About
Patrick Vermeren is an HR professional who is fully committed to evidence-based HR. He specializes in leadership development, individual coaching and group facilitation. Patrick Vermeren started his career as an executive in the banking and automotive industries. He developed a passion for learning and science, with particular interest in psychology, behavioural biology and neurobiology. He is very committed to the balance between the interests of business and the well-being of employees. In addition to reviewing various theories of leadership and integrating them in the Leadership Circumplex, this book provides practical advice. Based on the clear vision that reliable knowledge should be shared as much as possible, he published (in Dutch) The HR-ballon: 10 Populaire Praktijken Doorprikt (The HR Balloon: 10 Popular Practices Punctured; third revised edition 2009), Anders Leiden (Leading Differently; 2009) and Rond Communicatie: De mens als social dier (Around Communication: man as a social animal, 2013).
Description
<p>FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES<br /><br />At barely nineteen, Angelica Donovan became one of the more successful winners of the T.V. show Our Next Super Model. The world assumed she was destined for a happy, fairy tale life as ‘Angel,’ the beautiful girl who was living the dream; sadly, that wasn’t to be the case. As the years passed, she flashed her million dollar smile to all her fans and fought to stay on top in a profession where you never knew who it was safe to trust while the fashion industry took big bites out of her heart and soul. And trust was a constant challenge for Angel due to the painful childhood secret she guarded as carefully as she did her heart. As a result, she never did find her true love on earth.<br /><br />When she wakes up ‘dead’ from a heart condition a month before her thirty-fifth birthday, Angel is at first relieved to find there is no death, just a change of state, like ice to water, and then she’s scared because her biggest and most important adventure is about to begin.<br /><br />Angelica is chosen to be an angel in training as a spirit guide for three souls on earth! Her assignment is to help two women to gain the courage and confidence to find, recognize and embrace the love that had eluded Angel in life. But her biggest challenge will be to save a very special little girl from the same evil experience that had poisoned Angel’s own earthly happiness and altered the course of her life.<br /><br />Will Angel be able to heal her own shattered soul in the process? And will the three souls she is guiding be able to recognize her, not as a ghostly threat, but as one of those ‘friends in high places’ we all have; the kind who often end up earning their wings.<br /><br /> </p>
Story Behind The Book
Increase your leadership influence and update your leadership practices with this comprehensive and accessible leadership handbook based on the very latest evidence-based research.
Reviews
<p><em>“</em>After years of intensive literature review, Patrick Vermeren has astonishingly managed to bring a very ambitious project to a successful conclusion. Few academics can resist the pressure to publish and therefore rarely succeed outside their ivory towers. Conversely, few consultants take the time to delve into the scientific literature for new developments. Consequently, when they emerge from their training, academics and consultants are each in their own way “unworldly.”<br />
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<p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">With this book, consultant Patrick Vermeren builds the much-needed bridge between these two worlds and dares to question both himself and the scientific literature while warning against confirmation bias. In a smooth, highly entertaining, and scientifically sound manner, Patrick Vermeren communicates knowledge through this book that will excite both consultants and academics. What is a good leadership style? How do executives key in on employee motivation? These are the central questions in the book that will no doubt be a source of inspiration for managers who want to optimise their leadership style.”</span></p>
<p>By Maarten Vansteenkiste, Motivation Psychology Professor, Ghent University Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology.</p>
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