Prescription for Excellence: Leadership Lessons for Creating a World Class Customer Experience from UCLA Health System

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.

By: Covey, Stephen M.R.; Merrill, Rebecca R.  |  Published By: Simon & Schuster

In a readable and riveting style, Stephen M. R. Covey uncovers the overlooked and underestimated power of trust in a page-turning look into what he calls "the one thing that changes everything." A groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book, "The Speed of Trust" challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver - a learnable and measurable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing. Written from his informed perspective as the former CEO of a $100 million enterprise, Covey draws on his pragmatic experience growing Covey Leadership Center (founded by his father, Dr. Stephen R. Covey) from a shareholder value of less than $3 million to a value of more than $160 million. 

In this powerful new book, Stephen M. R. Covey articulates why trust has become the key leadership competency of the new global economy. He eloquently informs readers how to inspire lasting trust in their personal and professional relationships, and in so doing to create unparalleled success and sustainable prosperity in every dimension of life. He shows business, government, and education leaders how to quickly and permanently gain the trust of their clients, co-workers, partners, and constituents. Covey convincingly makes the case that trust is a measurable accelerator to performance and that when trust goes up, speed also goes up while cost comes down, producing what Covey calls a "trust dividend." 

Covey reveals the 13 behaviors common to high-trust leaders throughout the world and persuasively demonstrates actionable insights that will enable you to shift your behavior to increase - and inspire - trust in the important relationships in your life. 

Like a ripple in the pond, "The Speed of Trust" begins within each of us personally, continues into our relationships, expands into our organizations, extends into our marketplace relationships, and ultimately encompasses our global society at large. Covey presents a road map to establish trust on every level, build character and competence, enhance credibility, and create leadership that inspires confidence.

Review taken from ebooks.com

"Training Camp: What The Best Do Better Than Everyone Else"

In the spirit of his international best-seller "The Energy Bus," Jon Gordon returns with another inspirational fable filled with invaluable lessons and insights on bringing out the best in yourself and your team. "Training Camp" follows the story of Martin Jones, an undrafted rookie trying to make it to the bright lights and big money of the NFL. He's spent his whole life proving to the critics that a small guy with a big heart can succeed against all odds. After spraining his ankle in the preseason, Martin thinks his dream is lost when he happens to meet a very special coach who shares 11 life-changing lessons that keep Martin's dream alive - and might even make him the best of the best. Whether you play sports or the piano or work with numbers, a computer or a scalpel, these lessons apply to everyone who must climb the mountain before reaching its peak.

Based on his work with professional sports teams, world-class organizations and interviews with top professionals in a wide variety of fields, Gordon reveals the deep truths and proven strategies that take the very best to the top. "Training Camp" reveals that the best performers - in a variety of fields - all share the same qualities. Among other traits, the best of the best are able to maintain a big-picture vision while taking zoom-focused action, they are mentally stronger, they seize the moment and they inspire excellence in the people around them. But these aren't inborn traits; the great news is that they're skills and attitudes that can be learned and applied by all. If you want to be your best, "Training Camp" offers an inspirational story and real-world wisdom on what it takes to reach true excellence and how you and your team (your work team, school team, church team and family team) can achieve it.

From the back cover:
"Having spent my life studying the best, I have found that great individuals need great coaches. 'Training Camp' is not only about the mentee but the mentor. Jon has woven a compelling story of two individuals together, traveling life's journey, striving for excellence and leaving a legacy in the process. I found myself cheering the main characters on from the sidelines. Thank you, Jon, for leaving a legacy with the profound lessons found in this book." - Kimberly K. Rath, President, Talent Plus

"Good to Great"

After co-authoring "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies," Jim Collins turns his attention to companies that have made the transition from "good to great." This time the findings are backed by five years of research and data analysis. Starting with every company that ever appeared in the Fortune 500, Collins identifies 11 companies that had 15-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market when, after a transition point, they then demonstrated cumulative returns of at least three times the market over the next 15 years. Collins then looked for similarities among the companies. What he found would both surprise and fascinate anyone involved in management.

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

"What Happy People Know"

Dr. Dan Baker, phsychologist, Talent Plus senior analyst, and director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch, has devoted his life to teaching people how to be happy. And apparently, most of us could use a little tutoring. Research has shown that the root of unhappiness - fear - lies in the oldest, reptilian part of our brains, and negative reactions are often dictated by primal instincts. We're literally "hardwired for hard times." In "What Happy People Know," Dr. Baker uses evidence from the new science of happiness to show us how we can overcome this genetic predisposition toward negative reactions and lead a truly rich, happy and healthy life.

In this book, Dr. Baker shares the program that has revolutionized the lives of countless unhappy people, VIPs and regular Joes and Janes alike. First, you'll learn the only two issues that ever cause unhappiness and devise your plan to overcome both of them. Then, Dr. Baker teaches you how to spot the happiness traps, the five doomed ways we try to make ourselves happy, only to dig ourselves further into misery. Finally, he shares his happiness tools, the six simple skills that, when practiced consistently, will inevitably lead to greater optimism, courage, good humor and fulfillment - in short, to happiness.

The Heart of Leadership: Inspiration and Practical Guidance for Transforming Your Health Care Organization
This book challenges the view that new tools, processes, and knowledge are enough to deliver the highest levels of safety, quality performance, employee engagement, and financial health to a health care organization. The book examines the leadership characteristics of ten transformational leaders from a variety of work environments who have produced results than many of their peers in similar circumstances. The book illustrates that it is not what these leaders do as much as it is who they are. The book provides useful insights by covering the most advanced and progressive health care leadership practices - where many leaders struggle. The book's examples can help readers strengthen their own leadership capabilities. It is an inspirational, optimistic, and practical guide to leading transformational change.

"Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself"

With this book, Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and author of Mavericks at Work, creates a manifesto for change and a manual for making it happen-in an era when change is the name of the game.

Businesspeople everywhere are engaging in a dramatic "rethink" of how they lead, work, and get results. In an age of fierce competition and stubborn recession, the status quo just doesn't cut it. But how do you break new ground when there is so much pressure to do things the same way as everyone else? Using his years of experience and thought leadership in the business world, the cofounder and founding editor of one of the world's most admired business magazines, Fast Company, offers radical ideas and practical advice to help you fix what's wrong with your organization, launch new initiatives with the best chance to succeed, and rethink the logic of leadership itself.

Practically Radical goes deep inside twenty-five for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations to find out how they've made remarkable strides in tough circumstances. They include IBM, Zappos, Swatch, the Girl Scouts, Interpol, big-city hospitals, fast-growing banks, and high-flying airlines. These organizations have answered the make-or-break questions facing leaders in every field:

Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see? The most successful organizations embrace one-of-a-kind ideas in a world filled with me-too thinking.

Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas? Practices that are routine in one field can be revolutionary when they migrate to another field.

Are you the most of anything? Companies used to be comfortable in the middle of the road. Today, the middle of the road is the road to ruin.

Are you getting the best contributions from the most people? It may be lonely at the top, but change is not a game best played by loners.

"Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture"

Why it Matters Who's Stirring the Pot
Soup offers an inspirational business fable that explains the "recipe" you can use to create a winning culture and boost employee morale and engagement. The story follows Nancy, the newly anointed CEO of America's Favorite Soup Company. She has been brought in to reinvigorate the brand and bring success back to a company that has lost its flavor and profit and has fallen on hard times. Fatefully, while eating lunch at a local soup shop, Nancy discovers the key ingredients to unite, engage, and inspire her team and create a culture of greatness.

• From the bestselling author of The Energy Bus, The No Complaining Rule, and Training Camp
• Find out how culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits, and habits deliver results
• Create relationships that are the foundation upon which successful careers and winning teams are built
• Features quick takeaways you can use to invest in your people, build trust, create unity, and enhance engagement

A turnaround tale like few others, Soup will inspire you to work in your own company to unleash the passion that delivers superior results.

"What Happy Working Mothers Know: How New Findings in Positive Psychology Can Lead to a Healthy and Happy Work/Life Balance"

Science and sociology have made great strides in understanding what makes us happy and how we achieve it. For working mothers who face endless demands on their time and attention, "What Happy Working Mothers Know" provides scientifically proven and practical ways to find the right balance and replace stress with happiness. Written by a behavioral scientist and global leadership guru, and an international lawyer and career coach, this mom-friendly guide offers practical tactics that truly work.

The demands of juggling work and home lead many women to try to do everything and be everything to everyone. In the effort to be Superwoman, many women lose sight of what makes them happy and they fail to realize how important their happiness is to being a good worker and a good mother. The key to being your best at everything you do is to take care of your happiness the way you take care of your health, through conscious choices every day. You'll learn to overcome obstacles, apply lessons learned at work to your motherhood skills, and learn lessons from your children that you can apply at work.

• Includes interactive activities that illustrate important lessons in the book
• Shows you how to use positive psychology to shift from a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality for workplace success
• Helps you tap into your own sense of joy every day for your own happiness and the happiness of those around you
• Science-based and packed with real case studies of real working moms
• Written by authors with impeccable qualifications and real-world experience
• Based on the successful books coauthored by Greenberg: "What Happy Companies Know" and "What Happy Women Know"

Many moms raise great kids and achieve the professional success they desire and deserve, but if they aren't happy, what's the point? This book doesn't show you how to have it all, but how to have all the things that really matter.

"10 Truths About Leadership ... It's Not Just About Winning"

Many leaders remember those life-changing moments when it suddenly became crystal clear what had to be done to reach their organizations' goals. It wasn't until Pete Luongo was faced with that one epiphany in his life, a difficult period that required him to rebalance life's priorities and bring a new understanding to his work, that he recognized that all results are based upon behaviors appropriate to the circumstances. Through this understanding - that actions are determined by specific, well-defined standards - he developed a model for success, one that is both sustainable and that allows people to retain their personal dignity as they pursue their life plans. In this book, Luongo illuminates the 10 most common obstacles to success and pairs them with the ageless principles that help readers overcome them. His straightforward advice, based on data and hard-won experience, provides an understandable and virtually guaranteed plan for improvement and achievement.

"Sugar Free Sweet Talk"

This book is a collection of inspirational poems expressing the power that positive thoughts and feelings can have on our attempts to understand ourselves and respond appropriately to the existence of others. It is hoped that among the works the reader will feel a sensation, be intrigued by an idea, hear a sound or indeed experience several or all of these satisfactions. Additionally it is hoped that the work will be instrumental in raising funds to find a cure for diabetes and thereby bring relief not only to millions of people with the disease, especially children, but also to their caregivers.

Click here to print an order form.

"The New Gold Standard"

Dr. Joseph A. Michelli, author of best-selling business books including "The Starbucks Experience," uncovers the secrets of world-class leadership in his latest book, "The New Gold Standard: Five Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy Of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company." Says Michelli, "The Ritz-Carlton difference starts with employee recruitment and hiring. Every job applicant goes through a long interview process based on the Quality Selection Process^® (QSP^®) through Talent Plus. This process includes a series of interviews that help to establish a behavioral profile. This profile can be compared to the profiles of the highest-functioning people in different areas of the Ritz-Carlton, allowing HR to match applicants with existing employee profiles. When a person is hired, he or she is already held up as someone special from the outset." Learn more about The Ritz-Carlton mystique or just one of the outcomes of The Ritz-Carlton's 19-year working partnership with Talent Plus to select the very best.

This is the first time the award-winning global hospitality and lifestyle company has shared detailed information on its corporate culture and service philosophy - how to engage customer loyalty, measure results and retain the best talent in a service economy. Simon F. Cooper, president and chief operating officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, said, "Over the years we have been approached by many authors seeking to write about our company and examine the methodology we have used to make The Ritz-Carlton brand one of the most frequently recognized and critically acclaimed luxury names in the world. Only when Dr. Michelli came to us with his vision for telling the story did we agree to provide unprecedented levels of access to our ladies and gentlemen and customers. We believe sharing what we have learned will provide valuable lessons to any company seeking to improve its customer service, whether they are a small day spa or a Fortune 500 company."

The framework for "The New Gold Standard" is based upon five leadership principles that are responsible for the long-lasting success of The Ritz-Carlton: Define and Redefine; Empower Through Trust; It's Not About You; Deliver "Wow"; and Leaving a Lasting Footprint.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 71 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around the globe with future openings including Shenzhen, China; Dove Mountain, Ariz.; and Lake Tahoe, Calif. The Ritz-Carlton is the only service company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes outstanding customer service. For more information, visit www.ritzcarlton.com.

To listen to the author speaking about Talent From Above - click here.

"What Happy Women Know"

In this innovative book about what brings women happiness, Dr. Dan Baker focuses on the five traps that can compromise happiness and leave women yearning for a better life.

Unlike clinical psychology, which focuses on trying to fix what's wrong with an individual, positive psychology builds on a person's natural strengths. The root of most unhappiness, fear, finds a special expression in women, who too often succumb to the happiness traps of perfectionism, wanton wanting, people pleasing, seeking revenge, thinking I'm nothing without X, and overinvesting in their careers.

In "What Happy Women Know," Dr. Baker synthesizes a wide range of current research on how women uniquely respond to life's slings and arrows and how they can best bounce back from them. The book offers women a compelling set of tools that will help them accept the past and actively move toward a happier future of their own design.

About the Authors
Dan Baker, Ph.D., is a medical psychologist dedicated to the study of human behavior within an organizational setting. For the last 20 years, he has carried out his research in the perfect laboratory - the world-renowned Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz. - where he was the founding director of the award-winning Life Enhancement Program. He is also the best-selling author of "What Happy People Know" and "What Happy Companies Know" and a senior analyst at Talent Plus.

Cathy Greenberg, Ph.D., has held leadership positions at two of the world's most recognized consulting firms, CSC's Global Organizational Change Practice and the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change. She has traveled the globe through her work as an organizational consultant and executive coach. She is the co-author of "What Happy Companies Know."

Ina Yalof is a writer with a background as a medical sociologist. She is the author or coauthor of 11 books. She teaches writing for Dartmouth College's ILEAD program.

"Close Like the Pros"

The time pressures today on salespeople and clients are out of control. Sellers react in two ways that undermine their effectiveness.

In a misguided effort to save their prospects' time, salespeople take on more of the work, shoulder more of the burden themselves. And they turn proposals around with lightning speed, delivering the complete package on the second call.

That's handoff selling. The salesperson does all of her work first, hands off the proposal to the prospect as if it were a baton in a relay race, and then the prospect begins his work, the detailed consideration of this and other proposals.

That's not how the pros close! Author Steve Marx reveals how the most accomplished professionals actually do big deals and create long-lasting client relationships. They merge selling and buying into a single process - interactive selling. It's a process anyone can learn and any company can adopt.

"Close Like the Pros" is not another rehash of sales basics - the basics in this book are the ones missing from every other book on the shelf.

"Close Like the Pros":

• Is targeted at business-to-business salespeople who sell tailored solutions and seek long-term relationships - and to anyone who has an important idea or initiative to sell internally.
• Weans salespeople from the dangerous fiction of the two-call close, which causes them to lose control, lose influence, and lose business.
• Gives salespeople the tools they need to activate the buying process as soon as the selling process begins - and to keep the selling process alive until the decision is ready.
• Shows salespeople how to invest more time with prospects likely to buy and less with those who aren't.
• Changes the language of selling, introducing the reader to real-life practices including half-baked ideas, homework assignments, molehill decisions, trial balloons, and more.

With interactive selling, the prospect helps improve the proposal, and the proposal helps improve the prospect! It's 21st century high-engagement selling and buying.

"The Energy Bus"

In the mode of other bestselling business fables, Jon Gordon's "The Energy Bus" takes readers on an enlightening and inspiring ride that reveals 10 secrets for approaching life and work with the kind of positive, forward thinking that leads to true accomplishment - at work and at home.

Everyone faces challenges. And every person, organization, company and team will have to overcome negativity and adversity to define themselves and create their success. No one goes through life untested and the answer to these tests is positive energy - the kind of positive energy consisting of vision, trust, optimism, enthusiasm, purpose and spirit that defines great leaders and their teams. Drawing upon his experience and work with thousands of leaders, sales professionals, teams, non-profit organizations, schools and athletes, Gordon infuses this engaging story with keen insights, actionable strategies and a big dose of positive infectious energy. For managers and team leaders or anyone looking to turn negative energy into positive achievement, "The Energy Bus" provides a powerful road map to overcome common life and work obstacles and bring out the best in yourself and your team. When you get on "The Energy Bus," you'll enjoy the ride of your life!

"The Speed of Trust"

Trust is so integral to our relationships that we often take it for granted, yet in an era marked by business scandals and a desire for accountability this book by leadership expert Covey is a welcome guide to nurturing trust in our professional and personal lives. Drawing on anecdotes and business cases from his years as CEO of the Covey Leadership Center (which was worth $160 million when he orchestrated its 1997 merger with Franklin Quest to form Franklin Covey), the author effectively reminds us that there's plenty of room for improvement on this virtue. Following a touching foreword by father Stephen R. Covey (author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and related books), the junior Covey outlines 13 behaviors of trust-inspiring leaders, such as demonstrating respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, delivering results and practicing accountability.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"What Happy Companies Know"

"What Happy Companies Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Company for the Better" is a new book that argues profits do not drive happiness in companies, but rather, happiness drives profits. Using extensive examples of successful companies from many industries and backing up the examples with an array of supportingresearch, the book makes a compelling case for businesses to create and maintain positive cultures that seek opportunity rather than seek to solve problems or battle competitors.

"What Happy Companies Know," authored by Dan Baker, Cathy Greenberg and Collins Hemingway, establishes powerful psychological and leadership principles and applies them in ways that produce positive results in a real business environment. Baker is a medical psychologist and a pioneer in applied positive psychology. Greenberg is a former partner in two of the world's largest consulting organizations, an anthropologist, and now a respected executive coach. Hemingway is an experienced business professional, author and executive coach.

"'What Happy Companies Know' is no dry scientific treatise or abstract psychological discourse," says Warren Bennis, distinguished professor at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, in the foreword. "The new science of happiness is always presented in a lively discussion of the real things businesses do: the real-world concerns, the day-to-day emotions, the hard decisions and the tough actions."

Using as its primary examples a number of highly regarded organizations in fields as varied as spaceflight, manufacturing, retail, financial services, retail and product development, the book also canvasses a wealth ofresearch that supports the thesis that companies which focus on "return on people" instead of just "return on investment" generate provably higher returns.

"Whenever you cite successful companies - ones that treat their employees well, ones that have leaders and employees eager to come to work, ones that have long-term success - the reaction is, 'Sure, they can afford to treat their people well. They made a lot of money,'" the authors say. "People assume that happiness is the reward. Happy companies know that happiness is the secret sauce that enables them to succeed to begin with."

"What Happy Companies Know" stresses a curious and humane paradox: A business must have purpose beyond making a buck or it is likely to fail. Even if it succeeds, it will be a lousy place to work. Businesses that find nobility in their work and in their community involvement not only make for more rewarding personal engagement but also for greater financial success. Intended for CEOs and others in senior leadership positions because such leaders are responsible for establishing corporate culture, the book also emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility by all employees in creating positive attitudes in their immediate environment. The work also stresses spirituality because the creative centers of the human brain come alive when people are engaged in something bigger than themselves.