About the Book Based on extensive multi-year empirical research, The Pragmatic Optimist addresses what it takes to be a leading light in the darkest hours of a business or economic crisis. Using real-world case studies, you will discover how to avoid the common cognitive and behavioral traps to which all leaders are most susceptible in the heat of a crisis. Finally, you will acquire the necessary insights to develop pragmatic optimism—a winning hybrid mindset—and practice its six results-oriented strategies for success even under extreme conditions. Praises for The Pragmatic Optimist “Dr. Daniel Monehin has produced a remarkably timely masterpiece. I have studied crisis leadership for over thirty years, yet Dr. Monehin’s The Pragmatic Optimist took my understanding of leading in a crisis to a new level—I am a huge fan of this book.” - Dr. Thomas A. Kolditz, Ph.D., Brigadier General, US Army (ret), Professor Emeritus at the US Military Academy, West Point, and author, In Extremis Leadership: Leading as if Your Life Depended on It “The Pragmatic Optimist brings together factual information and the process to develop your own leadership style. I love when I find a good easy-to-apply book that I could use in my work.” - Dr. Wendy Borlabi, Psy. D., Director of Performance & Mental Health, Chicago Bulls “Dr. Daniel Monehin’s breadth of experience and depth as a global leader combined with his ability to lead through transformational change has catapulted this book to my shortlist of recommended reading to any leader.” - Ron Garrow, Executive Partner, Chief Human Resources Officer Advisory Practice at Gartner Inc. “There are many books on leadership, but few that actually give specific and actionable insights on what leaders must do in a crisis. Dr. Monehin's The Pragmatic Optimist stands tall above others—If you read only one book on leadership, it should be this one.” - Efosa Ojomo, Director of Global Prosperity at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation “Dr. Monehin draws on decades within multinationals, rigorous academic study, and importantly, his own life experience to produce this important work at this crucial time.” - Christine Elliott, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Moody’s Corporation “Having worked with Dr. Daniel Monehin for many years, I have seen him lead businesses successfully through turbulent environments. Who better than Daniel to lead us through the best of crisis management.” - Ann Cairns, Executive Vice Chair, Mastercard Inc. “Dr. Monehin, clearly and concisely, develops an essential framework for leaders to successfully overcome perilous situations. This book is an excellent manual for leaders from all spheres of influence and should be read before the next crisis!” - Femi Cadmus, Law Librarian and Professor of Law, Yale University “Between a global pandemic, social injustice and a racial reckoning, and a challenging economic climate, leaders have been tested in unprecedented ways. The Pragmatic Optimist provides an excellent roadmap for executives to successfully navigate times of adversity by keeping their vision and values in focus.” - Marisa Grimes Galiber, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, U.S. Tennis Association (USTA)

With more than four hundred references, The Pragmatic Optimist is one of the most researched leadership and self-development books on the market. Over thirty executives and scholars worldwide have endorsed this book.

A bestseller on Amazon.com within months of its first release, Alan AtKisson's debut book quickly became a modern classic of sustainability literature. Global companies, grassroots groups, university courses, government agencies, and even the US Army ordered it by the box. Now fully revised and updated, Believing Cassandra: How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World is even more relevant, fresh, and motivating than when it first appeared in 1999. In a style that's refreshingly candid and vivid, with unforgettable personal anecdotes, AtKisson provides us with a bridge over the sea of despair, and shows us how to catch the wave to an enticing, sustainable future. He empowers the reader to join the pioneers who created the ideas, techniques and practices of sustainable living - the people who prove Cassandra's warnings wrong, by believing in them, and taking strategic action.

Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an irrationally positive outlook on life—but why? Turns out, we might be hardwired that way. In this absorbing exploration, Tali Sharot—one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today—demonstrates that optimism may be crucial to human existence. The Optimism Bias explores how the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails; how the brains of optimists and pessimists differ; why we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy; how emotions strengthen our ability to recollect; how anticipation and dread affect us; how our optimistic illusions affect our financial, professional, and emotional decisions; and more. Drawing on cutting-edge science, The Optimism Bias provides us with startling new insight into the workings of the brain and the major role that optimism plays in determining how we live our lives.

Have you ever walked away from an argument and suddenly thought of all the brilliant things you wish you'd said? Do you avoid certain family members and colleagues because of bitter, festering tension that you can't figure out how to address? Now, finally, there's a solution: a new framework that frees you from the trap of unproductive conflict and pointless arguing forever. If the threat of raised voices, emotional outbursts, and public discord makes you want to hide under the conference room table, you're not alone. Conflict, or the fear of it, can be exhausting. But as this powerful book argues, conflict doesn't have to be unpleasant. In fact, properly channeled, conflict can be the most valuable tool we have at our disposal for deepening relationships, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas. As the mastermind behind some of the highest-performing teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Slack, Buster Benson spent decades facilitating hard conversations in stressful environments. In this book, Buster reveals the psychological underpinnings of awkward, unproductive conflict and the critical habits anyone can learn to avoid it. Armed with a deeper understanding of how arguments, you'll be able to: Remain confident when you're put on the spot Diffuse tense moments with a few strategic questions Facilitate creative solutions even when your team has radically different perspectives Why Are We Yelling will shatter your assumptions about what makes arguments productive. You'll find yourself having fewer repetitive, predictable fights once you're empowered to identify your biases, listen with an open mind, and communicate well.

We live in uncertain times propelled by complex systems, climate change and the use of technology which possess various threats. At times of crisis, leadership that permits quick reactions to the changing organisational environment becomes necessary. However, there has been limited studies that provide a road map of leading during a crisis. What is required of leaders during a crisis? How can you develop the required leadership expertise during such turbulent periods? What are the challenges leaders will have to combat? Through this book, these questions are answered. It is no exaggeration therefore to claim that this book opens a new chapter as it seeks to advance discussions about how to lead during crisis. Drawing on empirical and conceptual evidence from the perspective of renowned authors in leadership research, it offers a robust and engaging overview of the field of leadership and leadership development in turbulent and dynamic environments. The chapters in the book support the personal and professional development of aspiring and experienced leaders and managers. The readers will be able to display critical awareness of current developments in both the theory and practice of leadership and leadership development and its importance in modern organisations.

An optimistic--but realistic and feasible--action plan for fighting climate change while creating new jobs and a healthier environment: electrify everything. Climate change is a planetary emergency. We have to do something now—but what? Saul Griffith has a plan. In Electrify, Griffith lays out a detailed blueprint—optimistic but feasible—for fighting climate change while creating millions of new jobs and a healthier environment. Griffith’s plan can be summed up simply: electrify everything. He explains exactly what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid, and adapt our households to make this possible. Billionaires may contemplate escaping our worn-out planet on a private rocket ship to Mars, but the rest of us, Griffith says, will stay and fight for the future. Griffith, an engineer and inventor, calls for grid neutrality, ensuring that households, businesses, and utilities operate as equals; we will have to rewrite regulations that were created for a fossil-fueled world, mobilize industry as we did in World War II, and offer low-interest “climate loans.” Griffith’s plan doesn’t rely on big, not-yet-invented innovations, but on thousands of little inventions and cost reductions. We can still have our cars and our houses—but the cars will be electric and solar panels will cover our roofs. For a world trying to bounce back from a pandemic and economic crisis, there is no other project that would create as many jobs—up to twenty-five million, according to one economic analysis. Is this politically possible? We can change politics along with everything else.

Tawfiq Zayyad (1929-1994) was a renowned Palestinian poet and a committed communist activist. For four decades, he was a dominant figure in political life in Israel, as a local council member, mayor of Nazareth, and member of the Israeli parliament. Zayyad personified the collective struggle of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, challenging the military government following the creation of the state of Israel, leading the 1976 nationwide strike against land confiscation, and tirelessly protesting Israeli military occupation after 1967. With this book, Tamir Sorek offers the first biography of this charismatic figure. Zayyad's life was one of balance and contradiction--between his revolutionary writings as Palestinian patriotic poet and his pragmatic political work in the Israeli public sphere. He was uncompromising in his protest of injustices against the Palestinian people, but always committed to a universalist vision of Arab-Jewish brotherhood. It was this combination of traits that made Zayyad an exceptional leader--and makes his biography larger than the man himself to offer a compelling story about Palestinians and the state of Israel.

Why looking up matters A positive attitude is important, but until now we didn’t know how important. In Up, a practicing physician and NIH-funded researcher draws on her research and experience to show that our outlook on life— our unique patterns of thinking and feeling about ourselves, others, and the world—may be the key to how well and how fast we age. From wrinkles to cognitive decline, our outlook affects our health at every level. Using the framework of outlook GPS, Up illustrates how we can gauge our current attitude latitude and move to healthier ground. Tindle brings a fresh eye to attitudinal traits such as optimism, noting that it has many faces, including the face of her own struggling optimism. Using the 7 Steps of Attitudinal Change that she applies to her own patients, Tindle offers us a path toward healthy aging. Prescriptive and accessible, Up puts forward a paradigm shift in how we age and treat disease, giving even the most struggling optimists a chance for hope. It will appeal to readers of The Longevity Project by Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin as well as The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner.

Fifteen philosophers representuing different schools of thought answer the question what is Woody Allen trying to say in his films? And why should anyone care? Focusing on different works and varied aspects of Allen's multifaceted output, these essays explore the philosophical undertones of Anne Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and reminds us that just because the universe is meaningless and life is pointless is no reason to commit suicide.