The Affirmation Principle: How Effective Leaders Bring Out the Best in People. This item is unavailable.The Affirmation Principle: How Effective Leaders Bring Out the Best in People

Take a look in any bookstore, whether on line or brick-and-mortar, and you will fi nd dozens, even hundreds of books on leadership. But the focus of most of these books will be on the mechanics of leading. But leadership is more than the act of leading. Leadership is about the quality of relationships and infl uence. In The Affi rmation Principle, Dr. Bernard Curtis advances the proposition that organizations can bring out the best in people and achieve extraordinary success by understanding how to lead and care for the human spirit. Dr. Curtis begins by presenting the business case for the importance of organizations to understand the benefi ts of valuing people. In part one he explores the unstated contract between employees and employers, describes what organizations must do to connect with their people, and challenges leaders to have the courage to change. In part two, he shares a new concept and model of leadership based on human-affi rming behaviors and sound humane principles. In part three, Dr. Curtis shows how leaders' value to the organization can be measured, how they can become more accountable, and what they can do to bring out the best in their people. The Affi rmation Principle offers some keen insights into the leader-follower relationship. This book provides some new tools to help the serious leader take their leadership thinking and skills to the next level.

Bernard M. Curtis is founder and president of Human Development Strategies, a leadership training and development company in Austin, Texas. He has been an educator and developer of organizational leaders for more than 20 years. Bernard has developed and facilitated leadership skills training for such companies as AT&T Broadband, ITT Sheraton Corp. Ingram Micro Inc. Sun Healthcare Group, and Unifi ed Grocers, Inc. He also provides coaching and mentoring for organizational leaders through the use of intense dialogue, 360-degree feedback assessments, and continual training. As an educator, Bernard has taught executive education and leadership development courses at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and organizational leadership courses at University of California, Irvine (UCI) extension. He specializes in leadership training, executive coaching, team development, and organizational effectiveness. Bernard earned his doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California.