Drawing on Zhengyu "Z" Huang's experience across global business, U.S. public policy, and international affairs, including service as a White House Fellow, the book provides a practical framework for evaluating trade, technology, supply chains, competitiveness, talent, and national security by their real-world outcomes rather than political rhetoric. Already informing discussions across leading universities, CEO forums, policy institutions, and international media, it fosters critical thinking, helps readers recognize Chinese and Asian Americans as strategic assets for America's innovation and competitiveness, and equips leaders and citizens to reduce the risk of costly strategic miscalculation.

Book available for purchase.

springer.com