Love Is My Favorite Flavor: A Midwestern Dining Critic Tells All
July 12, 2024
The Air They Breathe: A Pediatrician on the Frontlines of Climate Change
June 27, 2024
An Excerpt from When We Are Seen
June 05, 2024
'Getting Things Done with Others': An Interview with David Allen and Edward Lamont
May 28, 2024
Upcoming Author Interview: Tessa West — July 24, 2024
March 27, 2024
The 2023 Porchlight Business Book Awards
November 30, 2023
Promo Video: Our Author Interview Series
July 31, 2023
Blog
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Blog / ChangeThis
Gravy Train or Train Wreck? Which Leadership Train Are You On?
By Kirk Dando
"Have you ever thought that leadership is a lot like a train. Here's how I think of it: The cars sitting on the tracks are loaded with different but valuable cargo (like team members: They're all different but collectively valuable); they have a destination (the vision, measurable goals and expected time frames for arrival at the goals); and they have a route to follow (the mission and strategic plan). But they do not have a way of getting anywhere on their own. They have to hook up to the engine (the leader). Have you ever watched how a bunch of railcars (the team) form a working train. It all begins with the engine (leader). The engine switches itself to the same track as the car (team member) it's going to pick up; then it backs up to the car, makes contact and connects. Then it repeats the process until it has all the cars and starts heading toward its destination, sometimes picking up more cars along the way. Likewise, all leaders are conductors, steering their corporate 'trains' onward, upward and ever forward with knowledge, experience, confidence and enthusiasm—and, above all else, passion and a sure and steady hand.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Four Faces of Change: A Tool for Change Readiness
By Kevin Allen
"Even though I had fought my way in to the mighty McCann Erickson one of the world largest advertising agencies, I still thought of my internal age as (still is), 13. While my business card may have had a fancy title, inside I was terrified. What on earth would I say. What would I do. [. . . ] The answer came in the strangest form, from the most unlikely place. That weekend as I visited my family I shared my fears. My mother spoke up, 'It's simple, give them your love. ' Ugh. I was exasperated by what seemed to be a perfectly ridiculous observation, a moment of momentary insanity. Now, Mom is one of those people who doesn't just see the glass as half full, she sees it as overflowing onto the table. She pursued her point, 'It doesn't matter what they're doing for a living, all people are just like us—families—and every person in that family has a sense of belonging. You lead the family, and they need to know you'll care for them. They'll do things for you if they think you are genuine, and if they see that they'll follow you anywhere.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / Jack Covert Selects
Jack Covert Selects - The Intel Trinity
By Porchlight
Michael S. Malone sets out to give due credit to the three men most responsible for Intel's success—and for Silicon Valley as we know it.
Categories: jack-covert-selects
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Blog / Jack Covert Selects
Jack Covert Selects - How the World Sees You
By Porchlight
It is ironic that Ms. Hogshead that is reviving the exploration of fascination, because she comes from that very world of modern marketing that dethroned it.
Categories: jack-covert-selects
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Blog / Jack Covert Selects
Jack Covert Selects - The Alliance
By Porchlight
The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, Chris Yeh, Harvard Business Review Press, 193 pages, $25. 00, Hardcover, July 2014, ISBN 9781625275776 As I read The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, I wondered if I was really the right person to be reviewing this book. In the first few pages, I learn that referring to your company as a “family” isn’t appropriate; and that the assumed employee/employer fidelity founded on a sort of professional monogamy is archaic.
Categories: jack-covert-selects
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Blog / Interviews
Thinker in Residence - John Hope Bryant on Business and Books
By Porchlight
"It’s not like we delivered 'the memo' and poor, working class and middle class folks flubbed it and failed the test. We were simply never given the memo. " ~John Hope Bryant
Categories: interviews, narrative-biography
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Blog / Interviews
Thinker in Residence: A Q&A with John Hope Bryant
By Porchlight
"As I looked around me, throughout the course of my life, it just dawned on me that Americans' and America’s real value was hiding in plain sight. " ~John Hope Bryant
Categories: interviews, narrative-biography
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Blog / Interviews
Thinker in Residence: John Hope Bryant
By Porchlight
"The most dangerous person in the world is a person with no hope. " ~John Hope Bryant
Categories: interviews
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Blog / News & Opinion
Make your brand's purpose and passion clear
By Sally Haldorson
Joy Stauber runs Stauber Design Studio in Chicago, IL, and not only is she a great friend of the company, she is also a terrific designer who has helped us identify, articulate, and express our brand. If you've enjoyed any of our marketing pieces over the years, know that Joy has partnered with us to create the most eye-catching and consistent of messages. Watch the video below, created by Joy's intern, Lizzie Callen, which captures the best of our brand.
Categories: news-opinion, the-company
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Blog / Jack Covert Selects
Jack Covert Selects - Roadside MBA
By Porchlight
Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives, and Small Business Owners by Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, and Scott Schaefer, Business Plus, 279 pages, $27. 00, hardcover, June 2014, ISBN 9781455598892 Three microeconomics professors enter a shoe store in Maine… It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, or a very boring story. It is actually the beginning of a great new book that combines two quintessentially American things: the road trip and small businesses.
Categories: jack-covert-selects