Economic-Life Books

`The Journey' is one of those few books that offers real guidance and solutions to people seeking better relationships, both at work and in their personal life. I found this book inspiring and engrossing; the story the author shares with his readers immediately captivates them because we all can relate to what he has experienced. The manner in which he reveals the steps to better understanding yourself will leave you nodding your head in agreement. It's short enough that it doesn't get preachy (like a lot of books about relationships tend to do) yet long enough to provide positive and thought-provoking examples of how we can respect and accept differences of those we work and live around.

The authors, Jed Selter and Gil Tumey, have emphasized the communication stumbling block in everyday interactions and how to overcome and defeat the obstacles that miscommunication deals us. `The Journey' is fascinating and insightful; I highly recommend it to everyone who has ever felt that there was more to life than the rat race we all feel we are caught up in.

The Journey is a powerful and motivating story, easily read and understood. It tells of the transformation that can occur as we understand and embrace the concepts that bring happiness and meaning to our lives. Such a simple, true, and hopeful message - one we MUST share with others!

The hour (or so) it takes to read this book is a very worthwhile investment. The book addresses how we each have at our disposal a mechanism to raise us above our current problems and concerns to achieve personal and professional happiness and fulfillment, a fulfillment based upon making a meaningful contribution to the lives of others. The book teaches that each of us are empowered to make a difference in not only our own lives -- raising us above our current circumstances -- but also in the lives of the people all around us, to the mutual betterment of all.

I have had the pleasure of attending seminars given by the authors and have experienced the teachings within "The Journey" first hand. They are not only applicable to today's business environment, but very timely as well. The messages and focused direction of the steps to developing better relationships (both professional and personal) are easy to understand and even easier to implement.

I've found that most people forget a great deal of what they learn in seminars unless the material is immediately applied and often re-visited. The authors have given us a book we can refer to and use to refresh our memories and re-energize our daily lives.

I've read many similar type books and I place "The Journey" at the top of my prefered list, alongside the "Celestine Prophecy" and "The Tenth Insight". They all capture our interest through (somewhat) fictional stories, hold our attention by using our curiosity and teach us about life through practical, common sense techniques and applications.

You will enjoy the ride (and the read).

I was captivated from the first page to the last. This gripping tale of evangelical artisans struggling to adapt to an emerging capitalist culture while keeping their producerist principles in 19th century Baltimore kept me up way past my bedtime in order to finish it. Even Dr. Sutton's footnotes are well worth reading!

This is the most informative and well-written book I've ever read. I was captivated by it from beginning to end and I think that William Sutton is the greatest history writer of all time. Buy this book! It's a classic!

Having borrowed this book twice from the library I have just now decided to buy a copy to keep in my bookshelf. This is an excellent book, and one which owes a good deal to E. P. Thompson's ground-breaking "Making of the English Working Class" in its method of historical analysis. In other words instead of relying on boring statistics and trends to explain the history of the common people it focuses on the people themselves and the actions that they took. This makes it interesting for the reader who is thus able to identify and empathise with the historical figures that Sutton describes. This is history as it should be written, a human story, about ordinary people and their lives, and how they reacted to events that seemed beyond their control.

The book itself examines how craft workers in Baltimore faced the challenges posed by industrial capitalism. How they saw their livelihoods being undermined by its cheap goods and the actions they took in response. In a sense it describes how the true Republic was lost. It also looks at the role that their religion played in that struggle. This is indeed a "peoples' history".

Writing history in this way, Sutton joins other excellent American historians like Ronald Schultz, Sean Wilentz, Bruce Laurie, and the late Christopher Lasch. All of these are well worth reading if you want to know how the common people lived before the crass materialism of modern capitalism stamped itself on American history. This history reconnects one to an older and more just and moral American Republic now sadly lost to corporate greed and warmongering. The American people are indeed well served by historians of this calibre.

Dr. Sutton effectively brings Jacksonian Baltimore to life in this morality tale that has become a cult classic. Dr.Sutton is indeed the greatest history writer ever in addition to being the rawest history teacher in the world. Journeymen for Jesus changed the way I thought about Jacksonian Baltimore and for that I am forever indebted to the master, Dr.Sutton.

I purchased this book for $3.55 in 1988 and read it daily for about 1 month during a time when I was having trouble with work motivation. I have since increased my earnings ~6 fold, but more importantly I now try to always keep joy in my work. I still keep the tattered copy on my desk and open it occasionally for reinforcement or when I need some quick quotes. I recommend this book highly if you need a lift.

I read this book a number of years ago and I keep coming back to it because of its terrific message.
The book is layed out on a day-to-day format with short chapters that helped me to overcome difficulties and strengthen what I need to work on. Perfect for reading first thing in the morning.
After the first time I read this book, many of my friends asked me what I had done with myself because I had changed so much. Very positive and very empowering.
Look for the 6-tape audio cassette program too. It's fantastic. Great for the car.

6 years ago I bought this book and up to now it never loses its flavor. It is filled with down to earth sage advice coming from an author who have been there in the assembly line factory. It focuses on the salaried workers and at the same for those aiming at the corporate ladder. Compared to other self-help books, I think this is one of the best I have bought. It is always on my bag everyday going to work to remind me when work becomes a joyless compulsion. Dennis Waitley & Reni Witt are among the few I regard as favorite self-help writers. They are warm and are able to emphatize on your work situation. You will sense it as you go through the book. They are really concerned to help you improve. I will share this to my child when he is ready.

This book is one of the finest books on the market on how to maximize your potential to the fullest. It is extremely motivating and has all the success principles that makes you look within yourself to make whatever you do for a living more rewarding. It is written in a very positive and upbeat manner and after reading it,you should come away with a more positive outlook on your future and career.

This book is full of wonderful ideas for kids to make money. Kids have qualities just like we all do, why not have them make some money too? I highly recommend this book to all of you out there.

Ideas from walking dogs, to cleaning the house, to doing yard work!

I really loved this book. I thought it was awsome and I could make money even though I am only 12.

This book is not only great for kids, but also for the whole family, it's full of wonderful ideas and great advice, the chapter on "Financing your own business" was excellent.

I really think this is a great book. I have used it in many ways. I did not know that just because I am 12 I can't make some money. Thanks, Amy

This book is first and foremost a great adventure and coming of age story, but it is also a glimpse into another era in American history. Much like Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Hofvendahl's account takes us back to a time that few living people still remember, and one cannot help but compare and contrast it to the America of today. If you're ready for a little armchair adventuring, this is a great read!

With the folks who came of age during the Depression shrinking in ranks these days this story is so important. Ordinary people led extraordinary lives not because they were thrillseekers so much as they were doing what was necessary to survive and had accidental adventures along the way. This colorful story will captivate you and is a great history lesson as well. I read it during a blizzard and was thrilled that I was unable to go anywhere so I could keep enjoying the story.

Mr. Hofvendahl's reminiscences are the best I've read. Steinbeck traveled with Charley during the final years of the writer's life. Least Heat Moon took to the highways because of a mid-life crisis. Both works were less about the authors and more about observing the land and the people. Even Kerouac's time on the road was less a time of discovery than of social commentary. Not so with Hofvendahl. Here is a young man -- less than two decades into his life -- filled with a desire to experience new things in a pre-war era most of us never knew.

Writing 50 years after the events took place, Hofvendahl's style is crisp. His ability (as an older adult) to convey the youthful enthusiasm of a teenager is wonderful. The work is an observation of people and places, but it is also an account of Hofvendahl's own coming of age.

Taken from one of the era's songs of life on road, "A Land so Fair and Bright" is terrific. Think "Summer of 42" meets "Blue Highways" and you'll get the picture.

Mr. Hofvendahl is a masterful writer who describes an extended summer of his distant youth with a foot-on-the-pavement jolt adorned with powder blue images of a summer sky. The book conveys the fear and cold of a lonely road as well as the warmth of good-hearted people that he met during his travel. It is a grand sequel to his first book, Hard on the Wind, which told of his earlier adventure on a four-masted schooner on the Bering Sea off Alaska's coast.

A wonderful book. Really appropriate for someone in the business world but certainly applicable to all who might desire to read it and of course Lead, like Jesus!

Practical and inspiring, this book brings Christ to the workplace with simplicity and clarity. Fabulous.

This Tape is awsome. I saw it in a Christian book store, but got it at a much more reasonale price from here.

The principles in this book are timeless and rich. I have led 50 of our leaders through this study and the results have been life changing. The combination and depth of scripture tied to practical living offers immediate application in daily life. This book is a must-read for every individual that wants to make a difference in this world in all areas of leadership and influence.

I really enjoyed this book as I have walked the labyrinth in France but never concieved of the three part journey as a path for the corporate leader. The author is an original thinker whose writing style is most engaging and very entertaining.

I had the good fortune of being in one of Jeff Patnaude's leadership seminars where I got to experience the Maze first hand. Not only does the Journey into inner management work, Patnaude is one who "walks his talk" and lives from the "inside out".

This book has great articulation, and great methods of how to incorporate a more personal aspect to the corporate world. I feel that in many companies in todays society, they are lacking a great deal of personality, and is to invloved with the every day buisness of buisness. This book, Leading From the Maze, offers many great solutions as well as humour. I would like to recomend it to anyone to feels stuck in the work place, or feels they need to figure out how to put creativity back into their daily lives.

His style of writing is most engaging as he is a story teller, humorist and provocative thinker. If business could encourage this style of leadership, the world would indeed change as the author suggests. I am attempting the "inner management" practices in my work as a result of reading this book. Thank you.

I read this book when starting my business four years ago and have found myself thinking of it often since then. The experiences I have had growing my company matched what Mr. Sutton talks about and his advice has worked for me so far. A quick read that I highly recommend.

Walt Sutton captures the essence of the entrepreneur CEO.If you are one, you will enjoy finding yourself in these pages.If you want to be one, read this book and then read it again and again....

Mr. Sutton's book rang so true for me. The three parts: experience, critical tasks, and valuable tools all gave tremendous insights into starting and maintaining a successful business from the CEOs personal perspective. This is one of the few books that I have ever seen that told the "secrets" of the thinking of successful entrepreneurs. I used all the tools such as conducting yearly strategic planing, assessing the core team, having a disaster plan, and many others. I know I will read it more than once.

Walt Sutton brings a real world perspective and down to earth practical advise to the reader. Many business books seem to try to make starting a business sound so easy. He makes it clear it is one of the most difficult things a human being can attempt. I wish every government offical would read it before they vote to regulate businesses even more. The most valuable advice that stuck with me was his pitch to stay debt free, or as debt free as possible in running a business. If you are a business owner or contemplating starting one, do not start without first reading this book, and then every six months thereafter.

I origionally picked this book up from a library as a teen ager and later bought it. I find thoughtout my-life I refer to the corresponding chapter for some slightly conservative advice.

The book contains letters from a fairly successful businessman to his son. They start with school and continue with such topics as school, leadership, enterpreneurship, marriage ... etc. Would make a great gift..

I read it twice when I was young. I would have been too young to judge it on grammar or any deep meaning but I can tell you the book has sat in the back of my mind all of these years. I have refered it to many people and given it as gifts to people I respect... Thanks Kingsley!

If your father was short on words , like mine was, this is your personal "mentor in a box". It will also help you become a better father and teacher. If it is our of print, some local libraires might have it.

This brief, encouraging book consists of a series of letters (edited for print) written by a successful businessman (Ward himself) to his son, tracking the son's career from a decision on which college to attend to the son's mid-career promotion to company president upon his father's retirement. During the 20-year span, the father shares with his son (and the reader) all of his wisdom on topics from business--work ethic, entrepreneurship, partnership, business expansion, diversification, teamwork, firing an employee, leadership, etc.; as well as life--challenge, success, integrity, marriage, money, manners, happiness, friendship, criticism, balance, etc.

Ward's advice is "business conservative," with his basic message being: Set goals for yourself, work hard, be honest and block off time to enjoy your life a little. The selected decision points, problems and events in the son's life revolve around people, mainly working relationships with business associates, employees, customers, suppliers, bankers and competitors--all without neglecting family and friends. Ward emphasizes the importance of cultivating friendships, stating how "Without doubt, friendship is the spice of life." However, when he opines how a person with more than three good friends should feel blessed, and how being rich is better than being poor, but also lonelier, he exhibits his realism and unveils a hint of quiet, unspoken regret: Do we all in our drive to achieve emphasize business and profit at the expense of humanity and friendship perhaps a little more than we should?

I recommend this book to anyone involved in business of any sort, and especially to all students considering a business career. However, I also note a caveat: Without the replies of the son, the book has the overall tone of unilateral lecturing rather than fair, two-way dialog. In a related manner, I comment on the father's favorite short book, "A Message to Garcia," which he includes in the text: Yes, work as hard, competently and expediently as the courageous messenger did in President McKinley's Cuban emergency, but, as importantly, in your business career please do not march forward on your boss's orders without first fully understanding the impact of your actions (i.e., think!) and respectfully raising any concerns you may have (i.e., speak up!).

"Liberate the Leader" by Claudia Rose celebrates the possibilities of leadeship by women. Since I believe that women are wired better than men for leading roles that require compassion, collaboration and advocacy for a cause, I see this as a most important book. I have known Dr. Rose as a student and later as a colleague of mine, and consider her to be an outstanding thinker and writer who is also a person of action. This book is a must for women interested in leadership and for men intrested in unerstanding them well.

Dr. Rose gives women the courage to lead in the same way that Suze Orman gives women the "courage to be rich." The best part of this book is that it has very insightful activities like journaling and writing a commitment statement. If YOU dedicate a few weeks of your time to working through Liberate the Leader and completing all the recommended exercises, you will be able to do ANYTHING. This book is required for any woman who has a bigger dream for her life!

Dr. Claudia, thank you so much for writing this book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this weekend, and was encouraged to spend some reflecting on its lessons and their application in my life. What a useful set of tools you have created for women!

In Liberate the Leader, Dr. Claudia Rose, provides readers far more than exceptional content. Unlike so many books addressing the all-important topic of leadership, Dr. Rose's treatment is substantively sound while being personally compelling. The likely reason she is able to carry off this unique combination with such grace is that this book is her own personal statement--and indeed, personal journey. Artfully woven among the multiple case studies of those she has met and worked with, are other stories of equal importance. They are stories from her own experience--indeed, defining-moment experiences, that contributed to liberating the resilient leader hosted within her own being. In Liberate the Leader, Dr. Rose may share generously about herself, but this book is not exclusively an autobiography. It is a book about and for all women who want to be all they are and should be. A caveat to readers. Plan to read this book uninterrupted. You will not want to put it down.