Leader

The authors present an interesting, thoroughly researched summary of effective management styles in practice. The interviews are personal and the individuals interviewed are not only successful, but fascinating.The authors' use of humor and gentle irony lends an amusing tone to the voice of this book, which is pretty rare in business tomes. I recommend Maximum Leadership to anyone in business school, or for "light" professional reading...it is easy to put down and pick up again. Even those of us who don't wear business suits can apply most of the principles to our interactions with associates and family. I did wonder, however, after absorbing the authors' summary of the five effective management styles...what other styles could there be? Management by cattle prod? by hypnosis? by bribery? I didn't waste too much time pondering this: given the credentials of the authors, I'm sure they would know. Makes a good professional gift, too.

Dr. Richey has put together a wonderful collection of thoughts and quotes which can and should be used by anyone who facilitates, or participates in, meetings. The phrases are organized by topic and are easy to draw upon when you'd like to emphasize a point, create a laugh, or cause a group to go, "Hmm...". I like to use them in all the meetings I facilitate for our company.

This book does an excellent job of framing diversity as a concern and responsibility of the entire school community. This book takes the reader through a process of gathering important statistics that will illustrate the need for change in the school community. Capper et. al. handle the issues of minority students / staff, students with disabilities, students with diverse learning needs, students of lower-socioeconomic status, and issues of sexual orientation in the school community.

The book has a practical approach that is more about giving classroom teachers the skills they need to help to help ALL students before there is a need to label them and place them in special programs.

Their concept of "leading beyond inclusion" is cheaper and more effective for meeting the needs of students.

The Egyptian Leader Muhammad Farid was my uncle, my late Father's ( Ahmad Muhammad Youssef )Farid brother: They were both heros as their father: Ahmad Mohammed Farid Bacha.

This is the definitive biography of an astonishing Mexican-American. 4 time LULAC president Felix Tijerina was born in Mexico, and came to Houston speaking no English. After he built a Tex-Mex restaurant empire, he turned his attention to the plight of his fellow Mexican-Americans. Spanish-speaking kids failed out of school in huge numbers at the time. Tijerina thought if they had a few words of English, they might do better. So he spent his own money to hire tutors to teach kids 400 words of English before they entered kindergarten. LBJ adopted his "little schools of 400" and made them the model for the Headstart Program--one of the most successful Federal programs in history.
Kreneck's dedication to an accurate telling of Mexican-American history has been an inspiration to me.

Margery Forester describes Michael Collins in the words of another writer as "that most formidable of all men of action, the practical visionary". This biography, which was probably the most highly regarded until Tim Pat Coogan's momumental work, is still in my view one of the most readable and the one that perhaps catches the essence of its subject best, as the opening quotation indicates. In this work Forester presents all the usual facts about Collins--his youth, his rise to prominence after the 1916 rising, his intelligence, his intensity, his personal courage, his love of country and comrade, his wit and warmth--but manages to add touches that bring out even more vividly the real character of this extraordinary man. Thus, her descriptions of his interaction with children, whom he loved and who loved him; his identification with the ordinary people of Ireland and his affinity for old people; his iron self-control in matters of personal indulgence; his refusal to disguise himself during the time he was the most wanted man in the British Empire; his often-brusque manner with women, which both affronted and intrigued them; his changes of mood "as spectacular and unpredictable as the play of the Northern Lights"; and his ability to inspire trust, love, and loyalty in the many people who worked for and with him. This is a vivid biography of a young man who was both realist and idealist and who led his country to its first taste of real freedom in 700 years.

The story of "Miles Standish: Plymouth Colony Leader" is really the story of the Pilgrims from more of a military perspective. After all, Standish was the Colony's military leader, one of the "Strangers" who was never one of the "Saints," as the Pilgrims called themselves. In fact, Standish became the only leader of the Plymouth Colony who never joined the Pilgrim church. Young readers of Susan Martins Miller's juvenile biography will probably get a more detailed look at the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Indians than they have ever read before. Certainly Miller gets well beyond what little will be mentioned in an American History textbook, even touching upon Standish's infamous temper and his nickname of "Captain Shrimp." This book is illustrated with historic paintings, drawings and etchings of the Pilgrims (several of which actually depict Standish), as well as contemporary photographs of the Plymouth Plantation, the restored Pilgrim town where actors portray the colonists. One of the other volumes in the Colonial Leaders series focuses on William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony; it will be interesting to see how it serves as a complementary account of the religious and political story of the Pilgrims.

This book by Catherine Ponder is part of a series on Biblical characters and what they can teach us about prosperity consciousness and positive thinking. Parts of this are not at all the way we Jews think of Moses, but, if you approach it as a sort of modern midrash (commentary), it makes for some interesting reading. Although my guess is that Ponder is a Christian (there's a "Millionaire from Nazareth" in her series), there is no attempt to convert anybody to anything in this book. Rather, she goes step-by-step through a series of basic prosperity principles, which she derives from the story of the Exodus. She also shares a lot of inspiring rags-to-riches anecdotes. The basic message is to trust in God, think positively, and take the "manna" (opportunities) that God gives you. Not exactly original advice, to be sure, but I enjoyed the way that she presented it here.

One complaint: I HATE the all-yellow cover. This was probably meant to evoke "gold" in the minds of Ponder's readers but, for most Jewish people, yellow immediately reminds us of the yellow stars in the Holocaust, as well many other yellow-badge stigmas that Jews were forced to wear in Medieval Europe. If the publisher wants a color that reminds the reader of money, then green would work much better and be far more positive for Jewish readers to have sitting on the coffee table.

With all of the A/G books out there on ethics this is the best. There is no better way to see just where they stand on *most* ethicial topics. This book is a good read but the authors bias keeps comming through the scripture.

Popham does an excellent job of providing both laymen and educators with appropriate insight into educational measurment. I just finished a graduate level course that used this book as one of its texts. It is an easy read that contains a wealth of information. I felt as if Popham was telling me a story in each chapter. He makes what can sometimes be a pretty bland subject into an interesting and insightful read.