Leader

The Leader's Digest is a book committed to those who have the responsibility to lead others. It is a natural sequel to Jim Clemmers previous excellent work, Growing the Distance. However, whereas Growing The Distance had a central theme of developing leadership from within, Clemmer's new book discusses valuable timeless principles for those who have the privilege of leading others within groups or organizations. The contents of this book are revealed in nine thoughtful chapters with themes including how leaders make a difference, leadership responsibility, possessing personal authenticity, the need for passion and commitment, and moving leadership into action.

Clemmer is a natural author and his writings are enjoyable to read. He uses an easy to appreciate philosophical approach to teach both basic and complex leadership principles. The Leader's Digest is a book gently seasoned with frequent quotations, classic fables, personal examples and Clemmers own "how-to" points. The author does not simply reshuffle previously known leadership information into a new format. This book offers some strong originality and content. One example is the CLEMMER Group's Leadership Wheel presented in the first chapter. It is a "hub and spoke" model that shows how leadership begins at the core of our being and develops in many directions. Each part of the wheel reflects a different area of leadership and these areas are discussed in the succeeding chapters.

The Leader's Digest is a highly recommended book because it is rooted in the most powerful and truthful principle known by great leaders. As Clemmer comments, "leadership is an inside job. We change them by first changing me... leadership begins "in here" and moves "out there." That calls for changing our lifestyle. It means developing new habits."

If you understand the power that lies behind this remarkable principle, you will want to read The Leader's Digest.

I have read all of Jim's books over the years. I especially enjoyed "The Leader's Digest." I picked up several inspirational and practical ideas that will help me begin a new venture at our University. I agree with Jim's comment that "it is one thing to know, and another to do."

When I owned and operated my business I saw to it that all our employees had the opportunity to read "Growing the Distance." It was a morale boost for all of us. "The Leader's Digest" is a very effective next step to expanding those timeless leadership principles. I plan to share it with all my colleagues who are trying to grow businesses in today's complex environment.

I thoroughly enjoyed it! I couldn't put it down once I started and found it to be an easy read. The way the book is written and the chapters formatted (quotations, anecdotes, stories, references to family, humor) is revolutionary. The linkages to Jim's previous books allowed me to easily understand and digest (no pun intended) the material and concepts.

And by the way, "Let's be Frank" is a classic! I'm going to facilitate a session with my management team based on those pages.

I find the Frank stories to be a reflection of the truisms in the workplace and Frank to be the spirit in all of us. He runs into the same issues and challenges that we have all faced at one time or another, but perseveres through what seems like an insurmountable series of set backs to ultimately get him and the business to where it needs to be. There are many timeless themes embedded in there that I really enjoyed.

I am an advocate of the ageless principles that Jim's books convey and have worked hard at molding my behaviors so I demonstrate these skills as regularly as possible. I don't let people of rank or in power sway me from my values. Neither did Frank.

I'm a Clemmer disciple that can't get enough of this stuff!

The subject of this book is certainly a big improvement over what teenagers usually want to do in the love department these days. Highly recommended for all parents of hormonally normal teenagers.

This is a tremendous book and the authors have taken just 69 pages to do what I couldn't do in 14 years of bellowing.

Dan and Dave have hit it solid with this book. Many youth have responded positively to the 8 promises found within the book and are serious about being committed to keeping them. You want relevance? You and your teens need this book.

I always believe Nixon is "misunderestimated" among the Americans. No matter what he had done in Watergate, he was still a great leader who changed the world overnight by shaking hands with Chou En-Lai and ended the Vietnam war.
He was also a great writer and political critique, as you can see in his books. "Leaders" is one of his best and you can learn a lot about leaders who ruled and shaped the post WWII era.

Richard M. Nixon with his "Leaders" not only master the understanding of leadership, but also writing in general. The book treats several leaders of the 20th century, Winston Churchill, Konrad Adenaur, Shigeru Yoshida, Charles de Gaulle, Nikita Khruschev and many more with granduer. What one should particularly pay attention in this book is that the author himself, has personally known every single leader in the book, which adds a great deal of invaluable personal reminiscences which at the same time analyse each person. The book is a must read for those interested in history, politics, biography, and of course leadership in general. The numerous personal advices which the author present as indispensable to great leader, pinpoints the weaknesses and qualities a leader has. At the same time, Richard Nixon, with his outstanding political career which spans over much of a lifetime, tells the reader what to do and what not to do as a leader, how and why leaders have failed in history and how and why they've reached the top. A magnificent piece of work, which will live in my memory for a long time.

There is no reason, whatsoever, for any student of politics not to read these amazing insights from one of the greatest political minds in American history.

I loved this book. Anne Bruce doesn't waste any time re-inventing the wheel. She gives solid suggestions based on best practices from some of the world's leading organizations. I especially liked the action based exercises designed to implement change immediately. Anne also has a great sense of humor which comes through in this easy to read and easy to follow road map for leaders.

Leaders - Start to Finish is an exceptional hands-on, comprehensive approach that can be used to develop leaders at all levels. Anne Bruce "gets to the point" quickly and offers real world tips, techniques, tools and strategies to develop leadership competencies. The book takes an interactive approach by including case studies, exercises, checklists, discussion questions, assessments, etc. that helps the reader apply the content within each chapter. A must read and a great resource for those who want to develop their own leadership capabilities as well as those who coach or train leaders.

Anne Bruce's latest book is a practical and useful guide for the impementation of a leadership development strategy. Thoughtfully formatted, "Leaders..." is a straight forward road map for training professionals and general managers who are searching for ways to fill critical leadership holes. Anne Bruce has a wonderful gift for cutting to the point and making a complex subject easier to grasp. "Must reading" for organizational development people!

Unless of course you take your roll as a leader seriously! Listen, John has done it again with Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. Will this man never cease to produce books of such excellent quality? I sure hope not! Rather than ranting and raving about the contents of this book, let me just say this: get it, read it, you'll love it!

Reviewed by: James L. Clark, MBA, MSc., PhD Candidate (Leadership) is a serial entrepreneur, lecturer, and consultant in the areas of success, achievement, personal development, influence and leadership. He is the author of the book Wading Through the Crap: How to Start Living the Successful Life You Have Always Wanted (ISBN 0972697551), which has received rave reviews.

This 100 page book is jamm packed with information. Some of the topics include:

* follow your vision and bring others with you

* produce a lasting legacy

* grow the lotalty of your followers

* determine your leadership "lid"

* create a foundation of trust

Great book that belongs in your briefcase or purse and by your bedside to review every day.

I was torn in deciding how to grade this book. Clearly, anyone who has already enjoyed most of Dr. Maxwell's outstanding leadership books would find this book to be a valuable, inexpensive and highly portable reminder of those many lessons. For that person, the book is clearly a five star value! Carry it around and draw sustenance from it!! My rating above reflects this perspective, since there are lots of people who do know his work well. When you face a leadership challenge, pull this book out to refocus you and your energies in the right direction!

What about the person who's new to leadership? I would have to grade the book much lower, probably a 2 or 3. Somewhere in the middle of the book (probably between chapters 5-7), most people new to leadership would lose the thread. It's just a little too condensed. In addition, I just didn't think that several of the examples worked for the point they attempted to make. For instance, Dr. Maxwell could have found more meaningful examples for me than Princess Diana and Roberto Goizueta if I were a new leader. I would nominate instead Barbara Bush for her caring and Frances Hesselbein for preparing successors.

Here are the book's structure and key examples for its 108 jam-packed pages:

Part I: The Development of a Leader

1. Why Should I Grow as a Leader? The McDonald brothers versus Ray Kroc in developing McDonalds.

2. How Can I Grow as a Leader? Teddy Roosevelt

Part II: The Traits of a Leader

3. How Can I Become Disciplined? Jerry Rice

4. How Should I Prioritize My Life? Paul Tsongas

5. How Do I Develop Trust? Billy Graham

6. How Can I Effectively Cast Vision? Walt Disney

Part III: The Impact of Leader

7. Why Is Influence Important? Princess Diana

8. How Does Influence Work? Robert Dilenschneider

9. How Can I Extend My Influence? His father

10. How Can I Make My Leadership Last? Roberto Goizueta

Finally, what's the best part of the book? For me, it was the repetition of the Law of the Lid: Your ability to accomplish things is circumscribed until you can energize others in the same purpose. There's a nice set of graphic displays to make this point.

As a technical note, some of the information in the examples seemed dated. I don't believe that Mr. Dilenschneider has been head of Hill & Knowlton for many years . . . yet that's the way he is described. Roberto Goizueta's hand-picked successor at Coca-Cola, Douglas Ivester, did not work out (although he is described as a great success here) and had to be replaced. Paul Tsongas later reentered politics to run for president rather than smelling the roses with his family (even though he had had a recurrence of the cancer that soon killed him). It's almost as though these examples were all written a number of years ago, and not revisited.

Draw inspiration from your vision of serving others . . . and get busy!

"Liberate the Leader" by Claudia Rose celebrates the possibilities of leadeship by women. Since I believe that women are wired better than men for leading roles that require compassion, collaboration and advocacy for a cause, I see this as a most important book. I have known Dr. Rose as a student and later as a colleague of mine, and consider her to be an outstanding thinker and writer who is also a person of action. This book is a must for women interested in leadership and for men intrested in unerstanding them well.

Dr. Rose gives women the courage to lead in the same way that Suze Orman gives women the "courage to be rich." The best part of this book is that it has very insightful activities like journaling and writing a commitment statement. If YOU dedicate a few weeks of your time to working through Liberate the Leader and completing all the recommended exercises, you will be able to do ANYTHING. This book is required for any woman who has a bigger dream for her life!

Dr. Claudia, thank you so much for writing this book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this weekend, and was encouraged to spend some reflecting on its lessons and their application in my life. What a useful set of tools you have created for women!

Moses in Egypt was an extremely good book that was also very inspiring. It inspired me to be more brave and to stand up to my rivals no matter what. It is an example of very unique writing that could be for children or adults. GOOD BOOK

this is a great book, but i think you will want to read the book before you watch the movie, the prince of egypt. but if you have already watched the movie like me you will still enjoy the book alot. this book was inspired by the prince of egypt and the book of exodus. i know you will love this book as much as me.

I loved the movie 'The price of Egypt'. As I am a Jew, this book has a special meaning to me. I love this book and I recomend it to everyone.

Well written, easy to read. Hard acts to follow. You will get to know three successful business leaders. What are their background, childhood, education and career? What happened to their companies when they were leading them? Interviews with each one of them in which many questions are answered that you probably would have asked. The companies are large, global and successful. There is a lot to learn. It is not a cookbook. The authors make a useful summary but when you reflect about what the three persons have done there are not only many things they all did but also many things they did differently. I bought the book because it was listed under the heading "business ethics" in an Amazon search. The book is not directly about ethics. It is useful in that context as it shows that these three leaders through their actions demonstrate having moral convictions. Part of that conviction is to deliver shareholder value but also strong feelings of responsibility for the environment and social issues. Furthermore they have been able, with a lot of hard work, to impart this concept on all of the employees. All three believe that employees become much more motivated and loyal to the organisation when they feel that they are working towards goals in addition to shareholder value. One also becomes convinced that they do not set these wider goals as a public relations exercise or a clever way to motivate people to work harder. These leaders are totally sincere in what they say and what they do.

The book gives valuable insight into the way these three ground-breaking European leaders think about business, and how they successfully manage global organizations. The book clearly illustrate the different personal traits of the subjects (the builder, the transformer, and the integrator), and ecourages the reader to challange the pros and cons of the different philosophies. The book reads very much like a case study, and provides an excellent but basic overview over the global marketplace and on how to be able to draw on the ideas implemented by these great leaders.

Growth on a global stage is the only way to sustainable success. It is an enormous challenge to grow let alone accomplish it globally. This book provides tangible object lessons on how these leaders have done it. If first-hand learning is best, then these stories approximate that construct.

This is an engaging and usefull guide to a difficult act.

This is a competent example of the many formula based books on leadership, one built round four dimensions of vision, engagement with reality, ethics and courage. Originally published in 1991, much of what it argues is now part of the common currency of the literature. It is well set out and simply written, but does not really engage with the great issues of today's society. Similarly, there is no explicit definition of leadership, the implicit definition used being a traditional one that is under considerable challenge.

I've read a ton of business books and 80% are rehash, obvious garbage. This is a keeper. Inspiring, will make you excited to go to work again.

Read it!

This book presents a way of thinking about leadership that is both deeply personal and universal.

The Leadership Diamond organizes the paradoxical imperatives of leadership into a simple but far from simplistic model. It brings other leadership theories into perspective by offering a dynamically balanced, holistic and actionable approach.

Mr. Cottrell leads us on a stimulating journey through our team members world. This book has had a profound impact on our organization!

Every manager needs to read this book. It is powerful!

This short book is powerful. If you are in management, and take things personally, you may believe Mr. Cottrell is writing about you. Written from the perspective of "your" employees, he has compiled several managerial issues along with solutions. I recommend this book to ALL managers, Presidents, V.P.s, COO's, CEO's,CFO's, (the list goes on). If you have people working for you, read this book. If you want to be the best manager you can possibly be, APPLY this book as a management tool. If you have managers working for you, make sure you GIVE them Listen Up, Leader. IT'S THAT GOOD.