Available Now
Have you ever experienced:
A personnel shift at your organization that puts you into a leadership role you’re not prepared for?
A boss who tells you that you seem aloof and unapproachable (or too talkative or not persuasive) in client meetings?
Difficulties winning support for a project you feel passionate about within a local community group?
A parenting challenge that lays bare your need to be more patient and present?
If any of these seem familiar to you, then the Power of Flexing offers a way forward.
These situations, and many more like them, call for growth of a particular kind - they challenge you to grow your soft skills, your personal and interpersonal effectiveness. Whether it’s time management, team building, communication and listening, creative thinking, and problem-solving, Flexing helps you move ahead when you’re confronted with a new challenge, or simply want to develop a vital skill.
More than a set of techniques for what to do in various situations, flexing gives you an adaptable approach to growing yourself. It can be tailored to what you most need, allowing you to reflect on your own experiences and incorporate the lessons you learn in the next project you tackle. It’s a growth mindset that will help you become the best version of yourself.
Flexing gives you a roadmap for how to learn the most from your situations, whether in an organization, community group, or family. It’s a journey that begins with setting a flex goal—stating explicitly how you want to grow. Once that flex goal is set, you then begin to run experiments, solicit feedback from peers, colleagues, or family members and monitor and tweak your progress on the way to achieving your goal.
Flexing also works with teams and organizations. Sue Ashford, the chair of the Management and Organizations group at the Ross School of Business, teaches small groups and large how to implement flexing to ensure their members are ready for new challenges and offers advice to organizations hoping to re-orient their leadership development around a process of flexing.
What The Experts Are Saying About The Power of Flexing
“FOR ALL OF US WHO WANT TO GROW INTO BETTER VERSIONS OF OURSELVES, SUE ASHFORD, HAS DISTILLED IN THIS GEM OF A BOOK MORE THAN THREE DECADES OF EXPERIENCE GUIDING MBA STUDENTS AND BUSINESS LEADERS TO DO EXACTLY THAT.”
— Angela Duckworth, Author of the Grit: The power of Passion and Perseverance;
Co-host of Freakonomics: No Stupid Questions
“SUE ASHFORD HAS WRITTEN THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHANGING OUR MINDSETS, SHARPENING OUR GOALS, AND COLLECTING FEEDBACK — ALL IN THE SERVICE OF LEARNING AND GROWTH. THIS IS THE BEST BOOK ON PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS IN MANY, MANY YEARS.”
— Daniel H. Pink, author of WHEN, DRIVE, and TO SELL IS HUMAN
“SUE ASHFORD’S TRAILBLAZING RESEARCH HAS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED HOW I THINK ABOUT BEING PROACTIVE AND ADAPTABLE. NOW, HER BOOK COULD DO THE SAME FOR YOU. IT’S FILLED WITH LUCID, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO GET BETTER FEEDBACK, LEARN MORE RAPIDLY, AND SPEAK UP MORE EFFECTIVELY. IN TIMES OF TURBULENCE, HER EXPERT ADVICE IS THE ANCHOR WE ALL NEED.”
— Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife
“SUE ASHFORD‘S IDEAS ON HOW PEOPLE GROW ARE NOT ONLY IMPORTANT FOR INDIVIDUALS BUT WILL SHIFT IMPORTANT HR PROCESSES IN COMPANIES. FOR EXAMPLE, EXECUTIVES CAN GET MORE OUT OF THEIR EXPERIENCES AND NEW HIRES CAN GROW THEIR PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND CREATE BETTER SOCIAL CONNECTIONS. GIVEN TODAY‘S DEMANDS FOR SELF-MANAGEMENT AND A GOOD NETWORK, THESE IDEAS ARE INCREDIBLY TIMELY.”
— Dan Cable, Author of Exceptional: Build your Personal Highlight Reel and Unlock Your Potential
“SUE ASHFORD’S EVIDENCE-BASED BOOK ILLUSTRATED WITH COMPELLING EXAMPLES TEACHES US THE POWER OF FLEXING AND MASTERFULLY HELPS US THRIVE IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD. FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO GROW ON THE JOB, THIS IS A BOOK FOR BUILDING THE SKILLS NEEDED FOR A LIFETIME OF CAREER SUCCESS AND FULFILLMENT.”
— Scott Sonenshein, bestselling author of Stretch and co-author (with Marie Kondo) of Joy at Work
“THIS BOOK IS A TOOLKIT AND A GIFT. THROUGH STORIES AND STUDIES, PROFESSOR ASHFORD PUTS THE POWER OF FLEXING WITHIN REACH FOR ALL OF US. I CAN'T WAIT TO USE AND SHARE WHAT I HAVE LEARNED.”
— Dolly Chugh, Author of The Person You Mean To Be
“THE POWER OF FLEXING IS A ROADMAP TO BECOMING A BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF. IT LAYS OUT A PRACTICAL AND INSPIRING METHOD TO KEEP A COMMITMENT TO GROW THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES—AND TO HELP OTHERS GROW, TOO. WE CANNOT CHOOSE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES THAT LIFE WILL THROW AT US, OR WHEN WE WILL ENCOUNTER THEM. BUT EVERY DAY, WE CAN BUILD THE RESOURCES THAT WILL GET US THROUGH THOSE CHALLENGES WITH NEW INSIGHTS AND SKILLS. THROUGH FLEXING, WE CAN MAKE LEARNING A HABIT. THIS BOOK WILL SHOW YOU HOW, AND GIVE YOU HOPE. FLEXING WILL BEGIN BY IMPROVING YOUR WORK, IT WILL THEN BECOME A HABIT, AND SOON ENOUGH IT WILL HAVE CHANGED YOUR LIFE.
— Gianpiero Petriglieri, author, professor, speaker, and Thinkers50 Listee
“SUE ASHFORD IS A BRILLIANT SCIENTIST WHO HAS SPENT HER CAREER TEACHING SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LEADERS HOW TO BE HAPPIER AND MORE PRODUCTIVE. NOW SHE FINALLY SHARES HER INSIGHTS WITH THE REST OF US. THE POWER OF FLEXING PROVIDES A SCIENCE-BASED BLUEPRINT THAT DESCRIBES HOW ANYONE CAN EFFECT POSITIVE CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES. COMPELLINGLY WRITTEN, METICULOUSLY RESEARCHED AND FILLED WITH ENGAGING STORIES, THIS IS A MUST READ. I’M RECOMMENDING IT TO EVERYONE I KNOW.”
— Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Chatter
“THE POWER OF FLEXING OFFERS GUIDANCE ON HOW TO ADOPT YOUR BEHAVIOUR, WHETHER IT IS TO CONFRONT A NEW CHALLENGE OR LEARN A NEW SKILL. IT IS AN AD HOC, FLEXIBLE SYSTEM DESIGNED TO FIT AROUND READERS’ LIVES AND WILL APPEAL TO THOSE WHO WANT TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR SELF-DEVELOPMENT, RATHER THAN RELYING ON EMPLOYER-LED TRAINING PROGRAMMES. THE VALUE OF THE BOOK IS IN THE PRACTICAL GUIDANCE AND THE STORIES OF REAL PEOPLE TOLD THROUGHOUT.”
— Financial Times