Teams Books

I was 16 when the Browns marched through the 1980 season as the Kardiac kids and I followed every game. Knights book brings back memories, many good and one bad.

History has put the season in perspective. Rutigliano recognized a bit faster than most in the NFL how the rules changes around the passing game meant the game itself was changing. Luckily he had Brian Sipe and a great group of receivers, including running backs like Calvin Hill who could catch. On offense the Browns had the right group to capitalize on the rules changes and on defense they really were quite average but made the best of what they had.

The book really sums up the season really well. Also for die hard 1980 fans, there is now a DVD available with one game from that season, (Greatest Games Series). It's the Green Bay game that Sipe hit Logan late for the game winner. I am not sure why they choose that game other than legal reasons, but watching the full game from beginning to end is a real pleasure and it does put into perspective that the 1980s team really was mediocre in many ways, but won because they were ahead of their times, and the credit for that season really lies squarely in the hands of Rutigliano.

I may have been born in 1979 but this book is a must-read for all Cleveland Browns fans. It is nearing the end of the 2004 season and things are not looking well but reading this book will help you get through tough times like these.

The author provides an accurate description of each and every 1980 game along with a nice prologue, epilogue and "Where are they now?" type information.

I will buy every book by Jonathan Knight!

I have to be truthful here. I really didn't like the book after reading it once. When I went back through it for a second time, I began to understand Knight's thought process when he put the book together, and even though some parts were tough to get through, I was glad I re-read it by the time I finished. If you don't know much about the famous Kardiac Kids, I'd recommend that you give it a thorough read. If you're a self-proclaimed Browns expert, check it out from a library somewhere.

THIS IS A VERY GOOD READ CONCERNING THE 1980 CLEVELAND BROWNS ON A ROLLER COASTER RIDE ON THEIR WAY TO THE PLAYOFFS. THE AUTHOR DOES A GOOD JOB RECALLING ALL THE EXCITING, FRUSTRATING AND DISAPPOINTING MOMENTS OF THIS MEMORABLE SEASON FOR THE BROWNS. HE COVERS HOW THE TEAM WAS PUT TOGETHER, INTERVIEWS FROM PLAYERS AND COACHES FROM THAT TEAM, AND GAME BY GAME REVIEW. ALSO COVERS DRUG ABUSE, TEAM COVERAGE OF PREVIOUS AND NEXT SEASONS. JONATHAN KNIGHT CERTAINLY DID A LOT OF RESEARCH AND RESULTS ARE A GREAT JOB. VERY RECOMMENDED.

i am 15 years old, and a browns fanatic. i am unfortunate enough to have not experienced the 1980 season firsthand. however, this book makes me feel as if i had. i picked it up because my dad would always tell me stories of how good they were and it made me want to be a part of it. it is very well written, blending accounts of the PD (clevelanders know what that is) with insights from the players and coaches. this is the best book about the brwns i have ever read, and aside from friday night lights, this is my favorite book of all time.

Leading at a Higher Level is an excellent book that really "puts it all together" related to leadership and Blanchard's principles. I highly recommend it for a comprehensive book about leadership. I am using the book with our management/administrative team. Each person is reading the book and then facilitating the discussion of one chapter. The website resources are an added bonus. I am very excited about the individual and team development possibilities. Thank you!

Dramatic changes have altered the workplace over the course of the past 25 years, but many executives stick to outdated scripts even as corporate directions shift. Fortunately, The One Minute Manager guru Ken Blanchard offers insightful coaching exercises that give leaders new ways to proceed. Using straightforward language, Blanchard provides templates, examples and guidelines for employee education, performance reviews and promotions. The reader may become impatient with the repetition of key points and with Blanchard's slightly jarring habit of referring to himself in the third person, but despite these minor annoyances, this book is an excellent primer about modern leadership roles. In fact, Blanchard says that it "pulls together the thinking from the Ken Blanchard Companies for the past 25 years." We recommend this leadership overview to managers, board members, team leaders and every employee in a cubicle who aspires to reach higher levels.

I've been reading Dr. Ken Blanchard since The One Minute Manager came out. Perhaps you have been, too. While I haven't read all of his collaborations, I've usually read the books where the title seemed relevant to my interests.

More than once, I've wondered how I should fit all the pieces of his views on leadership into one finished jigsaw puzzle. Clearly, the views are humanistic, idealistic and inspiring. But how do we combine them all? My confusion was eliminated by reading Leading at a Higher Level which does an excellent job of integrating three decades worth of writing into one coherent set of ideas and directions for implementation.

If you tried to boil down this book into one idea, it's that of having the right target . . . what Dr. Blanchard and his partners and associates call the triple bottom line -- being the provider of choice for customers, the employer of choice for employees, and the investment of choice for investors. I'm not inclined to quibble, but in the rest of the book it's clear that other stakeholders are supposed to be considered (people who use the offerings, partners, the community, suppliers, and those affected by the company). I wonder if the triple bottom line doesn't need to be expanded to have more bottom lines.

Here's how the book is organized:

I. Set Your Sights on the Right Target and Vision

1. Measuring leadership performance -- the HPO SCORES model which is:

a. Shared information and open communications
b. Compelling vision
c. Ongoing learning
d. Relentless focus on customer results
e. Energizing systems and structures (ways of getting things done that fit with the vision)
f. Shared power and high involvement

As you can see, this is a highly participative concept of leadership where everyone has a role.

2. The Power of Vision

II. Treat Your Customers Right (Raving Fans created by Gung Ho people)

III. Treat Your People Right (Direct, Coach, Support, or Delegate depending on how prepared your people are for the task, and use one minute praisings and redirections and apologies)

IV. Have the Right Kind of Leadership (Servant leadership and diagnosing your own leadership perspective and style)

The bulk of the book is focused on the third topic, treat your people right, which is Dr. Blanchard's key operating philosophy.

The most interesting aspect of the book for me, however, was Dr. Blanchard's occasional revision of his philosophy. For instance, I could never understand why Dr. Johnson and he emphasized one-minute reprimands as much as one-minute praisings in The One Minute Manager. Dr. Blanchard makes a long-needed shift in that view to point out that one-minute redirections and one-minute apologies are needed much more often than one-minute reprimands.

Who will gain the most from this book? Someone who wants to see a process spelled out that can be used for being a humanistic leader and who hasn't read many books on the subject. If you've already read everything that's ever been written and feel comfortable with how Dr. Blanchard's many books fit together in application, you probably won't gain much additional knowledge from this book. But if you would like a friendly review of books you've enjoyed, you'll find the reading to be a pleasant experience. I enjoyed learning more about Dr. Blanchard's various colleagues.

If you haven't read anything by Ken Blanchard, just buy and read this book. It tells you everything you need to know about the other books. You could then expand your appreciation selectively by reading the fables that go with those books where you want to have a deeper understanding . . . by adding a story to go with the leadership lessons.

Be the leader you would like to have! That's the advice of Norman Schwarzkopf. I'm sure he would approve of this book.

Management expert Ken Blanchard has spent more than 25 years helping individuals and organizations become and stay great. Known for his co-authorship of The One Minute Manager, for the first time Blanchard combines his collective wisdom to show managers and leaders zero in on the right target and vision.

Blanchard argues that in high performing organizations everyone's energy is focused on three issues:

1. Being the provider of choice. To keep your customers, you must go beyond satisfying them, you have to turn them into raving fans.
2. Being the employer of choice. Workers seek opportunities where they feel their contributions are valued and rewarded.
3. Being the investment of choice. Money flows to organizations that provide viability, visibility and performance over time.

To achieve these goals, Blanchard argues, your organization must become a HPO - a high performing organization. The author employs the acronym SCORES to illustrate the six elements found in every HPO:

1. Shared Information and Communication.
2. Compelling Vision.
3. Ongoing Learning.
4. Relentless Focus on Customer Results.
5. Energizing Systems and Structures.
6. Shared Power and High Involvement.

In an HPO, Blanchard writes, every thing starts and ends with the customer. Each organization member is passionate about developing sophisticated knowledge of customers and sharing the information throughout the organization. This is accomplished three ways:

1. Decide. If you want raving fans, you do not announce it. You plan for it.
2. Discover. After you decide, it's critical to ask your customers' for suggestions to improve their experience with your organization.
3. Deliver + 1 per cent. Excite your people to deliver this experience, plus.

Enablement is the key to beating your competition day-after day. Allowing your people to pit their brains and allowing them to use their knowledge, experience and motivation is critical. To guide this transition to an enablement culture, leaders must use three keys:

1. Share Information.
2. Declare the Boundaries
3. Replace old Hierarchies with Self-Directed Individuals and Teams.

This requires a special leader: the servant leader. Leadership has two parts: vision and implementation. They need to find out what their people need to be successful and they make a difference in the lives of their people and in the process, their organization.

Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, and his colleagues at The Ken Blanchard Companies have spent more than 25 years helping good leaders and organizations become great and stay great. In this book, they describe how leaders can empower people and unleash their incredible potential. This book must be required reading for everyone who wants to become a better leader.

A better definition of leadership, according to the author, is the capacity to influence others by unleashing the power and potential of people and organizations for the greater good. Leadership should not be done purely for personal gain or goal accomplishment: It should have a much higher purpose than that. Leadership can be defined as the process of achieving worthwhile results while acting with respect, care and fairness for the well-being of all involved. When that occurs, self-serving leadership is not possible. It's only when you realize that it's not about you that you begin to lead at a higher level.

Being a successful leader is not only about leading your organization, but your customers as well. According to the author, to keep your customers, you can't be content just to satisfy them; you have to create raving fans. Raving fans are customers who are so excited about the way you treat them that they want to tell everyone about you. A good example of how this works is Domo Gas, a full-service gasoline chain in Western Canada, cofounded by Sheldon Bowles. Back in the 1970s, when everybody was going to self-service gasoline stations, Bowles knew that if people had a choice, they would never go to a gas station. But people have to get gas, and they want to get in and out as quickly as possible. The customer service vision that Bowles and his co-founders imagined was an Indianapolis 500 pit stop. They dressed all their attendants in red jumpsuits. When a customer drove into one of Bowles' stations, two or three people ran out of the hut and raced toward the car. As quickly as possible, they looked under the hood, cleaned the windshield and pumped the gas (p. 42).

A successful leader must also have a workable vision, and be able to clearly communicate and share this vision with his organization. When Louis Gerstner Jr. took the helm of IBM in 1993-- amid turmoil and instability as the company's annual net losses reached a record $8 billion -- he was quoted as saying, "The last thing IBM needs is a vision." In an article in The New York Times two years later, Gerstner conceded that IBM had lost the war for the desktop operating system, acknowledging that the acquisition of Lotus signified that the company had failed to plan properly for its future. He admitted that he and his management team now "spent a lot of time thinking ahead." Once Gerstner understood the importance of vision, an incredible turnaround occurred. In 1995, delivering the keynote address at the computer industry trade show, Gerstner articulated IBM's new vision -- that network computing would drive the next phase of industry growth and would be the company's overarching strategy. That year, IBM began a series of acquisitions that positioned it to become the fastest-growing company in its segment, with growth at more than 20 percent per year. This extraordinary turnaround demonstrated that the most important thing IBM needed was a vision (p. 24-25).

Leaders must also know how to lead their workforce. Giving people too much or too little direction has a negative impact on people's development. Situational leadership is based on the belief that people can and want to develop, and there is no best leadership style to encourage that development. You should tailor leadership style to the situation. This is pretty much common sense. But leaders should also train their people in self leadership. For example, Bandag Manufacturing experienced the value of self leadership after a major equipment breakdown. Rather than laying off the affected work force, the company opted to train them in leadership. The company began holding their managers accountable and asking them to demonstrate their leadership capabilities. They were asking managers for direction and support and urging them to clarify goals and expectations. Suddenly, managers were studying up on rusty skills and working harder. When the plant's ramp-up time was compared to the company's other eight plants that had experienced similar breakdowns in the past, the California plant reached pre-breakdown production levels faster than any in history. The determining factor in the plant's successful rebound was primarily the proactive behavior of the workers, who were fully engaged and armed with the skill of self leadership (p. 104-105).

Leaders must also encourage team work, and be part of the team themselves. Teams provide a sense of worth, connection and meaning to the people involved in them. A study of 12,000 male Swedish workers over a 14-year period revealed that workers who felt isolated and had little influence over their jobs were 162 percent more likely to have a fatal heart attack than were those who had a lot of influence in decisions at work and who worked in teams. Data like this -- combined with the fact that teams can be far more productive than individuals functioning alone --provide a compelling argument for creating high involvement workplaces. Furthermore, according to a 2003 Gallup study, "actively disengaged" people -- workers who are fundamentally disconnected from their jobs -- are costing the U.S. economy between $292 billion and $355 billion a year. The Gallup survey found that 24.7 million workers (17 percent) are actively disengaged. These workers are absent from work 3.5 more days a year than other workers, or 86.5 million days in all. Statistics show an even less engaged work force worldwide.

When people lead at a higher level, they make the world a better place because their goals are focused on the greater good. Making the world a better place requires a special kind of leader: a servant leader. Robert Greenleaf first coined the term "servant leadership" in 1970 and published widely on the concept. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela are examples of servant leaders. Servant leaders feel their role is to help people achieve their goals. They try to find out what their people need to be successful. They want to make a difference in the lives of their people and, in the process, impact the organization (p. 249).

Research shows that effective leaders have a clear, teachable leadership point of view and are willing to teach it to others, particularly the people they work with. If you can teach people your leadership point of view, they will not only have the benefit of understanding where you're coming from, but they'll also be clear on what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. They may also begin to solidify their own thinking about leadership so that they can teach others too. Some say that learning, teaching and leading should be inherent parts of everyone's job description.

The world needs more leaders who are leading at a higher level. Perhaps the day will come when self-serving leaders are history, and leaders serving others are the rule, not the exception.

Better than most guides I've seen out there. Great detail!

Good game. You need to like cartoon characters, which I do.
Children and the young at heart would enjoy this game.

I was very happy with the speedy delivery and the book itself was very helpful

I got this a week after i got the game and it was so much easier and better.
It has good tips for dungoens. It tells you what happens in the dungeon, what you need, and what you can get.
Full pokedex with all 386 pokemon!
ITS AWESOME

It's the most awesome book where you can learn about dungeons and see what items you need before going into them. It helps your ranking to go up. It has an awesome Pokedex. I learned about new items that I didn't know about before. I highly recommend this book; it's one of the greatest I ever saw.

Evberyone has great ideas and can engage in conversations about the virtues of this and the problems and challenges of that. Debbe Kennedy has written the practical road map for implementing a successful program that taps into the unique genius of many people. The result is a handbook for successfully getting the best out of everyone. Given her vast experience and global perspective Debbe has the hands on experience and gravitas that undersatnds what is essential to do this successfully. Given the flat world we live in you will be consulting this book frequently over the coming decade. Thank you Debbe!

Stewart Levine, author, "Getting to Resolution," "The Book of Agreement" and co-author "Collaboration 2.0."

In the network-centric organizational models of our new century, collaboration with diverse individuals and groups across a variety of boundaries is absolutely essential and poses one of the greatest leadership challenges of our time.

In her book, Putting Our DIFFERENCES to WORK, Debbe Kennedy deals with the human element of this leadership challenge and does so with gusto and passion. While Debbe displays compassion and empathy for leaders grappling with this challenge, this is not a "touchy-feely" book. Rather, this book contains strategic as well as practical and pragmatic methods for developing a portfolio of leadership skills and behaviors. These methods are not of the "management trend de jour" variety. Instead, they are built around a proven process based on years of experience in the field.

Debbe also supports the material of her book through a variety of mediums including a blog and an online, global dialogue center. This latter is a virtual gathering place for people throughout the world to engage in dialogue about leadership, professional and personal development, and practicing the methods Debbe advocates in her book. For those of us dealing with the realities of the new world of work, it helps to have Debbe as one of our guides.

Debbe's book is required reading for leaders who want to bring out the best in everyone on their team. She outlines a true business imperative - that people are the number one source of new thinking and new ideas. It follows that when you create and leverage the strengths of a diverse team their different points of view bring a unique perspective to problem solving and innovation. This is how great companies come up with breakthrough products and services.

Debbe introduces a six step leadership model and the book is packed with personal stories from business leaders which help bring the model to life. The second half of the book focuses on best practices that give real life examples of the theory along with specific action steps that the reader can use to implement the model in their environment.

For those leaders who are looking for both strategic and tactical actions to improve their business, this book offers a refreshing and energetic viewpoint combined with solid research.

I own the hardcover version of the book Putting Our Differences to Work: The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance, but the book came to life when I was able to actually read the book as a PDF E-book (available at the publisher www.berrettkoehler.com/podtw). I am completely blind and I was very happy to find that the PDF E-book was accessible and read well with my screen reader.

I thoroughly enjoyed and found this book's fresh approach to leadership pioneering and inspiring. I love the true stories with key learning points from the many innovative leaders that are in this book. Debbe Kennedy truly knows the benefits of putting our differences to work and what it takes to be an effective leader.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to utilize and value the differences in their complete workforce and gain an edge on their competitors. If you are looking to be a better leader in your organization, citizen in your community or the world this book is for you. Being completely blind myself I truly embrace others who can see the value and extraordinary benefits of differences in people.

Bill Tipton

Too often diversity programs are seen as extraneous to the core business of the organization. In this powerful book, Debbe Kennedy offers convincing evidence that managing diversity is key to an organization's ability to innovate and adapt to a rapidly changing world. Using diversity as a strategic advantage requires that we know how to "put our differences to work" --how to align our different ways of thinking and seeing the world to create breakthrough products and solutions. The "Putting our Difference to Work Model" that Debbe describes and illustrates in this book can be applied by any leader in any organization. The examples and case studies she sites ground the model in the real world. She offers tools and techniques that help people with different ways of thinking come together to get things done. The "how to" information in this book is useful and easy to apply, but it is the explanation of why diversity matters that makes this book so compelling. Debbe makes it clear that putting differences to work is the key task of today's leader.

This book is a fascinating read to see how everything started. It explains what baseball was like B.R. (before Red Sox) and gives us a sense of our fandom ancestors. It truly is like a family history with all the crazy characters and situations that come with every family.
I'm most amazed to find that the past is very similar to the present in that the team was formed by luring great players, including Cy Young, away from other teams (today's free agency), and dumping salaries. Not to mention the parallels between the fans and their taunting of the Pirates players in 1903 as today's fans mock Yankees players.
The only problem is that there is SO much to talk about, everything is given equal time, and if you want to immerse yourself in more detail about specific moments, then you're out of luck. But that's why there are books on each subject like the selling of Babe Ruth or the Impossible Dream, etc.
This book gives you the overview. It's up to you to take your education further. -- Andy Wasif, author Green Monster University: Creating Die-Hahd Fans Since 1901

Must read for the followers of RED SOX NATION

What else can be said but win another RING.

Half the book are quotations, and some quotations run for pages and pages. In my opinion, that's unprofessional. It's like the author published his rough draft. He must have been paid by the word.

A long time Red Sox fan, I've been let down countless times. The biggest being in 1985. But, after the 2004 season, all my anguish and woe as a Sox fan diminished after they swept the Cardinals in the World Series. When this book came out, I immediately picked it up and read it as fast as I could. From the first page on, the book just grabbed me and I couldn't let it go. The pictures are well taken and well represented in the book. After the 1970s, I could remember these moments in Sox history. Then I read about the 1990s, about Pedro and D-Lowe. Then the forgettable 2003 ALCS. Then the greatest pages of all, the 2004 season, with the book ending on a high note, for once! All the Red Sox books I've read, all of them have ended badly, this one though, ended great! Read this book, you won't regret it.

As they say in the book
"And when Red Sox fans in the future travel to stadiums around the country, they "1918" caps and taunts of "Bucky Dent" or "Bill Buckner" will ring hollow. Bucky who? Who cares? Bill who? Doesn't matter.
"History starts today" became the battle cry. The Red Sox had done it. Red Sox fans, like Humphrey Bogart, will always have Paris."
- Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History Of The Red Sox

I've been a Red Sox fan since the early 1960's - around the time that Carl Yastzemski, my all time favorite player, came up - and in common with all Red Sox fans, have suffered through some of the most heart-breaking losses imagineable..

And, unfortunately, this book does not pull any punches or try to sugar coat the losses. It's all there - the loss to the Cardinals in 1967 after Yaz almost single-handedly carried the Red Sox to the Impossible Dream and took the Cards and the brilliant Bob Gibson to a 7th game.

Or the 1975 World Series against the Big Red Machine - the Cincinnati Reds. Again, the Sox went the distance only to lose in Game 7. But they gave us a win in Game 6 which, in my opinion, was the greatest game ever played in the best series ever played.

But it also brings back the heartbreak of the 1978 season when they blew a huge lead in August and ending up losing to the Yankees after Bucky F*****ing Dent's homerun.

Or the 1986 World Series against the Mets when they lost Game 6 after being just 1 strike away from winning. Thanks Bill Buckner / Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley.

And let's not forget the 2003 "Cowboy Up" season..!!

You know, I never bought the "curse of the Bambino" nonsense and this book only confirmed what I always suspected / knew. The ONLY thing that the Red Sox were cursed with were Managers who, at times, were clearly brain dead - they were simply in over their heads and couldn't do the little things that separate the great coaches from the merely good or "mortal" ones.

For example, Don Zimmer sticking with Mike Torrez late in the one game playoff with the NY Yankees back in 1978 when he should have gone with Bill Lee's fresh arm. Unfortunately, Zimmer thought "Spaceman" Lee was a flake and so he decided to keep him on the bench. Between this bonehead play - and Zimmer's decision to get rid of one of the greatest pinch hitters around (remember Bernie Carbo's heroics in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series..??), is it any wonder that the player's couldn't get the job done..??

Or in 1986, John McNamara elected to keep a gimpy kneed Bill Buckner at first instead of pulling him for a healthier, better fielding replacement.
And we all know what happened..!!

And, of course, we can't forget Grady Little staying with Pedro Martinez late in the game in the 2003 ALCS when every Red Sox fan - alive and dead - was screaming at Grady through their TV to "pull this guy and get a fresh, strong arm in there..!!!??. After giving up a bunch of hits, Little pulled Martinez, but by then the damage was done..! And when Boone hit that home run, it was deja vu all over again..!

No - there never was a "curse" - just some of the most incredibly inept and stupid managing in the history of this great game. Some day, Zimmer and Little and McNamara should all get together and compare notes on who the biggest bonehead is..!

But enough of the negative stuff.

I loved the commentary from the players /fans / reporters etc that are sprinkled thorughout the book. It really gives you a flavour of the time and the emotions that we all experience when you're a Red Sox fan. The bookj talks about the beaning of Tony Conigliaro, who never properly recovered from that terrible accident. We can only wonder how great his numbers and career might have been had he been healthy.

Or the numerous stories of Ted Williams - or the Yawkey's (Tom and Jean), Luis Tiant , Jim Rice, Freddie Lynn and on and on it goes.

Of course, we all know that it has an incredibly happy ending with their World Series win in 2004. Yes,three years later in August 2007 as I'm writing this, it still feels great to be able to sit back and know that these guys won it all in our lifetime...!!

And to win it the way they did against the Yankees is still the BEST memory I will ever have in baseball. No matter how many incredibly painful ways the Red Sox found to lose throughout the years, ONLY the Yankees have been ahead 3 games to 0 in the ALCS and then proceed to lose the next 4 games. Yes - the Red Sox have had some bitter losses, but only the NY Yankees have choked so bad that no other team in baseball history has ever equalled it. The World Series win was the BEST cake in the world - and beating the Yankees the way they did was the best icing on the cake a Red Sox fan could possibly ask for..!!

I hope the Yankees and their fans still choke on that thought from time to time.

Anyways, if you're a Red Sox fan - and you should be if you're not - you MUST own this book. it's a great read from the first to last page and it's a pleasure to read about the teams and players that pre-dated your own interst.

It's a pleasure being a Red Sox fan..!!

Everyone may agree that creating a sense of responsibility in employees and managers is a benefit to an organization. But what is meant by responsibility? And just how can you go about creating a sense of responsibility within a company? These are the questions the authors of this book have tried to answer.

To begin with, it is more important for employees to be responsible for results than for them to be responsible for activities. Employees may, in fact, be able to prove that they performed several activities, without actually achieving the desired result or goal. A good manager, say the authors, must make employees understand that their responsibility lies in achieving the goal behind the work, and not just the work itself. Responsibility has two dimensions. You are responsible to somebody, and you are responsible for something. Employees must be responsible to the customer and the organization. They must also be responsible for results, not just activities or tasks.

Motivating workers to be responsible to the company and for results must proceed from four necessary conditions:
1. The company must be an organization that workers are ready to commit themselves to.
2. Employees must understand what results they are expected to produce.
3. Employees must have a proper reward and recognition system.
4. Employees must have the skills and knowledge necessary to create the results.

The authors focus a bright light on the vital role and enduring quality of personal responsiblity in the work place. Imagine if each of us really did take responsibility for customer satisfaction, getting the right results, and problem solving! We could really make our workplaces stages for personal satisfaction, even joy. This is the future the authors believe in and they've provided a strong tool set in the book to help us get there.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker reluctantly agrees to "try" to salvage his spaceship. The Yoda replies, "Do or do not. There is no try." The authors of this book agree with the Yoda. They suggest that responsible managers insist on achieving results. While chairman and CEO of Pier 1 Imports, Clark Johnson observed that he always encouraged effort but only rewarded performance. Johnson may not have read this book but he certainly agrees with the key points its authors make.

In Chapter 1, they revisit and redefine the concept of responsibility. In subsequent chapters, they discuss a leader's responsibility to the customer, to the organization, and to everyone within the organization. They view the responsible manager as a problem solver and, in Chapter 5, provide a problem-solving approach "that works." They then shift their attention to "Getting the Right Answer" and "Getting the Right Result." For the authors, judgment is the foundation of responsibility. They also assert, in Chapter 9, that there is "a rationale for teams that work" and then explain what that rationale is...also, what it requires of everyone involved. In Chapters 10 and 11, they answer two key questions: How to design an effective team? and How to maximize productivity among the members of a team? In the final chapter, the authors explain what is needed to keep responsible change alive.

According to the authors, "most change efforts fail because of an inadequate understanding of what produces value in the business or of how human beings change." They then offer eight specific reasons why change efforts fail:

1. We like to feel good. [change threatens comfort levels]

2. No top leadership support [if "they" don't care, why should anyone else?]

3. Change efforts do not address the whole system [a fragmented approach tends to focus on symptoms rather than on causes]

4. We hide failure [success is reassuring...failure could involve blame and guilt]

5. Misunderstanding of what has changed [See #3]

6. Too few understand the rationale for change efforts [ie those who are expected to support change initiatives are not told how and why their support is so essential]

7. Neglect of transition [failure to understand that change is an incremental process, not a quantum leap from "here" to "there"]

8. There is no structure for change [within the organization, there are no policies and procedures to resolve the conflict between "what is done now" and "doing better"]

Hence the importance of having a sense of responsibility to help solve problems shared by everyone, of having patience during the inevitably slow process of organizational change, and of having self-discipline throughout that challenging process. The authors correctly point out that (1) "everyone must be willing to carry his or her share of the load", (2) "Sustainable efforts take two to three years but result in dramatically more healthy and more exciting organizations", and (3) "The discipline of change refers to the regularity with which change is pursued as well as emerging skills that are developed through devotion to change." A responsible leader understands all this, conducts herself or himself accordingly, and requires everyone else to do so also. Working together, they identify problems and then solve them. "There is no try...." and excuses are unacceptable.

One final point: Recent research suggests that by 2025 at the latest (but probably much sooner), organizational rewards will be completely based on performance. To varying degrees, responsible leaders have been supporting that policy for decades.

The focus here is on the end results, the outcomes of management action. The authors present a systematic, thoughtful, practical and step by step method of achieving better results by becoming more effective as problem solvers and its told in story format with interesting and captivating vignettes. Includes several chapters on team building, the elements of team effectivness, and teams that work.

This is one of the most entertaining and useful books about leadership and management I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone in any position of responsibility. Both the concepts and the techniques are invaluable.

This is a fun and easy read for any fan of the women's game, centered around the pivotal 1996 Olympic gold medal-winning team, which in many ways marked a turning point in establishing the foundation upon which the modern game is built.

But not only does this book offer a wonderful historical perspective, and some great stories and inside anecdotes on many top players past and present, it also provides insight into the mind of one of the college game's top coaches.

Even for those close to Stanford basketball, Tara Vanderveer is a very private inividual. That's why I found this book especially helpful in providing a better understanding of her personal history, philosophy toward the game, how she feels it should be played, and how that all filters down to the teams she puts on the floor today.

Because Tara is often softspoken in public and not one to actively seek the limelight or TV cameras like some of the other big names in her profession, there may be a tendency by some to think she is more of a hands-off coach. And despite the occasional glare from the sideline, a calm and quiet presence. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book does a good job of uncovering the intensity that boils deep inside and her unbending desire to win.

This is a really inspirational book for those who care about womens' basketball. I had a really hard time putting it down. You feel as if you are part of the U.S. Olympic Team, and were there to witness the trials and tribulations of their road to Gold. Great book for those who play basketball or enjoy it. (Especially if you're female!!) I think I will start reading the book from the beginning again tomorrow. It also meant more to me then maybe someone else because I have been to Tara's Camps and been able to interact with Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding, and other players as well. It is totally my favorite book ever!

I confess that I have been a fan of Tara Vanderveer for nearly 10 years. I think I understand that basketball is a very major part of her life. She likes Bob Knight, sheesh. This book was a very easy read even though you already know how it will end. When you finish the book you might feel like you want to see if the players saw everything the same way. Well, this is her point of view.

I thoroughly enjoyed this in-depth view of Tara's work with the Women's National (Olympic) team of 1996. The team was a masterpiece, and being able to see it thru the eyes of its coach was really something special. It gave me great insight into Tara and her drive and dedication to the sport and to the team. A great book!!

Tara Vanderveer is the author of the inspiring autobiography Shooting form the Outside.  In this autobiography, Tara Vanderveer discusses the challenges and obstacles that she must overcome into to reach her goal of winning the gold medal.  The autobiography discusses the hardships, conflicts, and problems that the team faces throughout the year and shows how teamwork can overcome anything.
This novel is pretty much an overview of the Women's Basketball team throughout their Olympic season.  The novel starts out with Tara Vanderveer talking about her child hood days and how she developed a love for the game.  She talks about how she use to be a mascot for the school, used to write down every new play she heard in a notebook, and how she went and watched the men's basketball team to learn any new play on offense or defense she could pick up.  The story then proceeds to Coach Vanderveer discussing her thoughts and concerns for the year that lay ahead of the eleven woman that have been selected as the national team.  She talks about her past failures like the 1994 World Games that have pushed her and motivated her to win the gold medal.  She promised that the embarrassment and disgrace that she felt from the World Games will never happen again.  One can easily feel the strong determination and motivation that Coach Vanderveer feels, and how she uses this as an ally and works the team harder than they have ever been worked before. 
This book was undoubtedly worth reading from my point of view.  This book taught me information about Title IX that I had previously never even heard about.  The book showed me the true struggle that a woman must face and has taught me a sense of respect for woman who have succeeded in the past. 
One issue the book brings up is that woman are not given enough opportunity to succeed in life.  A woman's determination and motivation can easily be destroyed or brought down by the cruelness and unfairness of discrimination towards woman.  Therefore, since woman can do all jobs just as productively as men, the book suggests that woman should be given fair and equal treatment and equal opportunities to men. 
In conclusion, Shooting from the Outside is an excellent book that teachers lessons and values that should be known and followed by all of society.  The story teachers discrimination is pointless and by not allowing woman to perform to their full capacity we are truly ruining our own opportunities to further succeed in life.

This is a good introduction to the New York Jets. I consider myself a big fan of the Jets and I really enjoyed the book. It's not loaded with to much information and statistics that would bore someone who is not a die-hard football fan. Easy reading with some interesting information on some of the Jets biggest names, new and old. Also talks about fans, owners,the AFC and NFL.

This is the best sports book to come out ever. Usually I find these books boring, or uninteresting, but this book is completely different. It was a great book, and once i started reading i couldnt put it down. I suggest this book to everyone, even if you usually dont like sports books. This book is different, and amazing.

This is the best sports book of the year! I Hope he writes another one.

i have been a jets fan for many years now, and this is the best jets book to ever come out! Everyone go read it now!

An absolute must have for EVERY Jets fan, and a great read for any football fan. This book is not your typical home-team love fest; Mr. Lange regales the reader with stories of triumph and of tribulation with equal aplomb. Book is loaded with facts, stats, and history. Highly Recommended!

My 5 yr old loves reading to us and she's even taken the first one to school for show and tell to read to the kids. The books are numbered and each ascending number is slightly more difficult to read. She's already learned the first few and is working her way through them. These are perfect for the pre-k and K ages.

My son (6 yrs) loved these and read each one multiple times within the first week. Great for encouraging phonics readers!

I purchased this set for my 5 year old Kindergartener after earlier this year a teacher had recommended the website... www.starfall.com. Fairly easy phonics set. WE LOVE THEM. Maddy can read the books on her own, and she doesn't lose interest or become discouraged because they are a fairly quick read. We have also found that she is now reading at a quicker pace. The pictures are very cute just like the website... which my daughters adore! Wonderful companion to go along with the website.

If your child is struggling or a beginning reader, than you should definately give this set a try at the wonderful price that it currently is.

My five year old preschooler has desperately been wanting to learn to read. She kept asking for the Hooked on Phonics set, but I had read some negative reviews on it. After reading so many positive responses here on Amazon, I decided to give this set a try. She LOVES it and has been speeding through the books. The only downside is that there are no instructions to help you teach your child, but really, what's to know? Just let them read & help them sound it all out. I'm really pleased with my purchase and my daughter is proud to be able to say, "I can read on my own!"

These books are really cute, short and sweet. The pictures really draw in the child. The animal characters are doing various things that most small children love to do (cooking in the kitchen, racing cars, making messes, playing at the beach, enjoying family, etc.). My son (who just turned 5) LOVES them.

When we first sat down to read them, I thought they were cute and really focused on letter sounds AND kept the attention of my son. But what REALLY sold me and made me (and my son fall in love with them) was the STARFALL.com website. ALL of the books are ONLINE with animation and sound. The child can even modify the story. It is too cute! My son has his own laptop and loves to go to the website and READ and LISTEN to the books, where they focus on sounding out the words. In addition to the books, there are a million other FUN learning activities ... calendar, writing a letter. It's an absolutely fabulous FUN learning website, all for free! This website has helped with learning and reinforcing what he has already learned in school.

So, if you want to see (and read) the books BEFORE you buy, they are all on STARFALL.com.

As a manager responsible for approximately $100 million in spend, I found that this book was able to effectively break down the complex topic of strategic supply management into manageable chunks. I find this book to be useful for the entry level supply chain professional as well as for the practicing purchasing professional. This book not only discusses today's best practices but it also lays out what needs to be done in order to prepare for tomorrow. I will be using the valuable information provided to improve our practices with regard to managing our supply base. It was well worth the read, and it will continue to be a ready reference for me going forward.

This text should be required reading for every supply chain professional. It covers every important topic and trend in supply management and does so with a unique blend of theoretical analysis, industrial survey results and real-life examples. I was particularly impressed with the sections on supplier selection, managing supplier performance and the use of information technology to optimize and support supply objectives. From this text, I learned not only how to take a big picture, strategic look at the problem of supply management but what tools and techniques are available to help day-to-day execution of that strategy. You can quickly see from this text just how complicated supply management is and that a high level of interaction exists between many different functional organizations. Taking a short-term, isolated approach to this topic and ignoring the trends and advice offered in this text will make it very difficult to achieve long-term success.

I was very pleased with the writing style used by the author. It did not read like a textbook with listing of fact after fact. Instead, the author made the subject matter enjoyable to read and included some personal observations that stressed the practical aspects of the material. I would highly recommend this text to anyone who works in supply chain management.

This book is an excellent read for supply chain professionals and those wanting to understand the tools and practices of world-class supply management. Thoroughly researched, Trent provides the foundations and processes of supply management and supports these with real-world examples demonstrating how organizations have transformed their supply chains. The book is a quick read and the summary points at the end of each chapter are also a great reference for those in a hurry. Supply management organizations looking for sustainable competitive advantage will find this guide invaluable.

This book is a complete guide to supply management for any purchasing professional or student. It effectively addresses all the pressures supply professionals face today and provides actionable solutions. The book provides a holistic view of supply management but also gives specific tools and identifies additional resources for more in-depth research. Specifically, I found the tools for supplier identification and selection and the tips for crashing the timeline for supplier identification and selection very useful. While this book is executable by more senior supply professionals, lower level supply professionals can benefit by it also. If you have been too busy to follow what others are doing, this book will give you the heads up on new trends that work. It's a fast, well organized and interesting read you can breeze through during the weekend so when you go back to work on Monday you can begin transforming your organization to a lean and mean supply management machine.

Strategic Supply Management provides a step by step guide to creating a world-class supply chain. By focusing upstream on the power of procurement, readers can learn to establish a solid integrated foundation upon which to build their corporate value proposition. Trent uses timely examples of real-world companies and supplies straight-forward assessment templates that, once completed, provide a comprehensive plan to develop a sustainable and highly effective supply chain. Injected with an occasional dash of humor, this book is a well-organized, efficiently-detailed must-read for anyone wanting to transform their twentieth century procurement function into the strategic supply chain required to compete successfully in today's world.