Resources Books

Jane Creswell has years of coaching and teaching coaches under her belt. She has done a great job of sharing some of the most basic and most important information on coaching in this great book. This book is also very helpful for those of us who want to do coaching in a Christian context. If you are considering coaching or being coached, this book is a must-read.

Christ-Centered Coaching: 7 Benefits for Ministry Leaders is a excellent introduction for Christian leaders to what coaching is and how it can help. The author, Jane Creswell, is no hack when it comes to coaching. She's the founder of the IBM Coaches Network and a Master Certified Coach, she's also a Christian with a passion to bring coaching to ministry leaders.

The strength of the book lies in Creswell's ability to dig into seven coaching approaches, which also serve as seven mental models or attitudes of a coach. Each chapter is illustrated with useful case studies of coaching situations that take the book from theory to real life. The seven are:

1. Leveraging strengths
2. Provide clarity and focus
3. Instill confidence
4. Catapult learning
5. Foster intentional progress
6. Coach others
7. Encourage God-sized goals

These seven may not sound particularly unique, they are not, what is unique is the way Creswell illustrates how coaching accomplishing these things in a non-directive way and integrates these with Scriptures. As such, this book is helpful to learn the mindset and approaches of a good coach. Both potential coaches and clients would benefit from reading it.

Christ-Centered Coaching adds to a growing library of coaching books for Christians.

I believe "Christ-centered Coaching" is a great book both for those who coach and those are coached. It gives clarity as to what coaching is and is not and what it can strive to attain. The book is easily understood, even by the novice to coaching. I would recommend this book as one to be read first by those who are just beginning to explore coaching.

A well-written book which appears to be targeted towards men and women who serve on the staffs of churches, it also provides valuable insights into how coaching works and how it can benefit everyone. It is organized in a manner that makes it easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to refer back to. I recommend it for everyone's library.

FINALLY, after thirty-something years, Jesus Christ makes sense to me! I finally see why and how it all happened. Kumar pulls in references and quotes from some of the best Christian minds and publications. For such a bargain price, one might expect a small pocket book with tired arguments. But this is a large book chock full of great information and thought-provoking descriptions. I would highly recommend this book to anyone searching or to any Christian who is helping to answer a searcher's questions.

This book is an excellent introduction to the philosophical arguements that support Christianity. When I first looked at the illustrations of htis book I expected it to be on the Junior High level but it is more indeapth. While only an introduction to the subject Steve Kumar does an excellent job of encapsulating the basic arguements for 1) the existence of God 2)the existence of Evil being consistent with the existence of God 3) the irrationallity of Atheism 4) the Deity of Christ 5) the divine origin of the Bible and 6) agruments against Eastern religions and Islam.

This book is not only a good evangelical tool but also should be read by Christians to better understand the logical validity of their faith.

I recommend this book for skeptics who need an "in a nutshell" coverage of the basics of Christianity. I also recommend this book to any Christian who has deep faith in Christ, but also needs a deeper intellectual understanding of what he/she believes.
It doesn't "beat the bush" when confronted with questions like "Is the resurrection real?" or "Is the Bible the true word of God?" The answers are given in plain English, not in academic gibberish, so that I would not be worried that some people would find it too hard to understand or too simplified to be credible. It also exposes the weaknesses of the other religions when put in the presence of the light of Christianity. I consider it a priceless tool in answering questions raised by an unbelieving and confused world.

Don't underestimate Mr. Kumar he does a masterful job at explaining complex arguments in simple understandable terms. This is a great tool for evangelism. If you are not quite sure how to answer those hard-nosed intellectual snobs, this book is a great starting point. Kumar deals with some of the most relevant objections of our time. How would you answer an Atheist? Can you really trust the Bible? Kumar deals with these questions and much more. The reason I gave this book a five star rating is because it maintains simplicity yet incorporates complexity!

My teacher read this to our class when I was only 6-years-old, and I had to run out that weekend and purchase it for my very own book collection. Now, 12 years later, I still pull this book out all of the time to look at some of the most gorgeous illustrations to ever be printed in a children's book, and to read the story of the little Christmas Day Kitten. A must-have book for all, as the beauty of it will warm the heart of everyone in your family for years and years to come.

Erika Sorocco

This book is the epitamy of heartwarming. After all the sad, depressing things that happen in today's world, this book (and all of James Herriot's stories) makes you feel a lot better. Perfect for kids, this book will warm the souls of everyone.

Even though I haven't read this book since I was younger, I remember it as having a perfect happy ending. Even if you don't buy it, you should at least go to the library and check it out. You might like it enough to buy it anyways :)

This picture book, although written for children, can be enjoyed by people of all ages, especially cat lovers! James Harriot has a style of story-telling that draws you in and doesn't let you go until you've finished the story. This story is just a small sampling of the many wonderful vet stories that Harriot has to tell.

Not having been familiar with the work of James Herriot before this book, I was happily surprised when I read this to my little cat-loving daughter this christmas season. This is a touching story which brought us both to tears, but gave a joyful smile as we reached the end of the story. Truly a story to be shared with every child at christmas!

I have learned more from this book about Church Administration than I have at both my undergrad and grad level study schools.If you're looking dor a how to approach to "further the administation of God, which is by faith love and a pure conscience" then buy this book on administration today. I was able to centralize the church treasury, introduce accountin software; created an interal audit committee and learned how to protect myself and the church through counseling. Loaded with IRS forms and examples of how to recieve gifts and offerings above a certain limit, it also came with practical approaches to evangelism and leadership development. My favorite quote: the people are the greatest resourse.

An amazing resource for every congregation! As a senior minister of a growing congregation, my challenge is to use the time and talents of lay leaders effectively. When our growing staff required better personnel procedures and records, Church Administration made it possible for a brand new committee chair to quickly understand what was needed and put a system into place. Why re-invent the wheel when this book by church management experts offers exactly what you need to get the job done. We've saved weeks of committee work--and had more time for ministry. Every church board needs a copy of this book.

Every church secretary/office manager should have this book. You can spend a lot of time comiling all this information yourself, but as most secretaries know...time is a very precious commodity and there never seems to be enough of it. This book is definately a time saver because it has resources, help and information for just about everything you encounter in church administration. It is well worth the investment.

A huge timesaver for anyone involved in church administration, either as an ordained leader, member of a church's board/vestry, or church secretary/administrator. This book is accessable and clear, full of practical advice and very useful forms and policy "boilerplate." These forms save a lot of time and trouble, because you don't have to re-invent the wheel whenever you need a hiring policy or a church facility use agreement form. In addition, this work has a visible spiritual and scriptural core.

While this book was largely written by Methodists, as an Episcopalian I've found it very easy to adapt to my own church polity. It is used by my vestry and my seminary! I would definitely recommend that your church own a copy.

I recommend this book because it is Biblical in content, Basic in communication, and Believable in character restoration and reconcilation. Pastors, Denominational leaders, and Christian Education workers alike, can benefit from the inspired guidelines the author gives, along with his own victory over personal "giants" that he himself overcame; giving him the experience to write about this all important subject matter.

My relationship with Jesus has made an impact in my life, and it's brought me renewal and healing. This is the same thing that I want to see in the church today -- people finding healing and restoration. Unfortuntately the church is often a "toxic" environment without acceptance of each other and without real intimate sharing of love and true heart-felt fellowship. But, that's what the gospel is all about! Bringing people forgiveness and reconcilation to their heavenly father and to each other. This is what God wants the church to become!

Pastor Murren's book gives excellent guidelines on how to change the local body to become a church that can make an impact on people. He points out the messy problems that bringing true healing to people entails, and helps you to sight on the long-term goals, rather than the short-term problems. He also brings a lot of real-world examples (both positive and negative) that show how powerfully the Spirit can move in the church as well as bad-examples to avoid. Pastor Murren is transparent and talks about his own problems and short-comings, and his advice helps you to see your own problems, but how God can still work and use you and your church for His work. I found his book very useful and see it as a great resource for doing ministry in the 21st century

In a down-to-earth and honest manner, Murren reminds us of the Church's purpose and call to those in need. His stories and personal experiences, when matched with biblical truths, are a genuine reminder of how churches should operate. This book not only initiated my own introspection into how I deal with others, but offered biblical direction into how I should deal with others. Overall a very valuable read.

Many churches are struggling to find a way to reach the people of their community. This book reminds us that the focus should be on ministering to the broken. Doug provides practical advice on how to accomplish this. Our local church is in disarray and searching for a new pastor. I found this book to provide some practical insight as to the characteristics that we should strive for in rebuilding our church and selecting a pastor. It should be prayfully read by every pastor and deacon. It describes the focus that the local church needs to be relevant to the 21st century.

This book is made up of many of the most important works wriiten about organizational behavior. Some are quite practica, while others are more theoretical. If this is the type of information that you are looking for, it is a great collection.

If you want to know where 95% of today's hot "new management ideas" come from, this is the reader! If you know this stuff you will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in today's over-crowed management book market.

I use this book as a primary source for a graduate level Organization Development Course. It presents a comprehensive foundation of the field using original articles by the "founders" of OD. It is the only OD book I have found that gets all of this between its covers! Highly recommend. Dr. Lloyd Greene, Texas State University.

It,s true that our mode of behaving in the organization depends greatly on our values we have in our life. Also how we think affect our attitude toward our personal role in the organizing process. it,s not easy to become selfless and humble to fit better in the teams set up in the organization. We need some guide to reprogram ourselves in order to smooth our role we play in the organizing process. The book "Classics of organizational behavior" could be a base to clarify those items mentioned above and many other still to be known. Anyone working in an organization should have such great book in his/her collections. Very Truly Yours, Rodulfo Geerman

I was looking for something I could use as an SLP. I didn't realize that buying this as a package with the other Clear Speech book was redundant, since they are different volumes for the same book.

If you have some problem of English pronounciation,
You should use it.
Because it is really useful for them, and
it is really helpful.
So, you should use it if you have some problems.

Now, I've seen some pretty innovative approaches to illustrating pronunciation. But this takes the prize so far.

From the author's letter to teachers:

"For years, teachers have been asking me to write a version of my intermediate level book, Clear Speech, that would be usable for beginners. They said that it would make more sense to help students with pronunciation early, rather than wait until they have developed habits that are hard to overcome. Also, teachers often found that their beginning students became discouraged when people didn't understand what they were saying, and of course, a discouraged student is harder to teach. Teachers who were trying to help their beginning students with pronunciation expressed frustration with the limited results they were getting from traditional methods of drilling minimal pair (e.g., ship/sheep) or asking students to "sound out" the letters in print. [ e.g. "Do you want to go to the store? / Doo yoo wahnt too goh too thuh stor?" ] They were asking for a more effective approach.

All of this made sense to me. But the problems was that I just couldn't think of an approach that would work. For one thing, beginners simply don't have enough vocabulary to understand explanations. And with so much else to learn, there isn't much class time for pronunciation. One thing was clear to me: A really useful book had to be radically different from any other in the field, including my own intermediate level book."

The author has succeeded beyond everyone's expectations.

Conventional wisdom in the ESL/EFL world holds that pronunciation should not be taught at the beginning level. It's just too technical, requiring complicated descriptions and explanations for which beginning students don't have the vocabulary.

But if there were a way to make the material accessible? Even beginners need to communicate clearly -- intelligible speech fosters successful academic, work, and social interactions, and that's got to be encouraging for the student! Judy Gilbert's well-planned approach makes clear pronunciation truly accessible to beginners. The book -- rightly so -- limits the pronunciation points to those that are most urgently needed for intelligibility. The principle areas covered are: (1) the alphabet: using letters to spell out loud for clarification, (2) decoding spelling/reading words: using simple spelling rules to predict the pronunciation of a word, (3) syllable number: developing awareness of the number of syllables in words and phrases, being sure not to add unnecessary syllables or to omit necessary ones, (4) syllable stress: lengthening stressed vowels and reducing unstressed ones, (5) word connections: linking words together (this improves both listening comprehension and the smoothness of the student's speech), (6) the music of English: the pitch contours and rhythm of the language, and (7) articulation: t/d, s/z, l/r/n, and th.

There are some very cool things in this book for pronunciation teachers and learners. For example, there are tongue shape drawings looking from the back of the tongue to the front and out the mouth. Can't picture it? You'll have to see it to believe it! Along with the traditional front and side views, this new perspective really helps you visualize what's going on inside your mouth to produce a specific sound. I only wish there were drawings for all the American English vowels and consonants!! (But then it wouldn't be a beginning textbook, would it?)

I also like the vowel pronunciation rules. Example: the letters 'ai' are pronounced like the first letter [a] in the combination. Think: straight, complaint. Then, in the appendix, a percentage is given for how often the rule works, in this case, 95% of the time. This will give the student the confidence to guess how a new word is pronounced, take 'restraint', for example, but not stress out when the rule doesn't work, as in 'plaid'.

There are many helpful graphics in the book. Two of my favorites are the extra-wide bolded letters for stressed vowels (I think you can visualize that) and the diminishing letters for continuant sounds (Thatsssokay. The storezzznearrrMain [the second and third s's, z's, and r's have decreasing font sizes]).

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time. Mostly, I do corporate accent and pronunciation training and executive speech coaching with foreign-born clients who have a high intermediate to advanced command of English. But occasionally, I am asked to train employees who have a lower level of English. This is definitely the book I'll choose for them! Trainees can apply the basic concepts they learn to company-specific vocabulary and technical terms.

I only wish all learners of North American English could start out with this book...

Philippe Rosinski's book is essential reading not only for global coaches but also for corporate leaders and business professionals who interact with diverse customers, clients and colleagues. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the diversity of cultural orientations, as well as specific tools and recommendations for broadening and leveraging different cultural orientations in the workplace.

The centerpiece of the book is a comprehensive model, The Cultural Orientations Framework, which provides a structured format for identifying, assessing, developing and leveraging cultural differences. This model can readily be implemented in the workplace, serving as an objective tool for raising an executive's awareness regarding his/her cultural orientation blind spots. As an executive coach working primarily with American executives who are focused on increasing the breadth and flexibility of their cultural orientations, I have found this book to be a valuable resource for enhancing the cross-cultural capabilities of global executives.

Let me be clear, I don't finish reading books these days unless they are good and I certainly don't bother writing reviews unless I think the book is top notch. So it is a pretty safe bet that if you like any of the other books that I have reviewed, you will like this one.

Coaching Across Cultures is another one of those - must have books - for any serious coach working with professionals. Even if you are not interested in an international practice, (and who isn't) this book still is required reading. The book is really about understanding and integrating our differences. Rosinski who lives currently in Belgium, is an Engineer and a MCC by training who has worked in Silicon Valley.

The book is a bit of a smorgasbord. However, it is well designed and packaged so that each section can be considered a self contained component on cultural issues. Part One makes the case for a cultural framework when coaching and points out the dangers of our assumptions and belief systems when working with others of any origin or background. Part Two provides a high level overview of the key components of developing a cross cultural mindset. Although generalized in content, it also provides concrete examples and practical applications of how this plays out in our interactions with others. Part Three is a bit more conceptual and is well suited to those who come from an organizational development perspective. Roskinski has created his own Global Scorecard approach that is tied into his Cultural Orientations Framework. For my reading, it seems thorough, usable and comprehensive.

Coaching Across Cultures is well documented with references, a glossary and some interesting appendixes. There is little to find fault. Perhaps that is because, Rosinski himself is careful never to find fault. He is a great diplomat and finds a place for all styles and approaches whether it is the transactional techniques of some North American coaching styles to the transformational style of others.

If there is one area that I find a little weak, it is his discussion of self-assessment as a precursor the organizational assessment through his Global Scorecard. Now I am the first to admit that assessments are not only my area of interest, it is my business - so I have a bias. That said, I found Rosinski focus on the tools he prefers (the MBTI specifically) left me with the impression that this is THE tool. I also believe that this was not Roskinki's intention - as he does mention a few others but not some that I would have expected. Now don't get me wrong, I love the MBTI and the others he includes but I thought that at least a few more should have been mentioned or acknowledged.

This is a solid, well-written and great new contribution to the field of coaching and working within the global setting. Don't just get this book - read it. I can almost guarantee it will have a positive affect on how you will interact in the future with your clients.

This is the first, and currently only, book on coaching cross-culturally. The author brings the multifaceted perspective of culture into the coaching equation. The book starts with an introduction to coaching and culture and then goes in depth in cultural perspectives. The author wraps up the book with a couple chapters integrating all this into coaching practice.

Coaching is defined as "the art of facilitating the unleashing of people's potential to reach meaningful, important objectives" (page 4). Surprisingly there is nothing distinctly cross-cultural in the definition. Such as "the art of facilitating in culturally relevant ways the unleashing of people's potential..." This definition could come from any book on coaching. Culture is defined broadly to include not just nations and peoples, but corporate culture as well.

The real meat of the book is the second section, nearly half the text. The author presents a series of Cultural Orientations each with tools for how to assess them through coaching. Orientations such as a sense of power and responsibility, time, identity and purpose, organization and communication each have a chapter devoted to them. The author begins each chapter with a presentation of the various cultural perspectives on the Orientation, for example, concerning time there are grids of scarce or plentiful; one activity at a time or multiple tasks; and past, present or future orientation. The author presents a tool for the coach to understand the client's orientation, and for the client (and teammates) to understand himself or herself. The final section is a synthesis of the theory into practice. The author illustrates how he uses his detailed Cultural Orientation grid during coaching sessions.

This book is helpful for those interested in the cross-cultural issues. The book gets a bit lost in trying to reach a wide audience by focusing on at least three audience needs: skills for coaching people of other cultures, cross-cultural team awareness, and personal cultural awareness. The niche this book best fits would be a multicultural team trying to understand each other and how a team leader might coach them through that process of understanding.

The book is not solely dedicated to the international arena but for everyone who works with people from different organizations and backgrounds. The author's aim is to raise the level of awareness of cultural orientations and suggests how to use differences constructively. The book breaks out of the usual confines of cultural assumptions to find creative solutions. It introduces coaching and cross-cultural concepts, provides a framework for integrating coaching and cultural perspectives, and examines numerous cultural orientations. Rosinski presents a Culture Orientations Framework to assess and profile culture, and a Global Scorecard to help set targets at all levels. Chapters discuss how to leverage power and responsibility, time management, identity and purpose, organizational arrangements, notions of territory and boundaries, communication patterns, and modes of thinking. This is a very thoughtful treatment of an unusual and highly important subject.

Probably the best, easy-to-read book regarding coaching and mentoring for self-taught, busy managers.

This is a great "how to" book. It has plenty of "laundry lists" that all coaches must keep in mind at all times. It is one of the most comprehensive coaching books that I've seen for a long time. This "on my desk" book is guarranted to have plenty of high-liteing and dog-ears within a short period of time. This is a must for new or seasoned coaches and coaches-of-coaches.

First, let me disclose that I am a client of the author. So perhaps I should be upset with Mr. Brounstein for putting out a book that has the same information I paid him thousands of dollars to teach me. Buy the book.

Remember the first time you dealt with a difficult employee - the knot in your stomach as you called them into your office. Learn about giving constructive feedback instead of criticism, and you may just turn a problem employee into a model employee - it happened to me. The knot may not go away completely, but with this technique it will definitely be more manageable. Buy the book.

Work smarter not harder. Learn about Results-based Performance Management, and get results, not just busy employees. Teach your employees to manage themselves by holding them accountable for results, not just activities that you give them to do. Buy the book.

Learn about coaching techniques such as Tutoring With Questions that will get your employees to start answering their own questions - and getting the right answers. Buy the book.

About a year ago I suddenly found myself in charge of 100 employees that had been thrown together from different cultures as the result of mergers and corporate realignment. Through the techniques I learned from Marty that are revealed in this book, I have been able to build an effective team of managers who in turn have helped me turn the organization around. A year ago, we were missing committed deadlines one after another. Now, we consistently meet and often beat our commitments. I often refer to my copy of the book for a refresher on Marty's techniques and regularly refer my managers to the book when they run into difficult situations. Buy the book.

Just in case I forgot to mention it: Buy the book.

This would be an informational book for people who are coaching or mentoring others. There are lots of helpful tips on how to get others to work for you, not against you. These tips can be helpful when you want people to try their best.

Fekete hits the nail on the head with this one. Her premise is that like people, companies have distinct personalities. And, like people, companies have definite preferences for gathering information and communicating it, for making decisions and structuring work, for dealing with difficult times, behaving during conflict, and seeking their source of energy and strength. Their collective preferences regarding these essential acts provide the basic components of company personality.

This is an extremely valuable new book that can be helpful to CEOs, senior management and marketing executives, enabling them to recognize their company as a distinct personality and use this understanding to translate self-awareness into sound business practices and attitude.

I am someone who has spent about 20 years working in several organizations with different management flavors, in different gegraphies and I have always wondered why some companies thrive and the others simply survive, if not worse.

Companies are People, Too (CAP2) is an amazing "Finger on the Pulse" that any organization MUST undertake in order to Thrive.

CAP2 - both as in inward looking excercise (introspection) and an forward /upward looking (growth, long term plans) excercise that companies with an eye on the bottom line, value add to customers and shareholders must undertake.

CAP2 is not the usual "run of the mill" I've been there, seen it, did it and here is my account kinda book that seemingly fills up the cases of most bookstores. CAP2 is a factual documentary - almost a Bible for Managers / Owners / Aspiring Entrepreneurs and just about anyone who wants his or her or their business to thrive. CAP2 is the bottom line of Management Truth Seekers and I believe it should be included as a mandatory part of good management school curriculum.

CAP2 comes cheap for the richness that it contains within. CAP2 is the harvest of a great deal of thought, observation, uncanny instinct and utlimately Divine Wisdom.

CAP2 is for those that are born to suceed, who will themselves to suceed.

CAP2 is and will be a hall mark book, a once in a lifetime effort. Sandra Fekete needs to be honored, congratulated and thanked for such a wonderful and timely contribution for people who strive to make better organizations.

This book offers an in-depth description of how personality traits can be used to help understand a company's culture, using the well-known Myers-Briggs system.
What makes this book so interesting is that it provides a system for understanding company personalities and corporate culture in a new way - yet it uses a system that many of us are already familiar with (the MBTI). It's very easy to understand even without understanding the MBTI.
The book contains a sample questionnaire, then covers each of the 16 types in much more detail. For each of the 16 company personality types, the book gives a Snapshot, Characteristic Strengths, Characteristic Weaknesses, Work Environment, Values, Communication Style, Sources of Energy, Signs of Stress, Behavior during Conflict, Approaches to Managing Change, Ideal Clients, Core Values and a Case Study company.
As if that wasn't enough, it goes on to look at leadership styles, again with a sample questionaire and detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use the results be a more effective leader.
The book has a great deal of good information packaged in a way that is useful and well-organized. The information is practical, easy to follow and able to be applied immediately.

In his very influential book, "Emotional Intelligence," Daniel Goleman said that self-awareness is the core emotional competency, but how do you build self-awareness and how do you translate it into action? In "Companies Are People, Too," Sandra Fekete provides us with a clear and highly practical approach to answering those questions.

Most of us think of organizations as "things," not people, but organizations are comprised of people who build its culture, the shared beliefs, values, and norms that define its purpose and operating style. In addition, most of us think of "self-awareness" as applying to individuals; we don't think of organizations as becoming self-aware, but Fekete explains that organizations need to do precisely that if they plan to be successful and fulfill their mission.

The book uses the 16 types identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help an organization build awareness of its unique personality. This is an excellent choice because many people in organizations are familiar with the MBTI and regard it as an effective tool. I happen to like the MBTI, and have used it in executive coaching and team building, but Fekete has taken the approach far beyond these applications by showing how an organization can use what it learns about its personality to shape all facets of its operation, from strategic planning to building brand identity. I especially like the suggestions given for how an organization can leverage its strengths, and identify and overcome its weaknesses. This extremely well written and timely book is must reading for leaders, and for consultants and others working with organizations to build their future.