Resources Books

It would be silly to say that you NEED to read this book before entering into the ministry. God has used many a man who have probably never even heard of Baxter or "the reformed christian."
However, if you are considering purchasing this book, then I would say dont even think twice. Besides the "pastoral epistles" of Paul (1st & 2nd Timothy, and Titus) I know of no other piece of work that will prepare you and teach you the way that those who lead the church ought to be. I would recommend it to anyone who has a heart for the Lords work, not just pastors.
Richard Baxter was a man full of the Holy Spirit. The words in this book will illuminate your soul, and convict you to the point of crying out to God and running to the cross of Christ. It can be a very painful book in many areas because it will cause you to look at yourself and wonder if you are really walking the life that The Lord wants from those who lead his people.
Its very difficult to find the words to describe how incredible this book is. I have to read it in tiny little sections instead of by chapters because there is so much depth to it. and each small section will bring me to tears.
Physically, this book weighs about as much as any other paper back. Spiritualy, you wont be able to lift it off the ground, much less turn a page

Baxter's time was not too unlike our own. Despite there being a large theological agreement that there must be discipline within the Church, very few leaders in the church are willing to carry it out. Baxter reminds us, and convincingly so, that we must do so for not only the good of the soul of the individual, but for the rest of the Church, and even ourselves. Most of the book rotates around the subject of discipline in the pastoral ministry. It also contains many other details concerning the ministry that would be good for any aspiring, or current pastor to read.

The only reason I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because this version is the abridged version of what Baxter wrote years ago. However, there is nothing that would tell you this unless you read the preface. I was a little disturbed upon originally reading the preface that this was the case, and that the original work is closer to 700 pages (depending on margins and type settings). This book has a rather tiny font size, and very little margin, so even though it is only over 100 pages, if it were in the typical type setting you see in most books, it would probably be closer to 3-400 pages.

Also, the ancient Elizabethean english has been revised for the modern reader, which probably accounts for the shorter number of pages.

Don't let any of this distract you from getting this book though, there are still many redeeming qualities to it.

The Reformed Pastor was actually very different than I anticipated, being nothing about reformed theology or even theology at all. "Reformed Pastor" actually means reforming pastors, using the word the same way we would say "reformed hardened criminal." Hmmm. I guess that already tells you this book isn't one of those "feel-good" books.

Richard Baxter was famous for two things: being a tremendous pastor to a town in England, and getting constantly into trouble for being so blunt that he would make enemies of his friends. This book is about being a tremendous pastor, and it is very very blunt.

It is an extended lecture he proposed to give to a local ministerial association in 1656. The book uses as its foundation and framework Acts 20:28: "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." The book first deals with pastors "taking heed" to their own spiritual state and life, and then turns its attention to taking heed to all the flock.

As to the topic of taking heed to their own spiritual lives, Baxter starts at the beginning, with making sure the reader is truly a Christian, and progresses through disciplines, qualifications, and indwelling sin. He next emphasizes the reasons why a pastor must be rigorous in his own spiritual life. He expounds reasons such as how many eyes are on the man of God, how difficult the work is, and how the honor of Christ depends on it. He reminds his reader of many practical insights, such as "all that a minister does is a kind of preaching" and to avoid the error of men who "study hard to preach exactly, and study little or not at all to live exactly."

After dealing with the pastor's personal life, he tackles the pastor's responsibility to shepherd his congregation. His most radical recommendation, radical back then and almost unthinkable to American churches today, is for a pastor to personally visit and catechize people (for those unfamiliar with the term, it means to teach a list of several hundred questions and answers of basic theology). Specifically, he says a pastor should catechize each and every family, in the pastor's entire town, each and every year. In Baxter's town that meant 2000 people in 800 families, that he and his associate pastor took two full days every week to go through the whole town every year.

He bluntly states, "If the pastoral office consists of overseeing all the flock, then surely the number of souls under the care of each pastor must not be greater than he is able to take such heed as to here is required." Yea, and I'm sure the pastoral staff of most churches personally know every member of their flock. And yes, I know that we consider Sunday School teachers or small group leaders to be "overseeing the flock"- but how many of those leaders in our churches see themselves as shepherds, have been theologically trained and commissioned as overseers, one-on-one ask them regularly about their spiritual life, and are seen by the members of their class or group as having spiritual responsibility over them?

But it was a radical idea even back then, so much so that Baxter takes dozens of pages to specifically give all the reasons why every pastor should devote himself to this universal visitation and dozens more pages to specifically answer a whole series of objections to the work. In short, he says that he had found that an hour of focused questions concerning a person's spiritual state was often more helpful than years of listening to sermons for their spiritual growth. It's hard to argue with that conclusion, and harder to argue with the marked growth (in both numbers and spiritual maturity) that history shows that his church had under his pastorship.

As to objections to why not do it, he says that they all are variations on the theme of "I'm too lazy or greedy" which he viciously attacks as unworthy of any follower of Christ, let alone a pastor. To laziness, he asks "Are these works to be done with a careless mind, or a lazy hand? O see, then, that this work be done with all your might!"

To greed, he states that if a pastor has too many families in his church for him to visit individually, then he should hire another pastor out of his own salary to help him. He challenges, "What! Do you call yourselves ministers of the gospel, and yet are the souls of men so base in your eyes, that you had rather they eternally perish, than that you and your family should live in a low and poor condition?" Whoa there, Baxter must have never read Your Best Life Now!

The book is chock full with other helpful insights and wry comments, such as "All our teaching must be as plain and simple as possible." "Is it not a pity, then, that our hearts are not as orthodox as our heads?" "It is a contradiction in terms, to be a Christian, and not humble." "We must study how to convince and get within men, and how to bring each truth to the quick." "In the name of God, brethren, labour to awaken your own hearts, before you go to the pulpit, that you may be fit to awaken the hearts of sinners." And my list could go on and on and on. I have already discussed his specific instructions on personal evangelism in another article.

After reading The Reformed Pastor, I have to agree with Spurgeon, Packer, Dever and all the other big kahunas- this is absolutely essential reading for any man called to the ministry, to pin him against the wall and make him take stock of his ministry, his priorities, and his life before God, and to make him deeply consider about how best to "take heed over" himself and all his flock.

This is no candy or soup for the soul, its solid and challenging real world meat for the work of the ministry. Baxter challenges us to a kind of ministry that exceeds human ability alone. Such a ministry drives us to our only hope for that ability and keeps us returning to the everlasting arms of our heavenly father.

I read this book because so many people have spoken of it as a classic. Having now finished it, I must say I am a little disappointed with the content. I expected profound and striking ideas. In these pages however, were no new principles I have not already learned.

The smallness of Baxter's content however, is far exceeded by the substance of his character. It is his character, his pastoral passion for ministry that makes this book the classic it has become. His single-minded devotion to God and his tender, shepherd's heart for his flock have inspired pastors for over 300 years.

This book is not an easy read. The English language has changed substantially over 300 years, and as a result the essence of Baxter's pastoral passion is undoubtedly distorted. Still, this volume IS a classic, and is a must-read for any pastor wanting to refine and/or restore his motivation for ministry.

Great book. This was a huge help to me as I was planning my first retreat. Thank you for providing the great ideas!

This book is really worth the money. Last year I was asked to faciliate a retreat for a nonprofit organization. I had absolutely no idea what to do or how to start. I researched many books on retreat planning, and Retreats That Work was far and away the most comprehensive and easy to apply. It walks you through interesting exercises that provoke real dialogue and inject energy into the process. I would have been completely lost without this book. The retreat was a complete success and I was asked to repeat the process this year. I recommend this book to novices and professionals alike.

Even though I was trained at a local University in facilitation and have years of experience facilitating meeting and retreats, reading Retreats That Work took my skills to a whole new level.

I've been facilitating retreats of and on for about 18 years as part of my marketing consulting business, and I've always thought I was rather good at it. However, I just facilitated a strategic planning retreat for a professional services firm AFTER reading (in great detail) Retreats That Work, and it was by far the most professional, organized, productive and dynamic retreat I've ever facilitated. The thinking in the book is so very lucid and instructive, that using it as a reference allowed me to cover all of my bases and greatly increase my confidence and creativity.

From here on out, I am going to pursue much more facilitation work, because I feel I understand the process much better than before, and having this book on my desk makes me feel like I have a senior advisor available whenever I need it.

Just to let you know, there are numerous excellent retreat exercises that are categorized to help you choose the ones appropriate to different retreat types, there is a disk with printable resources, and throughout the book, there are numerous referrals to other professional resources that the authors have found useful. I really benefited from the author's thoughts on the consultant/client relationship and tips for managing client personalities and expectations.

If anyone else has ever read a professional resource book that is as good as this one (on almost any topic) I want to hear about it - this one is by far the best one I have ever read.

I am periodically asked by my coaching clients to support them and their teams by conducting offsites. While I have had a lot of experience participating and doing offsites, this book has introduced me to some additional techniques and activities. I have found the book to be extremely helpful, complete, instructive and have recommended it to others.

We design retreats for both large and small groups and needed to pass this knowledge on to others without our background and experience. This book was extremely helpful in providing some fundamentals that we were able to adapt to our clients needs.

Fred Wackerle is a well known Executive Search Consultant who has delivered a product that is based on years of experience working with Boards on CEO searches and succession issues. His book is a great expose on the interworkings of the CEO hiring process, the problems that exist and continue to go on in many organizations. The book clearly outlines the search process from five different perspectives, the Board Search Committee, the CEO, the potential candidates, the CHRO and the Executive Search Consultant. Using a sample company, Fred describes the issues impacting each participant, identifies the pitfalls and the corrective action required to eliminate the problems. The author accurately describes the right way to execute a CEO search for each of the five participants and includes the steps each must follow to conclude a successful search.

There is a definite need to inform, educate and hold accountable Boards of Directors for the proper selection of a CEO. "The Right CEO" outlines a process participants should follow is must reading for all Board Members and all participants involved in the CEO selection process.

Fred Wackerle has written a book that will become the conscience for all of us involved in CEO selection. He captures the essence of what really happens...he's been there. He reveals the myths of the CEO succession process and why today it is broken. The book is must-reading for anyone who cares about the future of corporate leadership. Having successfully recruited CEO successors, Fred has come to believe that many decision-makers in the CEO search and selection process - especially board members - are in the dark about what it takes to find top executive talent.

In this amazingly frank book, Wackerle illustrates the darker side of CEO selection and board governance by characterizing the key players in the typical succession process: the head of the search committee,a board member and Harvard Business School classmate beholden to the current CEO; the chief HR executive, now torn between serving two masters; an executive search consultant with questionable values and who may not have the experience to take on an assignment of this nature and magnitude; and finally, the CEO "wannabe" who is so naive about accepting the top job that he jeopardizes his entire career. The process is rife with conflicts and complexities.

Ever hear the cliche, "He wrote the book!"? Well, in the case of THE RIGHT CEO, it's not a cliche at all. Fred Wackerle really has written THE BOOK on this topic. It's the real deal, the definitive treatise if you will, on CEO selection. THE RIGHT CEO is filled with uncommon wisdom and genuine lessons of experience. Whereas some good books are written by people who research an interesting topic, then write about their findings or opinions; here's a book written by someone who really is an expert, who has "lived" the subject matter, and has plenty of facts, evidence and real people and stories to back it up. Now, if only THE RIGHT PEOPLE (like Boards of Directors)would read it...

Fred Wackerlee has been on the forefront of senior executive recruiting for many years. I have been waiting for this book and frankly I have not been disappointed. It is the best. Bravo Fred! He captures the intersancum of what happens in CEO selection & succession. He should know - he has been there and has the street smarts to see what is really happening. Fred knows the myths of the CEO succession process and why today it needs changing - especially with the malfeasance of the 90s. This book is a must-read for executives & academics who care about the future of free enterprise, corporate leadership, talent and stockholders.

Fred Wackerle's book, The Right CEO, is the work of a big picture, comprehensive mind centered on a subject of practical action that stands as first priority in today's leadership vacuum in the top management of our corporations. Most books by consultants bore us into a stupor or show off with charts and graphs and arcane language that do little to show us a proven way when we want guidance in an area of supreme importance to us. And we want that in as clear and brief a form as possible without selling out to simplistic solutions. This book has authority stamped all over it. The author has competed in a treacherous arena and emerged victorious-all without bragging about it.

No current CEOs considering their successors, no boards of directors responsible for those successions, no heads of human resources seeking to be stand up catalysts for those successions, no consultant called on to conduct the searches for those successors, and no potential candidates for CEO positions should enter this arena Wackerle has written about without his threadbare book in their hands.

Many books start out strong and fizzle as they move toward their conclusion. This book starts out strong and just gets stronger, weaving early points into constantly enlarged lessons that are a rich diet for the reader hungry to learn how a CEO search can be conducted expertly. The result of such a search is to land a CEO in the job who not only is the right person at the right time at the right company, but a CEO secure-at home in her own skin. Because she's at ease with herself, other people are at ease with her.

I said the book is practical-step-by-step straightforward without big words, but it's also wise and futuristic. The important thrust of Wackerle's message is that the work of a CEO search is collaborative, where the principals in the action conduct themselves in complete candor-yet matched by trust. That's a skill worth working at and mastering!

Allan Cox is author of Straight Talk for Monday Morning

This is the latest offering from one of the most insightful analysts of national and global security issues. In this book, Klare is essentially warning of the impending energy crisis, both related to climate change and to the increasing scarcity of petroleum, and of how both will likely escalate into political and/or military crises. He tells the sordid tale of the unholy alliances the United States has historically entered into to secure access to petroleum, and reveals the dynamics of the current global energy market--who has it, who needs it, the deals being cut to access it, and what the consequences of this arrangement may be. Klare also makes a compelling case for US/Chinese cooperation on things like carbon sequestration for coal-powered power plants to mitigate global warming, since both nations will continue to rely heavily on this dirtiest of fuels. He also makes a strong pitch for a rapid and massive move toward renewable energy sources as a key part of not only securing energy, but securing peace as well.

"Oil will cease to be primarily a traded commodity, but instead the preeminent strategic resource on the planet -- with power struggles over energy being the defining characteristic of the new century."

The charts alone tell the story of what lies ahead. The most striking figure for me is that the US, the world's sole superpower for the last 2 decades, holds 3.3% of the world's natural gas reserves yet produces and uses 18.5% of the world total - not sustainable long term strategy for a country that refuses to invest meaningfully or intelligently in efficiency or alternative sources of energy. More concerning yet is the growing concentration of the world's dwindling oil reserves in unstable regions of the world where ALL of the major developing and developed countries are involved in a high stakes, high nerves 21st century version of the Great Game. Klare lays out the situation simply and clearly and lets the reader draw most of the conclusions. It doesn't take much editorializing to help us understand why the US has 12 major military bases in the Gulf region or why China refuses to condemn the appalling situations in Sudan or Zimbabwe. For anyone who wants to understand the larger picture, this is a great book.

I have read all of Michael T. Klare's books and I think this is his best work. The book is well written and well thought out. I think some of his other works, his liberal colors show and he showed his personal dislike for the President and Republicans and conservatives in general and liked to play the blame game. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I am just saying I can be more objective than Mr. Klare because I dislike everybody equally, Mr. Klare is political. In the past Mr. Klare seems to show his world view might be colored because he might have been a 1960's hippie and he's spent a lot of his professional career in rich New Hampshire in the comfort and safety of rich, and comfortable Hampshire College in squeaky clean Amherst. I don't question the author's smarts or his honesty. He believes what he says. What does the author want? Page 252, "devise new technologies and industrial processes that consume fewer resources while stimulating economic growth, improving human life, and protecting the global climate." You don't want much do you honey?! Page 254, China and the United States, "cooperation would be the development of super-efficient, lightweight motor vehicles." More cars?! You are not asking for much are you Mr. Klare? Then why can't I have a wife that's always 117 pounds, is never moody and easy to get along with, has an IQ of 150 and loves to cut grass and clean the gutters and doesn't like to go shopping? I am sure Mr. Klare will remember the 1960's Rolling Stone song, "You can't always get what you want." I admire the Author's love of his son and his wife. Again, this is a sharp book by a very smart man. I am glad I bought it. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

A sobering non-ideological account of the struggle among world powers for energy resources.

The author points to actions that could be taken to avoid the catastrophe of world war or another arms race as countries seek to obtain control of the remaining world energy resources.

If anyone is wondering why we have such high gasoline prices in this country this book might give us some clues as to the reason(s) behind such increases in price- peak oil. But not just that- it's peak everything! Increasingly as China, India, Japan, Russia, United States, and Canada compete for natural resources, we are depleting them at a very rapid rate. The author thinks we are pretty much at peak oil and will soon reach peak natural gas in the next decade. Due to the increased competition for resources, alliances have been built to ensure access to these resources via weapons trade and security whether it be in Africa, Central Asia, or Latin America. Countries are even competing for the remaining 25% of oil reserves in the North Pole. Michael Klare believes that if this gun boat diplomacy build up continues, we will be looking at another global war which would be catatrophic for the world. Unfortunately, his suggestions for alternative energy sources are of little consolation give that research and development are still at the early stages and in no way can compete with petroleum. I seriously doubt diplomacy will work as Klare suggests given the history of world conflict and the quest for precious resources. I find the current state of world affairs to be very frightening. Nevertheless, this book provides important information that is sure to startle you. So if you want to understand world affairs and politics as it relates to oil and other natural resources, this book is a must. Highly recommend.

As someone who is both a medical professional and a father, I found this story to be a wonderful one to share with my children.
They know that daddy is training a Therapy Dog to help his patients, so this book was particularly wonderful for them!
Enjoy and have tissues nearby (for yourself!)
Be well,
Dr. Ferraioli
www.drferraioli.com

Rugby and Rosie is a well-done children's book that helps explain the important elements of raising a guide dog puppy. I have read this book aloud to a fourth grade class. The story created good dialog and the children learned about how dogs can help those with disabilities.

Well, I happen to have a chocolate lab named Rugby and I just had to have this book! The book is a wonderful story for children of all ages! It helps to teach responsiblity! My Rugby and I just loved it!

I take issue with the School Library Journal review: "The flat declarative sentences...do not evoke emotion or drama". WRONG! I, a former declared dog-hater, received this book as a gift for my kids. Not only have I read it dozens of times and it has not once failed to make me cry, but it inspired me to adopt a retired Labrador guide dog! This is one of my favorite children's books of all time.

From a puppy raiser, this book it very faithful to the puppy raising experience. It describes, perfectly, all the emotions involved with this process.

This is a superb look at the nitty-gritty world of selling. Although the author does fill it with case studies, they are all useful and thought-provoking. My favorite bit of advice concerns what happens to all top salespeople: they get their territory cut. Why? To keep them from getting complacent, of course.

Joe has gone out of his way to cut to the chase. There is no self esteem building and you can do it rah rah rather Joe's frank honest and what it takes to stay on top, remain on top and what to do when you are caught in a no win situation. As an MBA this type of book should be a mandatory read but the reality of tenured professors that are effectively running a union job do not understand how duplicitous and unethically the real business world can be. I finish this book in a few hours and the insight will last me a career. It is also refreshing from the standpoint that Joe has a soul and is interested in seeing the world and some great sales jobs he has had launched that opportunity. If you surf this book is especially cool(which I do and I can relate to the author on many levels.) Another reviewer was turned off by some profanity of which I do not remember so don't focus on issues of crass.

Anybody. I repeat anybody who sells, or wants to become a sales person, has to read this book. This book will keep you in the "game" longer, by playing corporate business model to your advantage. All successful companies value their sales force. But most Sales Managers make you feel like a zero. By reading this book you can change that number and pave a brighter future. Read and Prosper.

This book is a "must have" for the new graduate or anyone who is considering a career or taking on an adventure in sales.

Finally, a fun-to-read book on sales with valuable and positive insights on getting-in, finding the right company, and getting-out when your company becomes the "wrong company."

Joe T has real-life examples and experiences that show you how to work for yourself and enjoy the adventure. He teaches you what to expect in sales and get the most out of your job and keep your sanity. Rather than providing, rehashed "supposedly new", methods of achieving one time sales success, this book provides a "big picture guide" that helps a salesperson's lifelong career. HIGHLY ENTERTAINING AND RECOMMENDED!!!

I went to B-School, got my MBA, and gained valuable education on the theory and practice of managing a successful business. What I was disappointed by, were the unexamined assumptions around the "corporate dream", which I found pervasive at all levels of the curriculum. Too complex to go into here, but essentially...

Most business schools are in the business of selling the corporate dream and training future managers in the arts of profit maximization, organizational efficiency, competitive advantage, and market penetration. Rarely do they ever address the human reality of corporate downsizing, except as economic data points relevent to the afore mentioned topics.

The Sales Adventure Guide is a practical manual on how to cut through the corporate BS, understand the true meaning behind management-speak, and know how to cover your butt when your job is on the line, through no fault of your own. It uncovers the tactics, often unethical and sometimes illegal, that HR and upper management will use to make you go away, meekly, without costing the company a penny.

The Sales Adventure Guide will help you probe underneath the company's glossy exterior and public face, by showing you how you can ask the right questions and find out important information about the organization you will be contracting your time to.

This book will teach you how to protect yourself, play the corporate game with finesse, and enjoy your life, rather than feel browbeaten at the company's ingratitude towards the days, months, years of your life you gave them - which you will never, ever get back.

Corporate loyalty is a myth, most companies will lay you off without a second thought. Read this book, understand that we are all contractors now.

I visited the Salton Sea to photograph birds and found it impossible to describe, telling friends they had to go there themselves to experience the place and the people. Now I tell them to read this book. From the creation of the Sea to the creation of Salvation Mountain, deBuys tells it's colorful history in a prose that fills you with the sounds and smells and people of the Sea and Imperial Valley. Anyone with an interest in man's unlimited folly, vision, corruption, and the coming environmental train-wreck in southern California needs to read this book.

*Winner of the 2000 Norris and Carol Hundley Award from The Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.

*Winner of the 1999 Western States Book Award for Creative Non-Fiction. *Winner of the 1999 Clements Prize for the Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America.

Bravo! Salt Dreams is the first of its kind to wrap up all of the issues surrounding the Salton Sea and Colorado River delta in one volume. The best since Cadillac Desert in its cinematic portrayal of a complicated host of issues. Awesome writing on the heroism of US Fish and Wildlife staff. My only criticism is that Congressman George Brown is slighted; Sonny Bono often called him "Mr. Salton Sea". Certainly, a book Mr. Brown would have loved.

Superlative read revealing the vast natural beauty of the desert and its inhabitants and man's irreversable errors in judging it as a fallen Eden. Together with Cadillac Desert it ranks as a southwest water classic. Beautiful writing and stunning photographs.

In this important work, Khurana focuses the spotlight on the high-risk dynamics of CEO recruiting - particularly in cases where a company has not been doing well, and its former CEO has been disposed of. He demonstrates that this drama is being played out with increasing frequency in the large corporations which play a major role in our economy.

He finds that a pattern has begun repeating itself in such situations: Boards of directors don't usually take action until a company situation has been deteriorating for a while, so even when they begin the recruiting process, they are already under pressure to take bold and decisive action. This impels them to begin by rejecting any current inside candidates who are felt to be part of the problem, thus incapable of breathing new life into the organization. Underlying this "explanation" is the fear that the press, investors, and the media might not applaud a less-than-spectacular candidate such as any merely competent insider. Such lack of enthusiasm by all these onlookers might well lead to further erosion of stock which has probably already suffered. Thus the directors embark on a quest for some outside candidate who might possess the magic powers to provide salvation. The rejection of inside candidates and the quest for some superstar who can pull a rabbit from the hat are, Khurana asserts, the first steps down a slippery slope that frequently end in tragedy. The book describes the descent and how it has and will affect American business.

This is a fine book that presents a number of fresh insights about a critical issue in the world of large corporations. It is written cogently, with erudition, by an author who is rightfully passionate about his subject. Of the hundreds of management titles published in recent years, this description wouldn't apply to more than a handful.

It is interesting to compare Khurana's findings with those described in the book, "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. Collins reports on a number of companies that outperformed their competitors by huge orders of magnitude. According to Collins the CEOs of these spectacularly performing companies (a) were, with one exception, recruited from within and (b) were definitely non-charismatic leaders, selected for their capabilities with no expectation that they would perform miracles or provide instant cures. These findings certainly lend support to Khurana's assertions. The fact that one of Collins "Good to Great" companies, Gillette, ended up as a Khurana case when its CEO was forced out of his position in 2000 suggests that any generalizations in this field must take into account the rapid changes in the world.

In a final chapter, Khurana attempts a description of some possible solutions to the problems he has identified. His main prescriptions are that the CEO job market be opened up and that some more professional recruiting and evaluation processes be created for CEOs. These are rather weak palliatives for the seemingly intractable trends Khurana has described. The book's strengths lie in its portrayal of the way the CEO labor market is operating, the insights into why it is working that way and its portrayal of implications for the future of large American corporations if the trends continue.

Moreover his findings raise two fundamental issues which, though clearly beyond the scope of this book, must be dealt with in any quest for amelioration.

First issue: When things are going well, boards of directors play very stereotypical and structured roles that rarely include in-depth managerial initiatives. The chances that a board of directors, could, once it becomes evident that a company needs new leadership, mobilize itself into an effective working group and then put in the time and energy to (1) decide why the company is in trouble (2) sketch some of the remedial actions that are needed to cure it (3) set out a rational professional search and bring in new CEO in circumstances in which he or she might succeed and (4) have the patience to permit a new CEO to effect a transformation, is virtually zero. Thus a realistic conclusion from the book's findings is that the chances of success in such a venture are so slight as to be not worthy of the attempt. And if that is the inescapable conclusion, then some solutions more drastic than Khurana's may be called for. One example might be consultants who are dedicated to filling in some sort of CEO role during a transitional year or two in such situations, working with the board to evolve a strategy. I am not recommending such a step - merely suggesting that some new thinking is required.

The second issue -- again assuming that the risks in CEO recruiting will continue to be unacceptably high -- concerns a board's responsibility for making certain that they are never forced to undertake the impossible search. Instead of focusing on what boards have to do to improve their techniques for replacing the CEO, it might be more useful to ask whether it shouldn't be a responsibility of boards to ensure this doesn't happen. What mechanisms need to be built in for boards to assess managerial performance on an ongoing basis and to take prompt action when performance is not satisfactory.

While these are important issues that need to be dealt with, I do not criticize Khurana for not dealing with them in his very fine book. He has done yeoman service in identifying the issues and, in that respect, has hit a bull's eye.

A brutally honest look at what is wrong with how CEOs are chosen in America today. I read an advance copy of this book and could not believe it was allowed to go to press. Dr. Khurana certainly has put his professional aspirations on the line to be so bold, but this is the kind of book that makes a difference in the world.

This book presents what I considered some amazing and enlightening information not normally available to ordinary people. We can read about the stupefying emoluments, titanic disasters, and spectacular firings of CEOs in the popular press, but it is hard to find out the inner workings of how these people got into these positions of influence to begin with. Many of the academic treatises on management I have read seem like distant observations from an ivory tower. Refreshingly, parts of this book sounded to me like the information came from furtive phone calls late at night.

Of course, part of the problem is that the foxes are already in charge of the chicken coop. I, too, would recommend this book to members of corporate boards responsible for the performance of top executives. There are plenty of brilliant executives who should be promoted based upon sound character and true leadership ability. Everyone knows that in many cases this is not happening, but Dr. Khurana has identified the defective process that underlies the problem. It is up to boards of directors to learn about and correct their mistakes.

The final page of the book uses an analogy from the Wizard of Oz about drawing back the curtain to shed light on the inner workings of power, and Dr. Khurana has done a good job of this. His book is to CEO succession as Sinclair Lewis' "The Jungle" was to the meat packing industry--it will turn your stomach and make you cry out for change if you read it.

The selection of a new CEO can be as mysterious as the election of a new Pope, the opacity raising questions about the efficiency and legitimacy of the decisions reached. Because external CEO searches are generally undertaken by companies in the throes of a real or perceived crisis, stakeholders hope the outside CEO will be their savior. Because single-handedly saving a troubled corporation is no ordinary job, boards bent on finding a corporate messiah are not interested in ordinary qualifications but a person who is thought to possess charisma. Enron's Skilling offers a dramatic and instructive illustration of the perils of charismatic corporate ladership. Corporations would do well to reconsider their models of leadership and ways of choosing leaders.

In the decade following McCoy's appointment as CEO, Chicago's Bank One Corporation acquired over 100 banks, moved from 37th largest bank to fourth, and stock increased 500%. In 1999 Bank One began to falter, the stock fell, integrating First Chicago was more difficult than expected, the conservative style clashed with the entrepreneurial culture and McCoy's management style, which was included in the Harvard Business School's required general management course, was seen to be a liability rather than an asset. A revolt gathered steam and a generous separation agreement was negotiated. Stock jumped 11% on the announcement but became volatile with media coverage of the high-profile search for the best person in the US to lead Bank One back to the top with the leadership as the overriding principle guiding the search. Dimon was top of the short list. "In late February, Dimon flew into Chicago to deliver a two-hour presentation to the Bank One search committee. By this time, he had decided he wanted the job. Dimon's presentation seemed to leave his audience breathless. He talked about his philosophy of management, covering such topics as his leadership style and the importance of clearly articulating to people their roles and responsibilities. He also spoke about the importance of instituting a more extensive stock-option plan to better align the incentives of the executives with those of the shareholders. Dimon's bluntness and self-confidence impressed the committee." He wasn't afraid to lead, he said all the right things, he had a plan, he was prepared to make the tough decisions that others wouldn't make. In one brief appearance that Dimon himself largely orchestrated he met Bank One's high standards of leadership. Dimon was appointed over insider Istock and stock soared 30%.

Bank One's CEO succession process followed a familiar script with little emphasis on the company's strategic position and whether the candidate's background was appropriate. If the new CEO is unable to deliver quickly, the wisdom of the selection is questioned. This is the first thread of irrational behavior in what should be a carefully considered process. The leadership school believes that CEOs play a critical role in a firm's performance, while the constraint school believes that internal and external constraints limit the CEO's ability to affect performance. A third school suggests that the pertinent question to answer is 'When does leadership matter?' rather than 'Does leadership matter?' as the leader's impact is highly case-sensitive. "As the Bank One story illustrates, however, it is not only the criteria directors use in choosing a new CEO that calls into question the efficiency and overall rationality of the external CEO market. So do many other features of the search itself." Not only was the initial boost to the stock price short lived, but the board was questioned on its control over the CEO after five directors, including the internal candidate for CEO, "volunteered" to retire from the board after five months. Whether the benefits would be worth the price agreed by the board would remain an open question for an unforeseeable length of time.

"How are we to account for these remarkable, ultimately disquieting features of the external CEO search: the overestimation of the CEO's role and the fixation on charisma; the somewhat Byzantine nature of the search process itself, simultaneously closed to many presumably qualified candidates and open to the influence of many external actors; and the questionable outcomes that this process often produces? This book is an attempt to answer this very question." Boards seriously underestimate the damage that outside succession entails and if the firm is already in trouble, hiring an outside CEO might threaten the survival of the organization itself. A remarkable feature of the Bank One search was that the board passed up an experienced, highly qualified executive who knew the company and its business well. The airplane interview technique in which the incumbent CEO conducts a surprise interview with successor candidates individually and asks who should lead the company assuming both are killed provides very interesting information about the chemistry of the group. Repeating the process three months later when candidates are better prepared but only the incumbent CEO is killed, provides further valuable information. All information is shared with those involved in the final decision. If the process is initiated early enough, the shortlisted candidates can be moved into testing situations that may help the final decision.

Kurana, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Harvard Business School wrote this book based on a study of hiring and firing of CEOs at over 850 of America's largest companies. Anyone who is involved in the selection process of a CEO would be wise to study his findings.

I really enjoyed parts of this book, but the broader points he was trying to make fell flat. The thesis, that we should be wary of charisma and value competency more, is welcome to most people-perhaps everyone sufficiently detached-and his anecdotes provide interesting and powerful support.

For example, as a former banker I appreciated the point he made that big NYC bankers tend to be investment bankers, which is different than commercial banking, which is different than retail banking. It may seem like inside baseball to outsiders, but that's exactly the point: if you don't know the difference, you shouldn't be a bank director. Thus my conclusion would be that instead of telling current board members to be less foolish, it would be more practical to focus on reforming the way board members are chosen. In my experience, most bank board members were absolutely incapable of judging competence on the essential technical issues to sound banking (eg, how credit quality, spread, and volume are related), and choosing board members based on some objective criteria would seem to advance the search for a good CEO better than telling the current board members to not fall for the next empty suit.

But more broadly, is the flawed method of picking a CEO worse than before? Khurana's own data suggests that new CEOs don't matter much, which mean they aren't worse either. And the issue of arbitrariness is somewhat overstated, compared to a platonic ideal that has never existed. Picking any manager, such as a head of IT, raises the same example of cliquish, suboptimal groupthink. The same could be said for how collectives choose politicians, pundits or professors. In the words of Flaubert, "our ignorance of history makes us libel our own times. People have always been like this."

Lastly, he relies a lot on outdated sociological treatises (C Wright Mills, Weber, Whyte), and the idea of a WASP closed society. For example, at one point he mentions that in 1950 most CEOs where white, male, and Protestant, and the same is true today. But as pointed out it in Brook's Bobos in Paradise, you would be remiss not to mention the dramatic change over the past 50 years. For example, back then the Kennedy family were considered outside the establishment. Jews are now around 20% of Harvard's undergrad, and 13% of the Fortune 500 CEOs, even though 3% of the US population. The WASP elite have given way to a much more meritocratic elite, and the fact that it extends to the boardroom is partially a result of the new process for choosing CEOs. In predictable sociological fashion his straw man argument is the dopey institution-free economist, that conventional wisdom that Keynes and Galbraith effectively invoked, but which is now a tired parody of current economic thinking. In the end, there is nothing really deep here, just a fun book highlighting the current foibles of specific group of people trying to deal with incomplete information and coalition building.

Charisma and reputation have replaced management experience and industry expertise in the corner office. Certainly that's not news to anyone who has read the business press at any time in the past decade, but the trend is certainly important enough to warrant the comprehensive examination provided by Rakesh Kurana. Starting with an analysis of the increasing power of activist institutional investors, Kurana traces the process through which boards of directors have forsaken mature managers for media darlings in their CEO searches. In light of the spate of embarrassing and enraging CEO scandals, we from getAbstract recommend this book to all readers.

I was very happy to finally find this book after much confusion and disappointment weeding through the huge number of Rails tutorials, postings, and books including the beta Agile Web Development With Rails 2.0. By the way, if you are new to Ruby, and I assume to Rails, get this book. The people behind the so-called authoritative AWD book are still scrambling to update their book to 2.0, and if you are like me new to Rails and Web development frameworks in general, you will have a heck of time trying to make sense of the various components that make up Rails, the deprecated syntax. Unlike 'Agile Development with Rails' book, 'Simply Rails 2' starts you off with an introduction to Ruby and the theory behind the framework in concise and clear language. I recommend this book highly.

This is an excellent way to start learning about rails with 2.0 and above. Unfortunately, many of the older tutorials and books will break with with 2.0 and above, which is a shame because they contain good information. I'd advise anyone who is learning Rails to start with this book. Once you have the basics down, you can switch to more advanced books and articles.

I also give top marks to Patrick Lenz for making testing such a big part of the book. He doesn't just recommend testing, or give it a cursory treatment, he works testing into every chapter. He walks the walk, and it's pretty great.

While I'm giving the book five starts, it actually does lose a quarter star in my book by integrating AJAX into the application before the concepts have been introduced with simpler forms. Don't get me wrong, I really like AJAX, and I think it's presented very clearly so the treatment of AJAX itself gets top marks. But I think that it would be better to introduce one to many and man to many with forms without the distraction of AJAX, and then work in the UI improvements later.

Small complaint for such a good book, though, and not enough to go below 5 starts. If you want to learn Rails 2.0, this is your book.

Programming (and logical thinking in general) is definitely not my forte'. I consider myself much more of a designer, but I was still really interested in learning Rails so I could build AND design my own web applications.

I haven't finished the book yet, but after reading the first few chapters I have to say it is an amazing book. This, combined with watching some content from [...] has given me a really good introduction to Rails and I'm confident that I'll have a very decent grasp of it within a matter of months.

This is THE book to get if you want to learn Ruby on Rails.

This book is excellent, if you know nothing of Ruby on Rails, and know very little of other programming languages.

It is a book to introduce you to Rails (and Ruby) without going into too much of the technical aspects.

This will in no way make you proficient at developing Rails applications, however, it introduces you to the fundamentals (especially testing) of rails with which you can go and watch screen screencasts, follow tutorials or read other books on rails with a basic understanding of the process.

I do NOT recommend this book to anyone trying to further along their Rails training (nor is it intended for that).

I DO recommend this for anyone who has picked up a rails book or watched a screencast and blindly started to regurgitate the code that is being taught without understanding what it is supposed to do. This book will explain it.

A (free) tutorial with which I recommend in conjunction with this book is:
[..]
This tutorial goes into gory detail over (nearly) every basic step that you need to know to start your Rails apps.

I have read nearly 10 books , plus countless screencasts and tutorials (mostly outdated due to Rails 2.0) on Rails and Simply Rails 2 is by far the most up-to-date and easy to read for a true beginner.

I have to concur with the previous reviews on this site. I'd been searching for months for a good Rails 2 book, and, at last, I have found one. It doesn't start with a massive, unwieldly tutorial, one that throws everything at you at once ("look: scaffolding! look: helpers! look: I'm horribly lost! :-) but actually takes the time to coherently explain the underlying structure, and builds on that explanation step-by-step.

The diagrams are great -- if anything, the book could use more, e.g., showing the tie between controller actions and views.

If I were to teach a course in Rails -- and I very well might -- this would be my hands-down choice.

If you need to learn Rails, Simply Rails 2 is simply the best out there.

While this book is written for church leaders--any business or nonprofit leader or manager will appreciate the idea-thon of very practical stuff.

With a foreword by John Maxwell and high fives from Andy Stanley and Joel Hunter, this book also gets my five-star rating. The makes-you-want-to-read-it format has 99 chapters, but just 208 total pages. I dare you to scan the chapter titles and then put the book away. It's impossible. Test-drive these chapters: 2) Good Leaders Let Good People Go, 3) Count the Cost Before Hiring a Family Member, 8) If Someone Hasn't Left Your Church Recently, Your Vision Is Probably Too Broad, 19) Staff Ahead of the Growth, 29) Disgruntled Secretaries Drain Dynamic Leaders, and 31) Send Your Bankers Audit Reports and Birthday Cards Every Year.

Chapter 33 is "Sack the No-Huddle Offense." I'm a zealot for the value of weekly staff meetings. Stevens and Morgan correctly point out, "It takes discipline to gather regularly because there's never a good time to pull away from doing ministry to talk about ministry. The fact is, however, these team gatherings will help focus your efforts and allow your ministry to bear more fruit. Additionally you'll have the chance to bring encouragement and accountability to others on your team."

With 99 topics, the authors add quick-reading color commentary to most of the 20 buckets in my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit. Simply Strategic Stuff is good stuff.

Simply Strategic Stuff is by far one of the BEST books in church administration. Tim and Tony are the leaders in providing nuggets of Truth (with a capital "T"!) for church leaders to effectively run a church. How do I know? I am the lead pastor of The Pointe, a United Methodist Congregation, located in Albany, Georgia. Our church began weekly services in March 2006 and has grown in 11 months to an average of over 620 in weekly attendance. Managing a church that has grown so quickly has been a HUGE challenge, but utilizing the principles taught in this book have made all the difference. In fact, our staff is required to read 10 chapters (they are one to two pages each) each week and share how they will use one principle taught in this book in their area of ministry. A must read for every lead pastor and leadership team member. Don't miss out on an AWESOME book!

Great book! This is one of the most helpful books I have ever read on church administration.

I've read hundreds of management books for my business consulting practice, but few have had the practical approach as this little book. The ideas are focused on churches, of course, but many of them apply to any organization. And not only are the ideas useful, the book is just plain fun to read. I kept telling my wife, "Here, you have to listen to this one!"

Very practical and helpful, I will pull it off my shelf often to review and glean insight. It is full of practical wisdom from practitioners who understand effective ministry. Highly recommended.