'A practical and timely book' - Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO, Thrive Global 'Valuable for everyone' - Julia Samuel, bestselling author Biting your tongue? Bottling it all up? From marriage to management challenges, learn how to change your relationships from exasperating to exceptional with this expert guide. The ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections, or unable to handle challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to others. When we find ourselves in an exceptional relationship -- the kind of relationship where we feel fully understood and supported for who we are -- it can seem like magic. But the truth is that the process of building and sustaining these relationships can be described, learned, and applied. David Bradford and Carole Robin taught interpersonal skills to MBA candidates for a combined seventy-five years in their legendary Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics. Now, they share their insights with you, including: - Why relationship-building is not the process of being with 'the right person' but rather creating the kind of relationship you want - Why deepening a relationship takes risk - The importance of vulnerability, curiosity and empathy in building relationships - How the modern world can help - and hinder - our ability to connect Filled with time-tested strategies for giving feedback, negotiating boundaries, and working through disagreements, Connect will be an important resource for anyone hoping to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life.

The idea that partners in committed relationships elicit strong reactions in each other is self evident. That these passions are often overlooked in the therapy room is equally a reality. In this ground-breaking book, you will discover an innovative system for helping couples discover all of who they are. The Gleasons ask you to reconsider what it means to trust your intuition, make room for strong energies, work with the body, bring sexuality into the therapy room, and to elicit full emotional expression. Here you will learn to welcome the passionate, erotic, chaotic truths that are often kept under wraps in the therapy room. Exceptional Couples: Transformation Through Embodied Couples Work synthesizes modern developmental theories with the wisdom of somatic psychotherapy and reveals how "embodying" is fundamental to helping couples break their patterns of vitality destroying habits of interacting. The Gleasons invite you on a journey of the highest magnitude where couples can come fully alive. They generously open the door to their practice room, sharing in-depth case examples and effective strategies they've developed over the course of their careers. They ask you to come along with them and live in the mystery of yet-to-be discovered places in every relationship. The Gleasons met in in 1976 in clinical social work graduate school. They have devoted their lives to exploring how couples, including themselves, can have exceptional (beyond the ordinary) relationships. www.exceptionalmarriage.com

WHAT DO EXCEPTIONAL COUPLES KNOW THAT OTHERS DON’T? If roughly fifty percent of marriages fail, what about the other fifty percent—the ones that “succeed”? Are those couples who stay together necessarily happy? No, not necessarily. In fact, many marriages that remain intact are far less than ideal. A mere seven percent are really good—in fact, exceptional. These couples have much greater than average passion, happiness, longevity, and fulfillment. And the good news is, luck has nothing to do with it. But if less-than-exceptional marriages are made up of men who are supposedly from Mars and women who are supposedly from Venus, what planet do exceptional husbands and wives come from? What are the secrets of exceptional couples . . . and what can they teach us? Marriage therapist Gregory K. Popcak believes that ways of relating employed by exceptional couples can benefit all marriages. In The Exceptional Seven Percent, he looks at the most successful couples and exposes their secrets. Each chapter examines in detail the basic characteristics of exceptional couples, including: · Developing a marital imperative—the key to unlocking all the other Exceptional Couple qualities · Setting and achieving emotional goals · Cultivating exceptional levels of fidelity, loving, service, rapport, negotiation, gratitude, joy, and sexuality Through anecdotes, analyses, exercises, quizzes, and guidance that is consistently supported by marriage research, you’ll learn what your weaknesses are and how you can begin to make positive changes. You have the power to turn your marriage into the most precious thing in your life. Why settle for anything less?

The committed relationship is the perfect vehicle for accessing life's greatest gifts. Deep pleasure, profound intimacy, personal fulfillment, and creative expression are some of the many gifts that the committed relationship is capable of providing. But for most couples these possibilities fail to materialize. Instead, partners silently slip into habits of interaction, which choke off their ability to access their immense potential. In Going All The Way, authors Brian and Marcia Gleason offer a model of relationship called the "Exceptional Marriage". Safety and security are the trademarks of a passable marriage. The Gleason's suggest a better option. An exceptional marriage creates space for partners to come alive. Such a relationship involves a radical commitment to support each other's truth and greatness. In their broader vision of a committed relationship the Gleason's encourage and invite couples to claim their human potential through unlocking their full range of sincere and transformative emotions. In most marriages, these responses are hidden, avoiding precisely those areas where the greatest potential for growth and fulfillment exist. According to the Gleason's, a relationship is a living experience which allows couples to move between needs for security and connection and the human impulses toward adventure and creativity. By letting go of their "control patterns" partners can free up their capacity to laugh, cry, shout, tremble and soar together and individually. Going All The Way is a sincere invitation for couples to claim their emotional birthright and to have a truly Exceptional Marriage.

Twice exceptionality (2e) is not well understood. While many parents, educators, and professionals are working to bridge the knowledge gap and help 2e children, there is still a great deal we do not know about how life turns out for those children once they grow up. How do 2e adults deal with the complex aspects of being an adult? What are your prospects if you are brilliant, but can't get into college? What if you fail at work because you don't know how to fit in socially? This book provides first-hand stories about the experiences of 2e adults, offering compassionate coping strategies for overcoming and rethinking the tough parts. It champions radical acceptance of 2e people and celebrates their unique outlook on the world.

What if you could protect your business against competitive inroads, once and for all? Customer service experts Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon's anticipatory customer service approach was first developed at The Ritz-Carlton as well as at Solomon's company Oasis, and has since proven itself in countless companies around the globe--from luxury giant BVLGARI to value-sensitive auto parts leader Carquest and everywhere in between. Their experience shows that the most powerful growth engine in a tight market--and best protection from competitive inroads--is to put everything you can into cultivating true customer loyalty. Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit takes the techniques that minted money for these brands and reveals how you can apply them to your own business to provide the kind of exceptional service that nearly guarantees loyalty. Soon, you'll be reaping the benefits of loyal customers who are: less sensitive to price competition, more forgiving of small glitches, and, ultimately, who are "walking billboards" happily promoting your brand. Filled with detailed, behind-the-scenes examples, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit unlocks a new level of customer relationship that leaves your competitors in the dust, your customers coming back day after day, and your bottom line looking better than it ever has before.

"A can't-miss title for fans of chick lit and modern women's fiction."—Library Journal, STARRED review An unlikely friendship between two stubborn, lonely souls anchors this big-hearted book and dares us all to ask for more. When her life falls apart on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind, but she's fed up with pretty much everything. Having no patience for Kate's choices in life or love, Cecily prescribes her a self-help book...of sorts. Thought for Food: an unintentionally funny 1950s cookbook high on enthusiasm, featuring menus for anything life can throw at the "easily dismayed," such as: Breakfast with a Hangover Tea for a Crotchety Aunt Dinner for a Charming Stranger As she and Cecily break out of their ruts, Kate will learn far more than recipes. A feel-good summer read with a wicked sense of humor, Vicky Zimmerman's book will teach you that food is for feasting, friends are for savoring, and the way to a man's heart is...irrelevant. Fans of Jennifer Weiner, Elin Hildenbrand, and Sophie Kinsella will delight in this recipe for confidence, romance, and fun. Praise for Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies: "A beautiful, thoughtful read about love, friendship and food with shades of Nora Ephron's Heartburn and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine."—Tasmina Perry, international bestselling author of Daddy's Girls "Beautifully written, full of insight and food."—Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Perfect Proposal "Hungry for a love story with added bite? With deliciously real characters, a sprinkling of humor, a pinch of pathos and huge helping of wisdom, this book has all the ingredients to become this summer's must-read."—Isabelle Broom, bestselling author of One Thousand Stars and You

"To provide the ultimate in customer service, every member of the service team needs to turn customer interactions into "peak experiences." Filled with effective techniques that borrow from principles of psychology, Great Customer Connections presents a unique step-by-step program that lets you: connect with customer's individual personalities; use the "secret phrases" that make customers feel great; tell them anything without upsetting them; stop having to say "no" - permanently; and defuse any crisis and take command of each interaction - even with your most difficult and unclear customers."--BOOK JACKET.

"Anyone pursuing success must read this book." —Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference A master class in leadership from the world’s top body language expert From internationally bestselling author and retired FBI agent Joe Navarro, a groundbreaking look at the five powerful principles that set exceptional individuals apart Joe Navarro spent a quarter century with the FBI, pursuing spies and other dangerous criminals across the globe. In his line of work, successful leadership was quite literally a matter of life or death. Now he brings his hard-earned lessons to you. Be Exceptional distills a lifetime of experience into five principles that outstanding individuals live by: Self-Mastery: To lead others, you must first demonstrate that you can lead yourself. Observation: Apply the same techniques used by the FBI to quickly and accurately assess any situation. Communication: Harness the power of verbal and nonverbal interaction to persuade, motivate, and inspire. Action: Build shared purpose and lead by example. Psychological Comfort: Discover the secret ingredient of exceptional individuals. Be Exceptional is the culmination of Joe Navarro’s decades spent analyzing human behavior, conducting more than 10,000 interviews in the field, and making high-stakes behavioral assessments. Drawing upon case studies from history, compelling firsthand accounts from Navarro’s FBI career, and cutting-edge science on nonverbal communication and persuasion, this is a new type of leadership book, one that will have the power to transform for years to come.

Strengthen and deepen your relationships with this "much-needed" (Harville Hendrix, PhD) guide that has sold over one million copies, through revelatory practical exercises, seven profound conversations, and sage advice from “the best couple’s therapist in the world” (John Gottman, PhD, bestselling author) Are you looking to enrich a healthy relationship, revitalize a tired one, or rescue one gone awry? We all want a lifetime of love, support, and companionship. But sometimes we need a little help. Enter Dr. Sue Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and “the most original contributor to couple’s therapy to come along in the last thirty years,” according to Dr. William J. Doherty, PhD. In Hold Me Tight, Dr. Johnson shares her groundbreaking and remarkably successful program for creating stronger, more secure relationships. The message of Hold Me Tight is simple: Forget about learning how to argue better, analyzing your early childhood, making grand romantic gestures, or experimenting with new sexual positions. Instead, get to the emotional underpinnings of your relationship by recognizing that you are emotionally attached to and dependent on your partner in much the same way that a child is on a parent for nurturing, soothing, and protection. Dr. Johnson teaches that the way to enhance or save a relationship is to be open, attuned, and responsive to each other and to reestablish emotional connection. With this in mind, she focuses on key moments in a relationship and uses them as touch points for seven healing conversations, including: Recognizing the Demon Dialogues Finding the Raw Spots Revisiting a Rocky Moment Forgiving Injuries Keeping Your Love Alive These conversations give you insight into the defining moments in your relationship and guide you in reshaping these moments to create a secure and lasting bond. Through stories from Dr. Johnson’s practice, illuminating advice, and practical exercises, you will learn how to nurture, protect, and grow your relationship, ensuring a lifetime of love.