Book Description
You've read John Maxwell's best-selling
Winning with People, and now you're ready for some specific action steps to build on the knowledge you gained.
25 Ways to Win With People has just what you need! This complementary companion to the full-sized book is ideal for a quick refresher course on interpersonal relationships.
A small sampling of the twenty-five specific actions readers can take to build positive, healthy relationships includes:
- Complimenting People in Front of Others
- Creating a Memory and Visiting It Often
- Encouraging the Dreams of Others
Customer Reviews:
25 Ways To Win With People.......2007-10-11
The book is fanastic! It has great ideas to put into practice in your daily living that make you feel better as well as the people that you come in contact with everyday. It is a must read book for EVERYONE!
Not his best work!.......2007-09-25
This is co-authored by John and Les. Les does not write well and does not add much value to Johns ideas. So essentially only 1/2 of this book is worth reading.
Awesome little book on winning with people.......2007-06-26
While a lot of the "tips" this book gives are really common sense, it's something that not everyone thinks about. What this little book manages to do is present 25 ways to win people in an easy to read and follow format which you can instantly start applying to your everyday life. One of the ways to win people over is to write them a personal note and the first thing I did after reading that chapter was to put the book down and write my wife a note letting her know how much I appreciate and love her. If you're like me you will not be able to put this book down for long until you completely finish reading it.
Practical Application, Short Chapters, Solid Principles.......2006-12-10
Many reviewers said that this book is "fluffy" or that Perrott gives too much "Maxwell-worship" throughout the book. This may be true, but I actually enjoyed reading about all of the ways that Maxwell has practically shown these concepts in action. I enjoyed the short chapters that tackle simple concepts one-at-a-time. I read this book with my wife and we were able to discuss each chapter together due to the thought-provoking applications suggested at the end of each chapter.
Applying the 25 concepts in this book requires more than reading this book, they are an art (but then again, so are all social skills). This book is a great introduction to some principles that should be common-sense, but in today's self-gratifying culture, it is refreshing to read about the art of focusing on others.
I recommend this book to anyone who works with people, lives with people, or converses with people.
25 Ways to Win with People.......2006-06-27
Excellent book. Have other books by the same author. Easy to read.
Book Description
In Mavericks at Work, Fast Company cofounder William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre, a longtime editor at the magazine, give you an inside look at the "most original minds in business" wherever they find them: from Procter & Gamble to Pixar, from gold mines to funky sandwich shops. Want to stop doing business as usual? Then take some lessons from the 32 maverick companies Taylor and LaBarre profile.
Questions for William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre
Amazon.com: Whom do you think this book will appeal to?
Taylor and LaBarre: This book should appeal to a wide "coalition" of business leaders and innovators--impatient, change-minded executives in big companies, senior leaders in smaller, entrepreneurial companies, young people with big dreams about their future and their careers. This book should inform and energize anyone and everyone who wants to do big things in business by shaking up the status quo and challenging the powers-that-be. One important point: We strongly believe that this book should appeal to women as well as men. It is not meant to be an uptight, starched-shirt type read--your typical all-male business book. The book doesn't target women executives per se, but we believe it will appeal to men and women alike.
Amazon.com: What's the story behind the book?
Taylor and LaBarre: In one sense, Mavericks at Work has been 18 months in the making. That's the amount of time that the two of us spent totally focused on the travel, research, interviewing, and writing to create Mavericks at Work. In another sense, this book reflects more than a decade's worth of learning, thinking, and writing about the best way to do business and the new cast of companies and individual leaders that represent the face of business at its best. First at that classic voice of the business establishment, Harvard Business Review, and then at the new-generation magazine that he cofounded, Fast Company, Bill Taylor has been traveling the world, visiting companies, and interviewing great business leaders. Much the same goes for Polly LaBarre--first at the venerable IndustryWeek magazine, and then as one of the original members of the Fast Company team, Polly has made it her speciality to discover, understand, and chronicle the most exciting and innovative leaders in business.
With respect to Mavericks, the book reflects our in-depth access to the 32 companies featured in the book. This is anything but an "armchair" business book. We logged tens of thousands of miles and spent countless hours visiting, conducting interviews at, and participating in meetings, training sessions, and events inside a wide variety organizations. We went deep inside these organizations, looking to understand the ideas they stand for and the ways they work. We participated in a filmmaking class at one of the world's most successful movie studios. We attended a closed-to-the-public awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, where employees of what has to be the world's most entertaining bank sang, danced, and strutted their stuff. We sat in on a crucial monthly meeting (the 384th such consecutive meeting over the last 32 years) in which top executives and front-line managers of a $600-million employee-owned company share their most sensitive financial information and most valuable market secrets. We walked the corridors of a 120-year-old research facility where a team of change-minded R&D executives is transforming how one of the world's biggest companies develops new ideas for consumer products. We walked the streets of Manhattan with teams of employees from a hard-charging hedge fund, who were sizing up ideas about stock-market picks.
Amazon.com: What makes this book relevant today?
Taylor and LaBarre: We believe that this is the right book at the right time, with a set of messages and a collection of practices that will inspire business executives and entrepreneurs to bring out the best in their companies, their colleagues, and themselves. Why this book now? Because business needs a breath of fresh air. We are, after five long years, coming out of a dark and trying period in our economy and society--an era of slow growth and dashed expectations, of criminal wrongdoing and ethical misconduct at some of the world's best-known companies. But NASDAQ nuttiness already feels like time-capsule fodder, the white-collar perp walk has become as routine as an annual meeting, and the triumphant return of me-first moguls like Donald Trump feels like a bad nostalgia trip, the corporate equivalent of a hair-band reunion. We've seen the face of business at its worst, and it hasn't been a pretty sight. This book is intended to persuade readers of the power of business at its best.
Which speaks to one of our major goals for Mavericks at Work--to restore the promise of business as a force for innovation, satisfaction, and progress, rather than as a source of revulsion, remorse, and recrimination. Indeed, despite all the bleak headlines and blood-boiling scandals over the last five years, the economy has experienced a period of transformation and realignment, a power shift so profound that we're just beginning to appreciate what it means for the future of business—and for how all of us go about the business of building companies that work and doing work that matters.
In industry after industry, organizations and executives that were once dismissed as upstarts, as outliers, as wildcards, have achieved positions of financial prosperity and market leadership. There's a reason the young billionaires behind the most celebrated entrepreneurial success in recent memory began their initial public offering (IPO) of shares with a declaration of independence from business as usual. "Google is not a conventional company," read their Letter from the Founders. "We do not intend to become one."
Nor does the unconventional cast of characters readers will encounter in this book. From a culture-shaping television network with offices in sun-splashed Santa Monica, California, to a little-known office-furniture manufacturer rooted in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from glamorous fields such as advertising, fashion, and the Internet, to old-line industries such as construction, mining, and household products, they are winning big at business--attracting millions of customers, creating thousands of jobs, generating tens of billions of dollars of wealth--by rethinking the logic of how business gets done.
Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, put it memorably some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." We believe the companies, executives, and entrepreneurs you'll meet in the pages that follow are inventing a more exciting, more compelling, more rewarding future for business. They have devised provocative and instructive answers to four of the timeless challenges that face organizations of every size and leaders in every field: how you make strategy, how you unleash new ideas, how you connect with customers, how your best people achieve great results.
Amazon.com: Can you give us a brief summary of your book--in 250 words or less?
Taylor and LaBarre: This book is a report from the front lines of the future of business. It is not a book of best practices. It is a book of next practices--a set of insights and a collection of case studies that amount to a business plan for the 21st century, a new way to lead, compete, and succeed.
Our basic argument is as straightforward to explain as it is urgent to apply: When it comes to thriving in a hyper-competitive marketplace, "playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. In an economy defined by overcapacity, oversupply, and utter sensory overload--an economy in which everyone already has more than enough of whatever it is you're selling--the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your company and industry can and should be going. You can't do big things as a competitor if you're content with doing things a little better than the competition.
This book is devoted to the proposition that the best way to out-perform the competition is to out-think the competition. Maverick companies aren't always the largest in their field; maverick entrepreneurs don't always make the cover of the business magazines. But mavericks do the work that matters most--the work of originality, creativity, and experimentation. They demonstrate that you can build companies around high ideals and fierce competitive ambitions, that the most powerful way to create economic value is to embrace a set of values that go beyond just amassing power, and that business, at its best, is too exciting, too important, and too much fun to be left to the dead hand of business as usual.
Who are these mavericks? The core ideas in this book are rooted in the strategies, practices, and leadership styles of 32 organizations with vastly different histories, cultures, and business models. But all of them are business originals, based on the distinctiveness of their ideas and the power of their practices. They are rethinking competition, reinventing innovation, reconnecting with customers, and redesigning work. Together, they are creating a maverick agenda for business--an agenda from which every business can learn.
Book Description
In the last decade the business world has been dogged by bad leadership, CEO greed and the excesses of the dotcom craze. Now, as the authors of this lively new book suggest, companies and corporations are moving away from traditional methods of how to lead, manage and compete, towards a more 'maverick' management style that has proved highly successful.
Mavericks at Work is the first book to document this change – and to give readers a glimpse into the ideas and techniques behind fast–growing but unconventional companies such as Google, HBO, Lendlease and Southwest Airlines. It profiles some of the most exciting – and often eccentric – CEOs in the US, and details their strategies for success.
With its accessible tone, Mavericks at Work is both serious and fun; business 'edutainment' for a smart, ambitious readership.
Customer Reviews:
Become a Maverick.......2007-10-10
"Mavericks at Work" hit a home run for me. I love to think and act like a Maverick. I love to do "work that matters". This book introduced me to others who think like I do and have found business success. Thanks!
"Mavericks at Work" starts off with great a great introduction and keeps on going. I love the quote from Alan Kay (introduction): "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Why does business spend so much time trying to figure out what the competition will be bringing to the market place instead of trying to "invent the future"? Why not invent the market? Then you don't have any competition!
My favorite chapters were Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 10.
Chapter One - "Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy." This chapter does a great job of explaining why YOU need to create a Cause, not just a company. Causes make raving fans. Raving fans bring profits
Chapter Three - "Maverick Messages (1): Sizing Up Your Strategy". Take notes on this chapter, you will be glad you did. The authors give five questions every company should ask when sizing up your strategy.
Chapter Four - "Innovation Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business". Do you need some "innovative" ideas on how to get your company to embrace innovation as a way of life? This chapter shows you how. Don't be shy about putting some of these ideas to work.
Chapter Ten - "The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered". Great chapter on TALENT! Business today needs to put Talent at the top of the agenda for every strategy meeting, every business plan, every performance review, etc... All company's say that their people are their most important asset. Few prove it through their actions. This chapter shows some organizations that know and act as if People Matter and the payoff are increased profits.
Larry Kevin Adams
Author of "Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success".
theactionator.com
Stories to inspire - Lessons to Learn.......2007-08-10
Interesting stories and concrete examples are one of the most powerful ways to learn and be inspired. If you want to learn to succeed in the new world of work, then the collection of stories and examples in the book Mavericks at Work is a great starting point. The book profiles 32 remarkable US entrepreneurs who have battled bureaucracy and challenged the status quo, and won, while redefining success in their industries. The authors William Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company, and Polly LaBarre, a former writer for Fast Company, uncover some remarkable examples of how businesses are succeeding in hypercompetitive industries by being distinctively different.
Their findings are centered on 4 key themes:
1. Be different and pursue more than just money: Successful mavericks are fearless about breaking with outdated traditions and confining standards. Making money is only a small part of a bigger mission which they are deeply passionate about. Examples include Southwest Airlines, the company that pioneered low cost air travel and democratized the skies. The book highlights how Southwest saw it as their mission to make air travel accessible to all and by going after this wholeheartedly they innovated on different ways to save cost such as using second tier airports, not serving food and seating people on a first come first serve basis. Keeping this mission at the centre of the organisation has differentiated them from the competition and enabled them to consistently make profits is a loss making industry.
2. Tap other people's brains: The innovators of today rely on more than just their own insight and intelligence. They create systems to enable and encourage others to help them solve problems and come up with ingenious solutions. Examples include TopCoder Inc., a software development house for many large multinational organisations. They create competitions for technology geeks from all over the world to come up with solutions for software problems in return for lucrative prizes and prestigious ranking points. In this way they are able to use the wisdom of many to solve very specific software development challenges.
3. Connect deeply with customers: Connecting with customers is about a lot more than just traditional advertising, it is about really understanding what customers' value and connecting with that value system in a deep and meaningful way. Jones Soda asks customers to contribute photographs to be used on the labels of their cool drink bottles. Customers submit photos plus the story attached to each photo. Many photos are selected and placed on the bottles to be distributed in the region in which that customer lives. This creates a massive interest in the community as they discover "who is on the label?" and "what their story is?"
4. Partner with your employees: Maverick business enable employees to really understand what drives the business. They are given the opportunity to freely contribute to the overall mission of the business and be rewarded for doing so. At Cranium, a fast growing, innovative board game manufacturer in Seattle, the Chief Financial Officer holds companywide meetings on the company's numbers. He tutors the staff on cash flow and financial ratios, and every employee then assesses his or her own productivity. He recognizes that this helps keep the whole company focused on the right priorities
These are just a few of the many insightful, uplifting and inspiring examples that are highlighted in this energetic and well written book.
Great book!.......2007-07-25
This is one of the best business books I have read. Though it is written principally for managers and entrepreneurs, the book is truly inspiring for those starting up their own business. You will learn some very unconventional ways of managing your organization and innovating! "Playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. The only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your organization should be going.
Follow Southwest airlines' example by not hiring industry veterans in your organization. Industry veterans are harder to retrain, and come to your organization with preconceived ideas. Hiring people new to the industry fills your organization with fresh ideas.
Don't hesitate to fire your customers if they don't fit into your organization's culture. ING, a bank unlike others, does exactly that. ING also innovates by being different from other banks. They open on Sunday for example, and deposits are in a person's account within 24 hours (other banks take up to 3 business days). If groceries and malls can open on Sundays, why not banks?
Pixar Animation, unlike other companies in its industry (who hire on contract basis), hires full time crew. This creates a team atmosphere where everyone gets to know each other, and thus can be more productive.
Use open source. A Gold mining company in Canada did just that when it asked people from all over the world over the internet for their insight on where gold could be found. With worldwide expertise available, they found their answer! Cirque du Soleil similarly scouts the whole world for talent. Talent is everywhere, and you have to go everywhere to find it.
Any entrepreneur should be asking the following two questions: (a) If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? (b) Why would people want to work for you?
Don't hire great people, or else you have to change your whole work environment into greatness. Hire good and smart people, but they don't have to be great. You have to be able to shun traditional ideas.
Finally, just in case some of you are wondering, Samuel Maverick, a Texan lawyer and politician, is the namesake of the eponym maverick, meaning an unbranded range animal. Gradually the term was enlarged to include anyone who could not be trusted to remain one of his group.
Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, said some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
Gets the creative juices flowing.......2007-07-05
A very inspiring book in helping think outside the box. Loads of real-world examples throughout. Starts with great energy and passion by the authors, and (maybe) runs out of steam in the end. Or maybe I just wasn't as interested in the subject covered. Anyway... I bought three more copies as gifts for clients.
Describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium..........2007-06-20
Like a host of the new "psychosocial" business books, Mavericks at Work describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium. The focus is not so much on the business styles of the 50's and 60's, as illustrated by the work of, say Peter Drucker, but rather it focuses on the new gestalt of branding through an intense devotion to customer service. By examining companies from the large scale of Proctor & Gamble and the World Bank, as well as new upstarts like Craigslist and ING Direct to open source communities like Wikipedia and TopCoder, authors William Taylor and Polly LaBarre take a new approach to finding out what the basis of the new energy and focus of companies who's products or services allow them to differentiate themselves and pull away from the pack. As veterans of the cutting edge business magazine Fast Company, the authors are well suited to have the inroads and knowledge in witnessing what works (and what doesn't) for the new breed of entrepreneurs or those within established enterprises trying to re-write the rules of business in the new world order. In addition, the pair operate one of the best follow-on websites we've seen featuring outtakes from the book, a blog, podcasts, interviews and information about their 'Mavericks Live' special events around the country [...]. A must for anyone thinking about Business 2.0. - Tim Devine
Book Description
Your business can take a lesson from the American military's fighter pilots. At Mach 2, the instrument panel of an F-15 is screaming out information, the horizon is a blur, the wingman is occupied, the jet is hanging on the edge -- and yet fighter pilots routinely handle the stress. It's not much different in today's unforgiving business world. One slipup and your company is bankrupt before your employees know what hit them.
What works on the squadron level for F-15 pilots will also work for your marketing team, sales force, or research and development group. By analyzing the work environment and attacking its centers of gravity in parallel, you'll begin to utilize the Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief-Win cycle that will rapidly impact your business's future success. U.S. fighter squadrons have been using this program for nearly fifty years to reduce their mistake rate, cut casualties and equipment losses, and rack up an envious victory record. Now, with Flawless Execution, your business can too.
Customer Reviews:
Worth the read to learn about execution cultures.......2006-01-03
Not a great book but a good one for sure. Former pilots now consulting in business and trying to take their culture and help businesses do the same. Some hype but not bad and the author gives you some solid lessons that can be applied. Gives you an outline of what it takes in their world and how it might apply in the outside world. Certainly not 100% transference but worth the read if you want to know how to get things done
Inappropriate Generalizations.......2005-12-24
This is the latest in a never-ending series of books trying to generalize non-business world (eg. sports, armed forces, girl scouts, religion, NASA, etc.) management techniques to the business world.
Most, possibly all, are of little value because of major differences.
1)Members constituting the varying organizations are motivated differently, and face greatly significantly different situations. What does eg. a fighter pilot or football coach have in common with a pharmicist, nurse, professor, financial analyst, etc.? I have no idea.
2)Key success factors vary from one business to another. For Merck, it may be speed of developing new drugs, getting through FDA approval, and motivating physicians to use them. For Nucor Steel, it undoubtedly rests much more on low-cost production. Again, what does either have to do with fighter pilots - little, if anything.
One is better off reading books from similar situations - eg. about Wal-Mart (if you are in retailing), about Allied-Signal or G.E. (if you are managing a conglomerate), and about New York Community School District #4, as managed by Sy Fliegel, if you are in public schools
This is the official Afterburner handbook........2005-06-06
If you haven't had the opportunity to experience an Afterburner seminar yet, this book links you into their entire process top-down, from strategy to the flawless execution model to the people who carry out the mission. As head of Training for my organization, I was particularly interested in the section Murph dedicated to training. In the business world we don't place enough emphasis on the importance of training our people - in the military they never place someone in an environment they are not prepared to be in. Training seems to always get sacrificed because we're too busy carrying out tasks to get pulled away. Murph speaks on training to achieve a (specific) Desired Learning Objective, seeing how its done and then doing it - learning from experience. In the corporate world there is much we can learn from military processes. Flawless Execution is a process that can be applied to every business objective - its asks the questions: Did we plan right? Communicate to our people clearly? Give our people the tools they need to execute their job? And, did we capture lessons learned so we can sharpen the saw next time? It's a powerful tool we're applying in my organization with much success. I just hope our competitors don't read this book!
Pray this guy is never your competitor.......2005-05-13
Frank, practical advice with a no nonsense approach...just like you'd expect from guys that operate in a space where coming in second isn't an option.
This is a no BS look at how to improve any organization's ability to kick the competition's butt. You won't find "theoretical" discussions from a group of "academics." No charts and graphs. No fancy formulas. Just dozens of ideas that anyone with a desire to improve can implement. The "debrief" section and advice Murph provides has literally changed the way we operate in our company.
Read it...and you'll understand why the USAF is the best in the world. More importantly, you'll see how their training methods can make you better. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Best Business Book I've Read!!!!.......2005-05-12
Just finished Business School and I think Flawless Execution should have been required reading! It gave me a clear path to connect my big picture strategy (both professional and personal) to things I can work on everyday. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and will make sure it is a part of every organization I work with in the future.
Amazon.com
The key to building a superior company, an increasing number of observers now agree, is the ongoing ability to recruit and retain superior personnel. In Topgrading, industrial psychologist and global consultant Bradford Smart expands upon this idea by examining in great detail exactly how today's premier organizations have assembled such top-level employees, and then showing precisely how others can do it, too. "Simply put, topgrading is the practice of packing the team with A players and clearing out the C players," Smart writes. "'A players' is defined as the top 10 percent of talent available at all salary levels--best of class. With this radical definition, you are not a topgrader until your team consists of all A players. Period." Essentially a best-practices manual for developing this outstanding personnel pool, the book is based on more than 4,000 interviews and case studies conducted by Smart at major corporations like General Electric as well as fast-growing high-tech companies and small family-owned firms. He further bolsters its effectiveness by including his extensive "Chronological In-Depth Structured Interview Guide," along with other assessment tools and hands-on strategies for assembling an ideal work team. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Great companies don't just depend on strategies—they depend on people. The more great people on your team, the more successful your organization will be. But that's easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment decisions result in a mishire: The wrong person winds up in the wrong job. But companies that have followed Bradford Smart's advice in Topgrading have boosted their successful hiring rate to 90 percent or better, giving them an unbeatable competitive advantage.
Now Smart has fully revised his 1999 management classic to reintroduce the topgrading concept, which works for companies large and small in any industry. The author spells out his practical approach to finding and managing A-level talent—as well as coaching B players to turn them into A players. He provides intriguing case studies drawn from more than four thousand in-depth interviews.
As Smart writes in his introduction, “All organizations, all businesses live or die mostly on their talent, and any manager who fails to topgrade is nuts, or a C player. . . . Those who, way deep down, would sooner see an organization die than nudge an incompetent person out of a job should not read this book... Topgrading is for A players and all those aspiring to be A players.”
Customer Reviews:
disappointed.......2007-10-17
I was under the impression that this was a paperback version of the book but instead it was a summary of the book. It gave a lot of generalities but was not specific at all. If you are looking for a "Cliff's Notes" version then this book will probably serve the purpose. If you want specifics, then you need to buy the hard cover book.
Stop looking for magic bullets.......2007-06-08
While Brad Smart offers some good advice for the hiring manager, we must keep in mind that the purpose of TogGrading is to make money for, uh, Brad Smart. It is every hiring manager's responsibility to select the best candidate for a position. Some instinctively do a good job at this, while others are simply clueless. Dr. Smart presents his methodology with a zen-like religious furvor. He insists that if everyone in the organization adopts his methodology and becomes a zealot, the organization will become wildly successful. Isn't pretty to think so. My company jumped on the TogGrading bandwagon three years ago, because we had high turnover in a two departments. Now our hiring process is adruous, time-consuming and expensive. The results? Those managers who had low turnover rates still have low turnover rates. Those who had high turnover rates still have high turnover rates. The bottom line: TopGrading doesn't work any better than any other of the various magic bullet methods hawked to managers over the years. There is no one-size-fits-all methodology for selecting top performers. If your company is failing at attracting and retaining "A players" you'd do better to carefully examine your corporate culture than to jump on the latest fad method. If one manager excels at hiring and retaining good employees, allow him to mentor the managers who don't. This is cheaper and far more effective than turning your HR process upside down and hoping for a miracle cure.
Be objective with your experiences.......2007-03-15
I have been through interview processes with multi-billion dollar firms that were surprisingly casual and not as "hard-hitting" as I would expect. From observing others and recognizing my own experiences and shortcomings, you can tell who are "C" and "A" players. This does not make the "C" player a bad person. Michael Jordan was a "C" in minor league baseball.
Just because someone is a CEO of a Fortune 500 company does not make that same person infalliable. Sometimes CEOs do things that make us scratch our heads, and subsequent events prove us right. (William McCormack at CMS Energy being one.)
Other CEOs bring great growth and enhanced shareholder value. They are worth the big bucks. How much would you pay to someone who increased your company's value by $1 billion?
I was so impressed with this book that I have begun to implement these principles into my suppliers for our company's procurement chain. I'm constructing my own "CIDS" interview, and will seek to have "A" suppliers, removing the "C"s.
The anecdote in the book says it best. A firm will invest a lot of time, effort and energy in buying a $500,000 piece of equipment. But hiring an employee whose impact on the firm can be millions of dollars? "Ah, he interviewed well, so we'll hire him."
Kick the tires during the interview phase. Talk to others for "scuttlebutt". Invest the time up front for big pay-offs later.
Read This Book Today.......2007-03-15
There are many books on the market focused on interviewing techniques and talent selection. Topgrading is the best in this category and I have read many of them. The reason why it is the best is that it takes the reader past "what to do" and teaches them "how to do it". If you are someone like me, looking for a way to hire and coach A players right now, this is the book for you.
It really works!!!.......2007-03-06
Not only have I read both releases of this book, but my colleagues and I have been practicing Topgrading at my company for some time now. By using Dr. Smart's process, we have had significant success in hiring A players and have reaped the rewards of having these high powered recruits on our staff. This is a "must read" for those leaders that want to significantly improve the quality of their workforce.
Customer Reviews:
Since Everyone is on a Team - Read this book.......2007-01-25
I read this book initially with a focus on Business Team Building. I found it it simple and straightforward. I learned about creating a code of honor for myself first, and then for my family and business. It also helped me look at what I can do to improve me, create my own code and commit to the follow through and believe the results will follow.
Simple strategies - hard work to implement - abundant rewards for the people involved in the process.
I read a bunch of the negative reviews for this book and felt for my small invesment of time and money the book was worth 10 x's what I invested.
If you are a coach, parent, or in a business this will give you a new view on team builing for long term success.
I don't recommend this book.......2007-01-04
I am a big fan of Robert Kiyosaky, but I didn't like this book at all, what is a pitty, since I liked the other book by Blair Singer, Salesdogs. I expected much more from it. The author had only one idea -- "create a code of honor for your team" and wrote a book around it. Honestly, I don't think this book has anything to add. I suggest reading The Servant, by James C. Hunter instead. This one is a really awesome book about leadership.
Well written--but doesn't quite hit the nail on the head........2006-01-31
This is a very good book on the subject of finding the type of people to work for you. What it fails to do is to point out the specialty people required to get a business running and growing. That is what I expected, after reading the title. One thing that totally put me off as I read this book. The author spoke of owning a shipping business and having a time pressure to get a shipment loaded. All of the laborers pulled together as a team, working long hours and extra shifts without complaining or asking for overtime pay. Who made the lions share of the money? Not the ones who did the hard labor, but he as the owner. Compensation was something not mentioned in this book. I very much like the concept of a 'code of honor', in which this book was almost completely based. I am still not really sure, after reading this book, what the difference between a code of honor and a mission statement is. A couple of great books that also cover this concept very well are: On My Honor I Will, and The Lost Secret of Phenomenol Success. This kind of book makes you think about your values, and what you want from life. I recommend it. Just remember, it may not be what you expect.
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!! .......2005-07-05
I am an entrepreneur and wanted some inspiration, sadly I just found a lot of crap in this book. There's nothing I can apply, anyone can come up with a book better than this. just by reading the index you know this book was written by someone who has no idea about business. I'll write it for you:
chap.1 why do you need a code of honor?
2 who you sorround yourself with will determine your wealth and success
3 creating your code of honor
4 what's your personal code
5 how to enforce the code to ensure championship play
6 leadership that teaches other
7 the biggest impact of the code
8 ensuring account. loyalty and trust
9 standing in the heat with the code
conclusion it's your time to have a code
the book is full of phrases like: (please ask yourself if you need to buy a book to learn this:)
"nature whats you to go for it" pg 122
"when in doubt support each other" pg 115
"accountability is in the stats, no stats no results" pg 108
"the code is an awesome recruiting tool and qualifier"
"steps for creating a code: 1 create a code in a sane environment"
"sample code: 1 never abandon a teammate in need"
Creating a Code of Honor.......2005-05-23
This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I was expecting a book on how to pick advisors like accountants, real estate brokerss, lawyers, etc. However this book was about creating a team that works according to a "code of honor" that is created by the team.
Essentially the code of honor is a set of rules that the team creates and lives by in order to maintain a high level of accountability and performance. The idea makes sense as teams and people and general need rules by which to live by. Author Blair Singer does a good job of organizing the information and presenting it in an easy to read fashion.
On the downside, I wish there were more examples in this book to illistrate the points he's makes. A list of rules would have been nice, or the lists of rules that some other companies have come up with.
However other than that, the book is well done. Anyone wanting to build a team or wanting to improve the accountability of their existing team should pick up this book. 4 out of 5 stars.
Book Description
What would legendary Boston Celtics coach and 16-time NBA champion Red Auerbach say is the most critical quality for a person to be successful? Would his advice differ from 10-time NCAA championship coach John Wooden's? What would each say to a young person just starting out in pursuit of their dreams? What is the best advice they were ever given?
It took author Christian Klemash more than two years of research, persistence, and original interviews, but now he's ready to pass on the best advice you'll ever get. Only the rare individual has had the opportunity to pick the brain of just one legendary sports coach—let alone thirty-four of the best sports coaches of all time. Klemash gives sports fans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn valuable life lessons from the most famous, intelligent, and victorious coaches ever. The legends span the sports world, from gold medal-winning gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi and three-time college football championship coach Tom Osborne to four-time World Series-winning baseball manager Joe Torre and hall-of-fame boxing trainer Angelo Dundee.
These coaches know how to teach top athletes about character and winning, how to manage pressure at crunch time, and how to bring out the best in their players when it matters most. How to Succeed in the Game of Life shares their insights into sports, life, and the most vital keys to sustain success.Featuring Exclusive Interviews with:
Red Auerbach, 16-time NBA World Champion
Bobby Bowden, College Football's All-Time Winningest Coach, 2-time National Champion
Scotty Bowman, 9-time Stanley Cup Champion
Bill Cowher, Super Bowl Champion
Tony Dungy, Super Bowl Champion
Dan Gable, 15-time NCCA Champion
April Heinrichs, Gold Medal Winning Coach of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team
Bela Karolyi, The World’s Greatest Gymnastics Coach
Bill Parcells, 2-time Super Bowl Champion
Emanuel Steward, Boxing Trainer of 30 World Champions
Joe Torre, 4-time World Series Champion
Bill Walsh, 3-time Super Bowl Champion
Lenny Wilkens, NBA’s All-Time Winningest Coach, NBA Champion
John Wooden, 10-time NCAA Champion
And More!
Customer Reviews:
A Great Read.......2007-08-26
Wow!Could not put it down.An extraordinay self help book.Gave it to my kids they loved it.Don't miss this one
What a great read!.......2007-07-25
I took it on vacation with me and I couldn't put it down. A great book for aspiring athletes and coaches as well as your average Joe who works 9-5. The coaches discuss a variety of topics from their childhood to how they motivate their players. Any easy read for all ages.
Game of life.......2007-07-24
I've read through Game of Life and I enjoyed it very much. There are so many things to take from this book, not just into sports, but also some reflections on life. I would recommend this book to everybody.
Coaching advise from athletic coaches.......2007-06-27
A fun read, especially if yoiu're a sports fan. I read it in search of things that would help my own ability as a coach in my company. Much of it is light stuff but the easy read makes it fun nonetheless and there are few golden nuggets laced throughout the book.
Overcome Adversity.......2007-04-12
Anyone looking for inspiration, either for their own life or to share with others, will find a gold mine of quotes here. This book isn't just for sports fans.
Book Description
Abraham Lincoln's two great legacies to history –– his extraordinary power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil War –– come together in this close study of the President's use of the telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office, the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. First it was an instrument of military command and control; then Lincoln seized upon it as a means to take the reins of his generals and lead the war effort. In a jewel–box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he encountered this tool and adapted his floksy rhetorical style to the telegraph creating an intimate bond with his generals, especially Ulysses S. Grant.
MR. LINCOLN'S T–MAILS will follow a naturally gifted writer –– remember, he is the author of the Gettysburg Address –– with a plain style as he learns to use this intimate and far–reaching new–medium.
Customer Reviews:
The E-Mail of the Civil War.......2007-05-21
My interest crept up on me, as I read this book. The focus upon the t-mails alone, initially gave me the sense that the author's choice of direction could become too narrow. But, in Lincoln's own words, as he dealt with his general problem, it becomes clear what a great insight into Lincoln's thinking this approach reveals. Lincoln's management skills, his understanding of human nature, and his resolve to find men who were as focused as he, in destroying Lee's army...are all displayed directly and clearly through his t-mails...including the ones never sent.
His dissatisfaction with his generals leads him to question, to criticize, and finally, even to direct. Today he would have been accused of micro-management....something anathema to the current occupant of the White House. It's through his t-mails that he comes to deeply know and understand their many limitations....and through those same t-mails that he learns the type of men required to win the Civil War. Lincoln then acts decisively in removing the incompetents.....and then, and only then, finally gets the generals he deserves in Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. His latter t-mails demonstrate his great respect, gratitude, and relief as he allows these generals a wider birth to act.
It's a fine book....to the point, insightful, and leading to a conclusion. Lincoln simply camped out every day at the telegraph office, and Tom Wheeler takes us into his mind....through his communications. T-mail was the e-mail of the Civil War.
A new means of communication.......2007-04-04
This is an easy to read, informative book. Lincoln was the first president to use telegraphy duing wartime to confer with and/or direct his armies. In this age of modern communication we tend to forget how difficult it use to be. The telegraph was invented at the right time and Lincoln was in the right place and of the right frame of mind, to take a giant step forward. This is an interesting history of how Lincoln learned to communicate during a war and how he inserted himself into the conflict.
Moving Washington Electronically to the Battlefield.......2007-03-22
The author, Tom Wheeler, tells the fascinating story of how Abraham Lincoln employed the telegraph to help win the Civil War, narrating Lincoln's use of the telegraph from Secession to Lee's surrender. The telegraph was less than twenty years old when the Civil War began; and while railroads, newspapers, and financial markets used the telegraph, the Federal Government made limited use of the telegraph's lightning speed to transmit messages to distant locations. Lincoln made minimal use of the telegraph during his first year. However, in 1862 Lincoln began his growth as an electronic leader; in January 1862, for the first time, he "used the telegraph to communicate a direct order." Lincoln found his electronic voice in 1862.
Most important, in 1862 the hub of the telegraph network was moved from Army headquarters to the civilian-run War Department next to the White House where Lincoln was in frequent contact with its unfiltered messages. By daily reading all messages received regardless of to whom they were addressed, Lincoln gained detailed information of events on the battlefields. By injecting himself by telegraph into those activities, "whether invited or not, Lincoln maintained his virtual presence in the headquarters of his generals." From this information he developed his leadership abilities to direct, chastise, praise and motivate his field commanders. The author notes "From May 24" (1862) "forward, through the remainder of his presidency, the telegraph was an integral part of Abraham Lincoln's leadership."
The text gives an interesting chronicle of Lincoln's developing use of the telegraph as the Civil War progressed and notes "Here is the amazing fact: Abraham Lincoln applied telegraph's technology to create advantages for the Northern war effort entirely on his own." There was no precedent for him to follow. "The telegraph began to knit together a geographically disparate nation." With the press using the telegraph, for the first time the government let alone a government at war, was confronted by a well-informed constituency. Censorship policies had to be developed while at the same time informing the public. Since military telegrams could be intercepted or false messages sent, complex codes were used for encrypting important transmissions while other messages moved without code or with a simple code. Lincoln's dealing with the wartime press was a political priority which he effectively used. The largest single topic of the telegrams President Lincoln's sent, dealt with the appeal of military court martial death sentences.
When General Grant became general-in-chief, he and Lincoln soon developed workable telegraphic communications. Their use of the telegraph during a military threat to Washington, after some misreading, was effective. By telegram Grant stated he could provide strategic command while an onsite field commander would provide tactical direction.
The telegraph was exploited by Lincoln for his re-election in 1864. He also exploited the telegraph to talk politics with his generals. Ultimately the telegraph's lightning speed allowed for rapid dialog between Grant and the president thus greatly assisting the surrender of Lee's army on April 4, 1865.
In the last chapter the author states "The story of Lincoln's experience with the telegraph is yet another example of his capacity for growth, including his ability to change as circumstances (including technology) warranted. . . . We are the beneficiaries of Lincoln's electronic revolution."
The Union commanders were not "out there" alone but were well observed and occasionally directed by the president. The reader will find this work both informative and interesting
Jarring Juxtapositions..........2007-03-16
This book gives some good insight into Lincoln's learning to lead from afar as he realized what the telegraph could do. He particularly used it to prod over-cautious generals, and backed off its use some when he got competent commanders in place.
If the book stopped there, it would have been fine and interesting. However, Wheeler has a need to surround Lincoln with present-day business book pablum language... "Management by Walking Around" "Electronic leadership." "Getting his management team in place." I found these jarringly out of place and truly trivializing perhaps the finest President we have known. If you want a true look at Lincoln as a developing leader, read Doris Kearn Goodwin's "Cabinet of Rivals" and find out how Lincoln took all his most serious rivals and detractors into his cabinet because he needed the best America had to offer. There are plenty of quotations and direct written material there without the biz school jargon.
Approximately right, precisely wrong.......2007-03-15
An interesting perspective on the earliest wartime usage of "electronic" communication. Today's commonly held notion is that "information is power". But information is, at best, but a child of communication. As all would have to agree, information that is not communicated is...nothing. Lincoln knew this only too well - and long before he knew of T-Mail. His mention of "connecting trains" at Cooper Union makes this quite clear.
Interesting as this work is, somewhat troubling is either the author's lack of understanding of Abe Lincoln, or - potentially more troubling still - his attempt to "casually" recast the substance of the man. The first clue that something is amiss comes at page 96. Regarding free press, Mr. Wheeler states that this right was "at the core of the Constitution that Lincoln was trying to preserve". Not quite true. As Gary Wills ("Lincoln at Gettysburg") so effectively illustrated, Lincoln believed that the Declaration of Independence was the country's true founding document. Lincoln's focus was on "the Union" and its preservation. While this "Union" certainly drafted and adopted the Constitution, for Lincoln the "Union" was the core concept - the reality which, if destroyed, would render any constitution, however magnificent, meaningless. Is this just a bit of technical nit-picking? I don't think so.
Adding to the "haze", a bit later in this work Mr. Wheeler attempts to coerce Lincoln into the "just another politician" mold, suggesting, among other things, that his requests that his generals use their "best judgement" was motivated by blame-aversion and political self-preservation. In short, the more I read the more I wondered just how Mr. Wheeler came to his presentation of the truly great man that Abe Lincoln was, and remains. In summary, while the concept of this work is interesting and well-developed with respect to Lincoln's use of the telegraph, its treatment of Abraham Lincoln himself is, at a minimum, suspect.
Amazon.com
Anyone who is faced with making a deal--whether it be with a corporate adversary or a car salesman--will find The Power of Nice to be a very helpful guide through the potentially harrowing give-and-take that is, by definition, a regular part of the negotiating process. Packed with observations and anecdotes drawn from the experience of authors Ronald Shapiro and Mark Jankowski--partners in a negotiations seminar and consulting firm that counts baseball superstars Cal Ripkin Jr., Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer among its clientele--the book shows how to reorient the overall process from an exercise in antagonism to one in which everybody wins (but you win bigger). It is based on "the three Ps," which Shapiro and Jankowski describe as "preparing better than the other side; probing so you know what they want and why; and proposing, ideally without going first and revealing too much." All of the chapters, such as those on handling difficult competitors, bargaining from a position of weakness, eliminating obstacles, and building long-term relationships, are filled with checklists and exercises that help readers absorb the authors' suggestions and turn themselves into better negotiators. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
One of the most successful dealmakers in the sports industry presents his unique negotiating strategies
"Ron Shapiro's new book is insightful and entertaining. The lessons he learned and the methods he uses should be required reading for anyone whose business relies on the art of negotiation. Ron never forgets that treating people with respect and fairness is the key to success. Ron and Mark have been helping our company for many years-I guess we won't need them anymore-they put it all in their book." -Charles M. Cawley Chief Executive Officer, MBNA America Bank, N.A.
"In the field of negotiation Ron Shapiro has always been regarded as the quintessence of class and integrity. Predictably, he and Mark Jankowski have written a compelling book filled with anecdotes and insights. The Power of Nice is a fascinating and useful book that is a must read for anyone who wants to build long-term mutually profitable relationships." -Herb Cohen Author, You Can Negotiate Anything
"This book taught me everything I ever wanted to know about negotiation-and I use it everyday." -Kirby Puckett Former All-Star Center Fielder and Executive Vice President, Minnesota Twins
"Negotiation is not war.
Negotiation is not a science. Negotiation is the commerce of information for ultimate gain." -from The Power of Nice
Though not a science, negotiating is an art, and in this eye-opening new book, a true master shares his secrets and strategies for success. Ron Shapiro is a corporate lawyer, teacher, and, in what is almost a contradiction in terms, one of today's most respected sports agents. He has worked with baseball's biggest names: Cal Ripken, Jr., Kirby Puckett, Brooks Robinson, Dennis Martinez, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and many others. Rising to-and remaining at-the top of a competitive pool filled with smooth-talking, "sleazeball" sharks, he has succeeded by being, of all things, a nice guy. Now, along with his business partner, lawyer, lecturer, and negotiations expert, Mark Jankowski, Shapiro reveals how anyone who sits down to make a deal can get what they want by exercising the surprising "power of nice." Together, Shapiro and Jankowski have shared their negotiation insights with Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, universities, and government agencies.
Though the name of the game in negotiating is to obtain desired results, how you get them is just as important. While many dealmakers play hardball by assuming a winner-take-all, scorched-earth attitude, they do so at the risk of alienating the party opposite them at the negotiating table, thereby losing out on future opportunities. This approach is, as Shapiro and Jankowski tell us, a major strike against effective negotiating, and can-and should-be avoided. By using a kinder, gentler approach that focuses on forming-and keeping-strong business connections, ultimate gain can still be yours: "You can be 'a nice guy' and still get what you're after. In fact, you often get better results, achieve more of your goals, and build longer-term relationships with even greater returns."
Drawing on their vast experience in win-win negotiating, as well as such essentials as managing tough situations, handling difficult negotiators, and unlocking deadlocks, the authors take you, step-by-step, through a systematic approach that, when repeated and mastered, will maximize results. Based on "the three Ps," it consists of: preparing better than the other side; probing so you know what they want and why; and proposing, ideally without going first and revealing too much, but still achieving what you want.
Supported by invaluable "portable" negotiation summaries-so you can take the "power of nice" with you-this is must reading for anyone who has to make a deal, whether it's negotiating with a customer, setting a curfew with a teenager, or getting the last seat on an over-sold airplane.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-09-30
I would imagine that since each of us has different personalities and different likes and dislikes that some would be more inclined toward this book than others. Some like Antigues and some modern furniture. Some love good carb snacks and others a great chocolate bar. Our taste vary, but this book is most probably for everyone.
Becuase while we may differ on what color car we want, or or what type of work we do, we all want to win our negotiations, we all want respect first and we all want appreciation. This book teaches the skill of negotiating in a fair way. Fair like it or not means taking a look at the others prespective as much as we hate to do this. (when you are at a ballgame and the umpire makes a call against the home team 50,000 are booing. Can it be that all of the people on the field saw it one way and the home team and home fans another?
Its human nature to want to be right. And human nature to want to be treated fairly. This is a great read. And will produce better results in your negotiations, withhout burning a bridge, becuase that is not a wise way to live.
Great stories, good points, decent layout.......2006-12-19
Becoming a better negotiator is in everyone's best interest so when one of my students recommended Power of Nice, I was pretty excited about ordering it from Amazon and put it in the queue to read. I really enjoyed the stories in this book. Shapiro has been there, done that in some of the biggest and toughest negotiations in the sports world. If you are a baseball fan, it will bring back memories. And I learned more from the stories than anything else.
I have read this book twice, the first time it didn't quite click and I have a theory why. The book's content is pretty good, but the layout is terrible. I just finished reading a book by Addison Wesley press that had at least 4 times the number of facts per page and power of nice and as always the information was laid out professionally; it helps me to absorb the material. There is another thing that is off putting is how the author keeps saying if you follow the principles in this book you'll get better results and more of what you want and similar. Hey, I already bought the book, quite selling. It reminded me of Richard with his Refuse to Lose's 9 principles in Little Miss Sunshine.
Another small problem and then I will start praising the book again. They use a lot of initials, for instance, the three Ps. Everyone who has ever read a business book knows the three Ps are product, price and positioning, but not here. The three Ps in power of nice are prepare, probe and propose.
However, I just came out of a fairly intense negotiation, I had read the entire book once and spent the days before the negotiation preparing. I let the other side propose first, I probed and I proposed. It all worked. So the book was certainly worth the $20.00 I paid for it and much, much more. And I did get better results and more of what I wanted so Shapiro has every write to claim that. I have not read a better book on negotiation, pick it up and deal with the layout already.
Nice Guys can win..........2006-12-02
First of alll, this isn't the usual kind of book I read. I have not read any of the other "self help" authors, but did pick up on a lot of use from the magazines I read. And there are parts that reminded me of Richard Simmons or Oprah. But it didn't bother me so much to get in a little "niceness". It was refreshing to read about how "nice" can work instead of "mean". I have certainly not know anyone to focus on such before. I picked this up since a friend mentioned how much this book helped them be a better person in their professional life. After reading it I think there's a lot to be said about the power of nice. Nice guys can win... ...and you can be a nice guy and be a winner too.
Awesome!.......2006-11-10
During my training as a physician, contract negotiations discussions were not part of the curriculum. Such discussions with our staff were, in fact, discouraged, since our only focus should be to learn medicine and take care of patients. Unfortunately, the art and science of negotiations does have a substantial impact in the ability of a professional to maximize benefit in his/her carreer.
This book was my first introduction to this subject. It was easy and fun to read.
During my job search as an anesthesiologist, this book armed me with the tools I needed to confidently negotiate the right position and compensation package.
"Play winning ball".......2006-04-27
This is a fun, entertaining, and enlightening read. At the same time, this book provides excellent content in a disciplined presentation that makes it accessible and applicable. So, if, like me, you rolled your eyes at the sight of the title, thinking this book would be just a bunch of fluff, you're in for quite a surprise.
This is a book of great substance that stresses a systematic approach to negotiations that's based on rationality, process, and decisive actions. The authors' emphasis on the need for systematic, behavior-based process is excellent. They underscore this point with a vivid example involving skydiving (pp. 63-66).
The core tenets of the philosophy are the "3 Ps and Big L" (overviewed in Ch. 4, with greater detail in Ch. 5-7):
* Prepare (Ch. 5)
* Probe (Ch. 6)
* Propose (Ch. 7)
* Listen
The 3 Ps represent the primary areas of the negotiating process; using good listening skills is an overarching principle that's essential throughout the process.
The discussion of how to deal with difficult negotiators is valuable (pp. 171-187). This section focuses on recognizing the emotional bait and teaches you how to avoid falling for trap. Don't take it personally, and don't make it personal. The authors provide concrete examples of typical emotional tactics and how best to respond to them to keep your emotions in check and adhere to the process.
The book concludes with an excellent ten-page section of worksheets that tie it all together (pp. 268-277). These worksheets encompass everything the book covers and serve as a ready-made tool that you can use and reuse in your negotiations.
I highly recommend this book. It's an excellent work that's particularly valuable to those in business. But, because "negotiating" applies to so many other things in life, just about anyone can benefit from its wisdom.
Book Description
In The Leadership Engine, Noel Tichy showed how great companies strive to create leaders at all levels of the organization, and how those leaders actively develop future generations of leaders.
In this new book, he takes the theme further, showing how great companies and their leaders develop their business knowledge into ⳥achable points of view,⟳pend a great portion of their time giving their learnings to others, sharing best practices, and how they in turn learn and receive business ideas/knowledge from the employees they are teaching.
Calling this exchange a virtuous teaching cycle, Professor Tichy shows how business builders from Jack Welch at GE to Joe Liemandt at Trilogy create organizations that foster this knowledge exchange and how their efforts result in smarter, more agile companies, and winning results. Some of these ideas were showcased in Tichy's recent Harvard Business Review article entitled, ⍯ Ordinary Boot Camp."
Using examples from GE, Ford, Dell, Southwest Airlines and many others, Tichy presents and analyzes these principles in action and shows how managers can begin to transform their own businesses into teaching organizations and, consequently, better–performing companies
Customer Reviews:
Misses the mark.......2006-08-02
Tichy described the "interactive teaching/learning process" as a form of "synergy" whereby "1+1=3" (10). Synergy is defined as the "process of mutual exploration and exchange during which both the teacher and the learner become smarter" (10). Though he uses this term to illustrate the teaching and learning process, he esteemed the four "E's" when choosing potential leaders. The criteria included the following: "Energy" (coping ability for change), "Energize" (ability to excite/inspire), "Edge" (making tough calls), and "Execute" (always delivering, never disappointing) (129). To better support his argument for interactive synergy, Tichy should have included another "E" category-- Educate (the ability to teach, mentor, and guide). Tichy, himself, framed teaching as "opening people's eyes and minds...teaching new ways to see the world and pointing them to new goals...teaching them to teach their own knowledge and teach others" (74). His statement was void of an element in interactive/circulatory teaching.
Tichy referred to Roger Enrico's process of teaching ten "rising leaders" for a consecutive number of long hour days (11)." After a period of teaching, Enrico would send his students home to "work on projects" and brought them back for "follow-up sessions" (11). This illustration was a poor choice on Tichy's part because it has nothing to do with "synergy" and does not appear to align with his definition of a "teaching organization." Not only does Tichy use irrelevant examples and definitions, but he also seemed unclear about the process of the "Virtuous Teaching Cycle." In his introductory statement, Tichy said, "Virtuous Teaching Cycles are dynamic, interactive processes in which everyone teaches, everyone learns and everyone gets smarter, everyday" (xxiv). Yet his next statement about the leadership process does not incorporate this philosophy: "No institution can be great unless it has a great leader at the top who develops leaders at all levels of the organization" (xxiv).
People who described themselves as "always paranoid" or "never let anyone best him" would seem to be less likely to participate in an interactive process of teaching as depicted by Tichy. The book falls short in conveying a true "interactive teaching process." Not only were there no tangible examples of companies using this approach, but also the main ideas of "greatness" and "winning" represent selfish gain and have nothing to do with having a "teachable point of view." The truth is that without Christ as the teacher leading by example, no one can possibly participate in a process that separates one's pride and power for the humbling experience of learning in an interactive process with a subordinate. Jesus said it clearly: "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him" (John 13:13-16 NKJV).
Sensible advice, but repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.......2004-10-16
While I will never dispute the premise that great leaders teach, mentor and learn, it doesn't have to be repeated over and over until I get it. The hero of this book, and that is really the only way to describe it, is Jack Welch, former head of GE. There is a lot of ink used to laud Welch and what he did at GE. While I don't dispute that Welch deserves to be acknowledged as a great leader, Tichy comes very close to crossing the line between praising and deifying him.
The basic theme of the book is the dynamics of teaching and learning within a business environment. This includes all levels, from the lowliest greeters to the CEO and board members. It starts with the leader's Teachable Point Of View or TPOV. This is basically the leader's view of the company direction and how well it is communicated to the people underneath. Without question, this is a valuable point in the success of any organization, assuming that the TPOV is reasonable and the leader is capable of accepting feedback. Or, to put it another way, is the leader capable of learning from underlings? While good leaders must teach and do it well, they must also learn even better. For even the best teachers can be rendered ineffectual if the material they are trying to impart is valueless. In the modern business world, if you don't learn and adapt, you die.
Another focus is on the Virtuous Teaching Cycle or VTC, which is about leaders teaching leaders. This is of course sensible; any leader should constantly be training several potential replacements. The problem with this is twofold. The first is that there can be only one leader, so if more than one potential leader is being groomed, it is necessary to have an unambiguous selection mechanism in place. Succession struggles have doomed many countries and organizations. Secondly, this can lead to the successor suffering from the same weaknesses that the leader does, which is why some of the most successful leaders were outsiders, brought in to provide a necessary fresh perspective.
There are two points of criticism. The first is the repetition. Some of the stories are told several times, even to the point of distraction. The other is that education is a complex task and recent revelations in the corporate world demonstrate that there are leaders that are not only incompetent, but are even criminal. I would have preferred reading more about how learning is done in these dysfunctional situations.
With the pace of life and business changing so fast, companies must learn faster than they produce. While I agree with most of the points in this book, there is a tendency of the author to ramble and repeat, which I found distracting.
Robert Knowling?.......2003-03-26
I just read the intro to this book by Robert Knowling. As far as I can tell Robert Knowling was booted out of Covad having delivered dismal results. He is listed as CEO of Simbion, which according to Hoovers has 1-5 employees and $50-$100K in revenues. He is even featured on the cover. Am I missing something?
Nothing new.......2002-12-25
I was somewhat disappointed in this book despite its endorsement by one of my business school classmates. Professor Tichy discusses already well known principles of leadership within the context of what is promoted as a "new" approach. Only a few individuals and companies are profiled and are used repeatedly throughout the book. The examples cited fit awkwardly into the message that is being presented. The title of the book attributes greatness to the individuals profiled based on only one attribute--a belief in teaching and learning. This seems such a narrow focus on which to base such accolades.
A New "Business Classic".......2002-11-27
Those who are familiar with my reviews of other business books already know that on several dozen occasions, I have strongly recommended The Leadership Engine (1997) which Tichy wrote with Eli Cohen and Nancy Cardwell. He teams up with her again in this book, expanding and enriching his concept of leadership development at all levels throughout any organization, regardless of its size or nature. Hence the importance of what Tichy calls a "Virtuous Teaching Cycle": Everybody teaches and everybody learns; all practices, processes, and values promotion teaching; all teaching is interactive to generate the effective exchange of knowledge; thereby, maximum use is made of everyone's skills and talents to ensure all-level alignment for smart and rapid response to needs, problems, opportunities, etc. Tichy asserts (and I agree) that hypertransformation (in established organizations) and hypergrowth (in start-ups) are essential to business success. The challenge in established organizations is to overcome what Jim O'Toole characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." For start-ups, the challenge is to achieve appropriate scale while ensuring that new employees are brought on line and up to speed ASAP. In ten chapters, and with prevision as well as eloquence, Tichy explains how various organizations (notably GE) have met those and other challenges.
Unlike other authors who address many of the same issues, Tichy also includes a substantial Handbook (pages 285-394) which consists of ten Sections: The Teaching Organization, The Hand You have Been Dealt, Building Your Teachable Point of View, Pulling It All Together, Building a Team Timetable Point of View, Architecting the Leadership Pipeline, Scaling the Teaching Organization, Building Teaching into the DNA, Global Citizenship, and finally, Start the Journey. In the Handbook, Tichy explains provides decision-makers with with just about everything their need to know to design, implement, and then strengthen their own Teaching Organization, one within which the Virtuous Teaching Cycle sustains leadership development at all levels.
In his Introduction to the Handbook, Tichy quotes a brief statement from Thomas Stewart's most recent book, The Wealth of Knowledge:
"The knowledge economy stands on three pillars. The first: Knowledge has become what we buy, sell, and do. It is the most important factor of production. The second pillar is a mate, a corollary to the first: Knowledge assets -- that is, intellectual capital -- have become more important to companies than financial and physical assets. The third pillar is this: To prosper in this new economy and exploit these newly vital assets, we need new vocabularies, new management techniques, and new strategies. On these three pillars rest all the new economy's laws and its profits."
Tichy includes this brief statement because it is directly relevant to his own objectives in The Cycle of Leadership but also because, unless and until an organizations has all three pillars (not one, not two but all three), it cannot survive major challenges which await them, many of which have yet to be revealed. That is to say, the Teaching Organization can only be built on the foundation they provide.
"Winning leaders are teachers, and winning organizations do encourage and reward teaching. But there is more to it than that. Winning organizations are explicitly designed to be Teaching Organizations, with business processes, organizational structures, and day-to-day operating mechanisms all built to promote teaching." However, Tichy doesn't stop there. More importantly, the teaching that takes place is a distinctive kind of teaching. It is interactive, two-way, even multi-way. Throughout the organization, `teachers' and `students' at all levels teach and learn from each other, and their interactions create a Virtuous Teaching Cycle that keeps generating more learning, more teaching, and the creation of new knowledge."
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Peter M. Senge's The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990) and The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations (1999), William Isaacs' Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Life (1999), Carla O'Dell's If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice (1998), and Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak's Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know (1997).
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- Not the same Vince Lombardi
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The Essential Vince Lombardi : Words & Wisdom to Motivate, Inspire, and Win
Vince Lombardi
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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