Performance Books

At first glance, I wasn't sure what to make of Mind/Body Fitness. It looked like a typical self-help guide with sort of a New Age feel to it, which immediately turned me off. But I gave it a chance and read through it, thereby finding it actually had a lot of good advice tailored specifically for martial artists.

The primary focus of the text is on the concept of "mindfulness", which is another word for awareness (and we all know how important awareness is). Lots of good insights on focus, setting realistic goals, discipline, and health. The importance of a calm clear mind is stressed throughout. Meditation, proper breathing, and nutrition are addressed in detail.

This was a good book, and if it hadn't come so highly recommended I would not have given it a chance. I'm glad I did.

Can you be relaxed and focused throughout an entire exercise routine? Do you take care of yourself, eat the right food, exercise on a regular basis but still fail to see the results you desire? If you want to improve your performance, your body can only take you to a certain point. Beyond that point, the mind and body must work together in harmony to produce superior results. Clinical studies have proven this to be true.

Tom Seabourne has written Mind/Body Fitness to show you how to integrate the techniques and wisdom of eastern disciplines (Martial Arts and Yoga) with western methods (visualization and stress-reduction.)

"The secret to success in martial arts, sports, fitness, and even life is mindfulness." -Tom Seabourne

This book will guide you into easy-to-learn relaxation and meditation skills you can practice anytime and anywhere. You will enjoy learning how to increase your focus, confidence and health using Tom Seabournes' techniques. He also includes dietary tips to optimize your mental and physical effectiveness. The easy-to-use checklist with strategies on mindfulness, goal setting and time management also make this book highly practical.

With a background in sports and martial arts, Tom Seabourne will show you that "mindfulness is not inborn." It is however, available to everyone.

One idea really stuck out in my mind. Tom explains how when we encounter a problem, we can 1. Become a Solution. 2. Go Away. or 3. Change. He is so right when he says that the more we focus on something the more you will become it.

This book will be a great motivation for your own progress and you will find a new perspective you won't find in most fitness books.

~The Rebecca Review
Author of Seasoned with Love: A collection of
best-loved recipes inspired by over 40 cultures

This brand new (year 2001), 160 page guide is designed to help you improve your ability to relax, increase your focus, gain confidence, improve your health, set goals and manage your time. It's an easy-to-read guidebook, with clear strategies to help you be successful. Topics range from concentration, self-esteem, confidence and motivation, to handling fear, body language, and sleeping right. The specific strategies presented motivate you to follow the book's concepts, leading you to positive results. Everyone can benefit from it.

Mind/Body Fitness is perfect timing for the athlete or fitness person who is ready to move to the next level.

Strength, flexibility, endurance, and nutrition have all been thoroughly researched but the mind-body connection is still an amorphous concept

Mind/Body Fitness gathered the latest concepts in the sports psychology research and put it together with common sense principles to help me to finally get my program together. I was able to improve my ability to relax, focus, and prepare for my fitness and sport with renewed energy.

I highly recommend Mind/Body Fitness without reservation.

Its a must to read for all aspiring to be a General Manager in their organization. The Performance Cockpit bring you back to the reality of the corporate world. It offers tremendous practical insights into management and leadership. Christo's experience and observation could save you many man hours of learning on the the job and understanding potential pitfalls of leading people and managing upwards.

This is an excellent, easy-to-read guide to excellence in management. The Performance Cockpit book should be a required reading for all new managers and also for senior managers who think that may need to freshen up their skills once in a while. The author, Mr. Christos Kartalis, is an old business pro, and he shows this in his book. It is profound, that everything in the book has been implemented, tested, and proven to work. Kartalis presents many of the proactive approaches of practicing General Managers, offering succinct and straightforward advice on each. Although he avoids the boredom of theory, his advice is well grounded in it. This serves the new manager quite well by not complicating his quest for knowledge with unnecessary complications. Therefore, the book can be easily used as a reference by busy people and this will be greatly appreciated.

I personally recommend this book for any new manager or anyone interested in pursuing a career in management.

Athens, October 13, 2007

Basil N. Tsaras,
President and Managing Director,
Prothesis Business Consultants SA

"The New General Manager's Performance Cockpit" is a terrific distillation of Christos Kartalis' insights into successful management.

Even though he's still relatively young, the author has had an enormously successful career. What has allowed him to stand out, in part, is his ability to see the big picture.

"The Performance Cockpit" share this insight. New general managers often come into their jobs with wonderful preparation but not always with a lot of experience in putting their preparation into practice. This book provides that last piece of the puzzle, showing how new general managers can apply their skills, talents, and knowledge in the systems-based stucture of many large corporations.

Many of the areas Kartalis highlights are critical to successful management in the 21st Century. Understanding benchmarks and corporate expectations, navigating and managing change, controling the pace of change, setting appropriate targets, responding to feedback, allocating resources and investments...Kartalis shows how to manage all these areas in the larger context in which a general manager must function.

This is an excellent book. New general managers will come away from reading it with confidence that they can do the job. Experienced managers will benefit from the reminders of what is really important in the jobs.

In "Performance Cockpit", Christos Kartalis has assembled a powerful & practical toolkit for general managers. Many general management books elaborate on business theory, really few can advise on the executional aspect. If, once in your business life you didn't hit your annual targets, read Chapter 17 : "7 systems to Beat your Targets ...", and you will have the perfect roadmap, not to miss any target again.
Christos Kartalis has a unique way to combine concept, strategy & execution. The outcome is not a pile of thoughts & documents, but, with his "systems & principles" based approach, creates a framework that drives to sustainable success (see the "pressure mapping" system in Chapter 12 as a perfect example).
What is special to this book is that it comes from real life & an active general manager, not from a general manager theorist. Every system included has been torture-tested in real business life. I have witnessed that -since I had the opportunity to work with Christos in the past-, and believe me, this book can be read as a diary from Christos's colleagues.

Do you sometimes think to yourself when you're doing a project, "I wouldn't mind doing this for a career." Then the one question you must definitely ask yourself is, "What procedures must I take in order to develop a career out of my talent?" This book can get you started in the right direction.

Opportunities in Arts and Crafts Careers offers you a clear understanding about the various careers available, the skills needed, and how to get started. I wanted to read this book to find out if it would help out fellow woodworkers who would like to pursue a career with their skills, and if it had information for them to get started in one. I've found that not only does it provide information for these two avenues, but also an understanding of the history of the craft.

I extremely recommend this book for those who would like to seek a career in the arts and crafts. Elizabeth B. Gardner has performed an exceptional measure of research, in order to write this book with the facts provided in it.

Excellent advice on how to pursue careers in the arts and crafts fields and professions. It is practical and fun to read especially since so many opportunities in these fields are discussed. The histories of these fields are very good as are the processes involved. It makes one want to pursue one's interest in arts and crafts!

This book is a valuable guide for students considering a career in the arts. Each career path includes a brief history, a description of the actual processes involved in the work and discusses training options and job potentials. A particular strength of the book lies in including some of the more unusual crafts like book binding, stained glass design and weaving.

I applaud Elizabeth Gardner for authoring Opportunities in Arts and Crafts Careers. This book is a very engaging and accessible reference to a multitude of careers that are too often overlooked by students, their teachers, parents, and counselors. The book covers a broad scope of career opportunities including fine art, applied art or design, and craft. The result is a career reference book with great collective strength.

Once again this book from Course Technology teaches you the step-by-step approach. It is well-written and suitable for a junior DBA embarking on the journey of Oracle PT. I will definitely recommend this book.

I really liked this book. The great thing about this book is it
gives a step by step process to resolve different scenarios
that I have seen while working with Oracle. The diagrams too
are very helpful to understand the key concepts of Oracles
internal architecture.

I am very impressed with this book, I like the step by step examples in each chapter.
I enjoyed reading the scenarios it brought the book to life.

This is a perfect book for Oracle DBA's and informative for Oracle Developer's. I like scenarios and practical problem explanation which will give you real feel of day to day activities and problems faced by Oracle DBA's.

Mand and Whipple do an excellent job describing how finance, business centers and top management can work together more effectively for optimum performance. The concept is powerful, and the examples from actual events are very stimulating. Best of all, they use a dialog method to make the message really come alive. "Listening" to the CEO and CFO discuss partnering makes the reader realize that the concept is not just another management theory, but can be readily applied to his or her situation as well.

A very concise and well-written book which appeals to the financial executive and the MBA student. The CFO's role is clearly delineated with the support of actual cases and experiences as noted by the authors. I found this book to be interesting and a "quick-read" and was an excellent summation of the role of the CFO in the 21st corporations.

A very thorough and easy to read book. The experience of the authors is clearly evident. Highly recommend to anyone working in finance or corporations!

PARTNERING FOR PERFORMANCE: Unleashing the Power of Finance in the 21st Century Organization, Martin G. Mand and William Whipple III, AMACOM, 2000.

As an attorney practicing corporate law in Delaware, I have been involved in many acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, etc., and have an understanding of the imperative for all companies and businesses to increase shareholder value. "Partnering for Performance" is the first book that I can recall reading which provides a lucid explanation of how a company can do so. The discussion is enlivened by numerous real world examples, as well as by an engaging dialog between the CEO and CFO of a hypothetical company.

The book goes on to sketch the wide range of activities that are conducted under the Finance umbrella, and offer suggestions as to how the value of these activities can be enhanced. There are two key thrusts the author recommends, which in many companies will require a significant culture change:

* Finance people must rethink their roles, and make the transition from functioning as analysts and controllers to "Shareholder Value Enabling."

* The business people and finance people in a company must work together as equal partners, otherwise known as "Partnering for Performance."

Drawing on their considerable experience as financial practitioners, the authors do not merely advocate such changes in principle. They also explain the obstacles to implementation, and offer solid suggestions for achieving the desired changes. The suggested game plan includes new roles and responsibilities for business people and finance people alike, demonstration projects such as overhauling the budget process, the integration of talented finance people into business teams, incentives for change, communications and training, and sample diagnostic tools (such as a corporate troubleshooting guide).

In sum, "Partnering for Performance" offers valuable insights about a low cost, low risk approach to increasing shareholder value. The book should be of considerable interest and value to a broad audience.

I highly recommend this wonderful book as an inspiring companion to Gil Amelio's 'Proft for Experience: The National Semi-Conductor Story of Transformation Management', which I have reviewed earlier. Both books were published around the mid-nineties, but the relevancy & practicality of their lessons & insights have not faded.

It draws its intellectual cues from three principal strands of high performance: organisational, leadership & personal effectiveness. In some way, it builds on the author's two earlier books, 'The VIP Strategy: Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance' & 'Firing on All Six Cylinders'. I have read the latter book, which has a primary focus on service/quality improvement.

What I like about this book is the author's introductory premise: Before you try to change anyone else, you have got to change yourself. Self-leadership is at the heart of effectively leading others. Self-improvement is the beginning point to team or organisational improvement. The author is also candid about his book: Many of the principles & insights are not new. In fact, they have been with us for decades, if not centuries. But we continually need to rediscover them for ourselves; repackage them for our times; & to make them relevant for today. The author is obviously driven by what works. He argues that, when dealing with personal & people issues, the fundamentals of what works have remained fairly constant through the years.

Additionally, I also like the presentation format of the book: each chapter starts with a 'Pathways' section, covering success strategies that really work, but also ends with a 'Pitfalls' section, where the author visits several Do's and Don't's for the individual as well as for the organization.

For readers who are seeking more real-world perspectives in initiating & guide change & improvement in a team, business or organizational setting, this book is definitely worth pursuing.

I have enjoyed reading this book, together with Gil Amelio's book, & I am confident readers will feel likewise!

In "Pathways to Performance," Jim Clemmer provides readers with an inspirational guide that will help anyone improve leadership abilities. It is clear that by following these pathways, great personal benefits will follow. And, of course, I loved the humor!

"Pathways to Performance" provides a valued sense of direction and reference for those struggling to behave differently and lead more effectively. Jim pulls together the many facets of leadership and management and shows how they fit to make the whole. It will become a guide for all our Team Leader/Managers.

I really enjoyed this book. It helped put leadership into perspective -- the fact that in order to change or influence an organization, I need to change myself. I appreciated Clemmer's ideas around working at becoming a better leader ("leaders are made, not born"), and the importance of continued, continuous learning. It is an easy read, with humor, lots of quotations, examples, and simple suggestions to begin *being* a better leader in all aspects of your life. It has made me stop, reflect, and write notes about what I am going to do to incorporate some of these ideas into my life. The idea of "victimitis" and recognizing the "Catch 22" of the poor-me syndrome was particularly pertinent. This book covers the entire spectrum of home life and career, which is why I find it so helpful -- many management books don't concentrate enough on the improving all aspects of life. It especially hits home the need for the leader to establish his/her own personal values and direction and to lead by example. I've purchased copies for people close to me that I'm sure will find value in this book.

This is an awesome text. In a subject area as dynamic as executive and other compensation, this book hands it to you on a "golden" platter. A must on every human resource executives bookshelf. A must for the compensation student. This book has it all and is worth the price.

This is an excellent book on rewards and compensation. I keep this book on my shelf and refer to it constantly. And, I require all my managers to keep a copy too. The coverage is complete, the writing is clear, and the book is "must have" for anyone who needs information on executive compensation.

With executive pay under more extensive scrutiny than ever, I found this book an excellent way to resolve the dilemma about how to pay for performance. While my company's circumstances mean that there are no clear cut solutions, this was the only book I could find that laid out all the alternatives clearly and concisely. Overall, this is the best book on reward I have ever read, and I am sure I will be coming back to it again and again as my standard reference guide.

I read this book from cover to cover and loved every word of it! I couldn't put it down! Although it was a bith pricy, I feel that it was worth every cent.

So many Christians are going through life settling for mediocre, settling for second best, and choosing the path of least resistance. Not Dr. John R. Noe, author of this old (1984) and new (2006) book . . . . He reminds us that the first mountain we need to conquer is that of ourselves and that God wants us to accomplish great things for His glory.

Dr. D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.
Senior Minister
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

If you are looking to make some positive changes in your life, changes that will touch others in a positive way, this is the book to read and re-read often. I can't say enough good things about it. I rate it as a life changing book!

Dare to confront your fears. Learn from devastating failures and climb the road of high achievers. This book is a must for anyone who seriously wants to make an impact in this world. I cant emphasize this point enough. BUY THIS BOOK!

This little book, by a little known author, imparts more useful information in about 100 pages than most other big name success writers can convey in 500 pages. The book reads much easier than most success literature not only because of its crisp style, but also because of the setting the author uses to impart some genuinely useful wisdom. The author uses the story of his successful ascent of the Matterhorn as a jumping off point. Each stage of his quest provides a lesson of general applicability. Without being preachy, the author also talks about some of the spiritual components of achievement. If you're easily annoyed by spiritual references, you might be turned off and miss out on a real gem! For everyone else, this is one of the most useful and inspiring success manuals around.

This guy might be on the nerdy side, but he gives you the sources for what he says is fact, not his opinion. I have been reading alternative health books from many different authors for 40 years and none have done the research this guy has. The info has made me healthier and slimmer in the last 9 months without trying. When you eat the right foods, you don't get cravings for binges, so it's not about dieting, it's about getting healthy. I'm convinced!

Peskin takes the conventional "healthy" high-carbohydrate diet and blows it out of the water. Largely because of its effect on the hormones insulin and glucagon, he convincingly demonstrates how eating too much of this macronutrient has contributed significantly to America's epidemic of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.

The author stresses a diet with plenty of high quality protein, essential fatty acids (EFA's), and low in carbohydrates - especially processed.

Peskin's arguments are based on, and well supported with a myriad of references and footnotes to scientific documents. My one big criticism of the book is that he tries much too hard to trademark the science, and repeatedly peddles his own brand of supplements, which gives the book an "infomercial" feel to it.

Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about eating healthy and willing to set popular opinion aside.

Exposing the carbohydrate poisoning of America over the last 30 years, this book has allowed me to develop the energy and overall well-being to quit a vitamin program. Very similar to Atkins.
June 2002 Consumer Reports article grudgingly admitted that patients on a high protein diet as recommended here lost more weight without worsening their cholestrol scores, than did patients on a low fat diet (who lost very little weight). This book well worth the effort to get it!

Excellent book - I highly recommend it.

As the poeple up there mentioned, its really one of the best book that explains the theory/physics of electric machinery rather. It does a really great job explaining the steady state operation/modeling of electric machines that u cant find any where else. Its simply the best. However, The theory behind electromechanical energy conversion wasnt explained in a way that is accessable, u will find some info here and there in the 1st three chapters... it would of been better if there was a chapter devoted for it ...I have the alternating current machines edition of this book though...

Hello
I'm Mahmoud Freedoon
Thank you for your cooperation with me

This is as another reviewer put it, simply a "beautiful" book. It goes far beyond being a book of concepts. It's almost addictive in being so disarmingly simple to understand. The beauty of Dr. Say's book is it's written by a teacher who wants to help you understand the concept rather than the math which is the common approach of all other books I've read many books on machines (which trust me is a lot of books). Others use math to explain concepts where they cannot clearly explain the phenomenon. Dr. Say will have it no other way than to explain the physics behind the phenomenon. This is a book that needs to come in a hard back cover and that finds its way into your shelf of precious books.

This was an exceptionally great book even 40-50 years ago; and it still is a great book today. Dr. M. G. Say has an unique style for explaining the theory of operation, performance and design of electrical machines and transformers. My teachers had studied his books; and one of them introduced some lucky electrical power engineering students (including me) to this book when there was not "one" specific "prescribed/recommended" book to cover the subject matter. There were three companion books: [A] "Performance and Design of D. C. Machines" by: A. E. Clayton and N. N. Hancock (Pitman), [B] "Performance and Design of A. C. Commutator Motors" by: E. O. Taylor (Pitman), and [C] "Electrical Engineering Design Manual" by: M. G. Say (Chapman & Hall). These four books were great books then, as they are today. I simply can not praise them enough. I will strongly recommend the book by Dr. M. G. Say, as well as the companion books, to anyone who wants to understand electrical machines and transformers. The study is hard work, but these books make it enjoyable. They are "just beautiful". I must add one superb book to this list; it is "Principles of Electromechanical Energy Conversion" by: (Dr.) Jerome Meisel (McGraw-Hill, 1966). For the interested-ones, the excellent Bibliography in Dr. Meisel's book gives a good list of some great work in the field of Introductory Electromagnetic Theory, Linear- systems theory, Energy-state-function Formulation, Electrical Machines, Transformers, Electromechanical Energy Conversion, and Primitive-machine Theory.