Power and Persuasion

"Over these many years of watching Michael devour books on leadership, ask probing questions of all manner of leaders, and write his daily insights, I see now where it has all led—to a magnificent new book on leadership. If you are passionate about becoming a more effective leader, do yourself a favor and read Power and Persuasion."
—Steve Leveen, CEO and Cofounder, Levenger

"Michael Masterson’s new book emphasizes vision and effective communication, and, although unconventional at time, his ideas about leadership are unassailable and will be more widely employed. I have made it required reading for everyone at Frank McKinney & Company."
—Frank McKinney, bestselling author of Frank McKinney's Maverick Approach to Real Estate Success and Make It BIG!

"I ghostwrote a book on leadership for which I personally interviewed 100 CEOs, many from big-name Fortune 500 companies and leading national brands. But I learned more about leadership by reading Michael Masterson's new book Power and Persuasion than I did from all my interviews with those 100 CEOs combined."
—Bob Bly, author of more than 60 books and Director of the Center for Technical Communications

Introduction.

PART ONE: SO YOU WANT TO BE A LEADER.

Chapter One. What You Need (And Don’t) To Be a Good Leader.

Chapter Two. Leading Sometimes Means Following.

Chapter Three. Why News Managers Fail: The Most Common Leadership Pitfalls.

Chapter Four. Thinking “Out of the Box”—What It Really Means.

Chapter Five. Creative V.S. Reactive Leadership.

Chapter Six. Making Difficult Decisions Easy: A 7 Step Plan.

Chapter Seven. Reason Or Gut Instinct, Which Rules? (Separating The Men From the Boys).

Chapter Eight. Are You Too Competitive?

Chapter Nine. Mind Your Manners.

PART TWO: LEAD BY EXAMPLE: SECRETS OF THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS.

Chapter Ten. #1: Coming Up With The Big Idea.
#2: Don’t Wait For Consensus.
#3: Strengthen Your Ideas: The Leap From Contemplation to Testing.
#4: Setting a Goal and Rallying The Troops.
#5: Creating A Plan and Attaching a Deadline.
#6: Following Up.
#7: Create a Culture of Accountability.
#8: Practice Makes Perfect.

Chapter Eleven. How to Get Promoted.

Chapter Twelve. The Power of Delegation.

Chapter 13. Achieve More with aMentor.

Chapter 14. Make Your Company Better and More Productive Today.

PART THREE: SO YOU WANT TO BE A LEADER.

Chapter 15. The Art of Criticism…The Skill of Praise: How Good Leaders Use Both to Their Advantage.

Chapter 16. Three Communication Secrets of Highly Effective Leaders.

Chapter 17. Speak More Powerfully…Leading by Persuasion.

Chapter 18. How to be a Successful Negotiator: Handling Objections and Obstacles Like a Pro.

Chapter 19. Standing Up to Business Bullies TheRight Way.

Chapter 20. Asking Questions Like a Born Leader.

PART FOUR: LEADING THE TROOPS DAY BY DAY.

Chapter 21. Improving All of Your Relationships: How to Get People to Like You and Do What You Want.

Chapter 22. Creating Stellar Employees with 5 Training Tips.

Chapter 23. Transform Your Team into a Winning One.

Chapter 24. How to Make Meetings Work The Way You Want Them To.

Chapter 25. TheBest Way to Deliver Bad News: When to Write…When to Phone…When to Have Lunch.

Chapter 26. What to do with Problem Employees (And Their Problems).

Chapter 27. How to Fire People (Without the Agony).

Chapter 28. The Secret to Getting Everybody (Including The Laggards) to Be More Productive.

Summary.

RecommendedReading.

Index.

MICHAEL MASTERSON has developed a loyal following through his writings in Early to Rise (www.earlytorise.com), an eNewsletter published by Agora that mentors more than 400,000 success-oriented individuals to help them achieve their financial goals. Masterson has been making money for himself or others for almost four decades. In that time, he's only taken two breaks—each time for two years. The first was after a stint with the Peace Corps where he came to appreciate relative values and the joy of teaching. The second came at age thirty-nine, when he retired from the $100 million-plus business that he and his partner built. Over the course of his remarkably successful business career, Michael's been involved in the development of dozens of successful businesses, including two that grew beyond $100 million. At one time or another, he's owned and run companies that were public/private, onshore/overseas, local/international, service-/product-oriented, retail/wholesale/direct mail, and even profit/not-for-profit.

It takes a rare combination of openness and resolution, toughness and compassion, cooperation and competition to become successful in life. In Power and Persuasion, Michael Masterson challenges many of today's popular notions about success. The leadership, personal growth, and management techniques set forth in Power and Persuasion are effective for anyone who is interested in getting on the fast track to success.

According to Masterson, publisher of the Early to Rise (www.earlytorise.com) daily eNewsletter, truly successful people must be willing to do the hard thinking, make the tough decisions, and get the job done. They must seek the help of the best people available, without shirking their individual responsibility, to create a compelling vision of what can be and then sell that vision to their employees, their investors, and their customers. Knowing how to persuade others that your ideas are worthy is the single most effective way to achieve power. And putting lots of power behind your best ideas, Masterson says, is the fastest and surest way to succeed in life.

The good news is that persuasion, like so many other important skills (communication, negotiation, and analytical thinking), can be learned. In Power and Persuasion, you'll discover how to develop great ideas and convince other people to value them.

Based on his own experience as a successful businessman and his observations of others, Power and Persuasion will help you identify the essential qualities needed to be successful in your business, social, and personal life. This powerful guide will also show you how to become a more influential person through example and by practicing the most effective techniques of persuasion.

Power and Persuasion breaks new ground in decoding what it takes to be successful by providing examples of leaders who . . .

• Don't manipulate better performances out of people
• Don't become therapists for their employees
• Understand proper teamwork
• Listen as well as talk
• Don't try to control everything
• Create a culture of accountability
• Attach deadlines to their goals
• Know when NOT to be competitive
• Understand how to follow
• Do NOT "look out for Number One"

Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, Power and Persuasion introduces you to a new way of understanding success along with powerful and proven techniques for accomplishing everything you want to in life. "Over these many years of watching Michael devour books on leadership, ask probing questions of all manner of leaders, and write his daily insights, I see now where it has all led—to a magnificent new book on leadership. If you are passionate about becoming a more effective leader, do yourself a favor and read Power and Persuasion."
—Steve Leveen, CEO and Cofounder, Levenger

"Michael Masterson’s new book emphasizes vision and effective communication, and, although unconventional at time, his ideas about leadership are unassailable and will be more widely employed. I have made it required reading for everyone at Frank McKinney & Company."
—Frank McKinney, bestselling author of Frank McKinney's Maverick Approach to Real Estate Success and Make It BIG!

"I ghostwrote a book on leadership for which I personally interviewed 100 CEOs, many from big-name Fortune 500 companies and leading national brands. But I learned more about leadership by reading Michael Masterson's new book Power and Persuasion than I did from all my interviews with those 100 CEOs combined."
—Bob Bly, author of more than 60 books and Director of the Center for Technical Communications