General-partnership

I had the pleasure to meet Sandrine Tesner in NYC last May, where she told me the book will be published and we talked about international business.

As business people we have the tendency to regard the UN as an international organization involved in the "big" issues.

Sandrine makes very clear in her book on how the world is becoming together and how a truly partnership is needed. Yes, business contribution individually can be regarded very small but as is rightly pointed is a very powerful mechanism to make small contributions to a better world.

The book is direct, very well written and ilustrates the powerful instrument that the UN can, and should be.

A must to any international business people.

My favorite Christmas gift -- the cover is Red, the stock feels great to the touch, and there's plenty of white space. It's a book and an exhibition in one. It's filled with people who love their work. Work, Life, Tools qualifies as great design. (Hats off Milton Glaser, and to Steelecase for being enlightened enough to fund the exhibition.) This book cum exhibition guide ranks high on the visual, aesthetic and conceptual pleasure scale. My favorite aspect: the way the bios portray the multiple talents and the "I don't just do one thing" truth about their subjects. It's filled with lots of practical ah-has. You get to peek into people's work spaces. It represents a fascinating spectrum of thinking about work. And, it's amazing to me how loyal people are to their fountain pens (as one who's committed to Deluxe Uni-balls.) I loved it!

The Jerde Partnership new literary retrospective is as stunning as one of their architectural projects. Under the always forward thinking direction of Jon Jerde, the Jerde Partnership has redefined the mall shopping experience to what it is today.

Designers like the Jon Jerde are masterful in getting conservative real estate developers to buy into wildly unimaginable design and then execute them to perfection. I always wonder how the Jerde Partnership would redesign the Amazon.coms of the electronic world to make the online world a better place.

I highly recommend this book as a great conversation piece, a behind the scene view of the process of selling large ideas, and a stunning display of architectural design that has been copied over and over but never duplicated.

Ably written by Leif Kehrwald (a youth and family minister of more than twenty years' experience), Youth Ministry And Parents: Secrets For A Successful Partnership is a highly practical guidebook dealing with perplexing questions such as "How can I connect with the parents of teens?"; "How do I get more parents involved in our youth ministry program?"; "How do I assist parents in their role as the primary faith influence in the lives of teens?", and more. Straight talk about passing down God's word and working with families in order to better communicate one's message to the children distinguishes this memorable and enthusiastically recommended title for Christian parents and youth leaders.

This is a great book on one of the top architecture firms in North America. The book features some of their best buildings in gorgeous photos and wonderful text. This is a must own for any architect or for anyone who enjoys beautiful architecture. I highly reccomend it.

1) Has the former business partner of Rocco Solimeno and associate of Cogliano, a supporter of Cellucci waged war against a possible child of Whitey Bulger or some other principals in this case?

2) Has the government harassed a possible child of Whitey by controlling the means of income and therefore also use of credit in an effort to utterly destroy the child or have the Bulger forces done this to a child perhaps of one of their victims?

3) Is a man who has been devastated since the onset of this case a target of pro-Angiulo/Patriarca forces?

4) Could the concealment of Whitey's whereabouts be the efforts of both FBI and Justice Department forces,similar to their withholding info from the government reform committee?

5) Have the official records of a child raised in state care and possibly the key to the whole Bulger case been sanitizedby state officials and subcontractors and does the appointment of Jeff Locke to head such an agency by Cellucci have anything to do with this?

One might wonder what programs the government is currently operating that we will be shocked to learn of in the future.

I know a person, 'M', who believes they are linked to the Bulger case but this information was kept from them by state and state authorized personnel in Massachusetts. M was abandoned into state care and bounced around among abusive and neglectful foster homes until landing at the New England Home for Wanderers in Boston. While in state care M was introduced to a foster family.M was well treated and loved this family but they were limited in the help they would give.

In the early 90s, M wrote an autobiography detailing experiences in state child care,good and bad, with names and places changed to protect those involved while portraying the essence of the experience.

While in state child care, a medical issue that might relate to leukemia symptoms was noticed but the foster family and state-approved authorities refused more involved investigative procedures, while taking photos.

In 1995, Bulger fled and M's medical records began disappearing when requested for.M was maneuvered into what may have been a secure worksite staffed with government employees posing as normal employees of a Fortune 500 company in Massachusetts.This small group of employees took every opportunity to ridicule, harass, poke fun at M. At different times, each employee claimed to represent a different Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate as they harassed M. One person claimed to support Harshbarger, another Malone, a third Cellucci, and so on.While M was working employees in this building were calling M's home on a daily basis, where a neighbor claiming to work construction but in fact drove a telephone truck was situated across the hall from an individual who " does accounting for the government". At one time workmen were seen laying cable from one unit to the other across the hall, as if a monitoring station for M.

As pressure was induced at work and from anonymous harassing callers and even what M considered close friends, his doctor, a man in his 30s, suddenly resigned the field of medicine as M suspected he was trying to have M involuntarily committed.Another doctor involved had association with the family of a Justice Dept employee.

A few years after Bulger fled, M was approached in the guise of a coworker who newly befriended M. This coworker in the ensuing 2 years claimed to be watching M at the gym, know M's video rentals, know M's financial transactions, and to be obsessed with such things as how much M left for tips at restaurants and what M's home is like. A few years after severing the relationship, M learned that the video store M frequented was owned by a Governor Paul Cellucci supporter and that one of the workers there had ties to law enforcement. Whenever M's coworker introduced M to a new restaurant and M went there by themself, the coworker responded angrily.Whenever M raised the Bulger case to the coworker, this coworker got very angry and hostile. As a matter of fact, most of the people in M's life that M expressed concerns about the Bulger case turned hostile against M for no express reason, as if these people knew of some connection between M and the Bulger case but M was never told of this connection and being blamed for it.

This will give you a good overview of what this situation is about.

No one has raised the possibility though, of al ink between Steve Fagan, the shady character involved in a high profile Massachusetts custody case, and a possible link between Steve Fagan and Whitey Bulger. Fagan is said to have allegedly boasted knowing Chico Krantz, indirectly linked to Whitey Bulger.

In addition, there is a man who has been all but totally destroyed personally and professionally since this case came out and been subject to many unscrupulous characters and tactics. One example is character assassination by cleverly orchestrating meetings between a "friend" of the man and this man in which the the victim may have been taped without consent and asked leading questions designed to hurt the man later on tape unssupectingly. In addition, this "friend", who boasts Italian/Irish heritage from New England, may have been going about making the man appear homosexual by putting the man in situations which have been videotaped and are innocent but may be misconstrued when taken out of context. This "friend" may have links to Steve Fagan and to Whitey Bulger, who has been alleged to have numerous ties to the homo- and bisexual underworlds.

The author of Managers as Mentors intorduces how relationships between two people can be a learning and growth experience in any environment. The topic of mentoring is a huge issue in the business environment and I have found that this book offers basic keys of advise to the executives of large organizations. Bell shares practical experiences and guidance in short easy to read chapters, while getting away from the typical referance book material.

Self-assesments, tools, and communication tatics are just a few of the practical ways that are offered in this book. Often times I found that Mr. Bell cites other authors and practices. I believe that these methods are a wonderful way to bring multiple factors to a single situation and base those experiences on resolving the matter at hand.

I recommend this guide to anyone that wishes to begin a healthy relationship of mentoring. It really brings the basics to focus and prepares you for further knowledge in this field.

In today's employment market it is very difficult to find and retain hard-working motivated employees. Many companies are restructuring, down-sizing, and outsourcing many segments of their administrative activities, and employees have become less productive, less interested in performing quality work, and less satisfied with their jobs.

Today's better salary market does not encompass all employment levels, especially those employees just entering the job market with minimal skills. Salary budgets do not always stretch to provide better wages. Teambuilding works well in bridging part of the gap between wages and self-confidence and pride in job performance.

"Managers as Mentors" provides in-depth insight for approaching management from a teambuilding perspective. Managers can recruit, train, motivate, and inspire their employees to perform at peak levels in numerous settings by following the recommendations for mentoring employees. The techniques detailed in this book are practical, straight-forward, and easy to understand and implement. Examples illustrating the steps are clearly described.

Many organizations now offer internal staff mentoring programs, and my employer is one of those groups. Managers and volunteer mentors are involved, and "Managers as Mentors" has become required reading before a volunteer mentor can be paired with a protege.

Chip Bell has the magic touch when advising managers. In his 2nd edition, he has provided helpful self-assessments that point the manager/mentor toward development needs for the purpose of being the best that you can be as mentor. He paints a verbal landscape that includes insightful adages from Socrates to the Little Prince. The short chapters and direct, pithy style make for quick reading episodes over time--minimum effort with maximum gain. And, last but certainly not least, his quotable language will give you turns of phrase to use in your own communications and presentations. Yet another star in Chip's gallery!

This is a great book for businesses looking for unique opportunities to both make a difference and raise their community standing. It is comprised of real, powerful examples of how these partnerships can and do work. This book should be read along with Bill Shore's, "The Cathedral Within."

Every company I know is interested in getting and providing a great deal. Every nonprofit I know is committed to the greater welfare of the society. But almost no companies and nonprofits know how to link together to multiply their effectiveness in achieving their purposes.

This book provides outstanding examples and a superb template for creating partnerships of great value for all involved: companies, their employees, nonprofits, and the communities that everyone serves. Based on the examples in this book, it looks like the benefits can easily be 20 to 1 in the near term from the time and money invested. That kind of return is hard to find in business, philanthropy, or social entrepreneurship. The reason it happens is that the company can add value that the nonprofit cannot, and vice versa. The strategic partnership is not unlike the strategic alliances that companies create all the time with comapnies that offer unique strategic capabilities.

The reason these benefit are so large (and growing) is because customers and employees are ever more responsive to promoting a social cause, companies are getting better at partnering with outside organizations, and the expertise of nonprofits is growing.

Businesses can gain by getting low-cost recognition from customers that will increase sales, obtaining low-cost resources, making work more meaningful to employees (helping to retain them), attracting employees more easily, and learning how cause-based leadership can transform an organization. When you look at it from a dollar and cents point of view, these partnerships would pass any accounting test you want to use. Not to seek out these partnerships is to waste potential for growth and profits in your company. Corporate boards should be asking company CEOs to develop these partnerships!

Nonprofits can gain by learning how to increase outcomes they care about, gaining access to resources that would otherwise be unavailable, getting more exposure, and finding improved ways of meeting their missions.

Communities will gain by getting more resources, expertise, and attention from social entrepreneurs in companies and nonprofits.

So this is a win-win-win world, but somebody has to get it going. Chapter ten is excellent on that subject: It proposes a 5 step model for the nonprofit -- self assess, identify a partner, connect to that partner, test the relationship idea, and grow the relationship.

Although the initiative can come from the company, it usually won't. The executives already have other agendas, are receiving hundreds of requests for assistance, and don't know what many nonprofits can do for them. You can add some corporate executives to your nonprofit board who will understand companies to help you make these connections. The biggest hurdle will be the lack of corporate experience of your nonprofit's staff. Nonprofits are used to looking for a check, not a partnership. But that reliance on gifts alone is stalled thinking that will hold back the development of the public good.

The case histories include Home Depot and KaBOOM! (building playgrounds), Microsoft and the American Library Association (adding computers and Internet services to libraries in low-income areas), Denny's and Save the Children (raising money for poor children), BankBoston and City Year (sponsoring volunteers in community work), Ridgeview, Inc. and Newton-Conover Public Schools (creating better public schools and better parent involvement from employees with children), and Boeing and Pioneer Human Services (creating airplane parts by employing those with disadvantaged backgrounds). I found all of them to be interesting and well analyzed. Each one gave me ideas for how to pursue opportunties like these for the nonprofit on whose board I serve.

I especially recommend this book to company leaders, human resource executives, purchasing managers, and marketing planners. On the nonprofit side, this book will be a revelation to staffs and board members.

After you have read this book, please join the board of a nonprofit (if you are not already on one). Then, please use the processes in this book to create a strategic partnership with your company or another one in your community. You will gain strategic partnering skills and a sense of a job well done. The others will gain the benefits described above. If we each did this, our communities would soon be far more wonderful places to live and work.

Common Interest, Common Good represents powerful thinking that has already withstood many challenges and overcome many barriers. Corporate executives will benefit greatly from the book's clear and cogent lessons on the benefits of corporate/social sector partnership. This book is proof that goodness can endure.

Although I applaud seemingly non-Christians for looking to the bible for truth. Many do not understand it. Here is a paragraph extracted from the "Spirituality" chapter, with a response from my Christian men's group - you can respond to me at mickeymike30@fmtc.net.

QUOTE from Book.
A. How can we make sense of the biblical commandment 'Thou shalt not kill,' when passage after passage contradicts this commandment? In Numbers 31 and Deuteronomy 20, we are led to believe that God approves of massacres of whole populations. In Leviticus 20:9, we are told that children who curse their parents must be killed. B. How do we take biblical passages approving of slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46) and even of a man selling his daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7)? C. What should we make of Jesus' teaching that we should love one another and live in peace, when in Revelations 12:19 angels pour out 'the wrath of God upon the earth,' and terrible horrors are unleashed on everybody - except the chosen 'hundred and forty and four thousand,' who, according to chapter 14:3, 'were redeemed from the earth'?

Response:
A. This centers on the subject of murder, not killing. Murder is an act of violence from one person against another with the motivation for the act erupting from emotion or sinful impulse. That is quite different from 1) wars of defense, 2) capital punishment, and 3) divine pronouncements of "war on God's enemies". The latter three derive from national survival or from an indisputable source outside the personal motivating factors. If someone attacked your wife, and the only way to save her was a counterblow that would kill the offender, then this is not from those motivating factors. Is killing but not murder.

B. Slavery in those times and social conditions (in the sense of the biblical reference) was really more like long term employment to pay a large debt. We call it "indentured servitude". If one has a home mortgage today, it is really no different. Truly...ask anybody who has a big mortgage and a required big job to pay it.

C. Jesus was not a kindly suntanned carpenter who loved kids and told us all that if we just get along all will be well. He said "I come NOT to bring peace on earth, but a sword". God's message is very tough to those who think along the lines of this question. Its just the way that it is.

God is the sovereign creator and king of the universe. We owe every breath we take to Him. His ways are higher than our ways, and He is not subject to the laws impressed upon mankind because He is the author of right and wrong. "The wages of sin is death". God says what He means and means what He says. His absolute righteousness demands punishment for sin, yet in His righteousness He has made a way of salvation for those of us that truly understand his intent: "...its your kindness that leads us to repentence". He is a savage lover.

This book chews on a big chunk of food for thought. But be forewarned. There are political generalities in The Power of Partnership that will please Progressives and turn off Conservatives. However, regardless of your leanings, read it anyway. Many of the greatest business minds use the power-of-partnership concept to maximize profits. Can we even count the number of effective partnerships that a wildly successful company like Microsoft has going for it? It's certainly hard to count all of Bill Gates' money. Understanding partnerships is definitely good for business. It's also good for much much more. Eisler insightfully guides us through seven key relationship areas that highlight the great value of building strong partnerships. This book may very well frustrate you, but it also might change the way you think about almost everything.

This book provides a practical guide for people who are concerned about the direction of our future. It can help anyone interested in making personal and social changes that will model for and teach the children of tomorrrow how to relate in partnership with each other and our planet. I recommend this book to anyone that would like guidance and help in creating a culture of peace.

There are better books out there about being an assistant to a boss. This book does not go into depth. It's too basic, and not meaty enough.

Being a corporate coach who specializes in the relationship between executives and assistants, I find this book very useful. While it is not the end-all, be-all solution, it is a perfect start to building a partnership. The book is easy to read with realistic tips; I give it to my clients to augment our coaching sessions. I especially like the stages of partnership model explained in the book. It builds on the basic stages of management and is useful for both the executive and assistant. Well done! righthandresources.com

This book is outstanding. I highly recommend it if you want to take your working relationship with your manager up to the next level. If you think you're working relationship is great now, this book can make it even better. I liked the way the author lists the steps in preparing this concept to your manager. It was easy to follow and really makes you put a good deal of careful thought in the preparation process. I also liked the idea of action items not just for the assistant, but for the manager too. Remember a good working relationship involves both assistants and managers. Just working through this process together improves the relationship. Luckily, my boss endored it!