Growing Influence - by Ron Price & Stacy Ennis (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Leadership is about influence

​Emily is a career-driven thirtysomething with big ambitions and a young family. She is making an impact as a leader at a tech company, but after being passed up for multiple promotions, she finds herself at a loss for how to improve. Fate answers her in the form of a kind--and surprisingly direct--older man in a coffee shop. A well-respected CEO before he retired, David has deep and rich leadership knowledge. Emily needs direction, and David is the perfect mentor.

Growing Influence offers readers both practical advice on how to develop leadership skills and a relatable account of one woman's growth by applying the principles in the book. Unlike nonfiction business books or business memoirs, this story is a business fable that is both impactful and transformative.

Review Quotes

"This is not your typical leadership book. Growing Influence delivers fresh, insightful principles in a way that prompts deep introspection and inspires action. Prepare to grow alongside the characters."
--Abbey Louie, founder, Élan Consulting Group

"Growing Influence gave me a much-needed fresh view on how to tackle small obstacles we face while pursuing a goal, and above all it reminded me how very important personal accountability is in creating a path for reaching goals. I am now planning on adding discretionary time to my daily schedule so I can work on strategy before the everyday hustle starts. Finally understanding that 'I cannot control everything 100 percent with my kids' helps me stop fighting the interruption of plans due to situations out of my control and instead focus on the solution for that unexpected event."
--Vanessa Boettcher, vice president, TTI Success Insights

"Growing Influence is an excellent read for those who feel stuck at any stage or level of their career. Approachable and insightful, this business fable provides both spiritual nourishment for the corporate soul as well as practical strategies for how to take back control over your career and parlay that into a purpose you are leading and enthused about. It's an especially good read for rising stars who have hit barriers created by the 20th century fixed mindsets purported by those who still use a 'management' style approach to leading people. Growing Influence is clearly ushering in the next generation of truly accountable and empowered self-leadership."
--Emily Soccorsy, cofounder, Root + River

"Growing Influence skillfully examines one of the most complex concepts in today's world: how to create influence in a way that makes meaningful change for an individual and the organization of which he or she is a part."
--Rick Bowers, president, TTI Success Insights

"Growing Influence uses the #metoo theme to teach all of us how to have a more positive influence and greater success in our careers, marriages, and families. Whether you are a CEO or just starting down the leadership path, Growing Influence provides practical principles that can transform leaders, their teams, and the companies they work for. The book provides a tutorial for success through positive influence if you work hard, have talent, and are committed--whether you are female or male, young or old, or any ethnicity."
--Rick Stott, CEO, Superior Farms

"Growing Influence weaves an accessible story using allegory and addresses timely issues about character and inter-generational communication. Using story and connection, this book tells the tale of empathy and mentorship and reminds us that sometimes we find the greatest gifts for our work in the most unexpected places."
--Courtney Feider, behavioral strategist and executive coach

"As strong leaders know, delivery is everything, and this small offering delivers valuable insights and knowledge in a big way. Using storytelling as their means, the authors develop a scenario around a chance encounter ... to present a comprehensive and effective plan for becoming an effective and engaged leader. Within the few hours it takes to read this innovative book, there is a revolution--an "aha" moment of clarity in which one sees the brilliance of its simple principles and begins the journey of becoming an agent of change. This book and its presentation style on leadership are as fresh as the advice it so compellingly presents. This important and timely book should be read and reread, not only by those in business but by those who deal with people in daily life."
--RECOMMENDED by the US Review

"Growing Influence takes two formats and throws them in the blender. It is both a business advice book and a novel, and the groundbreaking mix makes for enlightening lessons delivered through the lens of a surprisingly engaging fictional narrative. Price and Ennis put you in a cozy, fragrant coffeeshop with David and Emily, a setting that helps their lessons feel less like formal directives and more like hard-won nuggets of wisdom."
-Independent Publisher

"It is hard to write a business fable that's the right blend of business and story. Ron and Stacy have certainly done that with Growing Influence. The story moves along at a brisk but believable pace--with the lessons and nuggets of wisdom artfully placed in key points of the story. From a purely practical perspective, Growing Influence should be in the library of every high-potential emerging leader. The lessons on how to truly create influence are both contemporary and timeless. Definitely a must-read to our circle of influence."
--Justin Foster, cofounder, Root + River

"One of the greatest gifts is a new way of thinking and understanding that enables true personal growth. In Growing Influence, Ron and Stacy offer a simple, elegant model, as only real masters can--one that can actually be applied right now, to grow as individuals and influencers. Read and implement this book for a lifetime of influence."
--Padraig Berry, founder and CEO, OneFocus

"The book is a wonderful narrative on the power influence has in the development of different leadership traits that can be applied for both personal and professional development. It provides numerous examples from the authors' over forty years in the study of leadership, offering powerful tools, through the art of storytelling, for growth throughout the journey of life."
--May Lam, executive director, TTISI China

"This book captures the heart of leadership. Ron and Stacy provide a clear road map to lead and grow your influence from a place of integrity and authenticity. Women and men will both benefit from the authors' experience and guidance."
--Amanda Visosky, program director and leadership coach, Idaho Women in Leadership

"An engaging parable that highlights uncommon aspects of business leadership. In the best tradition of business tales, a story naturally unfolds and makes a compelling point regarding management or leadership. Price and Ennis have crafted just such a story; it cleverly combines the mentoring of a budding business leader with a novel revelation about 'three types of influence' that leaders can exert. Many of David's expressions, such as characterizing collaboration as a 'virtuous conspiracy' and the exhortation to 'lead with logic, follow with emotion, ' reduce complex ideas to memorable, actionable phrases. Fresh and inspiring; leadership lessons ingeniously conveyed."
--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Ron Price is an internationally recognized business advisor, executive coach, speaker, and author. Known for his creative and systematic thinking, business versatility, and practical optimism, Ron has worked in fifteen countries and served in almost every level of executive management over the past forty years. As the former CEO of a multi-million-dollar international company, Ron works shoulder-to-shoulder with executive leadership teams to bring strategic clarity and transformational results to organizations. In 2004, Ron started Price Associates, and he serves as president and CEO of the global leadership advisory firm that features the bright minds and innovative solutions of some of the world's top consultants in organizational development, process management, innovation, branding, and more.

Stacy Ennis is a creative consultant, success coach, speaker, and writer, as well as the cofounder of Next Level, a women's leadership training program. Her background includes leading as the former executive editor of Healthy Living Made Simple, a Sam's Club magazine that reaches around 11 million readers, as well as serving as the longtime ghostwriter for a Nobel Prize winner in medicine. Stacy has written or edited dozens of books, including her own book, The Editor's Eye (Night Owls Press, 2013). Her TEDx talk, How to Raise Brave Kids, has been viewed thousands of times by people across the world. She has a master's degree in professional writing and editing from the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor's degree in writing from Boise State University.