Leader

The author also admits that it would be extremely difficult for the already over worked CEO to find time to take up all these extended responsibilities. They may not have the skills either, to understand issues as diverse as foreign policy, security, global trade, economic development and social welfare. The responsibility then shifts to Business Schools and corporate in-house executive programs to expand their curriculum to meet these challenges. The terrain is uncharted and the challenge is unprecedented, warns the author.

The author, dean of the Yale business school, has rendered a most valuable service to the business leaders of America, and in the process opened the possibility that new forms of business education, new forms of business practice, and new forms of moral global governance might yet emerge in America.

Originally inspired by the "double-whammy" of 9-11 and Enron on business--(the one costing America, by Fortune's estimate for businesses alone, $150B in additional security measures, or close to 1.5% of the Gross Domestic Product; while others suggest 9-11 has reduced profits by 5-6%), the author provides an easy to read, well-documented overview of why CEOs have to engage in rebuilding the integrity of business, protecting the homeland, preserving global economic security and free trade, taking on global poverty, and influencing foreign policy.

The author excells at pointing out, in the most gracious way possible, how all of the preconceptions of the current administration, and in particular its penchant for unilateralist military bullying, have proven both unworkable in achieving their intended results, while also unsuitable in being translated to economic gains. Military power does not translate into economic power or added prosperity.

This book is *loaded* with common sense and specific ideas for getting business leadership back into the global stabilization dialog. The author focused on two ideas that I consider to be especially important: the need to reexamine how the taxpayer dollar is being spent on national security, with a view to redirecting funds (I add: from military heavy metal to what Joe Nye calls soft power: diplomacy, assistance, intelligence); and on the urgency of restoring the independence and expanding the mandate of the U.S. Information Agency so as to overcome the acute misperceptions of the US fostered by Saudi-funded schools for youths being taught to hate, and little else.

The non-governmental organizations come in for special scrutiny, and the author has many good ideas, not only for promoting better business-NGO partnerships, but for auditing the NGOs and not ceding to them the moral high ground. As he points out, many organizations that oppose globalization or specific business practices do not have any standards or transparency with respect to who funds them, how decisions are made, and so on.

Finally, the author concludes with a focus on business education. While citing many improvements made by many schools, he notes that a comprehensive study and reengineering overall has not occurred since the late 1950's and early 1960's, and that the time is long past when graduate business education must be completely revamped. He is exceptionally astute and credible throughout the book as he explores the many things that CEOs need to know but do not receive training on, to include understanding and dealing with government, NGOs, citizen advocates, and the real world. As he notes, Master's in Business Administration tend to train students for the first years in the corporation, not the long-haul. He places some emphasis on the need to consider continuing education as an extension of the original program, and I immediately thought of an MBA as a limited-term license that must be renewed by recurring personal investments in education.

As someone whose opening lecture line to citizens and businessmen is "if the State fails, you fail," I found this book extraordinarily valuable and urgent. We get the government we deserve. If citizens do not vote, if businessmen do not think of the larger social goods and social contexts within which they operate, then the government will prove incapable and at some point the party will be over.

Yale has always had an extra helping of morality and humanity; in this book the dean of the business school ably makes the case that business leadership and engagement in national security and global stabilization is the sine qua non for continued prosperity. He's got my vote--if I were a mature student looking for a place to learn, he's put Yale right at the top of my list.

I particularly recommend this book for anyone who is feeling hesitant about God or the church or who has become jaded toward a lot of what they hear from the church and Christians, but who is not quite ready to throw in the towel. This is a beautiful gentle book that will help open your heart to God if you let it. I have found that despite a great deal of hesitation about many "things religious," I can usually only read a page or two of this book at a time, because as I begin to read I feel a tremendous desire to pray and connect with God, and I abandon this book in favor of prayer. I think this is as it was intended to be.

The formatting of the book is very helpful. It has very large margins and lots of space around the quotes, which facilitates writing and/or journaling directly in the book. I've found it very helpful to write my reflections into the book as I go along, and have found there to be ample room for this. I also like the way there is a lot of art interspersed with text. There are times when I just can't read "religious" text, but can look at a Van Gogh painting and allow God to speak to me through it.

Overall, I highly recommend this to both those who are struggling but drawn to God, and those who are deeply committed to the daily practice of the Christian faith.

First he states that SPIRIT WINDOWS "was written for the official Presbyterian press" and later says that it was "originally developed for the Presbyterians." Definitely not. SPIRIT WINDOWS originated as the project for my Doctor of Ministry degree at an ecumenical institution. It was intended from the very beginning to NOT have any denominational connections but to be directed towards an ecumenical audience. It was published by the ecumenical arm of the Presbyterian Church, Bridge Resources, which understood and respected my viewpoint.

Secondly, the Shalem Institute does not have 'members.' I am a member of their Associate Staff and am a graduate of several of their programs. See "www.shalem.org" for more information.

Thanks.

This book was written for the official Presbyterian press by Ann Z. Kulp, a spiritual director and retreat guide of many years experience. She is credentialed in counseling and spiritual direction, and brings decades of practical work to bear in the creation of these resources. Kulp is a member of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, located in Maryland, a noted centre of education and spiritual development.

Kulp is a practical, hands-on person, so it is no surprise that this book is likewise helpful in that regard. It is geared toward providing guidance for leaders of church groups (from prayer groups to Bible studies), retreats, Sunday school and religious school teachers, and even administrative gatherings. While her work is directed primarily toward teachers and leaders, it is also useful for giving participatory insight and guidance for those who want to get more out of their experiences in such groups. The book is not long -- about 200 pages, not too dense and very accessible, so as to not become a burden to those who would use it.

Kulp provides much advice -- no detail is too small. She gives suggested schedules, models, questions, activities, texts, and music. The final 20 pages are a very useful, annotated bibliography of books and music useful for various events. These include prayer practices, dream reflection and analysis, scriptural uses, narrative and story uses, and other spiritual guidance resources. Part of the usefulness of this text extends to its very construction -- the pages are designed to be photocopied. The appendix includes various samples that can be used verbatim for evaluation and for marketing events.

Kulp's practicality is evident from the substance of the text. She holds that awareness of God is a different matter from theological and philosophical knowledge about God, and what people generally want when going on retreats, gather for contemplative prayer, or pursuing spiritual practices and disciplines is an awareness of God in their lives. The section on Poems, Prayers and Thoughts to Ponder gives a lot of material geared toward contemplation and reflection of the presence of God in our lives.

Like many guides on spiritual direction, Spirit Windows advocates a slower, more deliberate pace to life. Putting God back in the centre, and cultivating practices of contemplation, meditation and deliberate intention are at the heart of Kulp's philosophy for leaders and participants.

A spirit window is similar to a dreamcatcher of the Native Americans. It is a wonderful idea and metaphor for this book, but according to Kulp, that is not the direct idea behind the title. Rather, the title came from her association with the Shalem Institute, where the concept of windows kept arising. Nonetheless, the image is a great one, reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth I saying she had no desire to make windows into souls. Here, in fact, Kulp does want there to be windows, windows that can actually be accessed without passwords, without too much difficulty, that let the light shine through.

While this text was originally developed for the Presbyterians, it is a useful guide across the board for any religious group. Many of the resources are Christian, but the techniques and models suggested here can be easily adapted and utilised by non-Christians as well.

The techniques in this book can make the designs a little less mysterious and a little more deliberate, and bring us a clearer picture through the windows of the spirit. No password required.

In my view, the business books that are truly useful for real-world managers have two qualities. First, they don't pretend that managerial life is anything less than unbelievably complex and unbearably demanding. Second, they provide straightforward, relatively simple tools, methods, and strategies for dealing with all that complexity and pressure. Tools that actually work.

The greatest business writers, geniuses like Jim Collins and Gary Hamel, can embrace huge amounts of complexity and then provide advice that's somehow whittled down into manageable prescriptions that still have world-changing impact.

This book isn't as great as those, because its topic is more limited, but it still has those great-book qualities. There's a whole lot of reality encompassed here - organizational realities, performance-related realities, and personal ones, too - yet the highly distilled, non-nonsense advice still imparts ways of wrestling with those realities and coming out on top.

There's also a lot to like about the way Finley and Robbins write. They're direct and pungent, funny and witty, and completely readable. They earned some deserved recognition a few years back when their book Why Teams Don't Work was named "Best Business Book in the Americas" by Financial Times and Booz Allen & Hamilton, but they still haven't gained the wide readership and top-of-the-charts sales they deserve. The next step for them is to sell a whole bunch of books. So, if you buy this book and like it, why not check out their other entries here at amazon.com -- it's all good, and good for you, too.

The Catalyst Award is given to those corporations which have achieved lasting, measurable results in this area. The book examines many of these corporations. For example: IBM, Avon Products, E.I. du Pont de Nemours, Eastman Kodak, Arthur Andersen, Motorola, American Airlines, Morrison & Foerster, McDonald's, J.C. Penney, Dow Chemical, Knight-Ridder, Texas Instruments, and Allstate. I hasten to point out that most (if not all) of the information and suggestions provided by the book are also relevant to small-to-midsize organizations and may indeed be of even greater value to them than to (let's say) "Fortune 100" companies.

Advancing Women in Business is divided as follows:

Part I. Changing the System

Part II.Best Practices

Part III. Resources: The Catalyst Award

"The Catalyst Approach" can maximize the value of a workforce by "capitalizing on the talents of women" only if all efforts are made within an "inclusive, problem-solving, comprehensive program." Specifically, first establish a strong foundation by connecting each initiative explicitly to a business rationale; next, build a fact base by gathering information that will create the baselines for evaluating each initiative's progress; finally, develop, pilot, and implement action plans whose initiatives achieve practical solutions tailored to the organization's environment. How? Several dozen corporations are examined which illustrate what the "Catalyst Approach" requires of those involved in its implementation. Specific strategies and tactics are discussed. Results are measured and evaluated. I rate this book so highly because I think it is very well written, because it provides a wealth of important information about "best practices from the corporate leaders", and because it includes a number of practical suggestions as to HOW to derive greatest benefit from that information.

Frankly, I had hoped that a gender-specific book such as this would not be relevant in the year 2000. Well, unfortunately, it is. I now hope that enough people buy it and enough organizations are guided by it so that one day very soon, my granddaughters will read it and then ask me "What's this all about? Was it really like that? That's ridiculous!" Yes it is.

Dated book, yes, yet probably the most accurate to date as to his character. The book is easy to read and I recommend it to everyone to read first before handling any other biographies about him.

He simply loved law and order and heroism. He was a romantic who dreamed of great things not only for himself but also for this country. In this book, you will learn how he plead with congress to provide food and clothes to the continental army, after, in fighting the British himself, he came upon our troops at valley forge and saw the despicable way in which our troops were thus supplied. He did many more things for this country, besides participating in the battle of Yorktown and pushing for a better constitution than the continental rag of one that we had at first. He established the coast guard, the bank of the U.S., and you will learn how he got this country back on its feet financially after the war, and what a sorry mess financially this country was in right after the war at such an early stage of our nation's history.

Henry Cabot Lodge's book should be a classic, age should not matter. It is biased toward Hamilton, but if you really read everything written about Hamilton, there is more of a balance toward the negative, and written by those who disliked his policies, and who succeeded not only in kicking him out of government but also killing him.

In Cabot's book, you'll understand that it was largely Alexander's dealings that Washington was our first president.

This book should never be archived 'on some musty shelf'.

Read it!!

Nancy Lorraine Reviewer

I especially liked the sections that the authors have entitled "Points for Management to Ponder". These short bits, interspersed throughout the book, forces a reader to link the theories to actual situations in a company. I found such exercises beneficial to the learning process.

However, I found that the authors tend to repeat themselves throughout the book. For example, Chapter 4 and 5 are essentially the same. Chapter 4 walks through the framework fairly quickly with a real case example while Chapter 5 examines the general framework in detail. I believe the 2 chapters could have been combined without much loss to content.

I recommend this book to practitioners, as this is a very practical book. For readers who just want to know more about service development but are currently not involved in any development work, this book is not for you. Like me, you may find some of the framework difficult to understand without a real case to relate to.

To gather the information they needed, Katzenbach and his associates at McKinsey & Company (the "RCL Team") examined more than 30 different change situations and interviewed more than 150 change leaders. In the Introduction, they discuss seven common characteristics among the RCLs and then cite three shared beliefs:

1. "Tough standards of performance, but not just financial performance; customer value and workforce rewards are important as well.

2. "A set of democratic principles that tap the creative power inherent in every person; but they also enforce consequence management, believing they can truly empower people only by requiring results in return.

3. "The essence of self-governance is joint accountability (among leaders and constituents alike) for creating new opportunity; the basic approach is open dialogue and interaction to resolve conflicts by working to obtain the best contributions from multiple points of view."

The material is organized within three Parts: People-Intensive Change, Engaging the Organization, and Leadership Capacity and Growth. Throughout the book, the reader is provided with immensely informative as well as convenient charts (eg "Differences Between 'Good Managers' and RCLs) which feature key points. I have already noted "The Real Change Leader's Handbook for Action" (pages 341-391 in the softbound edition) which, in effect, gives each reader a template as well as a frame-of-reference to implement whichever combination of concepts, strategics, and tactics is most appropriate. The "Handbook" offers comments, suggestions, checklists and frameworks "for getting started in areas where change leadership help is needed."

For me, one of the book's greatest values is derived from its response to the question, "What distinguishes a real change leader from traditional managers?" The answer may in some ways surprise you, as it did me. For example, "Real change leaders do not care if the change effort is fast or slow, empowered or controlled, one-time or recurring, cultural or engineered -- or all of the above. They only care that it is people-intensive, and performance oriented....Simply put, real change leaders learn how to survive and win in the delta state, while traditional managers can only survive in the current state or the future state." The real change leader is committed to delivering results beyond the bottom line and instilling a working vision in the hearts and minds of associates while doing whatever is the right thing to do. They help others to perform above expectations (especially their own), constantly nourishing relations with customers while developing and applying the skills needed to remain flexible. Over time, they achieve results with a no-excuses mindset.

If you share my high regard for this book, I urge you to check out O'Toole's Leading Change and Hamel's Leading the Revolution as well as Buckingham and Coffman's First, Break All the Rules.