Professional Resources Books

This book is completely transforming my management force. My managers are more employee focused and the results are naturally falling in line. I highly reccommend it.

Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment should be the first stop on your path to better management of employees. The concepts presented in this book are prerequisites for manager training and I highly recommend all managers and supervisors to buy it and study it. Don't be put off by the fairy tale story line. It does a great job of teaching basic skills that most other books and programs fail to provide.

Not the issue I thought when ordered but still useful for general message of the ZAPP theroy

I used this in training sessions with my managers. Great book and worth reviewing/re-reading from time to time.

The reason I like this book is that it breaks many management and supervisory roles into very simple actions that create perfect coaching goals. As a Leadership Coach I am able to use samples of this book to assist in drawing a picture of the behaviours that we want our managers and supervisors to perform; (Much more fun than our current list of competencies.) The book is not quite as strong when discussing organizational change but it does demonstrate that all organizational change must start at the base of the organization with support from the Top. A simple read with great messages.

Nutshell review - If you are in a management position and want to understand how to motivate people then this is a really insightful and useful book.

I found this book to offer not only good tools to use but it's a good book to reference when needed. Quick to go over, with keeping to simple and factual format. It's of great use for any level of management.

Aubrey Daniels offers an insightful look at the behavioral school of management, and its key tools: positive, and negative reinforcement. The book covers how to link rewards to behaviors you want to reinforce, when to deliver them, and how to design systems to support them. While not without its flaws, the book is well written and offers plenty of practical advice - if you're an aspiring manager, or a seasoned veteran, 'Bringing Out the Best in People' is a solid investment of your time.

This is an essential text for anyone who manages people. Daniels is clearly 'for' creating a workplace that taps the innate desire to contribute and against one run by fear. I've seen nearly 35 years of organizational life, as employee, manager and consultant. That's a lot of fads, slogans and philosophies. This book is the real deal.

When people are managed using these clear, rigorous, objective principles, stress and interpersonal barriers decrease, work exceeds expectations. I also recommend Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's "Nonviolent Communication".

I started reading the book as a part of my personal development with the company that I work for. The book is founded in behaviorism, and does not stray from the concepts associated with this worldview. My issue with it is that I believe that people are more than a reaction to the things that happen to us. We have unique personalities, and they consist of more than the conditioning that they are subjected to. This psychology takes away the idea of free-will and choice, and eliminates personal responsibility. When it comes to managing people, I believe that these are important elements to tap into. This behaviorist approach to management may look good on the surface, and make logical sense, but is flawed by its nature, and cannot have any long lasting impact.

If you are familiar with the Dilbert cartoon, then you know Scott Adams' ability to skewer modern business organizations. This book mostly consists of text organized in little easy-to-understand bits, just like a real business book. This satirical text is illustrated with Dilbert cartoons. Of course it's funny, and if you like Dilbert, you'll enjoy it.

What makes the book really work, though, is that it's actually loaded with good management advice. When the book came out, I was an object of management and enjoyed the book as making fun of the people above me in a large organization. Now I'm a low-level perpetrator of management and I find this to be a really good source of "what not to do." I still laugh but I also appreciate Adams' ability to find the humor - - and the inhumanity - - in even well-meaning management.

Dilbert is funny because of the underlining truth in all that is said. EVERYONE that I have bought this for loves it.

If you, like me, have only experienced management at the receiving end, it is obvious that - judging by what management looks like - this is the kind of thing they learn at those conferences. Scott Adams has just formulated the theory that must be there behind all that dysfunctional, destructive practice. I had a lot of fun!

While the classic comic strips included in this book (most dating from the early and mid-1990's) continue to be amusing, the rest of this book missed its target. Written as an over-the-top instructional guide for managers, it is takes itself so seriously that little of it remains amusing. Adams is clearly attempting to satirize bad management practices and abuses, but he might be trying too hard to be funny. While there are plenty of bad managers out there, I doubt that many of them are as intentionally bad as suggested here. This book was indeed a light read, and fans of the "Dilbert" comic strip should find familiar material here, but overall, "The Dilbert Principle" is a better book.

If you've ever been in the hi-tech rat race, you already know that the Dilbert comic strip is a documentary. You may also have started to wonder how all the pointy-hairs came to hold such similar sets of bizarre beliefs. Well, your worst fears have come true. There is a secret cabal of pointy-haired teaching, and this is its text.

About half of the book's volume is reprints of Dilbert comics showing the eerie illogic of the pointy-hairs. Those are interleaved with cynical advice to the would-be boss. Topics include motivating without actual reward, ignoring the conflicts between inane wishes and physical laws, and creating a workplace free from any risk of productivity.

Adams's cynicism is good for a few laughs, and certainly voices the nerd's-eye view of workplace foolishness. A lttle goes a long way, though, and his later books tend to drive the joke into the ground.

//wiredweird

Save your 20 bucks and attend the yearly sales seminar your company sends you to anyway. Yet another sales book full of the same "relationships are everything" stuff that we already know. I stopped listening to the cd's when the guy showed off his ignorance on the "good ole' boys" policy. I am from KENTUCKY. I know exactly what the "good ole' boys" policy is and it doesn't stop with just "who ya know". If you are just starting out, this may be worth a listen, however this will bore the experienced sales person who is perhaps just in need of a little revival to tears.

The item arrived in great condition. Exactly how the seller described. Very satisfied with my purchase.

As usual, Jeffrey Gitomer never disappoints. All of his books are a must if you are in sales, marketing, customer service, or own a small business. Gitomer's writing style is humorous and amazingly easy to understand as his personality oozes from each page.

The Sales Bible is the ultimate resource for all sales representatives. Buy it now you won't be disappointed.

i liked the red sales bible, and also really liked all of jefferey's other books, and this one was a lot of the same info

I think the latest Sales Bible is outstanding. Although there is substantial overlap from his prior books, The Sales Bible presents ideas and concepts that maximize the potential to complete a sale and retain a customer. Jack I. Hyatt

I couldn't believe my eyes! Wouldn't you expect this writing guide to be grammatically correct, at the very least? It isn't. Something else it isn't is quickly accessible. You have to read through the sarcasm, and then see a "corrected" version of a poorly written example. Unfortunately, that version needs work, too. Usually, I keep every book I buy, or give them to friends or charities, but this one went into the trash. Yikes!

I love this book! As a working journalist for some national newspapers the sentiment here reminded me of what my editors told me when I started out. I also work as a writing professor and started using this as mandatory reading for my newspaper and magazine writing class. The basic premise of the book is to write tightly, clearly and to rid one's work of irritating nonsense and twaddle. It's the only way to get published so the advice is best followed. The examples of news writing that the author offers are also very helpful.

A superb refresher for veteran journalists--and light-hearted. Cappon is as much a humorist as an editor and instructor. Besides its wealth of ideas and corrections, the guide is a fun read. But be within arm's reach of your dictionary as you proceed. Cappon assumes such terms as "rococo," "fatuous," "tautology" and "pedagogue" are in your casual vocabulary. And of course you know what "bowwow language" is. (Are you certain?)

Daniel Elton Harmon
www.danieleltonharmon.com

This is one of the few writing books that I return to again and again. It emphasizes creating clean, concise, active and engaging copy. It's filled with examples of what not to do from news stories (with corrected versions, too) and is thin enough to read in just a few hours.

Any journalist will find this book a powerful tool to help improve their own news writing.

Even if you're not interested in journalism - if all that you're looking for is a fun read - then pick up this book. He takes examples of good work and explains why it's good, as well as poor work and points out the deficiencies in a way this is both entertaining and enlightening. I don't agree with all of his opinions, but I very much enjoyed the book nonetheless.

Roberts vs. Texaco,a true story of race and corporate America, started a little slow, depicting Bari-Ellen Roberts' life since childhood. At first, I didn't know why it went into such detail, but as I read along, I understood how all of the pieces in her life connected to the storyline.
Throughout her life, Bari-Ellen was faced with overt, institutional, and implicit racism. As she entered Texaco's workforce, the racist philosophies were the worst she had ever seen. The book depicts the monumental challenges she faced in such a hostile environment. (The glass ceiling and the "good-old-boy" network.) The effects of this, along with hitting the glass ceiling/"brick wall" was enough for her and a core group of others to spark a class action lawsuit which cost the company the largest discrimination settlement in U.S. history. One hundred and seventy-six million dollars!
This book did an excellent job by not focusing solely the lawsuit aspects. Bari-Ellen put a lot of herself into writing this book. I enjoyed reading about her family issues and personal opinions as the case was pending. The outcome was emotionally touching and inspiring.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was a little slow toward the end, but overall it was very well-written. It's a shame that this type of blatant racism still exists today, not that I'm surprised, but it's truly a shame. It took a lot of courage and stamina on Roberts' part to force Texaco to acknowlegde their archaeic and ignorant business practices relative to race. I applaud Bari Ellen Roberts even when there are those who still believe in Texaco's innocence...much like the reviewer who chooses to perpetuate one of America's largest problems...the belief that other races are inferior and should bow down to this almighty, superior race. "Forgive him, for he knows not what he does." I enjoyed reading about her life and what she went through that made her into what she is today. This is definitely a book worth reading for all.

First of all, I would like to apoligize for Mr. Alan Wain.....he sounds very bitter. And another thing, Roberts did not get rich. Saying she was at the right place at the right time is by far the biggest BS ever, because she did not go into that position knowingly. But Texaco did hire her knowing that she would not get the promotions due her because of her race. For shame on what Texaco stood for! They had it coming to them big time. And I hope no one forgets about this case and the many horrific details that helped the plaintiffs victor!

I regret that this story is written "with Jack E. White" and not told by Roberts herself. The value of this book is primarily as a personal memoir. As told by White, it is a rather superficial, though intimate, personal outline of Roberts' life--the difficult time she had growing up, her ill-fated marriage, her strength and ambition in the face of adversity. I came away from the book admiring Roberts for her courage and determination, and appalled at Texaco's corporate culture, its hierarchy and unforgiveable prejudice. Were it not for anti-discrimination law, Texaco's sins would have remained hidden and unrectified. Until further notice, I'll certainly be buying my gasoline anywhere else!

I read this book and I am MORE encouraged in my own fight against a large corporation that I felt discriminated against me. Needless to say Ms. Roberts felt she had to tell her story and IN HER OWN WORDS she did so. That included recalling the trials and tribulations of her own life growing up to the present (as all these mentally damaging things were going on.) For other reviewers to say "too much about Roberts and too little about Texaco" just shows the ignorance that still exists. Her personal account reveals that racial discrimination is still happening today in THIS DAY AND AGE. If one wants to hear more about Texaco then let them read Texaco's account of what happened. Oh that's right, acccording to Texaco, they still believe that they did nothing wrong... I rather hear from the personal accounts of those involved- to see the REAL toll of what racism does to people rather than hear a bunch of corporate and legal BS.

Schwab, of discount brokerage fame, has written an easy to read introductory guide to savings and investment. None of his material is unique or new - it is similar to that presented by Suzie Orman and the Dummies guides. Nonetheless, Schwab's book is probably better for new investors because he uses plenty of charts, graphs and personal examples, and presents it all in a very user-friendly format. The theme is basically not to jump in with both feet, but to do as much as you can. There are a few gratuitous plugs for his brokerage firm, but the book is definitely not one big advertisement. This book is well recommended for first-time investors and recent college graduates about to start their first job (good graduation gift). It is not recommended for people who are already in the stock market or who already own mutual funds and regularly invest - you already know what is in this book.

Being one of the "super novice beginners" targeted by the book (read other reviews) I found it very interesting and enlightening.

What got me started was kiyosaki's rich dad (worth reading with reservations) but this was a very good second book to read. Since then I've been reading/researching (7 books, 4 magazines, 3 weeks) before I pull the trigger to actually dropping cash.

I'm not sure what an experienced investor would say but what the hell, from one beginner to the next, read it.

If you want to secure your financial future with minimum hassle, don't want to become a stock-market expert, or spend any more time and money on the Wall Street stuff than is absolutely necessary, then this is the book for you. It tells you a very simple, but extremely efficient method for investing your money. It also tells you why and how to do it.

It does not cover everything there is to investing, hey it doesn't even cover 10% about it. But it covers enough to have a "fire and forget" way with investments. You can trust that the money you invest with this advice will keep up with the better half of the smart investors. And you can go on living and enjoying your life without too many financial worries.

An excellent book for the target audience.

Buy this book. I can't say enough good things about it. First, the book is extremely well written, and targets a specific audience, that many of us are in.

If you are not professional investor, and want to learn more about the basics of investing and about the different products out there, then read this book.

Charles Schwab takes your through a good squence of explaining different investment philosophies, tools, tricks, etc. He proves that you don't have to beat the market to make money, you just have to match it. Now, I have heard this before in other books, but the overall presentation and support for this, is much well represented in this book.

If you are starting out, or attempting to re-organize your finances, before you get a money manager or financial advisor, get this book. It will definitely save and make you money. You will learn how to invest within your comfort level, and by the end of the book, the stock market and investing will be demystified.

You will regret not reading this book. I think this would also make a good gift.

This book is an almost ideal introduction for the person who doesn't want to think very much about investments, but would like do better than with a certificate of deposit in a bank.

The book favors financial assets (not too surprising, given that Mr. Schwab's company is the leading discount broker), but he offers a number of time- and trouble-saving reasons for that. The book is supported by a number of quantitative analyses, questionnaires, model portfolios, and personal examples from Mr. and Mrs. Schwab's experience. The book is well written and clear.

The book is in three major parts. In part one, he argues in favor of why the growth potential of stocks gives them long-term advantages over many other asset classes, and takes you into setting your goals. In part two, he explores which types of investments will work best for what you want to accomplish. Using your goals, he helps you adapt the assets you buy to fit your circumstances. In part three, he describes how to get started and maintain your strategy.

The best part of the book comes in the way it uses questionnaires to help you develop your financial goals, risk preferences, and financial time frame. Then the book gives you financial portfolios (based on historical studies described in Stocks for the Long Run) to match up with your situation. You could easily spend quite a bit of money with a financial advisor to do this for you without getting a much different result.

I also liked the way the book directly takes on the problem of market fluctuations and the emotional tendency to buy high and sell low into account. For those with shorter timeframes and lower risk tolerances, Mr. Schwab recommends buffering the fluctuations by having an asset allocation into less volatile securities (although those that will earn lower returns).

But still, the book could use more advice on how to overcome emotion. Telling you to "learn to keep a tight rein on your emotions" will not be enough for many people. This problem will be compounded by Mr. Schwab's insistence that "timing is a very minor player in the larger scheme of investing." Tell yourself that if you had just bought a lot of technology and dot com stocks in March 2000 and held them until now.

I think that timing (even if you are going to buy and hold indexed mutual funds -- something that is highly recommended here) is important. If you buy into an index (or stocks or other financial assets) at a relatively low price, you will spend less time being upset about the volatility of your investment. Since the average asset class is highly volatile on an annual basis, you can at least try to get in near the low of the last 12 months.

That will have a big impact on your psychology as you get started. As Mr. Schwab points out, the biggest mistake is not investing at all. Concern about lack of time and feeling intimidated about making a mistake keep people from getting started. Setbacks cause people to retreat from investing. He encourages a minimum five-year buy-and-hold period to allow growth to bail out any near-term losses.

I think that Mr. Schwab writes off investing in your own business or in real estate much too quickly. My suggestion is that you read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to get the opposite point of view on those investment classes.

For a better look at using indexed mutual funds, I recommend John Bogle's Common Sense About Mutual Funds, which is more thorough than this book. You may decide to avoid picking individual stocks when you know more about the track record of trying to find mutual fund managers and stocks that outperform the indices.

A good lesson from this book is that we must pay attention to important subjects, or face the consequences. Where else in your life are you paying too little attention? How can you get the information to overcome your stalled thinking and behavior?

May your life be filled with riches from the attention you place on making good decisions!

Read about the different types of people in the world today, and find out ways to deal with difficult personalities.

I thought the parts of this book that described some of the different, difficult personalities was very good. I actually really thought it had something to offer and the strategies were practical. The insights though didn't stick and I think that you have to read this regularly to keep reminding yourself that all these people exist in the world (including you) and you are going to see them every day. Thats kind of a depressing thought actually. With all the other books I need to keep reading to remind myself about various insights I want to stay home.

There are some other books out there on the same subject. Some, like "Toxic Coworkers," may do the job even better. But this is still a useful volume. As the Introduction notes (page 1): "This is a book about impossible people and how to cope with them." Coping is the center of this work--how to deal with workers who are difficult to work with. The idea? (Page 7): "Coping enables you and the Difficult Person to get on with the business at hand." "Win-win" is the goal. Is the advice useful? Each reader will have to decide for him/herself?

The book describes a variety of difficult types: hostile-aggressive, the complainer, unresponsive ones, wonderfully nice people who don't perform, the negativist, know-it-alls, and indecisive stallers. For each, the author describes the malady and then suggests how one might work with them to get the best out of them. The book closes, also, with ideas as to how one can manage one's own "defensive behavior" around such problem workers. The author concludes (page 214): ". . .many people just like you have found that coping effectively with difficult people is possible."

Final question: How well does the book succeed? Not bad, but the solutions will not convince all readers.

For the first time I am reviewing a book that I did not completely read. In fact, I read only the first two chapters. But at the time--several years ago, those were the only chapters I needed. Robert M. Bramson, management consultant, found that the number one problem in all the businesses he worked with was people trying to cope with difficult people. So he wrote this book.

He identifies six types of difficult people:
Hostile-aggressives: those who bully and throw tantrums to get their way;
Complainers: those who gripe incessantly but do nothing to change things;
Super-Agreeables: those who are supportive and agreeable but fail to follow through;
Silent and Unresponsives: those who respond to every question with yep, no, or a grunt;
Negativists: those who deflate any optimism you have;
Know-It-All Experts: those who know everything about anything worth knowing-- their goal is to make you feel worthless;
Indecisives: those who stall major decisions until they are made for them, often causing loss of jobs and opportunities.

The problem I had to work with was the Hostile-Agressive, of which there are three types: the Sherman Tank, the Sniper, and the Exploder. The Sniper makes deeply cutting comments under the guise of humor so that the victim is always slightly off-balance. Was it a joke or not? The Sherman Tank bullies verbally and physically if necessary to see that things go his way. He can be very intimidating. The Exploder is frightening in his vociferous behavior. Of the three the Exploder is the only one who cannot be persuaded to calm down. The victim must wait for that.

The husband, now ex-husband, was the Exploder and also a Complainer, Negativist, and a Know-It-All. The most difficult to deal with is the Exploder. Once he started, his temper and voice became louder and louder. The first step in dealing with this behavior is to get their attention by saying STOP! Stop!. That never worked for me. I thought surely if I break into his monolog he would stop and listen to me. He just got louder and louder. If I yelled, he yelled louder. If I talked, he demanded that I stop sassing him.

The method that always worked for me was to allow him time to calm down. The best way for him to achieve that calmness was that I leave the house. I would drive around for at least 30 minutes, then return home. He was always over his tantrum and usually friendly. He never apologized for anything (it was ALWAYS my fault). We would just start talking again as if nothing had happened. The big deal is that this method worked every time. He needed to be away from interaction with other people until his anger faded.

I have recommended this book to a number of people over the years and tout its efficacy in working with difficult people, especially the Exploders.

The concept of this book is good. You can't change other people, and you can't always avoid them. The most realistic option is to have some coping strategies. I think the author outlined them well. I gave the book three stars, though, because the reading got to be tedious and boring. I've read similar books that are more enjoyable, either because you can identify the different personality type with humor, or because they explained the personalities more realistically with better situational examples. This book seemed a little dry.

Every business person who has not been exposed to NLP should, as a minimum, be familiar with this easy to read book and its concepts.

They would be very surprised that the situations they struggle with on a daily basis, are merely sequences that can change as easily as changing your mind.

The author has touch on many a NLP techniques and has not talked enough about them to enable the reader to learn those techniques.

I find this book an excellent introduction to the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. While there are a few other good introductory level books, this one is specific to the work context and for many people this is the best place to start improving your communication skills. Most challenges in the work place arise as a result of ineffective communication. Improvements in this area can lead to greater job satisfaction and more opportunities for advancement. Sue Knight writes in an easy to read style that will be accessible to all readers. I had purchased the first edition, but this newest edition has so much additional information that I purchased a second copy.

Oh dear. I thought long and hard about whether I should write a review on this book.

Clearly work has gone into writing it and I did pay quite a few dollars for it, so I really wish it had been good.

But no, I have to be honest, I think it has done more to turn me off the subject of NLP than even the most skeptical write-ups on the subject.

I was looking for a book that would give me a proper guide to NLP skills I could use in the workplace or business.

This neither explained properly or simply the NLP skills, nor their application in business.

It did make an attempt, but it did the worst possible thing it could - it bored the hell out of me.

To say that NLP is meant to be software for your brain, the science and practice of human excellence and is said to be as potentially limitless as the imagination itself, this book bored my socks off.

Sorry, but I found it so dry and dull.

None of the techniques, theories, etc, seemed to be very practical or hang together, it just seems to go from one subject to another with no accumulation of value or learning, which is ironic because that is what NLP is meant to be about.

I'm no expert, but I can tell you that one of the first books I ever read on NLP doesn't go into all the dull as dishwater complexities that this book does, but it has 100 times the value. That book is Change Your Life in Seven Days by Paul McKenna (see my review). It doesn't actually even mention NLP but contains all the useful techniques without the dullness of this work, and it's much cheaper, too, with a free recorded guided mind reprogramming session which is the true power of NLP in action.

Back to this book - it seems to have little application in business and is pushing a bright and frothy agenda. Well business isn't all like that. Alot of the time it's tough stuff and I can't see anything here helping even remotely.

Yes, I know all that stuff about mirroring and matching the language and gestures of the other person, but really, unless you are extremely quick, the transactions between people are so subtle that you are not exactly likely to get some negotiation breakthrough of massive proportions by the means described here.

I have since discovered a number of books that are much more effective in outlining persuasion/negotation and communication techniques in business and blow this book out of the water.

As I say, it put me off NLP for some time. However, from other books I have seen some merit in the subject and I still have some interest in it.

I have checked out a book on Amazon called Introducing NLP and have only read the searchable pages online.

However, those few pages seemed to give more clear and compact info than the first 250 pages of NLP at work.

Even the subject matter in NLP at Work is just poorly applied to business. Modelling is apparently just copying what someone else does to get the same effect. Well I learnt how to do that at school, and it's not that revolutionary a concept.

And meta-messages. What is the overall message a business is trying to give? This is not a meta-message. This is known as corporate image/identity and again is not a revolutionary concept.

If you need tips from this book on it, in the very brief way it is mentioned, then you are probably sunk already.

The only slightly redeeming part is that the section on anchoring is reasonably well described.

However, I think this book needs to decide what it is trying to be.

If you want to give a business person, who is fresh to the subject, the tools of NLP to use in a business setting, you have to come from a business perspective.

That perspective is a practical one. One that doesn't have time to trawl through all the hokey-pokey that is dragged through here.

After all, NLP is meant to be about what works. And this book sure doesn't work for me!

Neuro linguistic programming, which sounds like a diabolical technique straight out of A Clockwork Orange, is actually a relatively straightforward method of paying attention to the verbal and non-verbal messages that people constantly emit. By noting the inflection, body language and eye movements of others, you can glean a better understanding of what they are really thinking. Conversely, by controlling the signals that you send, you can make sure that people are getting the right message. With the caveat that many elements of NLP are straight out of Communications 101, we from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone in business whose communications skills could use an upgrade.

This is from my blog which is why it reads this way.

I also read "Stewardship" by Peter Block. This is an excellent business book. The thesis of the book is empower people to make decisions. It also speaks about serving as a method of leadership. It talks about team interests as opposed to self interest (the belief being that a strong team is the best for self interest)

Interesting thesis. Choose serving over self interest because this is in your best self interest.

I agree with much of the thesis of the book although it is somewhat counter culture to our current culture at SYNNEX (and perhaps more close to the EMJ culture, the company I started in 1979 and sold to SYNNEX). A large part of my role at SYNNEX is to help mould culture.

Good culture can make a company succeed or fail. We are not quite where we want to be yet but are moving in the right direction. I know there are frustrations with where we are but I think if people really look at where we are relative to where we came from, they will appreciate that we are moving to where we need to go.

Business consultant Peter Block is no stranger to controversy. A number of his previous works explored the reaches of transformational management, including his bestselling book The Empowered Manager. In an even bolder way, Stewardship - Choosing Service over Self-Interest offers a dynamic new organizational structure for our young century. Block defines stewardship as "the means of achieving fundamental change in the way we govern our institutions." He believes that stewardship is a choice "to preside over the orderly distribution of power." This means giving individuals at the bottom of the organizational structure the choice on how to best serve their customers, citizens and community". It also means accepting accountability at all levels. Block continues to define stewardship as being accountable to the larger organization by "operating in service, rather than in control, of those around us." His philosophy is centered on a need and commitment to service rather than self-interest.

Peter Block challenges the modern notion of strong leadership and suggests replacing the term with stewardship. His problem with leadership is that he does not believe it has the capability to create fundamental changes in our organizations. He also believes that leadership "inevitably becomes self-congratulatory and over-controlling. We expect leaders to choose service over self-interest, but it seems the choice is rarely made." Perhaps Block would have better made his point by discussing the various philosophies that pass as leadership rather than neatly collecting them all in one term. Indeed, leadership is often a vague and misunderstood term.

Stewardship - Choosing Service over Self-Interest is a book with three parts. The first part discusses the basic concept of stewardship. It highlights the promises offered by developing a passion toward stewardship in contrast to what we experience in traditionally managed organizations. The second part of the book discusses the redistribution of power in a practical way. This controversial section of the book butchers many managerial "sacred cows" and offers a vision of what stewardship can be like in action! Part three examines the reform process and explores how you and your organization can get from where it is today to an environment of stewardship.

If you are one who is not satisfied with the status quo, you will find this book exciting and refreshing. Sometimes written in almost theological terms, Block inspires the reader to expect more from our institutions and ourselves. This book should find itself on the bookshelf of every person interested in the study of leadership.

Although he captured me with his initial quote from Shakespeare's Richard III as rationale for a practical means to insure corporate survival, I found Peter Block to be the most refreshing thinker I've yet had the privilege to study. I used this book in a Doc course where we included a fairly lengthy conference call with Block, thus giving our rather small cohort (12 of us) a good opportunity to quiz him on some of the gritty application details. I must admit that I finished the course with a distinct impression that Block may well be the next Deming. Unfortunately, the mistakes of the past seem to be repeating in that although a new generation of managers understands his philosophy and may be buying into it at a fairly respectable pace, the bulk of corporate thinkers are just not willing to jeopardize the thinking that got them into place. The problem is typical....one of my earliest lessons in administrative thinking was a CEO who told us to use that new CQI process because he was going to foster change in our org.....right up to where he told us to find a way to make sure the results of the process met his goals for the org.

There is no doubt that Block is challenging the big thinkers to have the guts to give up the power while still holding the responsibility. Like Deming before him, he's a prophet with a message everybody believes in but few are willing to sacrifice adequately to reap the enlightenment. I'm not a CEO, but I've used his principles fairly successfully the past 4 years, occasionally I can't make it work, but when it does, the results have been spectacular. What's important for me is that I think of myself as a steward entrusted with a valuable resource. There are some great lessons on how to do this in any serious biography of Henry II of England's administrative structure - which established the concept of English Common Law, among other achievements. (By no stretch of imagination could Henry II be considered a modern manager, but his concept of stewardship certainly was as radical in his day as Block and Deming in ours - the lessons of history are worthwhile.)

It's the subtitle of the book that provides the clue to the difficulty of the concept.....Choosing Service over Self-Interest....it's extremely hard to carry this out. Block himself tends to simply inform those who challenge him that he cannot provide assurances of security, that if the outcome were a sure thing there would be no need for commitment, and then he sometimes talks about installing living democracy in organizations in place of autocracy. This is radical.....so radical that the cost of believing is more than most of today's administrators can afford to risk, so perhaps the philosophy will take root in those who are listening now in anticipation of their time. When it finally happens, the world will once again become a better place.

I read this for an MBA class. Most of my classmates did not like this book and did not like the whole concept of servant leadership at all. Block's ideas and the changes he advocates are unconventional, however the book is written very well. I found the book easy to understand, easy to relate to and quite compelling as a result of Block's good use of concrete examples and mini "case studies" within the chapters. He does an effective and commendable job of demonstrating how to implement his ideas into an organization, a piece that is often lacking in books like this. The beginning is a little slow -- it was very theoretical and rather preachy for me.

However, it is a must read for anyone interested in leadership or management. Block's ideas present specific challenges to the old "command and control" corporate mentality that any maverick will find interesting to say the least. In the information age where knowledge workers are becoming an increasingly interesting challenge for leaders/managers, this is a great book in helping someone navigate the changing times.

Overall, the book is quite good -- I'm looking forward to reading more of Block's work as a result!

I sat at the bookstore reading this book and nodding, saying "Yes, this author knows! He gets it, he gets it!"

Peter Block asks the important questions, gives pearls of wisdom highlighted among the content. He clearly understands what he is facing and moves the reader easily into seeing solutions which work and those which are simply adding more of the "old ways" of coercion, patriarchy and adding more "disease" to the organization instead of the RECREATION which will move the organization to its highest level possible.

This quote from Chapter 15 Sums up Block's attitude and approach... and had me want to stand on the table and applaud.

"If we took responsibility for our freedom, committed ourselves to service and had faith that our security lay within ourselves, we could stop asking the question, "HOW?" we would see that we have the answer. In every case the answer to the question, "How" is YES. It plays the location and the solution in the right place - with the question.

When will I finally choose adventure and accept the fact that there is no safe path?

I even smiled at Block's titling of the Bibliography as "Lost and Found."

Chapter 13: Recreating Our Organization Through Leadership is exceptionally strong as is Block's approach to the Cynics which inhabit (and have the ability to very simply destroy and dismantle ) positive growth.