Leader

There are a myriad of different management books available today. This one is different. You already know why you need a new book on management or you wouldn't be looking into this book now. What was available before "The Survival Kit for Leaders" just didn't fill the need. We need to more than survive. We need to flourish and it's a jungle out there. This book provides a workable roadmap that can be used to navigate the pitfalls that can befall both new and veteran leaders and allow leaders to do more than just get by... this book will help direct you to success. The chapter on mentoring alone is worth the cost of the book. Do you know why you should be both a mentor AND be mentored? You will after reading this. After this read, not only will you want to mentor... you will actively want to FIND a mentor for yourself. Each chapter brings new level of revelation/insight to sometimes seemingly tired concepts. While you are setting your goals, make the first one to read this book. The time you spend reading "the Survival Kit for Leaders" will be an investment that everyone around you will benefit from. A good leader has an edge. A great leader has also read this book.

I've read all the latest and greatest best sellers on leadership and management. I put SURVIVAL KIT FOR LEADERS on top of GOOD TO GREAT, LEADERSHIP 101, MONDAY MORNING LEADERSHIP, EXECUTION, and all the rest.

In one book, you have your practical, real life guide to everything you need. Time management, mentoring, how to correct subordinates, how to motivate self-centered cry babies. You name it, it's here.

Not to mention, this book is fun to read. It entertained me. It taught me things that will make a difference in my life and my career. What a big eye opener. This is a great book, pure and simple.

No kidding, this book will be a leadership and management bestseller for many years. I have never seen so much usable information packed into one volume, and, even better, presented in such a fun, inspirational, and interesting form.

You know the cliche: You'll laugh, you'll cry. Well it applies to this book. The authors' humor often sneaks up on you and you find yourself laughing out loud. Then, next thing you know, you're in the middle of a moving story of the power of leadership to change lives, and you're moved to tears. When was the last time that happened to you while doing your professional reading?

I think the Time Mgmt chapter and the chapter about heroism, especially the parts about the 9/11 heroes and Raoul Wallenberg, were incredibly valuable. But they are just a small part of the vast wealth of life-changing insights that fill this great book.

Superb! Run, don't walk to pick up The Creative Executive! Granville Toogood is the modern day inspriational leader. For anyone looking to maximize your business and creative potential, this is a must read!

Granville Toogood's Creative Executive is truly a tour de force. I have been employing his techniques with tremendous results. The ability to express oneself clearly, confidently, concisely and creatively is paramount to the success of any business executive, and Toogood offers great insights that would transform even the most timid individual into a communication juggernaut. I now have a palpable sense that my colleagues are more motivated by the challenges that our business faces every day. I would highly recommend Toogood's tome to anyone who feels like their management could use a shot in the arm.

This volume, like each of Toogood's other books (Articulate Executive and Inspired Executive), is a must-read for the entrepreneur, self-employed, corporate and even the "down-sized" professional. He is a master at weaving anecdotes with common sense to create, once again, "personalized messaging". Get a new highlighter, this one is chock-full of sage counsel!

I have read this book once before back in 1995. Since then I have learned a lot about shadows. I am aware of my shadows and this book is helping me to be a better person.
I have a friend who is intellegent and smart. However, after reading this book second time I am beginning to know his hubris and. I do not know how to relate with this person.
Knowing my own shadows I am now less critical of others. We all have multi-selves.
The book should be read by any adult who wants to have a balanced perspectives of life and deal with others appropriately.

I first read this book when it came out, at the time of the O. J. Simpson story was breaking. It was PERFECT timing - offering insights into how highly-successful people can have darker sides show up in their lives unless they periodically renew themselves and take stock - whay might be called am "internal audit" of oneself. I've often thought the title for this book could have been "The Shadow Side of Success."

I highly recommend this book for anyone who's in a position of influence, power and responsibility (or who WANTS to be). The author has included a rich assortment of ways one can avoid the egoic pitfalls of success and fame - a real MASTERPIECE!

A MUST BOOK TO READ FOR EVERYONE Each Chapters captures the reality of life and gives insights into achievements of life.

Personally read this book several times and each time, it has help me greatly to understand HOW SUCCESS GENTLY CREEPS INTO OUR LIFES (THIS is in chapter two) and if not careful, 'eats into our minds'

I even notice the how 'the shadow' as the author describes has entangled corporate executives (man and woman) No one escapes this Paradox.

If you are looking for a book to cope in this new millenium buy THE PARADOX OF SUCCESS an investment for a life-time, with no regrets.

Happy Reading

tan

A few weeks ago I watched an interview with Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. He indicated that we need to focus on people and not the numbers, and insisted that business schools should start teaching mangement based on people.

Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert captured, in my opinion, exactly what Jack Welch was talking about. Leading by serving others.

Ken and John presented the keys to serving leadership in a powerful story that was impossible to put down. Even though there are a lot of good leadership principles here, it's not like reading a leadership text book.

Kudos Dr. Jennings and Dr. Stahl-Wert! Keep getting the word out.

Reviewer: WC Emeka Obiozor....Journalist/Author/Special Educator

Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert's Serving Leader is an amazing and unique testimony of powerful actions and skills every person in a leadership position desires to acquire and utilize in transforming his team; be it business enterprise or non-profit community organization.
The book presented valuable leadership traits and standards using heart-warming tales of an estranged son, his dying father and unique landmarks of innovative leaders in different businesses and community-oriented organizations to illustrate the dynamic five principles of a serving leader.
The authors painstakingly gave us insights into different environments - offices, schools, homes, industries, and other work areas where authentic leaders chosen by followers are in charge principally to build the team, the business, and the community. Thus, a teachable and learnable instrument is offered that provides practical sense for what leadership and service principles for teams and organizations are based upon.
Having come from two distinctive backgrounds, the authors utilized their professional skills in leadership coaching and community building to promote the uplifting of the value of people in organizations and achieving organizational success.
Jennings is the founder and managing partner of Venture Works - engages in the areas of leadership development, strategy, and the management of change. Stahl-Wert presides over the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation (PLF), a 25-year old faith-based intermediary organization in Pittsburgh-Pennsylvania, which specializes in bringing together leaders from the business, government, and social sectors to address human problems.
Distinctive information from the Serving Leader deals with the dreams and aspirations of most contemporary leaders to make their organizations work better. The authors packaged this book to provide today's servant leadership experiential opportunities "to see communities restored, lives improving, kids learning to read, prostitutes breaking the drug and economic chains that hold them, neighborhoods gaining local jobs."
I admired greatly the paradoxes of effective leadership displayed in the book, especially, how the authors blended passages from the Holy Scriptures to drive home important points and facts.
There were significant spotlights the book discussed in the process of pursuing the ideals of innovative leadership, such as - creating a working rapport among staff and management, coaching and mentoring activities that focus on staff strengths and address weaknesses, as well as mending fences and making up in a relationship. Highlights on father's role in giving and sharing love, directing, redirecting and influencing the lives of his child; enforcing school rules - belief in student's capacity for strength and determination, and getting them to rise up to expectations; was another unique aspect of this book.
As the authors would say, "They have to stay on the wire to succeed...because life is a high-wire act." This is very true.
Business executives, school administrators, policy makers, public and private sector, non-profit and community organizations would find this book useful.
It's definitely a good guide to addressing the weaknesses and strengths of leadership, exploring what leaders actually do in their organizations or are expected to do to support individual teams and run successful organizations.

I have read various of these kinds of business books--parables with something to teach--and I usually don't like them. The characters aren't real and the world they live in isn't real. This was a great surprise--I identify with Mike in the story, he could be me, and what takes place has all the feel of life as life is. This book encouraged me so strongly!

As soon as a student becomes involved with leadership positions and experiences on campus, his or her "roller coaster ride" begins. These student leaders are constantly juggling meetings, deadlines and activities with their academic responsibilities. Most student leaders need some motivation and inspiration in order to alleviate the overwhelming stress. Inspiration for Student Leaders offers the encouragement and support student leaders are seeking so desperately to find. This paperback is a collection of stories about leadership that will undoubtedly bring new insights to all readers in search of a little inspiration. The stories are diverse in their approach, reflecting the broad range of interests and talents of the people who wrote them. Some stories are humorous while others take a more serious tone, but each is compelling in its own right. Most importantly, this is a book by college students for college students.

The book also serves as useful resource for student affair professionals as they engage in efforts to guide and mentor promising undergraduates. The stories in this collection can be used during meetings, retreats and group activities. This is just another valuable tool for student affair professionals and students' "leadership tool bag!"

Above all, these stories clearly demonstrate that "leadership is about having a passion, not a position." I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed being part of this exceptional co-author team!

This is simply the best book anywhere for campus leaders.

I admit that I'm one of the co-authors. But keep this in mind-- as editor of Student Leader magazine, I don't lend my name and reputation to just any project.

I was, and am, proud to be associated with this uplifting and inpsiriational book. It's written similiar in style to the Chicken Soup series, including lots of heartwarming stories written by campus leaders themselves nationwide.

This book is perfect for leadership retreats, workshops, and seminars. It would be the perfect addition to any leadership classes as well.

If you're the parent, friend, or relative of a student government leader, resident assistant, Greek leader, or other campus leader, this book would be the perfect easy gift!

This book is great resource for a student leader, either for quotes, or to actually inspire you as the title suggests. Student leaders can use this book...I thought it was so great that I bought Inspiration for Greeks too. Also, I have spoken with one of the Authors...They know what they are doing. GREAT BOOK!!!

This is a good introductory text to some basic concepts on leadership. Stanley does a good job of synthesizing good leadership theory from John Maxwell and others. Strengths of this books include how much Stanley focuses on character (the true measure of any leader) and how as a leader you should focus on what you are good at. One book I would recommend if you want to go deeper on the topics Stanley discusses, would be, "The Making Of A Leader" by J.Robert Clinton from Fuller Seminary.

Stanley leads a very successful church in the Atlanta area and practices what he preaches. He knows what he is good at, and works from there. He could have flushed out what more about what leaders look like, how we can lead from the front or the back of the room, etc. Still a good book regardless.

Stanley also focuses on knowing your inner "man" which seems to be a bit gender exclusive, but does not invalidate this as a good leadership text. Overall this is a good, solid leadership book. B

Joseph Dworak

Stanley has written an excellent book on leadership principles which can be immediately applied to your every day pursuit of becoming a leader worth following. He blends a number of personal stories and examples to illustrate core principles. A fast read full of relevant lessons.

This is a great little book on Leadership. The section on "Courage" was worth the price of the book. I can almost guarantee that if you read this book you would not at all be disappointed. It is packed with great insight and ideas that are packaged well. I not only learned I was inspired.

I found Coaching for Leadership to be an important compilation of writings from some of the world's best executive coaches. Each author offers something valuable to this book that will help coaches, leaders, and executives alike understand what coaching is and what it can become.The book is divided into five parts that address different areas of coaching, such as the reasons coaching is becoming such a huge part of today's organizations, who a coach should be to clients, when coaching is necessary and when it will help the most, what the different styles and practices entail, and how coaching applies in different situations in businesses today.The most valuable part of the book to me was the identification and role section that defines who coaches are, who they should be, how to become a coach, and the goals of coaches. But what1s great about this book is that because it is so diverse and because it is a forum for so many different ideas, it has something for everyone. Someone who reads this book may find more value in a different section or with a different author than I did, but that is the beauty of this book. It will lead to much discussion about the value, processes, and role of coaching in the world today and in the future.I highly recommend this book to anyone within the realm of coaching, to those thinking of getting into the field of coaching, and to those thinking of hiring a coach for themselves or their organizations. There are many different directions in which coaching as a field can go. And, I found that the editors of this book have done an excellent job of putting forth the styles, theories, and practices of the top executive coaches. This is a book that will become more and more valuable in the years to come as coaching becomes another accepted and expected part of the business world.

This book is a "must have" in the library of all coaches. It reflects the best of the best in leadership coaching today. You can pick it up anywhere and find useful, useable strategies to put to work with your clients right away. Coaching for Leadership is not so much a step-by-step "how to coach" book, more of a 'war stories from the trenches." This approach makes the book very readable, practical and indispensable. For either internal or external coaches, there are great coaching examples from change management to career development or coaching for staff development. As an external coach, I found the chapter on Starting Smart especially useful, particularly the author's pointers on contracting. And the chapter on coaching others to accept feedback was as helpful to me personally as it was my clients. This is a book that will quickly become dog -eared, highlighted with protruding colored 'stickies' as you mark your favorite paragraphs. Or at least my has.

I've looked through a lot of executive coaching titles at only half the cover price of Goldsmith's volume, but within this ONE I get the essence of wisdom from a score of the best names in the business. This is a great investment to find out which authors you need to explore in more depth.
It's helped me identify the authors that are most consistent with the coaching strategies and styles I am developing. A GREAT place for a beginner to study first!

I have recently read this fascinating book by Fenster. As a business leader in my own right I was fascinated to find that buisness leaders from long ago had a lot to offer me in terms of advice and philosophies. I highly reccommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in business. That is everyone

This book is incredible. I was able to learn the business philosophy of several well known and successful leaders from both past and present. It was remarkably insightful. As a leader of several hundred employees and a multimillion dollar budget, it has certainly helped me refocus on important business principles. Principles that are sometimes forgotten during the hustle and bustle of day to day business. The leaders profiled in this book generally had a very clear focus on what they wanted to accomplish and how they would accomplish it. A similar set of princilpes seemed to guide their successes. I am enormously grateful that I have been exposed to their wisdom. I am a better leader now that I have read it (several times).

Most executives have a personal business library, consisting of titles which are most relevant to their respective needs and interests. Here is an excellent candidate to consider. Fenster has anthologized a wealth of insights from a diverse range of sources, including several one would not perhaps think of as "great business leaders." For example, Mary Pickford, Madame C.J. Walker, Clarence Birdseye, and Margaret Rudkin. Of course, there is a generous selection from the usual sources such as Andrew Carnegie, Sam Walton, John D. Rockefeller, Albert P. Sloan, Jr., David Packard, and Herb Kelleher. The quotations are organized within five Parts:

Talk About Convincing: SALESMEN

No Stone Left Unturned: HUSTLING HARD WORKERS

The Thoughts That Count: SELF-MADE SUCCESSES

The Buck Stops: BOSSES

No Matter What Everyone Else is Doing: MAVERICKS

This would be a terrific source for material to be included in correspondence, internal and external newsletters, speeches, business plans, formal proposals, and multi-media presentations. The same material also offers new insights or reminders which can help to clarify thoughts, especially during a problem-solving process. Fenster includes a brief introduction to each Part and then a brief bio of each great business leader quoted. One of my personal favorites is what Herb Kelleher says about Perspective: "Think small and act small, and we'll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we'll get smaller." Some of the hundreds of quotations will be familiar to each reader...others will not. All are worthy of inclusion in this entertaining as well as useful collection.

There are many original great ideas presented in this book which stand alone on their own merit. But perhaps the biggest idea of the book is for companies to view a job transition as any other business process- and subsequently look to optimize it. There are so many transitions in most companies in any given year, that having a process that makes more transitions successful and the new employees effective sooner should noticeably improve the bottom line. Most importantly, this book makes you think!

Also noteworthy in this book is its straightforward organization- the book lays out 10 areas to consider during a transition, then dedicates a chapter to each, and concludes with a brief summary. The book also reads well, and has examples to clarify the 10 areas.

I was on day 6 of a new CEO job and everything was falling apart -- I encountered serious resistance to even minor changes that obviously needed to be made. Reading this book, I realized I had walked into a problem where management saw the company was in need of a turnaround, but the employees had no idea and saw their company as a steady success story.

Every bit of this book is gold. From how to approach change implementation based on situation, to managing upwards, to making the mental switch to your new position, it's all been helpful.

I work for a leading health care company and went through one of Watkins's transition forum programs here. If really helped me get off to a running start. We also got his negotiation book, Breakthrough Business Negotiation, which also was very helpful. I've since also read his book on influencing government and business strategy, Winning the Influence Game. Definitely helpful if you are dealing with issues of regulation and reimbursement as we are. It's nice to see him getting recognition for the First 90 days, but his earlier stuff is just as good, if negotiation or influence are important to what you do.

IT solutions are a major change for an organization and impact everyone. CIO's, CFO's, CEO's and other C's initiate, influence and approve these decisions. Take Me To Your Leader$ stepped me through an effective process of establishing useful relationships with these executives. Robert W. Johnson, VP and General Manager, North America Sales

Confidence is what makes salespeople great and Sam's trinity concept is the best method I've seen to get it. Sam explains how to overcome the fear of networking and the fear of asking for critical information to win orders. Greg Stover, VP Sales

- Are you a sales person looking to achieve sales success?
- Are you interested in selling to big time, high paying executives?
- Are you afraid to approach a CEO, COO or VP because you feel imitated?
- Are you looking for a step-by-step system to increase your sales by selling to executives?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you! Get it, read it and start applying Sam' system today!

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated &
Founder of www.CoachingWithResults.com