Stronger Through Adversity World Class Leaders Share Pandemic Tested Lessons On Thriving During The Toughest Challenges

From business guru Joseph Michelli―the leadership lessons needed to thrive beyond the greatest business crisis in modern history COVID-19 has disrupted business and life in ways we never imagined. Within days of the outbreak, Joseph Michelli—the world-renowned business expert who has cracked the leadership codes of Starbucks, Airbnb, Mercedes-Benz USA, and many other top companies—went to work. He contacted 140+ senior leaders at major companies about their specific challenges and how they were meeting them—getting raw yet thoughtful real-time insights into a crisis that will define an entire generation of leaders. The result is Stronger Through Adversity. In this business guide for our times, Michelli distills best leadership practices that can be used in any company, in any industry. Organized into four main themes—Set the Foundation, Build Connections, Move with Purpose, and Harness Change—Stronger Through Adversity provides a deep dive into the methods, tactics, and approaches leaders have used to keep their company afloat and to position it for success long after the pandemic. You’ll get invaluable insights into crisis management, keeping employees and customers safe, maintaining a culture of engagement, and rapidly innovating. Applying powerful leadership methods used by Microsoft, Starbucks, Google, DHL, Target, Verizon, Kohl’s, Marriott, and many others, you’ll seize and hold the competitive edge in your industry. Whether you run a Fortune 500 company, own a small business, or manage a department or team—this is your moment. Stronger Through Adversity delivers everything you need to prosper—to lead your people to an unprecedented recovery, to weather the toughest challenges your business faces from the pandemic and beyond, and to thrive in all storms, large and small.

A remarkable collection of exclusive, first-person stories on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from 29 chief executives at iconic Canadian companies. Unprecedented is an extraordinary business book for extraordinary times: a collection of exclusive, first-person stories on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from twenty-nine chief executives at Canada’s most iconic and largest companies. These are unforgettable accounts from senior leaders at companies on the front lines during the pandemic—nursing homes, grocery stores, airlines, hotels, pharmacies, shopping malls—along with valuable lessons on crisis management. The insights in Unprecedented are remarkable. Readers get a seat at the table when the CEO of Tim Hortons visits the White House to discuss financial relief initiatives for business. Canada Goose’s CEO tells of retooling the parka maker to turn out surgical gowns. The head of one of Canada’s largest paper producers reveals what happened when the country almost ran out of toilet paper. COVID-19 is a shared challenge, a crisis that touches everyone. Unprecedented captures that shared experience with personal essays that mix struggle and achievement, fear, humour, and compassion. At their heart, these are stories about overcoming adversity, a theme that resonates with managers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and students of business. Unprecedented gives us rare insight into how leaders navigated the pandemic and the social unrest and technological changes that marked this era—what was gained, what was lost, and what was learned that can help serve companies, employees, and customers better in an uncertain future. The authors’ net proceeds from the sales of Unprecedented are being donated to United Way Centraide Canada for COVID recovery across Canada.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER! “Like any business, a hospital must be true to its core values in order to succeed. ‘Trickle-down values’ start at the top with the best leadership, so that all the stakeholders understand and carry out the institution’s mission. That is the gift that David F einberg has brought to U CLA. I am in awe of his management skills.” —Lynda Resnick, owner of Pom Wonderful, Fiji Water, Teleflora, and Wonderful Pistachios “With clear purpose, unwavering principles, and steadfast leadership, the people at UCLA have established a new bar, a compelling promise, for what healthcare can and should be.” —David M. Lawrence, M.D., former CEO, Kaiser Permanente “An absorbing and educational account of a large institution’s astonishing transformation. The strong, courageous, and focused leadership of David Feinberg and his outstanding team is evident on every page. A tremendous lesson for all large enterprises.” —William E. Simon, Jr., cochairman, William E. Simon & Sons “Most leadership authors describe how to apply common-sense principles. Michelli is a notable exception. He artfully describes the compelling, uncommon leadership practices that transformed UCLA Health System. The resulting lessons are plentiful and powerful for today’s business leader.” —Lee J. Colan, Ph.D., author of Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence About the Book: Joseph Michelli, author of The Starbucks Experience and The New Gold Standard, is among the world’s top authorities on the principles of creating an organizational culture dedicated to service excellence. In these bestselling books, he examines how leading service companies dominate their respective industries with innovative customerexperience strategies. Now, Michelli turns his attention to one of the most complex, controversial, and critical industries—healthcare. In Prescription for Excellence, Michelli provides an inside look at an organization that has become the envy of its industry—and explains how you can dominate your own industry by using the same approach. UCLA Health System is revered worldwide for its top-tier patient/customer care. Great physicians, nurses, researchers, and staff are only part of the equation; UCLA’s overall success is a result of organization-wide collaboration that is driven by leaders with a shared vision of unyielding excellence. Michelli breaks down UCLA’s approach into five simple principles: Commit to Care Leave No Room for Error Make the Best Better Create the Future Service Serves Us From administrative offices to operating rooms to research centers, continued adherence to these five principles has guided UCLA to financial strength, social significance, and sustainability. The best part is that these principles translate to any industry, so you, too, can achieve similar goals. Michelli gives you the tools to adapt UCLA’s ideas, systems, and leadership principles into your own best practices. Whether it is a healthcare organization, a financial institution, or a neighborhood hair salon, good business begins and ends with customer connection. When all workers in an organization focus on providing quality care for those they serve, success inevitably follows. Business is always personal; UCLA’s leadership ensures that this simple truth drives every UCLA employee, every day. Apply the lessons Michelli spells out in Prescription for Excellence to create a system that ensures that your people take business personally, day in and day out.

A collection of insider accounts describing the organizational impact of COVID-19 In The Great Lockdown: Lessons Learned During the Pandemic from Organizations Around the Globe, expert strategists Shivaji Das, Aroop Zutshi , and Janesh Janardhanan deliver an insightful exploration of this once-in-a-lifetime event to unearth invaluable learnings for the future. Told through the experiences of CXOs at billion-dollar companies, star start-ups, and non-profits from around the world, the book chronicles the ups and downs of sophisticated organizations as they navigated the COVID-19 crisis through initiatives impacting people, processes, and technology. Revealing case studies contributed by the CXOs of companies spanning multiple geographies - from the USA to Iran, Uganda to Hong Kong, and multiple sectors – social media, technology, aviation, luxury retail, healthcare, etc. Incisive analyses of the techniques and strategies that worked—or didn’t—for organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering the role and evolution of leadership, organizational culture, innovation and digitization Practical guidance for business leaders to apply to their own firms in times of great economic upheaval: the next pandemic, climate disasters, cyber-attacks The leaders contributing their organization's survival and revival stories include those from Julius Baer, SAP, Terumo, IndiGrid, Tapsi, Fonterra, Hornet Networks, Globalization Partners, beCuriou, GoGoX, Abacus Pharma, Real Wear Inc, SOS Children's Villages, Bangalore International Airport, and A Lange & Sohne. Perfect for executives, managers, and other business leaders, The Great Lockdown is an invaluable addition to the libraries of anyone interested in case studies of corporate resilience and endurance in the face of unprecedented economic challenges.

Forged by fire In April 2020, our family moved to Bozeman, MT, where I took on a new role as Managing Director Strategic IT at Montana State University. From my first day on the job, the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic forced us to think on our toes, constantly change our strategies and tactics, and always be ready for surprises. Applying my learnings from high-stake, high-pressure roles in Amazon allowed me to help transform the organization and culture while rebuilding team morale and keeping motivation high. During the pandemic, my team delivered high-impact outcomes at an unprecedented velocity and volume. We were rewriting every process in the book while running at top speed, keeping up with ever-changing demands and constraints to serve our customers during those challenging times. The world population lived through challenging, demanding, and emotionally taxing times in the year 2020. Times like that make you break or come out stronger on the other side. I tried to help my team come out stronger by sharing my learnings from the decades with Microsoft and Amazon in what I called 'weekly reflections'. Most often, those reflections discussed approaches and thought models to deal with specific issues that I observed during that week. A different set of challenges presented themselves when Uli took over a role as Site Manager for the Montana State University COVID Testing Center and later their COVID vaccination program. Some of my thoughts and lessons were inspired by those challenges. This book summarizes the lessons, approaches, and principles that I shared with my team as we all did our best to deliver exceptional service to our customers in circumstances that no one was prepared for. I hope that some of the strategies and principles will work for you as beautifully as they did for me. I hope they will help you thrive in challenging situations and help you get one step closer to your dreams. Alfons Bozeman, MT March 2021 Reviews This common-sense approach to discussing what has been learned is easily understandable and was readily adapted to a variety of challenging situations that we as business people experienced in the recent past. It also provides a structured guide to apply those same "learnings" as we move through future weeks, months, and years. If you seek theory, you will be disappointed. If you pursue reality and the associated efforts of discovering new and creative ways to resolve issues, you will be very satisfied. A concept that I encourage and attempt to adhere to myself is "change, assess, and then change again". This book will provide the foundation for taking action, assessing, learning, and taking action again. Michael Trotter Vice President and CIO, Montana State University About the authors Alfons worked at Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and Amazon in Executive and Senior leadership roles for the last 25+ years. He currently serves as Managing Director Strategic IT at Montana State University. Uli practiced as an MD in Germany. When she moved to the US, Uli became a Tai Chi, mindfulness, and art teacher. To help through the pandemic, Uli stepped up to lead the Montana State University COVID Testing Center as well as their vaccination program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed lives around the world and no dimension of life and leadership seems to have been spared from its wrath. It has also stirred us into thinking about novel approaches to lead organizations and societies toward a shared, sustainable future. This book offers novel perspectives on leadership and change management after the COVID-19 pandemic that take us beyond striving for thriving—perspectives that are grounded in emergent theory, research and practice. It highlights sustainable leadership and change management strategies to effectively deal with unpredictable and rapidly changing situations—particularly in a world that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). This book also highlights engaging perspectives by specialists from different disciplines such as business, psychology, education, and health care. It serves as a practical guide in identifying and responding to leadership challenges and opportunities in each of the four VUCA categories of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—and how they affect businesses, organizations, and societies as a whole.

A remarkable collection of exclusive, first-person stories on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from 29 chief executives at iconic Canadian companies. Unprecedented is an extraordinary business book for extraordinary times: a collection of exclusive, first-person stories on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from twenty-nine chief executives at Canada’s most iconic and largest companies. These are unforgettable accounts from senior leaders at companies on the front lines during the pandemic—nursing homes, grocery stores, airlines, hotels, pharmacies, shopping malls—along with valuable lessons on crisis management. The insights in Unprecedented are remarkable. Readers get a seat at the table when the CEO of Tim Hortons visits the White House to discuss financial relief initiatives for business. Canada Goose’s CEO tells of retooling the parka maker to turn out surgical gowns. The head of one of Canada’s largest paper producers reveals what happened when the country almost ran out of toilet paper. COVID-19 is a shared challenge, a crisis that touches everyone. Unprecedented captures that shared experience with personal essays that mix struggle and achievement, fear, humour, and compassion. At their heart, these are stories about overcoming adversity, a theme that resonates with managers, professionals, entrepreneurs, and students of business. Unprecedented gives us rare insight into how leaders navigated the pandemic and the social unrest and technological changes that marked this era—what was gained, what was lost, and what was learned that can help serve companies, employees, and customers better in an uncertain future. The authors’ net proceeds from the sales of Unprecedented are being donated to United Way Centraide Canada for COVID recovery across Canada.