Lead

When I apply the principles outlined in To Lead Is To Empower, my employee job satisfaction goes through the roof. Which means more profit dollars drop to the bottom line and shareholder value increases. The best part is, it does not cost (except for the price of the book) me any more time or extra money to enjoy these benefits. All I had to do is make the simple shift in my perspective from getting to giving. Then use the exercises in the book to stay on track and be successful.

No matter what your background, education or skill set, you'll learn so much from Shar McBee's book, even if you're not in a business field. The book will leave you motivated to take the simple, but profound, steps the author writes about all through the 13 chapters. The 224 pages will absolutely fly by, but the time you spend reading To Lead is to Empower will make a tremendous difference in your life, as well as in the lives of your employees.

Buy it. Read it. Use it as you lead, as you empower your employees and as you empower yourself.

J. Nile Barnes
Assistant Professor EMS Programs
Austin Community Colleg

So I started this one. And I just love it. All the devotionals in this series are similarly arranged. Each day's section starts out a general statement that summarizes the topic, then there's Scripture, sometimes combining passages from 2 or more books of the Bible, on the same theme. Then there is a selection from a Corrie Ten Boom book. Then there are a couple of questions to think about and a prayer. These can be easily completed in 10 minutes, but sometimes I linger on them and reread them. I usually do one per day, but sometimes they are so good I just want to do another one.

This book would be wonderful for any Christian desiring to grow in his or her walk with the Lord. It's also a good sampling of Corrie Ten Boom's writings. You'll probably want to get some of Corrie's books after reading this devotional. Her main story is told in The Hiding Place and Tramp for the Lord and then there are many other books that have short passages to read.

I would recommend this book for someone who wants to jump-start their devotional life (or it would make a great gift!). The reading isn't difficult and Corrie's writing is easy to understand, but very profound and meaningful at the same time.

I also recommend the movie "The Hiding Place".

Please read my other reviews of Christian books!

What I liked about this devotional reading is the insights from Corrie ten Boom. She draws examples of how the Bible can be relevant in our everyday lives by recounting her own life experiences. Much of which was from her experience as a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps and her subsequent journey around the world to tell of God's faithfulness.

This book provides excerpts from her other books. It is great as a daily devotional guide. If you are interested in her story, however, I would highly recommend The Hiding Place and the sequel Tramp For the Lord.

"A Better Way to Think About Business: How Personal Integrity Leads to Corporate Success" delivers exactly what its title promises, and has already helped me through a couple of ethical dilemmas that I've had to resolve in the course of my job. This book is very clearly written and provokes clear thinking on the subject of business ethics. It does not insult your intelligence by stringing slogans together and calling the result a 'business ethic'. (Personal note: I am so bloody sick of books that proport to teach me 'Managing by Values' and turn out to be fluff and slogans and bad writing to boot. Business ethics is a very complex and gut-wrenching subject, and some authors need to treat their readers with a bit more honor and dignity.)

Sorry for the above tirade. Read this book. If you don't have time to read the whole thing, dip into the 'Catalog of Business Virtues' at the end of the book and try to schedule a virtue per day to think about on the long commute home. I'm sure I'll keep going back to Robert Solomon for a 'better way to think about' the really tough business situations.

This is a remarkable book in that it lays a sensible, philosophical foundation and builds a compelling, practical case for the place of virtue in business. His definition, that "a virtue, in essence, is a value embodied and built into action", leads the reader to understand the true basis for a successful strategic planning process. Solomon emphasizes the need for corporations to see themselves as communities, people- rather than profit-driven, and, thus, to change to "a better way of thinking". An excellent, careful, scholarly treatment presented in a linear, holistic, engaging style, this book, taken to the boardrooms of the world, can only change business for the better. It is a must-read for those who care to maintain their sanity in the multi-faceted corporate world. The book is aptly named!

I particularly enjoyed his anecdotes about various happenings in his life. They give the book the feeling of someone who actually cares about what he is righting about rather than just someone who is writing just to get a paycheck. He stresses that caring is the most important thing to becoming a successful leader and it shows in the book.

However, if you are looking for a book that tells you exactly how to become a good and moral leader, this may not be the book for you. This book gives you the tools you will need to find out what kind of a leader you are and at the same time steers the reader in the direction he or she would need to go to become a good leader.

I am currently studying to be a teacher and I feel that this book is a good resource for any future or current teacher or administrator. It gives the reader a chance to critically look at how he or she leads and can become a better leader by making the right questions are being asked. By asking yourself a few key questions and knowing what those answers mean to being a good leader can help the reader become a much better and more caring leader.

Pellicer's personal experiences are what make this book work. His extensive experience in the education field shows that he knows what it takes to be a caring leader. I that Pellicer's reflective thought process will help me to become a better leader in the education field and ultimately make me a better teacher in the long run.

"Caring Enough to Lead" is a fantastic book. I love how he illustrates the path of the heart with simple yet profound personal life examples. Such a technique can easily go sideways with self-absorption, but not in this case. One of the most delightful features of the book is my certainty that the chapters which speak the loudest to me today (among them: "some of the questions", "what I believe about people", "water buffalo", "to be a teacher", "successful schools", "sharing power", and "professional educator") will no doubt change along with my need to respond to a given difficulty or circumstance in the future. To wit, some of its struck me as a gem that I need to realize at this time, and other sections will no doubt simmer for a while and then resurface when I most need their wisdom.

Overall, the book rings in my heart very much the way "The Holy Man" by Susan Trotter (my favorite book of all time) did. Exactly the opposite of technical and boring, it is a refreshingly delightful and interesting read. I have never before stopped to actually DO the suggested exercises in books, but I found myself actually doing that with this one, because what I gleaned from each chapter was simply too valuable to let pass by without trying to apply its lessons to my life.

This book is a treasure find in a field of tired and rehashed ideas. I realize that it's dangerous to wish for things other than they are, but I believe it would be a much better world if more leaders had Leonard's heartfelt leadership style. Reading this book provides a solid step in that direction.