Leader

Some leaders I would follow, others leave me high and dry; what a fun task- interviewing leaders....

I was totally motivated in reading this very comprehensive book. I felt my purpose in life was revived after many years of suffering a busy yet empty life. Now I have found what specific personal interests and career to pursue and my skills and abilities are already showing up. I have evaluated myself on every level and decided on a new set of values to follow. I'm a new man. And I believe now that I too can be a leader in what I love to do. So I recommend this book to my family and my business partners and customer. You will be definitely motivated and shown exactly how to lead a better life by reading this book.

I'm a CEO and found this book so inspiring and empowering for every part of my life and work, that I have given it to my executive team, staff, customers, business associates and friends. There are all kinds of good ideas for running a successful company and really any organization large and small, including non profit and community groups. This book helped me get on track with my vision, our company mission, and accomplishing what we set out to do. Many leaders in this book are great examples to follow and they become your mentors. Rare it is to find such a positive helpful book. We should encourage college kids to read this too, so they start early knowing how to be a leader and follow their life path.

Over the past three years I've been reading everything on leadership and management that I can get my hands on, the stimulis was a unexpected (and unbidden) move (promotion?)into a management position.To my suprise I quickly learned that more than 20 years of leading motivated,professional ground and air crews around wildfires had not adequetely prepared me for what I was getting myself into this time. I'm office bound these days where motivation isn't as common as it once was. Feeling a bit overwelmed at the time I consider it to be a stroke of divine luck to have stumbled across Mr. Cohen's book when and where I did. I think the best thing I can say about it is that for a "management" book it's actually a fun read, which is something you can't say very often. Being a bit of a history buff I really liked the liberal use of stories. For instance his use of General Lee's dressing down of Jeb Stuart as an example of how to reprimand staff is excellent! For all intents and purposes the guy just lost the battle of Gettysburg, not only does Lee manage to keep his cool but based on past preformance lets Stuart keep his job. I read that a couple of times, then watched Martin Sheen do it a couple more, then I read it again. The book is just packed full of these historic records and a lot of his own experences, unlike books based largely on theroy it has a kind of been there, done that feel to it. When I read a reference book, I study it, I underline passages and make margin notes of anything I feel is noteworthy and/or important. After my third trip thru this one there isn't a page left that isn't crammed full of notes and scribbles of some kind. If you wanna (or gotta) take charge, read this book.

There are generals and then there are generals. There are PhDs and there are PhDs. When you see a book by a retired Air Force major general who has a PhD, you pay attention. Maybe there will be something interesting here. Indeed!

In fifteen chapters, Cohen covers a wide range of leadership topics. Understandably, there's a lot of the military model here, but it will surprise you. You'll read about tactics and you'll learn about caring. You'll learn about accountability and you'll read about morale. Several of the chapters are organized with three steps, four tactics, seven actions. Yes, this may be a military sort of model, but it's also good writing and reading.

The book is filled with anecdotes, practical stuff that you can sink your teeth into. The examples, mostly from the military environment, effectively illustrate the numerous points Cohen makes. The military examples are from present day and historical lessons, and they're combined with a good selection of civilian stories. Leaders and prospective leaders, both military and civilian, will enjoy the book for its lessons and for its high level of readability. The stories make the teaching points come alive.

Yes, this is a leadership book. But it practically reads like a novel. You'll get caught up in the reading to the point where you might even forget that you're reading a practical guide to getting people to follow you. The New Art of the Leader is very appropriate for airplane reading, but have your pen and highlighter handy!

Good index and notes for research and follow-up reading.

Net, this book is very practical. In every chapter, you pick 3 or a few points what you should be careful to achieve effective leadership. By following the tips, you can expect to attract followship, direct or indirect influence others, etc. The book also provides lots of stories, anecdotes to make the points clear.

I'll recommend this book to newly promoted/mid-level leaders.

This is a good work. Other than the Gettysburg charge, before reading this book I did not know George Picket very well. I only got glimpses of him from various readings: Chapultepec, the Penninsula Campaign, Bermuda Hundred, Five Forks, etc. And in those various readings never once did anyone take him to task, making him account for himself like Longacre does.

What we have here is a complex aristocrat, a fighter, whose personal attributes estranged the majority of his superiors (Lee and Jefferson Davis to name a few) but one whose loyalty and devotion to Confederate Independence made him indispensable to their efforts .

He is difficult to like. He deserts a son, is a heavy drinker, is a panderer and is a political maneuverer in the worst sense of the concept. But we also have a person who personifies loyalty, who serves to the very end, under privation, while absorbing every imaginable insult from his superiors along the way. He may have made some serious errors but he always obeyed orders, remained steadfast, even when he must have known he had been identified as expendable. Above all else he served, served, served.

Longacre does a remarkably good job of brining Picket to life. Even more important than Picket is the wonderful glimpse we get into the workings of the Confederate High Command. A very valuable additional plus is the myriad of interesting historical antidotes that will make the most serious student of the Civil War stop and say, "I didn't know that."

No Lost Cause apologia, here you get all the warts. This one is definitely worth the time.

I enjoyed Longacre's book on George Pickett. I often read "on the go" and liked the way he broke down each chapter in brief segments which I could read and stop conveniently. The author does a good job of portraying Pickett evenly and sifting thru the legends and myths. I appreciated Longacre's discussion on Gettysberg as that is one thing I have always wondered about. Was it wrong for Pickett not to accompany his men on this heroic and futile assault ? Pickett himself proved to be a complex man and all too human. After reading this book I felt that Pickett's military career was a quest for respect and secondly for glory and not the other way around.

Growing up in the south I always held the same general opinion of Pickett that most southerners and indeed most Americans hold. The playboy image seen in the movie "Gettysburg" has always been what came to mind at the mention of General Pickett. Thanks to this book I see that the well known image is false.

Pickett does indeed seem to have been a glory hound and playboy but he was also a brave soilder who exposed himself to deadly fire in the Mexican War and was wounded early in the Civil War. Longacre handles the fact that Pickett didn't actually lead his men to the angle at Gettysburg in just the way he should have handled it.

I found most interesting Pickett's work at Petersburg to hold that city until Beauregard and then Lee could arrive on the scene. Pickett is not in general given his due for Petersburg probably because after the war the "cult of the lost cause" was so protective of General Lee that they kept to a minimum Pickett's role. In fact, Lee made a mistake and Pickett and then Beauregard saved the day. Without Pickett's contribution at Petersburg the war might have ended several months sooner. Richmond simply could not have been held without Petersburg.

A great book that puts a new and interesting face on George Pickett. It belongs in any Civil War library.

What an excellent read. "The Leaders" is just another addition to this wonderful trilogy (The Legacies, The Leaders, The Battles) Try to read these three great books. "The Leaders" offers refreshing insights into many great characters of the period.

As a Civil War buff, I was pleasantly surprised at how much depth is covered in these short, biographical chapters. I know quite a bit about many of the leaders included in the volume and I did not find any glaring errors or oversimplifications. Each chapter has a team of writers and the editors did an excellent job of melding their contributions into a coherent, readible finished product. In short chapters, the writers and editors did a remarkable job in capturing the characters of their subjects. Furthermore, the book casts judgment on the success of characters such as Jefferson Davis and Georgwe McClellan. I like the fact that it takes a position and, in my opinion, these positions are fairly arrived at. For example, the editors unequivocally declare McClellan to be a failure. In a short chapter, they support their conclusions well. Indeed, they did a great job in seeking the answers to what made McClellan tick. The writing is lucid, the illustrations and captions are illuminating and the conclusions drawn are interesting. I enjoyed this book wholeheartedly.

This book is an excellent resource for both the amateur and professional Civil War historian. This book provides the key facts with some insight into the lives of some of the main figures of the American Civil War. As a professional Civil War Historian it can be admitted at times that there are certain things that we all forget and this book makes it a lot easier to refer to than trying to page through a 1000 page biography. This book is a very good refresher and is extremely easy to read and understand. I also like the choice of photogrpahs that are used throughout the book. These are some of the more famous photographs taken and in this sense it provides a good introduction for the amateur Civil War Historian. I recommend this book as a must for any Civil War library. This along with the other two books in the series are a must for every Civil War Historian regardless to the degree of study of that individual.

The Day the Leader Was Killed is a succinct but significant work in contemporary Egypt. Naguib Mahfouz, through his sober and lyrical prose, has skillfully woven one of the darkest political backdrops in Egyptian history into his novel. Sealing off the seventies and reaching the threshold of a new decade, President Anwar al-Sadat implemented the Infitah, an open-door economic policy that would expedite the country forward to modernization. Like many of Mahfouz's works, this story is told in alternating first-person narratives by three characters--Muhtashimi Zayed, a pious, retired family patriarch; his grandson Elwan Fawwaz Muhtashimi; and Elwan's strong-willed, beautiful fiancée Randa Sulayman Mubarak. The story builds upon around this middle-class family and through the family's perspective zooms a picture of the social, economic, religious, gender and interpersonal aspects of the larger society in Egypt. For the patriarch, who devoted his whole life to prayers and religious rituals, his life was nothing but loneliness. He was especially despondent that the younger generation drifted from the Koran to whose life made a substantial influence. The old man could not forget "the woes of the world" (25) when he thought of his beloved grandson. Randa, like all her female contemporaries, faced gender challenges and the clash between traditional values and modern ideals.

The novelette evokes the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat on October 6, 1981. Sadat was saluting troops at the annual military parade when a team of assassins began firing weapons and throwing grenades into the reviewing stand. Sadat, along with 20 others was instantly killed in the deadly attack. The underlying cause of the fatal massacre traced back to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978, which led to a negotiated peace between the two countries in the following year. The historic agreement brought peace to Egypt but no prosperity. The economy still slumped with no trace of a turn-around. Poverty-stricken Muslims and Copts in Egypt rubbed in friction and exploded into some gruesome round of violence in the Cairo slum. This is the very socioeconomic backdrop on which Mahfouz adroitly set his novel. Like the Cairo Trilogy and many of his works, Mahfouz captures and chronicles the most crucial of his own times. 4.0 stars.

"The Day the Leader Was Killed," by Naguib Mahfouz, has been translated into English by Malak Mashem. The short author bio on the book's opening page notes that Mahfouz was born in Cairo, has received the Nobel Prize in literature, and "is the most prominent author of Arabic fiction published in English today."

This novel takes place during the "Infitah," an "open-door" economic policy in place under Egyptian President Sadat. The story is told in alternating first-person chapters by three characters: Muhtashimi Zayed, a retired old man; his grandson Elwan; and Elwan's fiancee, Randa. Both Elwan's and Randa's families face economic troubles, and the young couple faces uncertainty regarding their own future.

This novel is a fascinating look at modern Egyptian family life. I found it interesting that while the book deals with three generations of Egyptians, it is only characters from the youngest and oldest generations that actually "speak" directly to the reader. Mahfouz looks at the issues of gender, economics, religious faith, and family ties in the lives of these two families and the larger community. I was particularly moved by Mahfouz's portrayal of the old man's spiritual life; Muhtashimi Zayed is a Muslim in whose life the Quran is an important element. I was also intrigued by Mahfouz's exploration of the challenges faced by the modern young Arab woman, caught between contemporary ideals and traditionalism. Overall, a compelling multigenerational portrait.

Najib Mahfouz in his compact dry story details the hardships faced by the people of Egypt from the economic liberation. Intifah, Anwar Sadat's open-door economic policy has increased disparities between the rich and poor, creating havoc in lives of its citizens. In this economic meltdown is Fawad and his fiance Randa whose commitment for each other is tested by realities of times.

In a subtle undertone, this novel has reflections to the struggle faced by masses presently in the middle east. Interesting aspect of this novel are the personal battles faced between self righteousness vs corruption, advancements vs traditions.

People who read books about reading share an obsession so compelling that they can't help but judge another person's "favorite books" list against their own. Or in this case, "faith-shaping books," which I assume also qualifies them for favorite status. In any event, INDELIBLE INK provides enough fodder to keep compulsive readers engaged in arguments in their heads for some time to come.

The 22 featured essayists range from the venerable J.I. Packer (whose name appears as an author of influence in more than one essay) to relative newcomer Liz Curtis Higgs. Supplementing the main essays is an appendix listing the two or three favorite books of some 130 other Christian leaders.

Both sections are filled with surprises, not the least of which is essayist Gary R. Collins's choice of a book about a caterpillar named Stripe titled HOPE FOR THE FLOWERS by Trina Paulus. (I can relate; a children's book titled LITTLE THINGS by Anne Laurin describes my marriage better than any psychologist ever could.) Another surprise is the frequency with which the names of novelists, poets and dramatists appear. The likes of Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Dumas, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Dante and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (whose GULAG ARCHIPELAGO and ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH, I'm convinced, paved the way for my own conversion to Christ in the 1970s) share ink with some of the greatest theologians ever --- St. Augustine, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Søren Kierkegaard and others.

My favorite essay is "My Three Best Friends ... Maybe" by Calvin Miller --- a fellow "narcolibric," a term Miller coined to describe the "print-addicted" among us. Except for his fondness for Emily Dickinson, whose poems I once deemed worthy of Good Housekeeping (seriously offending my high school literature teacher), Miller's essay, especially his observations on what I call bookaholism, mirrors my own approach to reading and integrating into my life the things I've read.

In the appendix, Elisabeth Elliot cited Amy Carmichael as her single choice --- which seems unusual, except that Carmichael wrote 40-plus books. Who knew? I doubt that even those Christians who are familiar with her and her work are aware that she was such a prolific writer. Another surprise: Fernando Ortega's choice of THE HABIT OF BEING: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. O'Connor as an author is not such a curious choice --- it's the collection of her letters that is surprising. His description forced me to add yet another title to my ever-growing list of must-reads. (An aside: A current bestselling book on heaven suggests that we'll be able to customize our afterlife experience. If so, I'm putting in a bid for a library of all the books I wanted to read before my untimely demise. I'm guessing it won't include a copy of Hubert P. Yockey's INFORMATION THEORY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, one of Hugh Ross's favorites.)

About three chapters into the book, I decided it would be a great idea to start keeping track of the authors to see how many times my favorites showed up in the results. I came to my senses soon enough and settled on a less formal method of accounting, something between a guess and a hunch. By the end of the book, I had decided that the front-running authors were C.S. Lewis, which was pretty much a no-brainer, and, much to my surprise and delight, Dostoyevsky. That's when I found the link to the INDELIBLE INK web site, www.indelink.com, and the page of "Top Tens": authors, titles, authors with the most titles, and contemporary authors.

My beloved Mr. Lewis topped three of the lists: number one book, with 20 mentions for MERE CHRISTIANITY; number one author, with 39 mentions; and author with the most titles, 12. What was even more telling were the runners-up in those categories. Second-place book was Oswald Chambers's MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, cited 12 times; second place in the author category was a three-way tie between Dostoyevsky (yes!), Packer and Chambers, with 12 mentions each; and runner-up for author with the most titles was Francis Schaeffer with seven titles mentioned. Lewis's substantial lead over the runners-up lent further support to my oft-vocalized opinion that Lewis was far and away the best Christian writer of the 20th century.

What all of this has done for me, and likely will do for other hopelessly narcolibric readers, is add yet more names and titles to an ever-expanding "To Read" list. But I'm fine with that; the high quality of INDELIBLE INK's essays assures me that the books I've added to my list are well worth reading.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

This is a book of writers' readings. Twenty-two names familiar on the Christian speaking and writing circuit tip their hats to the authors that shaped their faith, including essays from Chuck Colson, Dallas Willard, J.I. Packer, Luis Palau, John Stott, Josh McDowell and Phil Johnson.

The strength of the book was in its inception: what a creative idea! Larsen has tickled the bibliomania of chronic readers who pause at every turn-of-phrase to muse about its origin. If you're one who says, "Hmm, I wonder if he's getting this from Mere Christianity," here's your chance to find out (and yes, in fact, nearly everyone has apparently been influenced by C.S. Lewis). We find out that the poetic Calvin Miller reads Shakespeare (and 100 books a year), that Michael Card liked the manly Monte Cristo, and that J.I. Packer was comfortable enough with Calvin to write the long-gone theologian personal letters. It also feeds our natural obsession with the fairly accessible world of Christian stardom. For those who keep a working biography of significant, public mentors, this is a tour of their own self-reflections. Furthermore, there's a catalogue of another 130 Christian authors', speakers', and ministers' paragraph-long reviews in the back.

The only nuisance of the book is that Larsen has requested reviews of non-professional reviewers. It's less than compelling to hear that Colson gives "high marks" to Tolstoy. But if we embrace this collection of essays as a profile of influences rather than a thoroughly informative critique of the sources, the book fulfills its purpose. Once you've done that, the few letters within are truly well-crafted writings which stand out as fun surprises in an already interesting book.

Perhaps the best review comes from Jill Briscoes' recommendation at the close of her contribution which can appropriately serve as a description of the whole of Indelible Ink; "Happy reading."

As someone who's Christian walk is still on the new side, I have found this book an insightful pleasure to read. There are hundreds if not thousands of Christian books on apologetics, doctrine, and other topics but I'm unfamiliar with most all of them. So what a nice surprise to find this volume which includes the books and authors that most influenced the lives of these Christian leaders and authors. I've already got a list going of the titles (from this book) I want to pick up to assist me in learning the essentials of the Christian faith.
Great read!

This book consists of 64 excerpts from (mostly) modern writers about leadership, with a social-psychological perspective. (The non-modern excerpts are from, for example, Plato, Machiavelli, Tolstoy, Lao-tzu, Carlyle, etc.) There are a couple of chapters dealing with women's leadership. The editor, J. Thomas Wren, has struggled to find common grounds--e.g., modern views of leadership, leaders and followers together, the leadership environment. Nearly all writings are slanted toward social-psychological, around concepts like "transaction," "transforming," behavioral theories, system perspectives, influence, tactics, organizational decision-making, and so forth.

A friend noted the paucity of "high quality" mass leadership in today's America--he was speaking of the Enron mess and the financial predations of high-power executive America, the corruption of the political process by highly expensive campaigns, the stagnation of our drug "war," and the pervasive ironic cynicism in public commentary. This book does not deal with the absence of leadership, unfortunately, or the inability of America to handle fast-moving problems (such as global warming, and our contribution to it)--but it is great background material and well worth reading.

If you want a synopis of what is or has been said about leadership this is the book. I regularly use it as a reference text for my leadership classes.

I have used this book in an introductory class on Leadership. It provides an outstanding overview of key authors and their thoughts on leadership spanning centuries. Wren offers a readable review of a variety of methodological approaches to the study of leadership presented through the writings of a wide array of authors. Both historical views and modern views are covered in the work and this anthology opens the door for more extensive readings. As a discussion starter it is a goldmine. The arrangement of broad topic areas such as, Historical, Leaders and Followers, Environments, Skills, and most important, writings in Moral Leadership promotes the development of "jigsaw" discussion techniques. Wren presents an excellent introduction to a fascinating topic!

The New Managerial Mentor Becoming a Learning Leader to Build Communities of Purpose

This book is an excellent resource for helping to assess and to give you ideas on how to build your skills to become a better learning leader. Fritts creates a "learning moment" by having you take inventory your Learning Leader Role Preference and assess for yourself what areas are strengths and which need more development. I also liked the way it was clearly laid out. Each role was clearly defined, followed by focus of that role and the competencies needed. In addition to defining each competency, Fritts gives you an example of it in practice. Then you have an opportunity to assess your level in this competency with an exercise. The exercise was followed by ideas and/or suggestion of how to develop a plan to improve your level of learning in that competency. The way this book is laid out makes it a very practical read and a good learning resource.

As Fritts says on page 158 "To increase productivity in a knowledge economy, managers need to focus more on people than on technology". Fritts puts the mentor role in a new light, one of needing to fully develop a diverse set of roles, collaborator, innovator, producer, and integrator. Traditionally mentoring described a relationship of an "older individual imparting their wisdom to younger associates" (pg. 169). However, as Fritts states, "the new model calls for people at all levels to create reciprocal learning relationships and develop the technical and interpersonal competencies needed to thrive in the new economy", working in any business today requires us to be able to learn on the fly and be flexible, while meeting the marketplace needs. I think that Fritts hits the nail on the head with this book.

I enjoyed this book so much that I have purchased copies for my team and we are planning to use these concepts at our next offsite to see how we can continue to build our skills as learning leaders.

The New Managerial Mentor book places emphasis on learning as a collaborative effort. The focus is partnering and the importance of an organization's success over the next decade. It encourages manager to welcome change, encourage employees to take charge of their destiny and to find their work rewarding. The Managerial Mentor is essential for any company to prepare for changing times, as companies must become more competitive than ever with the advances in technology. The book guides managers in the facilitating process, as they support and encourage their employees to become lifelong learners. The book begins with an assessment exercise to identify the characteristics of your organization. The book is a good tool for any manager that desires effective methods to meet the demands and challenges of an unstable and chaotic environment. The emphasis is placed in learning in a continual process to bring about new ideas to sustain a competitive edge in uncertain marketplace.

The author divides the book into three sections - (1) Mentoring in the learning organization addresses the role that managers play in mentoring relationship and the diverse competencies of the learning leader. (2) Becoming a learning leader addresses the different learner styles - collaborator, innovator, producer and integrator. These four managerial mentoring roles help to provide individual competency assessment. Assists in focusing on the strengths and abilities. (3) Putting your plan together steps the reader through the process to become a learning leader by leading with a purpose. The book is equipped with exercises and checklists throughout the book designed to step you through the different processes, preference inventory and scoring sheets help you focus your development effort.

The book is concise, easy to read and flows well. Pat Fritts has skillfully put together the tasks and processes essential for identifying innovative ways to engage in collaborative learning. Use this book as a guide to step you through the processes. The exercises and checklists will ensure a successful plan for mastering new learning competencies. I would highly recommend this book for any manager who wants to ensure the success of his organization as well as the success of its employees by partnering and co-learning. A word of caution, this book is not for every organization. Its' methodologies and approach is aggressive and requires organizations to build its foundation on mutual trust and collaboration. It requires employees to empower themselves and take risks. It requires a transformation at every level of the organization.

The exercises in the chapters focus on the practicality of this book. Dr. Fritts presents the information in an easy to follow and and easy to use form. Since the scenarios depict the workforce of today, a manager can see herself or himself in various situations then use the exercises to assist in thinking through the problematic areas. Helps one to determine areas of strength in the managerial arena. The lessons of the book cross all types of business situations. The book is relevant to all managers regarless of their experience level.

The subject of this book is a reasonably interesting person, even though the book is not that well done.

Garcia Nasi (aka Beatrice de Luna) was a woman of a well to do Jewish merchant family who married into one of the great banking families of her era, the mid 16th century (born 1510 -- died 1569). Her husband, Francisco Mendes, and brother in law, Diogo Mendes, were very successful bankers. Garcia Nasi was an asset to her family business and after her husband and later her brother in law died, she took on greater and greater responsibilities in running the business. She was also a generous patron to fellow Jews and conversos in a time of inquisition and repeated expulsion. Her ability to stand up to powerful authorities in matters of commerce, and in her own legal struggles is laudable. Her travels through the great commercial centers of the age give a good picture of the activities of members of her class of society.

The virtue of this book is that it is thoroughly footnoted and has an extensive bibliography. Therefore, if you have further interest in this lady, you have a list to take to the library.

One problem I have with this work is the same one I have with any historian with an obvious mission. For example, a Marxist historian sees everything in terms of economics and class warfare. The author of this work is a Jewish historian and sees everything in terms of Jewish history. While Jewish bankers and merchants were a great factor in the commercial changes that paid for the Renaissance, not all bankers and merchants of the time were Jews or conversos. You would not know that if this work were your only source of information.

The other points that remove my faith in the extent of the author's background knowledge of the period are three glaring mistakes.
1)She drags out that ancient canard that pepper was widely used in the cooking of the time to cover up the taste of rotten meat. Bushwa.
2)She says that serfs were used for military levees. I'm not sure whether she doesn't realize that there is a difference between serfs and peasants or that she doesn't realize that military skills were the last thing a landowner would encourage his low level tenants to acquire. But, it is a jarring note.
3)She says that the Portuguese invented Marine Insurance in the 15th century. I've been working in the Marine Insurance business for longer than I care to admit and I know that the Phoenicians invented Marine Insurance in classical times.

If you have an interest in commercial arrangements, litigation, the situation of Jews and conversos in Portugal, Antwerp, Italy and Turkey, or in Garcia Nasi, then you should read this book. If you want an entertaining read from an author who knows her history (rather than one who falls down when she strays too far from her footnotes) find something else.

Acclaimed journalist Andrée Brooks has painstakingly delved into the deepest recesses of European history to produce a compelling account of the life of Doña Gracia Nasi, an extraordinary and powerful businesswoman of the Renaissance. I was utterly swept away by the story of this courageous humanitarian who managed to rescue thousands of her people from the terror of the Inquisition. Fascinating reading for the layperson, this definitive work of scholarship is enhanced by more than sixty pages of notes and an extensive and carefully prepared index. Brooks' engaging prose makes the sixteenth century come alive as few other books do. This dramatic page-turner should be made into a movie!

This story of a Renaissance heroine reads like a novel: A brave young Jewish widow takes over her husband's international banking business, lends money to kings and dukes, exacts the freedom to flee from one country to another to escape the Inquisition, and rescues thousands of Jews. Yet the story is true, based on documents discovered by Andree Brooks in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France, Italy, Jerusalem and Istanbul. Her research is tucked seamlessly into a racing narrative that takes the reader into the life and turmoil of the 1500's. It's the stuff movies are made of--we hope.

A timely and insightful book. Autry brings a fresh prospective to the leadership and management table. Too often today we hear the negative aspects of leadership. Leaders are portrayed as being consumed with power and greed, not motivated to promote the company and protect the employee, but to advance their own wealth. The leader that Autry describes is much different. This leader is a servant first, placing high emphasis on the worth of the individual and believes that the people are what make and hold the company together.
Unlike other books on servant leadership, Autry gives the reader a clear, concise idea of how to apply the principals of servant leadership to the ethical and personal problems leaders face on a daily basis. He effectively illustrates "how to build a creative team, develop great morale and improve bottom-line performance". He introduces a concept that will be unsettling to some leaders when he states "Business is about people. Business is of, by, about and for people". As far as he is concerned organizations are not different, they may produce different or unique products, but they are all dependent on people and that is what makes them the same.
This is not a book about soft or fussy management; it relates to business practices that we use everyday. Instead of focusing on the bottom-line Autry's focus is on people. He believes that if he takes care of the people that work for him and treats them in a fair and ethical manner he will improve bottom line performance.
Autry addresses issues that HR professionals and leaders have to work with. The chapter on Finding the Right People is about recruiting. The chapter on Tools of the Trade focuses on job descriptions, performance standards, performance appraisals and rewards systems. Nothing touchy feely here, just areas that can either have a positive or negative impact on profits. These topics tie directly to the productivity of the company because, if done incorrectly, they will adversely affect moral and performance. There is also a great chapter on dealing with difficult employees, which I found very insightful.
This book is a great tool for the leader that is looking to have a positive impact on the lives of their employees. It acknowledges the fact that you will have legal and personal issues to deal with and it helps you work though the problems from a different prospective.
I highly recommend finding a place for it in your toolbox.

..if all Managers could subscribe to this method. Mr. Autry presents his position on Servent Leadership, and makes all who read it examine themselves. It was great fun imagining a work place like the one Mr. Autry describes.

First of all, the writing style is pleasent and engaging. Very inviting and not intimidating. It's like having a quite conversation with a peaceful man of letters. The book goes fast, so it's maybe three nights of reading time. The lessons contained are very penetrating. Self examination will be a good result of this book's reading.

I particularly appreciated the section at the end of the book where 24 photos of a future company are examined. It gives hope to all of us, but sadly, I feel it's just too good to be true.

Non the less, please read this book for your business soul, and maybe your business approach. It can help if we try to put it in place. Thanks Mr. Autry for the peace and humanity.

I've just spend a thought-provoking afternoon with Jim Autry. No, I've never met the man. But, I feel like we've had a personal conversation and I can call him friend. That's the way this book reads. Now I'm motivated to read his previous books: "Love and Profit," "Life and Work," and others.

As a consulting futurist, I advise my client organization's leadership teams how to prepare for their future. The emphasis of my work is workforce and workplace issues. Looking at the design and performance of the corporation of the future, I'm confident that we'll see a significantly different style of leadership than we see in today's organizations. I teach-and-preach this shift in my consultations, seminars, and speeches to management groups. The emerging style is much more employee centered, less authoritarian. Some have called this emerging model "servant leadership," so I was eager to read Autry's book to learn about his perspective.

Though a consultant and speaker himself, Autry's "been there, done that." He's practiced the principles he espouses in a number of settings, including in his former role as president of the Meredith Corporation's publishing group. This experience enables him to present real-life examples from his personal leadership career, moving this book from an academic treatise to almost a personal story of "here's how I did it . . . and got great results." Readers of this book will enjoy a feeling of sitting in a comfortable setting having a conversation with this thought leader.

The book is organized into four parts. The first part, A Foundation of Character and Vision, presents two baseline chapters: Characteristics of the Leader as a Servant, and Understanding the Three Aspects of Vision. This portion of the book alone produced sufficient value for me that I knew I wanted to give this volume high marks. Managers and leaders may find themselves looking more introspectively at their own styles, values, and expectations as they read these pages. Sure started me thinking.

Part Two of the book gets into some nitty-gritty. Application of the servant leader approach. How to build a community of people who enjoy working productively together to achieve shared desired results. Listen to the chapter titles: Finding the Right People. Training the Servant Leader. Tools of the Trade. Coping with the High-Tech Workplace.
There were a couple of places in this portion of the book where my mind began to wander, but I was quickly drawn back to the text as I gained insight into how the principles of servant leadership work hand-in-hand with the more mundane aspects of management like job descriptions and performance appraisals. I turned down a lot of page corners.

The book's third section is entitled The Harsh Realities of Organizational Life. In three chapters, Organizational Issues, Personal Issues, and Legal Issues, Autry tackles everything from Firing People to Sexual Harassment. In the fourth part of the book, Autry gets into what he calls Finding the Balance. Hard work doesn't mean nose to the grindstone 18 hours a day. A servant leader builds loyalty (Servant Leadership and the Crisis of Loyalty), and helps resolve counterproductive problems in the workplace (Conflict). The other two chapters in this section address The Responsibilities of Family and Community Life and Leadership When Things Go Wrong and Times Are Bad. Good stuff for today's world!

The book closes with an interesting approach to an epilogue, Script for a Future Slide Show. In 24 snapshots of workplace situations in 2015, Autry gives us his glimpse of what life will be in the future with servant leadership. I doubt that we'll have to wait until 2015, agree that we'll see what he forecasts. I believe we'll see this leadership design in successful companies long before then, and it's application will engender positive differences in workforce stability, productivity, profitability, and the happiness of both leaders and led.

The book includes a workable index, but I would have liked to see a more comprehensive table of contents. With that aid, readers coming into this book would have a greater sense of the value they will receive. I'd encourage you to read this book, with a mind that is not only open from curiosity, but one that is open to make some changes in the way you lead.
Special note to aspiring future leaders: don't miss this one! And do some more reading on the topic as more books come out on servant leadership in the years ahead.