Organizations Books

This book provides a VP of sales or sales manager with the behind the scenes research that went into Professional Selling Skills and other landmark training by Learning International. If anyone has a questions as to why this training vs. others - this answers the question! By the way, I would highly recommend their training also. The best consultative sales training on the market.

This is a very clearly written book that puts definition to what you are likely already seeing as your new role as a sales person in the 90's. I found it very applicable for my sales position in aerospace sales. It gives an outline of how to assess your customers and meet their expectations. It further spells out what skills you need as a sales person today and what customers expect from you. It stresses the changing role to business consulant from order taker. Good reading

Kevin J. Corcoran is my uncle, so I thought his book was down right cool. Maybe I think that all those related to me have that benefit. But seriously, this book presents some very significant business information with some flair. Check it out! I should be in sales... Brian A. Corcoran (brian@princeton.edu)

I bought this book because I am in Real Estate and getting a home to look as close to a model home is needed for buyers to be interested. Especially with the high inventory seen in many local markets today.

This book is a step by step guide on getting the home ready for a sale - on the home staging perspective. Rooms can feel more spacious and inviting with just the arrangement of furniture and this book is informative and illustrates how.

Highly recommended.

This is a GREAT book. Actually it is helpful in that it guides you through the steps and the process of home staging. That is the part that most people find a mystery, the magic happens in 4 hours...NO there is alot of preparation and work that goes on before the fact. This is helpful so that when people are thinking of putting their homes on the market they know what to expect. A GREAT resource.

"Home Staging for Dummies" is a brilliantly written guide which explains the benefits of home staging in addition to giving real solutions to homeowners who are embarking on the process of selling property.
This practical guide is so easy to read and understand that you will be able to apply the principals on your own; or if you don't have the time or the creativity to do it the book provides you with every resource needed, in order to get the professional assistance to get the job done.
The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) is proud to FULLY endorse Home Staging for Dummies.

This book tells you "how to" by stories with specific examples of events, both successful and not so. It is a step-by-step handbook which will easily assist and motivate any fundraiser in any walk of life.

This is a very easy read - with lots of "Ah-ha" moments. You'll be circling and underlining and making yourself notes all the way through. It really puts fundraising into perspective. Fundraising is not just about getting people to write checks! It is about providing people with an opportunity to show their true colors - how much they love their community, children, animals, or the environment. There are people who want to do something great for a cause - sometimes, they just haven't found the right cause yet. Fundraising is basically learning to connect with people so that you know how to help them succeed at doing something great! This book shows over and over again the beauty of developing relationships that allow donors to do brilliant, wonderful, extravagant things - and have some limelight for doing so - how allowing them to shine benefits your organization. I've never felt so empowered. You are going to love this book!

As a first-time executive director of a non-profit, this book has invaluable advice on nurturing a Board of Directors. It addresses issues that I never even considered, and probably would have had to learn the hard way. The author's out-of-the-box publicity and fundraising ideas were great inspiration, too.

I am a new homeschooling mother. This book has many "extra" ideas to add to your daily curriculum. I found it to be extremely helpful and an enjoyable read.

Ms. Jacobson's book is marvelous! It's easy to use and helped me identify exactly where my son was strong, and where he needed a little help. I have very limited time to work with my kids on their school work, and I really appreciated the author's fun ideas for working with my 5-year old son to help him with various skills that only take a few minutes each. I felt I was able to make a difference, working with him, while we were just driving together in the car, running an errand, etc. I highly recommend this book - very accessible and very creative ideas!

As a teacher I critically examine any book that claims to help parents at home. There are many that are nothing but laundry lists designed to further a political idiot-ology (read as E.D. Hirsch). This book is wonderful for helping parents to understand the stages that their children are going through and the best ways that they can address those needs and support current and knowledgable teaching methods. A must for any parent or teacher.

All the books in this series are exceptional. The author provides short tests that parents can give to their children. These help parents understand how they can work with their kids. The author gives lots of creative ideas for helping parents create a friendly, fun educational environment at home. I would recommend these books for all parents. Very informative.

This book is worthwhile to evaluate where your child is and/or to get fun ideas to help them improve weak areas in math or any academic area. The fun kids booklet gives you a clear idea as to where they stand.

I found this book to be the most practical of any I have seen for parents helping their kids in school. As a public school teacher, I wish I had the same top quality assessment tools available throughout our district. The author clearly shows a thorough understanding of elementary curriculum as well as awareness of a parents need to be informed and involved in a child's education. This a valuable resource I will share with fellow parents and teachers alike.

As a veteran educator, I feel that "How Teachers Learn Best" is one of the best organized and well-written texts on teacher development ever written. I cannot think of another text I would choose over it to showcase the failure of stagnant, inflexible, "one-size-fits-all" teaching approaches of the past. The text also provides an excellent overview of the myriad other professional issues challenging contemporary teachers (these insights carry over well to related fields - my wife is a professional counselor and thoroughly enjoyed the book as well). Dr. Fiszer obviously expects readers to become involved in introducing and applying fresh perspectives to "traditional approaches" that may not be as well suited for today's educational challenges. The author produces numerous useful examples for thought and discussion as well as skillfully designed activities for the classroom setting.

A great many educational books have been written dealing with how students learn (which is, of course, very important.) Few focus on how teachers learn. Dr. Edward Fiszer does an admirable job of this in his book, How Teachers Learn Best. Dr. Fiszer emphasizes shifting the focus of staff development from the traditional one-shot, isolated sessions to an ongoing, collaborative model which includes peer observations, consistent and constructive feedback, and reflective dialogue among teachers. He also ties the book together with practical and sensible recommendations on how this can be done. Dr. Fiszer's book is a sure-fire, practical model for administrators and supervisors to use in improving the learning capabilities for teachers, and ultimately, those of the students they teach.

Dr. Edward Fiszer has discovered what other educational researchers have discovered as well: that teacher quality makes a difference in student achievement. This book focuses on on-going professional development and what Sparks and Hirsh refer to as "job-embedded" learning. With a focus on teachers as reflective practitioners, Fiszer's book can be used by teachers, principals, staff developers, and superintendents as well. It's good research in an accessible format.

If read carefully! Will change your leadership style!

Rarely does a revolutionary write the history of his own revolt. However, that's exactly what John Adair does in this book. Adair is respected internationally in the field of leadership. His 1968 classic, `Training for Leadership', was a pioneering volume on leadership development. Although his work initially received relatively little attention in the U.S., it contributed to the current "leadership revolution," which has had a powerful impact on how companies train leaders. Today, in part thanks to Adair and others like him, companies no longer assume that "you either have it or you don't" when it comes to leadership potential. They are more willing to accept the idea that managers can be leaders, too, and should be trained for that role. Adair's book doesn't just peer in the rearview mirror of history - it casts a steady, discerning gaze at the road ahead as well. Using elegant, thoughtful prose enhanced with apt anecdotes and quotations, Adair establishes seven key principles of leadership development. His intriguing conclusion: while companies may mold the raw material of leadership, only societies and families can actually provide it. If "lead, follow or get out of the way" is your motto, we say have confidence - John Adair is marching to his rightful place at the head of the leadership pack. A must read.

This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book on leadership development by a world renowned leadership guru. In "How to Grow Leaders: The Seven Key Principles of Effective Leadership Development", John Adair outlines the various theories, approaches and concepts of leadership development and training and distils them into seven key principles of leadership development. Using his wide and deep knowledge and expertise in the leadership field, he explains how organisations can recruit, select, train, and develop leaders who are capable of formulating and articulating a shared vision for their organisations or units, motivate people and facilitate the achievement of organisational, team and individual goals.

I was particularly impressed by the gracious and thorough acknowledgments in the book of the thinking and research of others. Even when the authors point out the weaknesses and limitations of a particular piece of work, they praise the positive aspects of that work in kind and thoughtful ways. This is one of the few academic books I have read that took such a considerate approach.

The book beautifully elaborates on the thinking processes that companies use to grow leaders so as to achieve competitive advantage I use the book as a quick reference guide and I find it very useful and helpful. This book carries pertinent information, but it is organised and written in such a way that is easily digestible. The book is recommended as a resource kit for the leadership trainer or aspiring leaders.

A very entertaining read. Wonderful writing style. Chapters tend to be short and begin with a short quiz. The author interjects humor into what is often a boring subject. The final portion of the chapters consist of templates for use in your own work.

Very useful from a practical point of view as well. The focus of this book is on the big picture ideas. The author lays out the important conceptual steps which are vital for success. The more technical details (such as using software) are well covered in other books and this one does not go into those in detail.

Some of the great take aways from this book include; estimating the probability of success of a project, practical strategies for saving projects gone awry, how to review proposed projects before the expensive work begins.

I am glad I bought this book.

After working for various consulting companies I have discovered that the best have established processes that are based on project management and customer satisfaction, and the worst have no processes at all. This book provides a recipe from going from worst to best.

This is the second of Mr. O'Connell's books that I have read. The first was Running Successful Projects, in which he provides excellent advice on how to effectively and skillfully manage projects. In How to Run Successful High-Tech Project-Based Organizations he extends these practices to organizations, and does so by providing a step-by-step approach and a performance model that is the basis for company-wide processes.

He gives ten steps that every consulting or service company needs to incorporate, and does so in a clear and methodical manner. The steps themselves are easy, the barrier is leadership and management from the top. Unfortunately, Mr. O'Connell doesn't address how to get management on board, but that is outside of the scope of this book. My personal view is Mr. O'Connell advises and the wise will abide.

I thought that the two strongest chapters in this book were the organization-wide status report, which is sorely missing in too many companies, and the program for project-based organization. The organization-wide status report is the key to achieving teamwork because it communicates to the entire company and makes everyone a stakeholder in the company's success instead of relegating them to a cog in an impersonal machine. This, by the way, is one of the most basic tenets of good leadership, and the lack of leadership is why too many consulting companies are in chaos, have abysmal records for execution, and poor client satisfaction.

Part three of this book offers the real roadmap to success: treating your organization as a project. This is a unique approach and is really an excellent foundation for strategic and tactical planning. I saw how this aspect of Mr. O'Connell's approach provides the essence of a vision, mission statement and values.

This book, if read and taken to heart at the right level in a consulting company (or any other kind of company that delivers services), can make the difference between achieving world-class status and extinction. There would be less material for Dilbert cartoons if everyone read this book and applied the information.

Really it is a great book to read. All High-tech Project managers should read it. Easy to read, well organized, direct to the point approach, makes it an useful book.

Unlike later and earlier books in this genre, this one strikes a balance between two world views: "theory X" (a set of ideas that exclude all needs, motivations, and influences outside authority and dependence) and "theory Y" (a set of ideas derived from imagining motivations and influences without managers). And the author maintains a style that never becomes unjustifiably preachy. There's a lot of optimism at times, but taken in the context of the entire book, it's acceptable.

Some authors never go out of style. By the way, McGregor makes it quite clear that under most circumstances, in most situations, and with most people the appropriate approach is "theory X." McGregor fully admits that the application of "theory Y" won't work except with certain people and under certain conditions. Applying "theory Y" in the wrong situations to inappropriate people is an all too common SNAFU. Though applying "theory X" in the wrong situations to inappropriate people is also a SNAFU, it is apparently rare.

This last paragraph was just FYI. In case a reader happens to be some kind of spiritually and socially abused polymath.

Unlike later and earlier books in this genre, this one strikes a balance between two world views: "theory X" (a set of ideas that exclude all needs, motivations, and influences outside authority and dependence) and "theory Y" (a set of ideas derived from imagining motivations and influences without managers). And the author maintains a style that never becomes unjustifiably preachy. There's a lot of optimism at times, but taken in the context of the entire book, it's acceptable.

Some authors never go out of style. By the way, McGregor makes it quite clear that under most circumstances, in most situations, and with most people the appropriate approach is "theory X." McGregor fully admits that the application of "theory Y" won't work except with certain people and under certain conditions. Applying "theory Y" in the wrong situations to inappropriate people is an all too common SNAFU. Though applying "theory X" in the wrong situations to inappropriate people is also a SNAFU, it is apparently rare.

This last paragraph was just FYI. In case a reader happens to be some kind of spiritually and socially abused polymath.

I have a confession to make. The second part of this book ("Theory Y in Practice." Chapters 5 thru 12.) was very hard for me to read. This difficulty was partially because in order to really gain some understanding of it, it forced me to judge myself. But this was more importantly because all the examples of Theory Y in Practice that McGregor himslef could find indicate that its application has limits and it requires discipline. To this reader, the limits and this discipline of Theory Y in practice appear far greater than that required by Theory X in order to be successful. For example, successful unschooling would require more discipline and commitment on the student's part than traditional public, private, or even homeschooling.

This book has influenced organizational management and development for decades. In his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise", McGregor examined theories on the behavior of individuals at work. His examination included Abraham Maslow's work on human motivation which greatly influenced his work.

From his examination, he formulated two models that he called Theory X and Theory Y. Theory Y is based on the traditional assumption that people don't really like to work and would only work if they were threatened in some way. Management assumes that employees would avoid work if possible. Based on this belief, managers would attempt to control workers in order to "make them work". Theory Y is based on the asssumption that people have a natural interest in work when it is a satisfying experience. They will apply self control and self-direction in meeting the objectives of the organization without external control or threats of punishment.

In "The Human Side of Enterprise", McGregor demonstrated how Theory Y affected the management of promotions and salaries and the development of effective managers. With the Theory Y (Participative Management Style), there were positive results. When management acknowledges that it is under estimating the potential of its employees and incorporates Theory Y assumptions, then it can focus its efforts on developing improved applications of Theory Y.

Although some organizations may find it difficult to incorporate Theory Y, it is still worth the effort to train management using this principle. The potential increase in productivity would be worth pursuing. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a involved in organizational management.

I was born in Assisi, in Italy 800 years ago. And eight centuries later I still remember a thing or two.

You can tell from that opening sentence of Carretto's book on St.Francis that you are going to enjoy it and find it easy reading. it. Francis is an imaginary dialogue between the reader and the saint of Assisi.

The book outlines Francis' life in a chatty and breezy style, and as he tells the bare details of his story, he makes provocative comments on modern issues with a singular simplicity and clarity. Who else but one speaking in the voice of Francis could describe the parodox of the Church with such direct insight?

"Until now I had not properly understood what the ministry of the Church consisted of: sinfulness and infallibility; bad example and safety on the march along the road; fearful blindness in the shepherds, and .the certainty "of reaching the Promised Land with them.
Now I saw, and was glad to . . . have had Rome's approval.
I felt a peace.
I felt myself to be on solid rock.
I felt myself to be in God's design."

There's real comfort to be gleaned from that brutal honesty.

I found the book gave great enjoyment by combining the narrative of Francis' life with the comment. The account of Francis' wealthy upbringing and bourgeois aspirations to knighthood, his conversion, the beginnings of his little band is accurate. How the 800-year-old Francis now feels about his young manhood is told with the perspective and amusement of old age.

As is usual in Lives of St. Francis, the rest of his life takes less space in the book, but at least Carretto takes the middle years seriously and sees in them more depth and struggle than some other writters have done.

The author makes much use of the charming legends in the "Little Flowers of Saint Francis". He takes them with an uncompromising literalness which helped me see greater strength in Francis' spirituality.

"Are you astonished if the wood of St Mary of the Angels seems to catch fire at night while we are praying.

Does it seem strange to you that roses should bloom in winter?

And that wolves grew tame?

And that fish would listen to us?

No, brothers and sisters, rather be surprised if the opposite occurs,' be astonished if you see the sky unmoved and indifferent to your joy."

In an original and entertaining way, Carlo Carretto has given a lot of food for thought on issues as diverse as Christian feminism, non-violence (which he calls the twentieth century expression of true poverty), death and . suffering, and the signs that really speak of the Church's love.

"Every Christian house . . . should keep a door open to welcome those in trouble. And if possible, the door should be easy to find and not too frightening for the poorest, with halls not too brilliant, staircases not too mammoth - signs rather of might and grandeur than of humility and truth."

An underlying theme in this book deserves mention. Carretto sees in Francis part of the madness of being a saint - a follower of Jesus.

"Look at what Peter of Bernadone's boy has got into his head!
He has certainly gone mad.
Yes, my friends of Assisi, I have gone mad.
But if you only knew my madness!
I am mad with love.
I can no longer help it.
I can no longer resist.
If I but look Jesus in the eye, I am on fire right down to my insides.
Don't you know that my Most High Lord is God's Son?"

My criticism of "I, Francis" is that Carretto doesn't explore the dark side of this madness, certainly present in Francis of Assisi - the ruthlessness and the irresistible urge sometimes to bully the brothers under his authority, and the irritating inconsistencies within the company of brothers caused by Francis' violently wavering temperament.

Using the device of speaking as Francis, Carrretto has given us an entertaining, provocative and inspiring book, but one which is strangely unsatisfying. Perhaps, as Francis himself would, Carretto is forcing on us the conclusion that the obsessive study of Jesus, not of Francis of any other saint, brings true satisfaction.

© Ted Witham, 1983. First published in the Anglican Messenger, July 1983.
.Published in "Span", the journal of the Society of St Francis, Australian Province, August 1983..

This book describes the life of Francis of Assisi, his humanness and his deep spirituality, told through the eyes of Francis in modern times. You truly come to know Francis, and are inspired by his actions to lead a more simple and spiritual existance and to draw yourself completely into the arms of a loving God. This is one of the best short books that I've read in a long time. I'd read it again in a heartbeat and refer to it whenever I need to be rejeuvenated in my faith.

This book is simply wonderful, written by a man who knew very well and loved the places where Francis lived his life, and knew so much of His spiritualty. This book is a way to discover the life and beliefs of the man of Assisi, to make it nearer to us, to refer his culture to the culture of our days. After having read this Carretto's book you couldn't love Francesco D'Assisi, no matter what your faith or belief is.