The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles into Everyday Greatness [Paperback]

Erik Weihenmayer (Author), Paul Stoltz (Author), Stephen R. Covey (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2010

A new 2010 Edition, updated with 130 color photographs and completely revised text featuring numerous tales of adventure to reinforce the powerful message.

Turn Daily Setbacks and Dramatic Challenges into a Key Component of Success

Adversity is one of the most potent forces in life. It shapes your character, clarifies your priorities, and defines your path. It can also fuel your greatness. Each of us faces a rich assortment of adversities every day, ranging from minor hassles to major setbacks and challenges, even tragedies.

Nobody knows this better than blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and adversity expert Dr. Paul Stolz. In this exciting new edition of The Adversity Advantage, this dream-team joined forces to offer incredible experiences and practical science to teach you how to turn life challenges into a powerful advantage.

Weihenmayer, who is the only blind person to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits, shares his struggles on high mountains to turn adversity on its head and do the impossible. Co-author Stoltz has spent decades decoding the human relationship with adversity and is the creator of the globally acclaimed Adversity Quotient.

Fully revised and updated, this new edition of The Adversity Advantage offers lessons from real-life adventure, seemingly insurmountable challenges, and extensive research to help you achieve greatness. This unique book provides an exciting and insightful framework for surpassing obstacles and reaching higher goals. Its seven proven principles will help you harness the adversity in your life and turn it into agility, innovation, energy, and happiness:

TAKE IT ON!

SUMMON YOUR STRENGTH

ENGAGE YOUR CORE

PIONEER POSSIBITIES

PACK LIGHT, PACK RIGHT

SUFFER WELL

DELIVER GREATNESS, EVERY DAY

Let The Adversity Advantage inspire you to overcome obstacles, no matter how daunting! 

“The very process of studying this book led me to look carefully at myself with an awareness of how the challenges of my life can be the very fuel that will enable me to swim against the stream, against cultural currents, against all forms of adversity inherent in my most important goals.”

—From the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, Ph.D., author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Adversity Advantage encouraged our team to walk into the midst of the current economic adversity with optimism and look for the new opportunities that these times bring. All of our top executives have read this book — it has been an inspiration and has truly made a difference."

— Al Carey, President and CEO, Frito-Lay North America

About the Author

Erik Weihenmayer is the world's leading blind athlete and the only blind person in history to reach the Seven Summits, including Everest. Erik inspires millions of people each year through his climbing expeditions, nonprofit outreach, and keynote presentations. He is author of Touch the Top of the World, which was made into a TV movie, and subject of the award-winning documentary Farther Than the Eye Can See. Erik has been featured on the cover of Time and lives with his family in Golden, Colorado.

Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D., founded and has been the CEO of PEAK Learning since 1987, a global research and consulting firm, and the director of the Global Resilience Project, working with top leaders and organizations worldwide. The originator of the globally acclaimed AQ (Adversity Quotient) method and author of the international bestsellers The Adversity Quotient and Adversity Quotient at Work, he resides with his family in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans, Stephen R. Covey has dedicated his life to demonstrating how every person can truly control their destiny with profound, yet straightforward guidance. As an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions. He has sold over 20 million books sold (in 38 languages), and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century. His most recent major book, The 8th Habit , has sold nearly 400,000 copies. He holds an MBA from Harvard, and doctorate degree from Brigham Young University. He is the co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey, the leading global professional services firm with offices in 123 countries. He lives with his wife and family in Utah.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Reprint edition (August 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439199493
• ISBN-13: 978-1439199497
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Paul G. Stoltz is the world's leading expert on measuring and strengthening human resilience. He is author of four international bestselling books on the subject -- printed in 14 languages -- and was voted by Executive Excellence as "One of the 100 Most Influential Thinkers of Our Time." Dr. Stoltz is a guest lecturer for the Harvard Business School Executive Education program. HBS incorporates Dr. Stoltz's AQ theory and methods into its prestigious executive development and MBA programs. The Harvard Business Review featured an article (January-February 2010) co-authored by Dr. Paul G. Stoltz and Dr.Joshua Margolis (Harvard Business School professor), titled "How to Bounce Back from Adversity."

Today, AQ is the most widely adopted resilience building method in the world, currently in use by industry-leading companies and many governments across the globe. In 1987, Dr. Stoltz founded PEAK Learning, Inc., a global research and consulting firm,through which he coaches, consults, teaches, and collaborates with top leaders, thinkers, and influencers within a broad range of organizations from start-ups and NGO's to the Young Presidents' Organization and the Fortune 100 on six continents.

As a highly sought-after thought leader, presenter, and teacher, Dr. Stoltz combines inspiration with application, delivering a compelling and practical message to audiences of 10 to 10,000 people. As PEAK's global reach grows, Dr. Stoltz remains highly active in the classroom, teaching AQ to groups of all levels and sizes in a broad range of indoor and outdoor settings, including some of the largest venues in the world.

As Director of the Global Resilience Institute, Dr. Stoltz oversees a research agenda in 21 countries dedicated to exploring, expanding, and advancing the applications of AQ to strengthen people and their organizations. His research partners include top thinkers at Yale University, Stanford University, and more than a dozen universities overseas.

He has been a member of Stanford University's Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series, was selected as the Millennial Thinker for Singapore, "Thought Leader of the Year" in Hong Kong, is a top-rated international faculty member for the Young Presidents' Organization, and is a frequently sought after resource for the world's top media including CNN, CNBC, Business News Network, NBC Nightly News, Public Broadcast Service (PBS), the Today Show, Sky News, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. You will also find Dr. Stoltz quoted in Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investor's Business Daily, Asia 21, Inc., Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Singapore Straits Times, The Australian Financial Review, Success Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Boss Magazine, The Drucker Foundation's prestigious Leader to Leader and other publications.

Dr. Stoltz received his bachelor's degree in Organizational Communication and Economics from the University of California, as well as his business and social sciences interdisciplinary master's and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

PEAK Learning's international headquarters is situated in the coastal mountains of San Luis Obispo, California, where Dr. Stoltz resides with his family, who were honored by USA Today as "America's Most Creative Family."