Organizations Books

This book is great if you're serious about meditation - it provides both context and techniques for improving your meditation in terms of both results and motivation. It's extremely interesting that again and again in the Cayce readings concerning meditation, it is stated that one of the main purposes of meditation is to able to help, to heal others. Again and again, those who questioned Cayce about their meditation experiences were told that what was happening to them was so that they could help and heal others - meditation is not just for the experience one has, but for its transformative capacity for both self and others.

An excellent book to own, but be aware that it's available new from the A.R.E. site for about ten dollars (sellers linked to Amazon are charging over a hundred dollars for this item!).

This book does not talk about crystal healing, or pendulum healing, or any of the sort. This book goes back to the Source of all things, which is God. Using God's Power to heal others as well as yourself. This is a well written book with plenty of Mr. Cayce's readings about Jesus Christ, and how He healed many people through His attunement with God. This book is very short (106 pages) and straight to the point (no dragging). It discusses the effects of group prayer, how healing could help others who truely believe (not just the healer), how to meditate using The Lord's Prayer, precautions in healing, and the list goes on. Yes, this is a must have!

For those who wonder if the church can still be relevant today, this book is a gripping and honest account of how young leaders working with spiritual fathers who are young at heart can impact a new generation with good news and a radical lifestyle. Be warned, change is necessary and costly.

Just get it. This is the real deal on reaching youth culture, and changing wineskins for a new generation revival.

In these elegantly-written essays, the author's insights, based on his pastoral, personal, and educational ministries, are deeply felt and beautifully expressed. He explores the necessity of a Christ-centered community in these times of ease and anxiety. All who seek to live as part of a vibrant church will find his thoughts evocative and provocative.

As Warford writes: 'In our society, we tend to discredit the possibility of one truth being more important or more significant than another. We lean toward flattening all things, making everything equal, and in the end, we sometimes do not commit to anything that has real importance for us.'

The author offers guidance and encouragement to nurture individual churches as places of worship, service, and faith, and his inspiration should find its way into sermons, Sunday School lessons, and private meditations.

Malcolm Warford is a wonderful writer, who uses his many skills to delve deeply into the heart of the modern mainline churches, and to make constructive suggestions that are designed to help support changes in religious thought and practice in the 21st century. Warford's book of essays will be essential reading for anyone interested in the state of the contemporary church.

This book gives new principals (and probably others too) a reference for dealing with the challenges of the job.

This book was written with humor and insight. It makes you realize that being a principal with heart and humor is possible. It's not a high-handed theory book; it's a book that you can read and put into immediate practice for success. The situations used in the book strike home with "everyprincipal" realism. I enjoyed it tremendously and found it very useful.

In the 25 years since I graduated I never learned as much about the university as I did in reading this book. Burns tells the story of the university in the way of a grandfather. I was enthralled through the entire story. That is unusual for me but I found his story compelling and the scolarship was outstanding. There were sources that were special. His handling of the Erskine affair was delicate at best. I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the Notre Dame that extends past the football field.

This is the story of Notre Dame. It is the best rendition of the university's history ever published, and is a must for any member of the Notre Dame family.

This book is short yet captures all the essential components of a succesfull benchmarking program in the non-profit sector, including government agencies. Although the examples are specifically geared for non-profit organizations, the concepts and principles taught apply just as well for any governmental entity. Saul writes exceedingly well, treating a subject with surprising zest that has been handled dryly by others. The structure of the book is perfect, as it leads the benchmarking neophyte through each step of the process, from organizational preparation to benchmark process implementation. Saul gives clear definitions and terms, and provides ample examples of each so that the reader is not left adrift. The forms provided to assist in the benchmarking process are also very helpful. Particularly original is a "quadrant" form, reminiscent of Steven Covey's four quadrants form that captures the combinations of urgent/important/not urgent/unimportant. In Saul's treatment, the four quadrants cover the combinations of controllable/important/not controllable/unimportant - a wise reality check before undertaking major change. Saul also gives a siginificant example of an organization that appeared to be doing well based on the measures it was tracking, but was actually failing in its core mission because those measure were not appropriate. I would recomment this book as a primer for anyone interested in beginning a benchmarking program in a non-profit or government.

This book is an essential for every nonprofit manager's bookshelf. The straighforward writing style of Jason Saul, coupled with practical tools, will help create an effective benchmarking and outcomes management system.

Benedict developed his methods of leading during the time Rome was falling apart around 450 A.D.

His approach reflects a structured system of what worked within a community/business. It is a simple, honest, easy to understand method for leading an organization. It is also an easy read.

It is thought that over 40,000 organizations have used this approach over the last 1500 years. It has passed the test of time.

Don't mistake this for a religious book. The monks were more independent entrepreneurial businessmen than elements of the church. It is clearly a book about leadership that provides the essense of what it takes to be successful.

The method can be used as a model and is as applicable today as it was 1500 years ago.

Fantastic little book on Leadership. Examines the world's oldest management system, and why it has been so successful. Great applications to the modern corporation. Perfect book for those tired of military analogies for business, or "tough-guy" leadership. Neat ideas on corporate rituals, ethical foundations, employee formation, and how to build a cohesive work group. If more modern corporations followed these "rules", we would have fewer scandals and higher profits. An easy read.

Best Leadership Practices for High-Poverty SchoolsGreat job in getting this book to me in time for my class.

The subjects of this book are GREAT mentors for the aspiring school leaders... those who TRULY seek to create leaders for our future! This is a very well written book that should be a standard text for Educational Leadership and Administration students.

I ordered this book for a class I was taking. Amazon had a wonderful first-time buyers discount through the Visa card and it seemed like a perfect way to get my book. The listing for the postage said I had two hours to order for the book to reach me next day. The book did not arrive until four days later! In addition, I directed it to go to a different mailing address but it went to my home address. I didn't get the book until a week later! Another student in the class had the exact same experience with the same book, but hers never arrived!

The book itself is good. It gives ideas for lesson planning for phonics and vocabulary which have been pretty easy to follow and implement. It is an easy read.

Dr. Gambrell has done a thorough work in "Best Practices...." and the research is impeccable. I will be using this as my guide to literacy instruction for a long time.

"This book describes a process through which corporate leaders can create a high-performance organization capable of sustaining a lasting competitive advantage. It is an approach that takes into consideration all of the factors that affect organizational performance. By examining the whole organization, and by aligning its systems, structure, and culture to enable all employees to excell and execute the company's chosen strategy, corporate leaders can successfully transform their organization...Although targeted at corporate leaders, this book will benefit anyone interested or involved in any aspect of organizational change. By understanding the components of organizational change, frontline employees and middle-level managers alike can more effectively participate in and guide the change effort in their part of the organization. A successful organizational transformation is never the sole accomplishment of a leader and his or her senior team. Rather, the transformation is achieved through the hard work and commitment of all types of leaders througout the entire organization" (from the Preface).

In this context, Christopher W. Head:

* by asking/answering some critical questions such as What is going wrong? Why are so many change efforts failing? What is an organizational transformation? defines organizational transformation and indicates key factors to a successful transformation.

* by both asking/answering the following questions: What characteristics do transformational leaders possess? What must these leaders do in order to prepare their organizations for all of the difficult challenges that lie ahead? and comparing transformational leaders and traditional/transactional leaders, discusses the leadership factor for a successful corporate transformation.

* explains how leaders can lead effective change by creating an environment that fosters participation and ownership, and presents a detailed change management plan (more detailed discussion of this plan see Chapter 3).

* by asking/answering the following questions: How can leaders create a work environment that fosters high-levels of involvement from all of their employees? What are the elements that truly empower and involve all employees? How do organizations benefit from having an empowered workforce after the transformation process has been completed? discusses the steps needed to establish a high level of employee involvement within organization.

* by asking/answering the following questions: What is the best way of getting employees committed to leading the change effort? What are the transition teams? Why should they be used? Who should be on these teams and how should team members be selected? What are their core responsibilities? What kind of assistance do these teams need from top management and internal or external consultants? How should transition teams involve customers and suppliers in their work? examines the role of employees and employee teams (transition teams) during the transformation process.

* by asking/answering the following questions: What is core process redesign? What steps should organizations follow to redesign and align their core processes? What are the roles and responsibilities of the steering committee and transition teams during this stage? What other groups need to be involved? discusses how transition teams can successfully redesign and align core processes.

* by asking/answering the following questions: What can organizations do to make sure they create 'good' jobs for all employees? What elements are needed to make 'natural' work teams successful? examines the terms 'good' and 'natural' and their importance to realize drastic performance improvement.

* explains the changing role of middle management and the additional structural changes that an organization must make to support the newly established work teams.

* argues that "traditional measurement systems, solely focused on functional outcomes and overall financial performance, fail to provide the natural work teams with the necessary feedback they need to improve their performance", and hence presents an alternative performance measurement system.

* in addition to new performance measurement system, presents a new performance-based compensation system that rewards and motivates.

* argues that "an organizational transformation is never truly complete. Rather, it is series of large-scale changes - to the culture, processes, structure, and so on - over the course of a given time period, approximately one to three years, followed by continuous learning and ongoing improvement by all employees. Eventually, despite such improvement efforts, industry conditions and/or technological developments will necessitate another transformation in the years ahead", and describes how innovative companies are creating continuous improvement by 'learning organizations'.

Finally, C. W. Head suggests that "organizational transformation is not easy. The path to a successful transformation is often met with many obstacles. You will be confronted with people who doubt your plans and resist your every move. Do not fight your resistors. Rather, help educate those who do not yet understand the value of transforming the workplace, who have yet to tap into the potential of all employees. Be patient, stay focused, and do not lose hope. Your perseverance and dedication will pay off as your organization succeeds".

Highly recommended.

Beyond Corporate Transformation provides a refreshing view about organization change. While many consultants get caught up in their terminology, the author, Chris Head, seems to be genuinely concerned that the reader gain something useful from his book. This book is great for anyone who doesn't have an understanding of whole system design or who would like a process for implementation. The author's key point that the future organization cannot succeed without tapping into each employee's potential should be heeded by all organizations.