Professional Resources Books

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.

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.

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.

This book is easy to read and full of important ideas for learning in a classroom setting. Great activities - easy to prepare and complete. The neat thing here is that the book is interactive and graphic, helping the reader to orient him/herself.

Templates for lecture segments help organize the material you are presenting. The training map is also very useful because it dissects training functions into steps. Good Buy!

If you are a trainer, you got to have this book. I have used many of the strategies from the book already with high success rate. Get it. You won't rtegret it.

The first time I used the ideas presented in Sharon's book in a training, I received fantastic feedback!

The active learning strategies are quick, fun, and surprisingly effective.

As both a trainer and a high school teacher, I particularly appreciate the holistic "Learning Compass" idea which ensures the audience will connect to, remember, and use the new material.

The Ten-Minute Trainer is a complete, consistent, and clear handbook that will guide a presenter or teacher into providing rich, effective, and meaningful trainings.

Bowman's book is a good resource for teachers and presenters alike. Some of the material is highly usable for teachers but some is less so. I did like the fact that the book explains that it was meant to be used as each person needs it. If you are a developed and experienced presenter/ teacher, it encourages you to skip the introductory stuff and move on to the more advanced material. For that alone, the author gained a great deal of credibility from me from the first time I opened the book.

I looked forward with anticipation to gathering some great tips to add to my training repetoire. Unfortunately, I found the book to be incredibly repetitious and elementary. How many different ways can one put ideas on a sticky note and share with the person beside them? A disappointment.

If you're already a programmer, this book an excellent way to learn Ruby. It shows how to apply a variety of common and largely language-independent programming structures ("design patterns") in "the Ruby way". Along the way, you get a great introduction to what makes Ruby unique, and the idioms commonly used in the Ruby community. I especially liked that the author often showed multiple implementations of each pattern, each implementation being more elegant and Ruby-esque than the last, and included a discussion of when each might (and might not!) be appropriate. I also appreciated the helpful discussion of the ways you might shoot yourself in the foot with each pattern in Ruby, as well as the pointers to where you could find the pattern used in Ruby "in the wild" (in various software freely available on the Internet).

This is a marvelous book, ideal if you're an experienced object-oriented programmer who wants to learn to use Ruby with the idioms particular to it, and not remain frozen in the techniques of traditional, statically typed object-oriented languages. Ruby is a dynamically typed language with many unique features, and this book was invaluable in my learning to use it as such. There are 16 design patterns covered, 3 of which are particular to the Ruby development environment. With each pattern is presented first the traditional approach using Ruby as a straightforward OO language, followed by the Ruby approach which takes advantage of the idioms and techniques particular to the Ruby language. With each pattern is introduced a new Ruby idiom, making the book a tutorial in advanced Ruby programming techniques.

I never really understood the need for Design Patterns. After reading several blogs, and listening to other programmers, I thought that Design Patterns might even somehow be harmful to my programming education. I felt that just by learning what they were, I'd somehow pollute my thinking to the point where I wouldn't be able to program without seeing a pattern in there somewhere. When I heard of the book Design Patterns in Ruby, I flinched. What good could possibly come from introducing Design Patterns into Ruby, I asked myself? Fortunately, my initial prejudices were unfounded. Design Patterns in Ruby is not some secret plot to turn all of the Ruby programmers into mindless drones; it is a very thorough introduction to Ruby, Design Patterns, and Object Oriented Programming concepts. Design Patterns in Ruby helped me to finally look critically at Design Patterns, and see them as something not to be feared, but as something that could be useful, even in my Ruby programming.

Design Patterns in Ruby is written with the idea that while the reader might be a good programmer, they may have somehow missed what Design Patterns are, or the reader might not know much about Ruby. The first two chapters rectify this by introducing the reader to what exactly these Design Patterns are. The author explains precisely which of the 14 of the original 23 "Gang of Four" patterns are covered in the book, and reasons why the 14 patterns were chosen. Chapter 2 is a quick introduction to Ruby, just to ensure everyone is on the same page. The author, in a single chapter, clearly explained concepts that other books I have read couldn't clearly convey, even after several chapters. Any doubts that I had of the author's abilities in explaining Design Patterns in a way that I would understand were completely gone by these chapters.

The actual Design Patterns in Design Patterns in Ruby have a similar format throughout the rest of the book. First, a small anecdote begins the chapter, explaining either a real-life situation where the patterns would be handy, or tying the pattern to one of the other patterns in the book. The meat of the chapter describes how one would implement the pattern, usually starting with a direct port from another language like C++ or Java, and gradually working it into something more Ruby-like by the end of the section. After the pattern is worked into a more Ruby-like format, the author then describes how to really abuse the pattern. Lastly, the author points out where this pattern is used in the Ruby, Rails, or other Ruby code, followed by a quick summary. This format works quite well, especially for programmers just starting in both Ruby and Design Patterns, while advanced programmers will learn better and more effective ways for implementing (or abusing) the patterns. Providing where the pattern is used in the code is also an excellent learning tool for the reader, and gives a baseline for the reader on where to look for more examples. The format also makes the book engaging. I found myself wanting to read the book, which is an experience I can't say I shared with the original Gang of Four Design Patterns book.

In addition to 14 of the Gang of Four patterns, the author talks about three Ruby-specific patterns. The first is the Domain Specific Language (DSL) pattern. Rather than defaulting to discussing Active Record (arguably the most famous DSL in Ruby), the author actually creates a DSL called "PackRat" which is a language for managing backups. The second pattern is Metaprogramming, which is ubiquitous in Ruby. The last pattern in the book is Configuration Over Configuration, the mantra of Rails. Each of these patterns compliments the other patterns in the book, and add to the original patterns discussed earlier in the book.
Design Patterns in Ruby is an exceptional book. It distills the best of the "Gang of Four" patterns that are of significance to Ruby Programmers, while adding several patterns that show up throughout Ruby and Ruby on Rails code. The author's style and the book's format make for an easy and informative reading experience. I can heartily recommend this book for all Ruby developers, both beginners and experts, and can especially recommend this book for those like myself who didn't think the original Design Patterns was anything to give attention. Design Patterns in Ruby has earned a permanent place on my shelf.

By far the most accessible design book I have read. The author not only explains the pattern and the reasons for its use, he then goes on to show a traditional implementation of the pattern followed by a Ruby-specific implementation. By far the best design patterns book I have read yet.

I am a Java developer whose Ruby experience is limited to firing up the interactive Ruby shell for a Hello World, or reading the first chapters of Programming Ruby before drifting away and vowing to learn Ruby "when I have more time". I work with the author, and purchased this book solely on the strength of his training courses and lectures. Russ Olsen in book-format is just as effective a teacher as he is in person.

The book is a hybrid reference/Ruby-introduction book which provides the best of both worlds -- I was able to read it cover-to-cover without losing interest, something I could never quite accomplish with the original GoF Design Patterns text. Each chapter also functions as a modular unit, with concise introductions and conclusions that will be great on a day when I pull it off my shelf for use as a reference book. The Design Patterns provide a nice playpen for the sections on Ruby coding practices and features, and the coding sections give a better context for the Patterns.

Each Pattern is discussed in theory and in real-world code, and the author is very clear about the benefits and pitfalls of employing them. In addition, the book provides a solid, likable profile of the Ruby language without the evangelizing common in other books. Code examples are concise and useful, and the writing style is humorously engaging without falling into the trap where engineers-turned-authors suddenly believe they are stand-up comedians and sprinkle every paragraph with a multitude of grating jokes. There were a few mistakes in the text, but all of them were already captured and corrected on the book's web site.

In my library of tech books, the best books, the ones I constantly revisit, are not the ones that show me how to do something -- they are the ones that place what I do in a wider context and show me the possibilities of what CAN be done. Although I do not currently use Ruby in my day-to-day work, I can see this book becoming invaluable when that day comes.

I am the sole HR person at my company. So, using this book has been very helpful and easy to use. I hope this book gets updated in a timely manner for future HR professionals/managers to use.

Excellent quick resource for a wide range of HR questions.

As a corporate HR director for a fortune 500 company, I am supposed to have all the answers when the phone rings or someone walks in the door. I don't have all the answers and never will and that is why I keep reference books such as the HR Answer Book within easy reach.

I can recommend this book to anyone in HR at any level. It's topic matter ranges from the very simple to more complex issues. I hope the revised version will contain a large section on labor relations as this is an area that many in HR struggle with. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR Author ofWingtips with Spurs

I highly recommend this book. I run a HR department by myself and since it is just me, myself, and I - this book gets lots of use; just to get another perspective on how something should be handled or feedback "so to speak."

It is written in a simple, clear, and direct manner. Very easy to use and understand.

I bought this book last year while coaching an HR professional. What I didn't realize is how much I needed to have this information on hand here in my office. Time after time my staff and I will use this as a resource when questioning an issue with pay,hiring,firing,what is fair and what is right for our employees. I have also found I will use when I suspect a client might be in a grey zone with an employee. A must have for small business owners! Alicia Fruin

When I first picked up Lead Like Jesus I was reminded of my first exposure to The Training of the Tweleve by A.B. Bruce and The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman. But as I read this book I came to the realization that this book was different. It offered something more. Lead Like Jesus is an excellent book that details the servant leader's responsibilities, to himself or herself and then to their partnership relationship.

What I appreciate about this book is the Biblical foundation on which it is developed. It is done so with no apologies and as such provides, for those who desire to lead in the secular or sacred world a model that holds within it the potential for life changing impact. Practical ideas coupled with plans for implementation make this a user manual not just a book to sit on the shelf. Like Blanchard's other works, this one can be implemented "right off the shelf."

Lead Like Jesus is a handbook for anyone who desires to impact their world where they live, work and play. This book will likely become a classic that serves aspiring leaders for years to come. Timeless wisdom written in contemporary language.

This book captures a proven leadership style that is timeless. Lead Like Jesus is appropriate for both the Church and the business place. We use it to develop servant leaders on our organization. I strongly recommend you add it to your leadership library.

The servant leader has always been the only approach that makes sense, and Ken Blanchard wrote many books about this before he got saved. Now, he understands the ultimate model for his philosophy - Jesus Christ - and has become an effective advocate for Jesus' modeling of servant leadership. I am going to teach from this book beginning in September 2008, and I believe my students will benefit immensely from the material here.

Great book that is easy to read and well organized. Deals with the fundementals such as motive and perspective, and is very effective.

Ken Blanchard's book, Lead Like Jesus, was like a good meal to me: a meat, two vegetables, satisfying but not noteworthy. Certainly there is nothing particularly harmful in the book (it is not like fast-food), but the "a-ha" moments were virtually non-existent for me. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. In a world where much Christian literature is positively harmful for its lack of Scriptural faithfulness, a solid book like this that reminds us of core values is worth our attention.

This is a must read for any managing partner of a law firm. I bought 20 copies and gave them to our partners as a must read.

This is a feel good book attempting to make an argument that people in business can be "professionals." By definition, business people exist to create and manage a business entity inorder to generate a profit. Professionals are licensed individuals. They are mandated by law is to protect the public's health, safety and welfare through the services that they provide to the community. This book is an attempt to corrupt and diminish the definition of professionalism.

Should be required reading for anyone aspiring to develop themselves professionally in a professional services firm. Especially pertinent for leaders and managers.

As Maister points out, some of his recommendations require the courage of ones' convictions to be realized. Yet, this book provides inspiration (along with wonderful advice) to achieve its ends.

Maister is simply the best in this niche...and this book, once again, demonstrates that.

Bill Wiersma, Author, The Big AHA

David Maister does a great job of explaining the fundamentals essential to anyone that has a job or is looking for a job in consulting. Splitting the book into three sections made it flow well and easy to follow and comprehend. Furthermore, Maister really focuses on the things that you should look for within yourself as well as the firm and clients. He makes you think about what one should really focus on in your career and the benefits you can receive from your job. This book also guides an employee in explaining situations that will probably occur at some point in their working career. David Maister gives you the tools that you need to be successful; all the person has to do is apply it to their everyday life.

The principles that Maister discussed in his book showed me that there is a balance between the client, the firm, and yourself. This balance is important because it dictates how successful you will become. It is also important to value your client as well as engage with them so that you really know who the client is and what their needs and wants are. Even though you must achieve your goals, you should help others to do the same by establishing a relationship, which in turn will make the working environment healthy and successful.

There is so much information you take a way from this book that will help you in your career as well as your life. I advise everyone to buy this book, because it is very beneficial to the success of anyone's career. Through the use of catchy phrases and clear, practical explanations, I feel that anyone can read this book and take something from it to apply to their career.

Finally a book that speaks to the heart of what consulting is(or professional services in general), with no hype, no distractions or flavor-of-the-month thoughts. I had heard David Maister at a recent consulting conference and was quite struck by his focus on people and 'execution of strategies' as being the core of successful consulting firms.

This book is pithy without being trite and if you have been in consulting a while, you can directly relate to what the author is referring to. There are many suggestions in this book that are insightful, practical and feel right on the money to a practictioner.

While by no means a classic, it is certainly a must read.

This is a no frills approach to management. Pacetta doesn't let anyone off the hook & his results speak to his approach. Must read for managers!

This book is a hidden gem. It is not talked about as much as many others in its field, but Frank P. offers many real-life examples of what managers can do to improve their team. The author not only tells you how, but gives you specific examples of how he did it. And, it works...as evidenced by the great sales successes that came from his direction. Do yourself a favor, and read this!

As I read the book by Frank Pacetta entitled, Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up, I was mystified at parallelisms of success between award winning organizations that I've been a witness and party to while also seeing that the author was able to break down many of those perspectives into tangible chartable elements. His prose takes an awesome approach for change management in highly fluid corporate environments.

His most important perspective was creating an environment that had lost for so long, and changing that into a culture of winning. This was a difficult process even as the words fell off the page. Fear, resent, back-stabbing are all processes that make change difficult. His first step in that process was to reward the achievers and create an environment that lead with rewards and praise instead of fear and punishment. While there were consequences for actions, it seems that the subtleties between an attitude change were all that was needed. It was a bit more than semantics however, it was placing the achievers on a pedestal and providing incentives for the team (not the individual) to succeed. This culture allowed more people to succeed and what he created there was something unique and interesting.

Another interesting perspective that he had was setting the bar hi. This wasn't something that he was just throwing out but something very important to a successful organization. Rather than fire people and set a tone in the organization, he noted that he just elevated the bar to achieve and the people who didn't want to be a part of that process left the organization on their own. This was an amazing phenomenon. The hard work and sweat of people's labors was in itself self-correcting to the organization.

He practices a virtue that I've admired from great Marines that I've worked with. There is a virtue of leadership in the Marine Corps from many of the officers I've worked for and that is that they lead by example. While he was demanding greatness from his office, he was delivering on it himself as well and that kind of consistency was important to the team building process. While I was recruiting for the Navy, a Senior Chief name Dan Medlock was my regional manager or in the civilian world what they often call a DBM. He spent his days helping the weakest elements of a state-wide team. He assisted in the nurturing of new personnel and showed them ropes for building a successful team. It was neat to see that this character trait was present in the leadership and team building that was going on in Cleveland when the manager himself was making 4 sales calls a day. This process creates an interesting synergy that is unmistakable in its effects. When I train with my current CO, his leadership style is the same. He's extremely competitive and driven in his processes and when we hit the ground, he's at the forefront of the mission, leading. That kind of leadership is something the troops, the sales force deeply respects.

His ability to manage setbacks and failure is another important quality that I find best about great leadership. When he talked about his Fall of 1991, they had a horrible September sales and he thought it might be going down the drain. His ability to rebound from that set back and work towards turning it around even in the face of that kind of adversity, makes for an amazing character trait. Even his ability to recognize how success can challenge an organization because people have a natural tendency to rest on their laurels. When I recruited this was a difficult task at hand. After my first year in working for an organization that had missed its sales goal for 10 years, we had turned it around and won almost every national and regional award possible including station of the year, recruiter of the year and rookie of the year. Even more embarrassing to the other office managers, was that we secured most of the runner up awards as well in a small market. What made this a more amazing team thought and more powerful than a flash in the pan was that we repeated this process three years in a row and literally changed much of the perspectives of the way the recruiting process was working through out the entire Navy. It made history in the organization and when I read this tendency to coast, I remembered those times, when the calls were coming in and life seemed good... I was afraid though after reading a book, Who Moved My Cheese, that those sources would dry up and then I'd be up a creek. I continued to prospect and my chances to succeed multiplied! It was amazing and when I read this same principle in this book, it was interesting to note the parallels of how organizations like this that are consistently successful don't rest. The virtue there is that there is another hungry, younger, salesman around the corner who will get the contract if you don't. You have to be persistent, smart, engaging and working hard all the time. That's easy to do in a crisis but often difficult in an organization that is feing the benefits of its success.

The last and most interesting aspect of this team building exercise was how it became contagious in the entire organization. As the team he built became successful other individuals in the company and other top performers from other organizations wanted to be a part of it. This amazing phenomenon had interesting consequences. Some people wanted to join the organization to be a part of something big, thinking the good life was there, and not realizing how difficult and fragile that success was. The other was the amazing talent that did want to come on board and the management task of being able to distinguish between the two. The author described this as `drudgery'. Another parallel to my own experience in this fashion was the types of folks who would call out out of the blue to see what we were doing in Milwaukee. They accused us of cheating and bending the rules in some dark fashion. Those who were wise, replicated what we were doing in their own corner of the country and they realized their own success. The entire quality of the organization outside our own scope and area of operation and responsibility improved as a result of this and we couldn't even measure or see the results to their full extent. People were tired of hearing our names and hearing about Milwaukee so they went out an got some of their own. It was amazing.

As I read this book, it read like a textbook of experience from our own experiences in Milwaukee. Ever page fell out like I was reading a memoirs written by my good friend Dan Medlock. For managers that would be wanting to duplicate these successes, this is a great book for understanding that kind of process. You can have those individual superstars, however, it is the team that creates something extraordinary and more importantly its almost self-perpetuating. That kind of leadership is important and Frank Pacetta is definitely a pace setter and his processes of leadership should be duplicated in every organization.

It doesn't matter what job specialty you are in, if you supervise people - or are an up-and-coming supervisor - you have to read this book.
The focus is on sales. But many of the principles outlined can be used no matter what you do. The basic principles even work with dealing with your own family - namely teenagers!
You learn that it's about your attitude and you taking responsibility for your actions. It's about knowing that PEOPLE are the most important asset there is. Take care of 'your' people and you will get results. Laziness and complacency will end your career in a hurry.
The book is a quick read and entertaining too. Frank does talk about himself quite a bit, and you may get the impression that he is 'stuck on himself'. I think that it is just that he has confidence in himself and his abilities.
Learn from this man. The book IS worth you time. Actually, I liked it so much that I bought a copy for each of the supervisors in my office.
Take a chance! The worst that could happen is that you will stay the way you are.

When any of my friends get promoted to management, I give them a copy of this book. I like reading lots of different business books, but this is one I refer to over and over again. Sage advice that is a breeze to read through and will motivate you to do the right things with your business and your team.

merchant did all they promised, I just ordered wrong book

This book is excellent if what you need is a compendium of standard features of & options for Windows XP. If, however, you're already thuroughly familiar with Win XP, and are seeking help with those odd issues (e.g. how to automatically sync Outlook Contacts across all user accounts on a one PC or on a single LAN), you will, alas, not find that in this book.

The book is a good reference, but I find it a bit more than needed for a beginer, while less than an admin would want. The tools are very helpful as well.

I do not own the book mainly because the majority of it is available online at Microsoft's website. You can save yourself a good sum of money getting the info there.

It covers a lot of tools and solution to problems that I didn't know about, but it still can't replace Microsoft's knowledge base.

This book is amazing for learning Windows xp Professional. Even though I have a different version of XP it helped with tweaking the computer's graphics and multimedia. It is good book if you are staying at home on a rainy day and want to tinker with your pc. The book is thorough and covers installation to troubleshooting. I haven't read all of it yet because it is like a encyclopedia but from what I have seen it has a lot to offer a newbie or someone who is more advanced.