Striving For Excellence

Love your kids for who they are. Mom and dad, your kids are created in God's image, not your own. Jill Savage and Kathy Koch will guide you in truly appreciating your kids. They will teach you how to study and become an expert on your children, because you cannot fully embrace them until you truly know them. In No More Perfect Kids, Jill Savage and Kathy Koch equip us with the tools and perspective to: Identify and remove the Perfection Infection from our parenting Release our children from unrealistic expectations Answer the questions our kids are silently asking in a way that gives them the courage and freedom to be themselves Meet the needs of our children, including those with special needs Written in a passionate, candid, and personal tone, the authors will instill within you hope and contentment. You'll be inspired to apply the practical, realistic, and relevant ideas and tactics Jill and Kathy share. GROUP RESOURCES: A leader’s guide is included in the back of the book. FREE video curriculum and additional group resources are available for No More Perfect Kids at www.NoMorePerfect.com.

“Weaves together thoughts, stories, and quotes from top performers in music, business, and sports to help you achieve excellence” (Jeff Janssen, founder and president of the Janssen Sports Leadership Center). Does excellence relentlessly drive you? Does mediocrity constantly bother you? In Working Toward Excellence, Clemson University professor Paul Buyer identifies eight values for achieving excellence in work and life including hunger, effort, process, quality, consistency, leadership, time, and perseverance. Each chapter features inspiring stories, questions, and quotes from respected professionals who have achieved uncommon success in business, sports, education, and the arts such as John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Wynton Marsalis, Isaac Stern, and many others. Also included is a Working Toward Excellence Evaluation to help you and your organization reach your true potential and further develop, improve, and measure these essential attributes of success. “Working Toward Excellence has captures my attention in a big way. It is filled with valuable and practical information. It will make a major difference in your life.” —Pat Williams, Orlando Magic, senior vice president, author of Leadership Excellence

Discover how the lost art of wonder can help you cultivate greater creativity, resilience, meaning, and joy as you bring your greatest contributions to life. Beyond grit, focus, and 10,000 hours lies a surprising advantage that all creatives have—wonder. Far from child’s play, wonder is the one radical quality that has led exemplary people from all walks of life to move toward the fruition of their deepest dreams and wildest endeavors—and it can do so for you, too. “Wonder is a quiet disruptor of unseen biases,” writes Jeffrey Davis. “It dissolves our habitual ways of seeing and thinking so that we may glimpse anew the beauty of what is real, true, and possible.” Rich with wisdom, inspiring stories, and practical tools, Tracking Wonder invites us to explore how the lost art of wonder can inspire a life of greater joy, possibility, and purpose. You’ll discover: The six facets of wonder—key qualities to help you cultivate the art of wonder in your work, relationships, and lifeHow wonder can help us fertilize creativity, sustain the motivation to pursue big ideas, navigate uncertainty and crises, deepen our relationships, and moreThe biases against wonder—moving beyond societal and internalized resistance to our inherent giftsWhy experiencing wonder isn’t really about achieving goals—though that happens—but about how we live each dayInspiring stories of people whose experiences of wonder helped them move through the unthinkable to create extraordinary livesPractical exercises, tools, and reflections to help you begin your own practice of tracking wonder A refreshing counter-voice to the exhausting narrative hyper-productivity, Tracking Wonder is a welcome guide for experiencing more meaning and joy in the present moment as you bring your greatest contributions to life.

We are called to excellence in all aspects of our lives and activities, and not least in our character. Andreas Köstenberger summons all Christians, and especially aspiring pastors, scholars, and teachers, to a life of virtue lived out in excellence. Köstenberger moves through Christian virtues chapter by chapter, outlining the Bible's teaching and showing how Christ-dependent excellence in each area will have a profound impact on one's ministry and scholarship. Virtues covered include grace, courage, integrity, creativity, eloquence, humility, diligence, and service. This unique book is an important character check for all Christians engaged in teaching and ministry, and especially for those in training. Köstenberger's thoughtful volume will be a valuable touchstone for readers, for one's character is a critical matter in both scholarship and ministry.

The benefit of asking the right questions - What are the issue and the conclusion? - What are the reasons? - Which words or phrases are ambiguous? - What are the value conflicts and assumptions? - What are the descriptive assumptions? - Are there any fallacies in the reasoning? - How good is the evidence : intuition, appeals to authority, and testimonials? - How good is the evidence : personal observation, case studies, research studies, and analogies? - Are there rival causes? - Are the statistics deceptive? - What significant information is omitted? - What reasonable conclusions are possible? - Practice and review -

The success of todays military officers rests squarely on the shoulders of the men and women of the past. In Striving for Perfection, author Gerald D. Curry, a former US Airforce Colonel, reaches back through the annals of history to help todays professional military officers navigate a successful career. Curry shares rarely known insights on historical accomplishments from every major war in US history, from the Revolutionary War through the Global War on Terrorism. He pulls unique examples of success strategies, cultural understandings, and sage advice from African American servicemen and women who have worn the uniform. Striving for Perfection goes beyond the typical leadership principles by offering significant experiences told from an African American perspectivefrom the only people deliberately brought to America for the sole purpose of servitude. Curry shows how black American patriots consistently looked beyond their current circumstances and served gallantly while seeking equality and social justice. This guide describes the barriers that have existed within most African American communities, and it narrates how these neighborhoods continually birth great leaders. Although geared toward military professionals, Striving for Perfection can help all leaders in any profession who supervise and work with African Americans. Introducing proven success strategies, it provides a better understanding of diversity and inclusion.

A master class in achieving and sustaining excellence, even in the most challenging of times—from the host of The Learning Leader Show and author of Welcome to Management Millions of business professionals aspire to become effective leaders. But for hardworking, growth-oriented top performers who are always looking to improve and for rigorous thinkers who are never quite satisfied with the status quo, the true goal is the lifelong pursuit of excellence. Leadership advisor Ryan Hawk has interviewed hundreds of the most productive achievers in the world on his acclaimed podcast, The Learning Leader Show, to discover the best practices for pursuing and sustaining excellence. He found a pattern of uncommon behaviors that set these stellar individuals apart. By following their examples, you will learn how to: Commit to yourself and the process―and build purpose, focus, and discipline Develop resilience to face new challenges―and find inspiration for the long haul Seek guidance―and lead others to new heights Meet the moment―and make the most of every opportunity to excel Create a trusted group of advisors―and become a lifelong learner Packed with specific actions to take, experiments to run, and tools to analyze what works best for you, this uncompromisingly practical guide will inspire, challenge, support, and empower you to become your very best. Put mindsets into action and turn behaviors into habits with The Pursuit of Excellence.

This cross-disciplinary volume incorporates diverse perspectives on mentoring undergraduate research, including work from scholars at many different types of academic institutions in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It strives to extend the conversation on mentoring undergraduate research to enable scholars in all disciplines and a variety of institutional contexts to critically examine mentoring practices and the role of mentored undergraduate research in higher education.

A step-by-step guide to designing and implementing an amazing customer service culture In today's competitive business environment, keeping customers happy is the key to long-term success. But some businesses provide much better customer service than others. It's not always clear what works and what doesn't, and implementing new customer service practices midstream can be a difficult, chaotic task. Business leaders who want to transform their business culture into one of customer service excellence need reliable, proven guidance. Unleashing Excellence gives you practical tools and step-by-step guidance tailored to your company's individual customer service needs. It shows you how to navigate your teams through every step of the implementation process to achieve true customer service excellence. The book covers the training and education of your group, how to measure the quality of your service, how to build a culture of personal accountability, and how to recognize excellence and reward it. Fully revised to include updated information on the latest tools and best practices, as well as the stories and lessons learned from those organizations that have used the process described in the book. Offers proven best practices for designing and implementing an excellent customer service culture Simple format divides content into nine "leadership actions" that guide you through a step-by-step process Shows you how to build a common customer service vision for your entire organization Customer service is vital to the survival of your business. If you want to move your organization's customer service practices from good to great, Unleashing Excellence is the key.

As leaders-leaders of organizations, business units, teams, and/or families -we are all being called upon to do more, with less, quicker. We are often in overwhelm, constantly running on a leadership treadmill to simply stay in place and keep pace with demands. Thoughtful Leadership is an answer to this frenzy. It is a chance to invest the time to think through how you're leading and what you're doing before you actually do it, in order to be more effective. A chance to sit still, be present, reflect, think beyond your own needs and wants, focus on the big picture and get out of the weeds, look in the hard places, quiet the voices in your head, follow your gut and intuition...and lead - equipped to show up as your best self and achieve the greatest results. We counsel our clients to pause and think - to be still - before they take an action, even if only for a few moments. This pause allows them the opportunity to become proactive rather than reactive, and to attain the outcomes they truly seek for themselves, their businesses, and their lives. With The Power of Thoughtful Leadership you can take this pause and this time for yourself, and move closer towards realizing your goals and dreams. The Power of Thoughtful Leadership offers 101 thoughtful minutes that will help you align your work and life with your vision for your future.