Leader

Rabbi Simkha Weintraub's book offers a remarkable window into the world of healing Psalms. Gentle, forthright, spiritual and practical, each of the commentators discovers the message of the Psalm for today's contemporary reader. Simultaneously uplifting, thoughtful, and inspiring, it is a living text for Jews and non-Jews, those who are living with pain and illness and those who love them. Easily accessible, it is a companion for anyone who seeks comfort and guidance to deal with life's most challenging moments. It is a beautiful book and testimony to the enduring human spirit and wisdom of the ancient words of tradition.

Before I have read this book, I'm thinking why all of those man is very wonderful Christian man as other people said that I don't know what They're thinking about Christ. After I read this book, That would be amazing that God choose those man to speak about God's word to every single man with Christ's Heart

Holden's Heart is my favorite of my three Seekers books by G.J. Linko. Holden finds himself in quite a bind when his father accepts a job out of state. Holden feels like he lost his dad during the divorce, and now he is losing him all over again. It is so hard though, because EVERYTHING else is falling apart too. He is not acting like himself, not being nice to his friends and not running well in his track meets. Something has to be done before he competely falls apart. He has to turn to someone that knows about everything and can help, God. This book made me laugh and made me cry. I know your junior high kids will love it as much.

Carey and Von Weichs have assembled an impressive selection of essays whose authors discuss various business subjects. Most of them are (or were) CEOs of major corporations and associated with Spencer Stuart's CEO Academy. As Carey and Von Weichs explain, "we suggested to each of the contributors that they address their topic as if it were the advice they wished they had received when they first started their job." I cannot recall a prior period in the history of American business when the position of CEO was more challenging than it is today. Consider this statistic: Between 1999 and 2001, 57% of the largest companies in the United States removed their CEOs. Daily it seems, we learn of other CEOs who has been forced to resign or are under tremendous pressure to improve their performance. Meanwhile, still other CEOs are indicted for various crimes.

"Two recent developments have fundamentally changed the rules of the game for chief executives. The first is a series of high-profile cases of corporate malfeasance that came to public attention beginning in the fall of 2001...The other development that has significantly changed the lives of CEOs is the noisy crash of the stock market and the accompanying bursting of the tech and telecom bubble." The best of recently published business books address an especially important question. For Carey and Von Weichs: "Where can an executive turn when seeking training and advice on how to lead and manage a company?" Answers vary, of course. What Carey and Von Weichs attempt to do in this book is to create access -- for as many executives as possible -- to what has been "an immense and untapped body of knowledge" which resides among seasoned and retired CEOs "who have been working in the trenches for many years."

Carey and Von Weichs organize their material within four Parts: Management and Leadership in the Midst of Change; Governance: The Board of Directors and Its CEO; Operational Excellence and the Pursuit of Strategy; and finally, The CEO and the Outside World. Here are four brief excerpts from various essays:

"A new CEO from outside the company also has to make it clear that some things will not change -- including basic values and ethical standards. When I came to Merck, I felt it was especially important to make it clear that I was totally in line with the values and traditions of the company. This was a matter of personal principle for me -- and something that was recognized by the board while they were recruiting and hiring me. I didn't want to impose new traditions or abandon old ones simply because I was coming in from the outside." Raymond V. Gilmartin, chairman and CEO of Merck & Co.

"Even when leading from strength, a CEO undergoing fundamental change must prepare for the long haul. The legendary film producer once quipped, 'Give me a couple of years, and I'll make that actress an overnight success.' Similarly, a CEO has to realize that real transformation takes real time to accomplish. The biggest reason that corporate transformation is so difficult is that while it is easy to get agreement on what the problem is, the solution is seldom so obvious. People persist in trying to keep part of the old strategy alive, even if that gets in the way of implementing the new one." C. Michael Armstrong, chairman of Comcast Corporation and former chairman and CEO of AT&T and Hughes Electronics

"Anyone who is a graduate of GE's management training can be fairly accused of being consumed with the pursuit of data. But as I quickly learned, data are even more important in the retail game, given the speed with which you need to make decisions to respond to customer preferences or competitive challenges. Solid measurement systems were also needed to understand our workplace, our market, and the communities we served. To deal with this data in a smart way and make the information part of our short- and long-term thinking, we introduced the SOAR system -- a strategic, operating, and resource planning process -- which lets my senior team think about our strategy in a more organized way." Robert L. Nardelli, chairman, president, and CEO of The Home Depot

"I strongly believe that one of the key elements of success in investor relations [or relations with capital sources such as financial institutions] is to treat as customers the investors and analysts [or loan officers] with whom you are communicating. IR's job is to service the people who have influence over the company's share price [or working capital], just as the sales and marketing divisions service the people who have influence over the company's revenue." Mark W. Begor, president and CEO of GE Consumer Finance-Americas and former head of Investor Communications at General Electric

Many of those who should read this book are owners/CEOs of small, family-owned companies. Begor's comments mat not seem directly relevant to them but, in fact, they are. Over the years, I have worked closely with hundreds of such companies and until I strongly recommended it, only a few CEOs maintained direct and frequent contact (except on an as-needed basis) with her or his company's banker, attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc. Why not invite them to serve on an advisory board which meets quarterly for breakfast or lunch? Why not see the advisory board as a focus group and/or unofficial board of directors to whom a quarterly "state of the company" briefing is presented? If you are an owner/CEO of such a company, re-read Begor's essay while thinking about members of the advisory board as the collective equivalent of investors and analysts. Formulate and then implement your IR initiatives accordingly.

To repeat, Carey and Von Weichs asked each of the contributors to address their topic "as if it were the advice they wished they had received when they first started their job." For whom will this advice be of greatest value? In my opinion, anyone now involved in business or preparing to do so. Few ever become a CEO but thinking like a CEO substantially improves the chances of becoming an effective senior-level executive. As this book clearly indicates, there is much to be learned from seasoned and retired CEOs "who have been working in the trenches for many years."

This book is great. It has this pull-out poster of affirmations, but it's not sappy and corny like a lot of the self-help things out there. My best friend (who is in her 30's and has no kids) has the poster up on her wall. Great hints for parents snuck into the story too. Her other book, "Just for being me" is really good too. There is a page with the main character at the end that has transparencies of the clothes she wears in the book so that kids can flip the pages to dress her up like a paper doll. Really neat.

"In Search of a Leader" is a book that meets a very real and practical need. Most pastoral search committees feel unqualified and inexperienced in conducting an effective pastoral search. Robert Dingman's book should serve as a valuable resource for any church in search of a pastor. The book outlines an effective and proven search process, provides dozens of practical suggestions, and answers the questions every novice search committee is asking. "In Search of a Leader" should not be seen as a blueprint but as a helpful guide. I highly recommend the book for any and every church embarking on a pastoral search process.

Robert W. Dingman is highly qualified to write such a book. He heads his own executive search firm and at the writing of this book had over 30 years of experience as an executive recruiter. If you are a pastoral search committee do yourself, your church, potential candidates, and the Kingdom of God a favor - read "In Search of a Leader."

When I began to read this book, I thought I would learn of the experiences of this author. What I did not realize was that I would begin to grow in my own walk with God. To be an armorbearer is to be in service TO and FOR the Lord. Each page was anointed with a deepness that made me hunger and desire to serve others for Him - in ways most of us might deem "too humbling??" - without concerning myself of their opinions. Take the time to read this book. You will elevate yourself by humbling yourself before God and your neighbor.

This book is the war journal of a naval aviator who flew 101 combat missions over and around the Belgian coast, first reporting to what was known as 5 Wing RNAS during September of 1916. This unit became 5 Squadron RNAS in December of that year, and was known as such until becoming 205 Squadron RAF in April of 1918. This remarkably well-written journal covers the entire period of 5 Squadron's operation, and preserves the history of that unit in an easily read style. There are many war journals in publication, but this one is a bit different since 5 Squadron was basically a bombing squadron. Most of the author's missions were flown in the DH-4 two-seater, and his harshest criticism is reserved for those pursuit pilots who were less than diligent when on escort duty. The book includes first person comparisons of the handling qualities of many different aircraft of the period, including captured enemy aircraft, and a few single seaters that the author flew on rare occasions. There are also graphic accounts of a number of individual missions, including a large scale battle against the "Flying Circus" which the author was fortunate enough to survive. Then too, there are personal glimpses of some famous personalities of the war such as Nungesser, and Beauchamp-Proctor. To me, however, the best parts of this book are the discusssions of what might be termed Great War trivia. These include the most vivid description of "flaming onions" that I have read anywhere, the story of the "Hanging Virgin" of Albert, the Leugenboom gun, and a simple description of how rotary engines are supposed to work. To top things off, the book features a good reference map of all the locations mentioned in the text, a selection of quality black and white photographs from the author's personal collection, and helpful footnotes by the author's son who edited the book for publication.

I was very impressed by this book. All of my accounting friends and I agree this is probably the best "accounting book" we have ever read-especially for actual accountants.

Leader and Predazzi have written an exsellent text for graduate students. They cover the wide range of topics in great clarity. Especially in the chapter about renormalization they succeed in presenting the core in detail without technical obfuscation.