Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited should be required listening for anyone thinking about starting a business or for those who have already taken that fateful step. The title refers to the author's belief that entrepreneurs--typically brimming with good but distracting ideas--make poor businesspeople. He establishes an incredibly organized and regimented plan, so that daily details are scripted, freeing the entrepreneur's mind to build the long-term success or failure of the business. You don't need an M.B.A. to understand or follow its directives; Gerber takes time to explain buzzwords and complex theories. Read in a clear and well-paced manner, listening to The-E Myth is like receiving advice from an old friend. --Sharon Griggins ... Read more

Reviews (13)

I have seen the light!
I could not put this book down! I have a small service business and this book has made me see the light. I am in the process of putting all the Ideas from Michael Gerber to work. I thought I had the grasp on building a business, but this book has showed me the right way to go. The information is worth thousands of dollars.

A book in a million
I have never been a full-fledged business owner although I worked for one as his business fell apart. Had he had this book I might still have that job.

Gerber takes his cue from the fact that most small businesses close after less than five years. You'd think that facing these odds the world would be full of books on the reasons why and how to avoid them, but this is the first one I've seen.

As you read you'll be struck by his understanding of the people who set up business, and also by the clarity of his solution. Yes, to some degree it's an advertisment for his consulting services, but there's plenty of advice.

I feel that a local business I frequent is beginning to enter a period of decline, and I wish I knew the owner well enough to give him a copy.

Incidentally, I didn't notice any of the problems other reviewers have mentioned, and in one case the book went right over the head of of one.

I expect to re-read this book several times, and I'm looking at some of the other Gerber titles.

Mostly Common Knowledge And Fluff
If you picked up this book to help you build your existing business or build a new one, you might be disappointed. Since your thinking of starting your own business, then you should know that most small businesses fail within the first five years. The author hits on some reasons why they fail but most of these you already know. Do you know that if you are not organized, if you don't change or create new ideas or plans and become stagnat or if you force yourself to do every task yourself, your business will be limited in growth and may eventually fail? Right there is the first 25% of the book fit into one sentence. Then he goes onto his love affiar with turn key businesses. But when he starts talking about his favorite business it should make a reader nervous. He starts talking about the great sucess of McDonalds fast food restuarant franchise. McDonalds is a great success and one to be looked at carefully but not for the reasons he points out. It's apparent he has not been in a McDonalds all that often. He mentions that at McDonalds they depend on consistancy at all their chains. For example the fries stay in the fryer for ten minutes "a soggy french fry is not a McDonald's french fry". At any McDonalds a customer knows what to expect. Then he goes into mention that this is why McDonalds chain resturant is more successfull than those businesses that depend on trade name recognition. I'm sorry this throws a red flag. People eat there beacuse it is fast and it is [not expensive}, not becuase of consistant service. They make a large profit because they keep costs down. I do believe that McDonalds spends a large budget on trade name recognition, I have seen many commercials for McDonalds within the last year; particularly with the Olympics. This whole section undermines the rest of the author's book. If you know that a large section is misleading or biased it makes it difficult to listen to the rest the ideas without already being judgemental. I admit that I am not the smartest business person but its clear Michael Gerber isn't either.

A "must-read" for would be/exisiting business owners
Read this book before any other. It will give the information you need to build your business and how not to become a slave to it.

If you are already stuck in a business, this book will help you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you follow this book you will be on your way to less headaches and financial freedom.

Only an outline. Not much meat on the tape
I was very dissappointed in the audio version. Having never read the book and hearing lots of raves, I was expecting much more. He gave a very breif outline, then spent the last 5 minutes in an advertisement to hire his company.

Very dissappointing. Maybe the book is better. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (157)

How to understand emotions and make the most of them
I read this book in 1997 and was fascinated with the content, especially information about "flooding" ie. when we are emotionally overloaded and we can't respond effectively. I was also particularly interested in Dr. Goleman's research into the components of emotional intelligence -- self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, zeal and self-motivation, empathy and social deftness. Dr. Goleman explains what happens to us neurologically when we experience emotions and why emotional intelligence is important. After reading his book, I was left with questions such as, "What do my emotions mean? How do I deal with my emotions when they occur?" These questions are specifically answered in Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self by Dr. Rosalene Glickman. Dr. Glickman explains why and how each emotion is experienced, the messages they bring, and questions to ask yourself and others to best resolve emotions and achieve emotional mastery. In my opinion, these books belong in every family and in every workplace.

Why emotional intelligence wins out over basic intelligence
This ground-breaking book proposes that emotional intelligence is a learned ability that is as much or more important than basic intelligence and should be part of our schooling just as reading, writing and arithmetic. The author sets out new scientific evidence showing, step-by-step, how healthy emotions and destructive emotions control our lives. Feelings often count as much as logic, and we have gone too far, says Dr. Goleman, emphasizing the purely rational, when emotions are so powerful.

All emotions are an impulse to act; the creation of instant plans for handling a life situation. Now we know in detail how emotions prepare the body for differing responses. A human being is made up of two minds according to Goleman. One thinks, and one feels; two fundamentally different ways of knowing.

The author defines emotion as "a feeling and range of propensities to act." The principal emotions are: Anger: Fury, outrage, resentment. Sadness. Grief, sorrow, cheerlessness. Fear. Anxiety, apprehension, terror. Enjoyment. Happiness, joy, delight, amusement. Love: Trust, kindness, devotion, infatuation. Surprise: Shock, amazement, astonishment. Disgust: Contempt, scorn, abhorrence. Shame: Guilt, embarrassment, remorse, humiliation.

Various emotions have various physical effects on the body. Anger, for example, causes blood to flow to the hands; strong energy for vigorous action. Fear causes blood to flow to the legs making it easier to run. Happiness is a positive emotion that provides readiness and enthusiasm. Surprise makes it easier to figure out what's going on and create a plan of action. Sadness helps adjust to a significant loss and brings a drop in energy and enthusiasm.

When emotions are out of control, the emotional mind takes over and swamps the rational mind. Emotions have a mind of their own and can hold views independent of the rational mind. Goleman names five main domains of emotional intelligence: (1) Knowing one's emotion (2) Managing emotions (3) Motivating oneself (4) Recognizing emotions in others (5) Handling relationships.

A most important emotional lesson, of course, is anger management. As a culture, we have not bothered to make sure children are taught the essentials of handling anger or resolving conflict. These and other fundamentals of emotional competence have been left to chance, says Goleman.

Surprisingly, the emotional mind is far quicker than the rational mind and springs into action without considering consequences that may prove to be mistaken or misguided. Scientific findings indicate we often cannot control emotions. What's more, the emotional mind takes its beliefs to be true, discounting evidence to the contrary. That's why it's difficult to reason with someone who is emotionally upset.

A familiar husband-wife emotional story: Wives, it seems, are the emotional managers and as such, are more likely to criticize husbands. Men are more likely to be stonewallers. Wives try to bring up and resolve disagreements. Husbands, on the other hand, are reluctant to be drawn into arguments. As a wife sees her husband withdraw from a discussion. she increases the volume and intensity of her complaint white he becomes defensive or stonewalls in return. She becomes contemptful, frustrated and angry; the husband feels more and more an innocent victim. As husbands stonewall, the wife feels completely stymied. The author calls this psychological impasse "flooding~~ and points out that flooding escalates, often going out of control.

There is ample evidence of growing emotional recklessness in the wortd, the author points out, and makes a strong case that it is critical to teach emotional competence to children as part of their education.

Significant topic, questionable presentation
The importance of emotional intelligence was proven to me early on in this book, especially with the author's neurological explanations of the brain. Daniel Coleman used a variety of approaches to prove the importance of emotional intelligence including: neuroscience, biology, and case studies. Yet, some of the directions the author chose to take lost my interest. The case studies could have been abbreviated and maybe the classification of emotions could have been expanded on. The book demonstrated the dire consequences of not learning emotional intelligence and sometimes used extreme examples which seemed unnecessary. However, this pioneering book (albeit somewhat outdated) deserves attention.

For me the book started well with references to Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," making a connection between the wisdom that Aristotle exalted and emotional intelligence. The book went on to explain how the physical components of the brain affect emotional behavior; here the amygdala is explained, which is the control center for emotional behavior, and is referred to throughout the book. This biology and neuroscience clarified how rudimentary emotional behavior is in the human brain.

In part three, the author showed progressive thinking in his belief that the medical profession must consider emotional factors. Since the book's publication, medical schools have agreed with him. On June 10, 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that graduates from all 126 medical schools in the U.S. will take a standardized test that will rate "bedside manner." According to the article, this test will "gauge what multiple-choice questions cannot: a graduate's ability to communicate with patients..."

In parts Four and Five my interest waned as the author discussed how emotional training can save society. Although the author suggests key improvements to pedagogy, the case studies and extreme examples of what can go wrong with the emotional brain belabored the topic for me. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is closely analyzed, as is trauma, abuse, and bullies - all valid areas for discussion but beyond what is needed for demonstrating what emotional intelligence is and why it is important. Violence, social aggression, and certain neuroses resulting from emotional problems could have been explained in a shorter section. But the author deserves credit for offering solutions, and has an interesting theory that modernity is the cause for a worldwide trend of melancholy.

I would have liked more of the book devoted to the challenge of defining emotions. Of interest to me was Appendix A because it revealed the classification attempts made for emotions. The section considers a handful of "core" emotions with all other emotions being a blend of these; there also might be families of emotions with many nuances affecting moods and temperament.

This book reveals a big-picture outlook of the human brain and the emotional activity that is an intrinsic part of it. The thesis that emotional intelligence can be more important than IQ is well supported, but the author is not saying that it is necessarily better! (Previous reviewers of the book have created an EQ-versus-IQ contest.) Both are critical facets of intelligence that must work together and neither can be dismissed.

You have to try the Emotional Intelligence PowerPoint!
I bought the book along with the recommended Emotional Intelligence PowerPoint, which is just a terrific resource! It's a complete presentation on emotional intelligence (which saved me a lot of work) but the great thing is it plays movie clips right from the presentation to illustrate each of the emotional intelligence skills. My audience really grasped the concept and was entertained enough to give me 100% of their attention for the full hour. Really great!

Before it got crowded
Most of the great industrialists had one thing in common; they were able to give credit where credit was due. This is a lost art in the management of humans in today's concentrated environment that depends upon statistics and numbers.

No man or woman ever created a number that wasn't backed by the self discipline that enabled him or her to give the level of commitment that came with the desire to give that commitment. If they do, they fall upon deaf and dumb hearts, and are bound to be used for different uses than the ones intended.

Passionate commitment is the only thing that ever changed a life, or lives, and the main thing that determines success that might be predictable. Without commitment, marriage fail, even if they appear to work. Without commitment, incentives are little help to the people trying to use them to create wealth, for themselves or for others.

Negative commitment alway works worst to produce desirable outcomes because they never carry a reciprocal commitment to get the job done, and to do it well.

The pride of passion and success is the single most important component of a job well done, and a job well loved, by which great things are made possible because of the commitment brought to the job, that is felt within, and rarely without the internal commitment that defines and fuels the task to be done, often with a sense of vision for accomplishment as well as for the harmony that enables teamwork to exist that relies upon it, as opposed to the tyranny that sometimes fuels efficiency and completion of tasks that may be unpleasant but necessary to be done.

A positive outlook is essential to most quality jobs and often underestimated in its power to create powerful results. Among groups, failure to recognize credit where credit is due destroys more groups than not, and strains the ones where it is not present. Groups break down at varying levels, but almost always at the lower levels from the negligence of the upper levels to give that due credit, and to respect its presence as important to any organization. Failure is always a managerial negligence, and false rewards are immediately noticeable to the participants of any group because they deal daily with the results of performance that would be the criteria by which management determines successful performance to offer those rewards. Underlings usually know the score, and often better than management because of its isolation. Misplaced credit is as damaging to organizations as those where it is non-existent since it destroys not only faith but also integrity.

Emotional IQ is far more valuable to the organization for this reason. Maintaining the integrity of the group is crucial to its success, and sometimes, to its survival. Faith is as asset to integrity, but only a part of what makes any organization valuable since better times can be managed, or sustained, during times of hardship, but integrity forms the heart of commitment for most who are associated with, and determine the vitality of the entire organization through bad times or good. There is no replacement when destroyed, either intentionally or accidentally, and few apologies are effective to heal those deep wounds. Relationship or relational discrimination is the distinction that makes the different in any organization, and those which cultivate the image of equity generally do equity. Those that don't suffer the effects of their lack of commitment by revealing their flaws, not only to insiders but also to outsiders. Emotional intelligence often relies upon intuition to determine its presence or absence. ... Read more

Book Description

A trusted advisor to America's top corporations and recognized as one of today's preeminent marketing experts, Jay Abraham has created a program of proven strategies to help you realize undreamed-of success!Unseen opportunities face each of us every day.Using clear examples from his own experience, Jay explains just how easy it can be to find and/or create new opportunities for wealth-building in any existing business, enterprise, or venture.

And just how easy can it be?One entrepreneur took the concept of the ballpoint pen and refined it into a mulimillion-dollar idea: roll-on deodorant.Fred Smith of Federal Express took the methods that banks use for clearing checks to develop an overnight delivery company that has revolutionized the way we do business.Now, what have you seen-- or are going to see-- that you could take and turn to your advantage?

This program focuses on helping you spot the hidden assets, overlooked opportunities, and untapped resources around you, and gives you, and gives you fresh eyes with which to see and capitalize on them.You'll also learn how to adapt and apply these tools to your unique circumstances to maximize your income, influence, power, and success.
... Read more

Reviews (109)

If You Are in Business, You Could Use This Book
Jay Abraham has had a 25 year career in marketing. You can't be in a field that long and not know what is going on and how to be successful. In this book, Abraham shares all of what he has learned. Reading this book offers a golden opportunity to take advantage of an expert's advice.

His book is full of ideas and information about how you can be more successful in your business. He gives examples of big businesses that increased their profit margins and how they did it, and how you can do the same thing and get the same results as the big boys.

If you have a small business, however, or are just building your business, you can put Abraham's ideas and methods to work starting today. None of the advice is "Pie-in-the-sky" or difficult. The ideas are proven winners.

Abraham's approach is consumer oriented--his theory is if you have happy customers, you will have more business. This shouldn't be anything new or suprising, but in today's rough and tumble busines world, it seems the customer is the last person many businesses think of, yet there is where your profits are.

Each chapter ends with an "Action Steps" segment. These are assignments for you to do, and taking the time to do them will be worthwhile. The book is easy to understand; it comes through with what it promises and suggests ways you can go over what ou already have in assests and opportunities and make more of what you've got.

You'll take the cash away in buckets after reading this one.
This has got to be one of the best books on marketing that I've read in a long while. You find yourself sitting back and re-examining your entire business process and easily coming up with ways to attract NEW business from your existing customer or client base.

I easily came up with three full pages of new services to offer my existing clients. Jay is big on creating a Unique Selling Point. The lightbulb went off in my head as soon as I read about his. Putting these ideas into action can be done by anyone.

These services were just sitting here waiting to be discovered -- and I never would have found them without Jay's book. No matter what your business, you will be able to use the ideas in Jay's book. They are broad enough that you can capture the concept and mold it to the way that you do business.

Jay also has a set of tapes on this concept which I strongly recommend. His web site (abraham) has a good preview of his methodology and concepts as well.

If I could give one book to anyone....
This guy is truly a master. Hands down... you can't walk away from anything by Jay the same. I can't believe anyone would through criticism at him. There's one guy on here who says a couple things are unrealistic. Man if you don't learn here... you won't learn anywhere. Just check out his site and all the testimonials...unrealistic? Maybe you just don't want to get off your (....) to do anything. Jay can change the way you look at life and business. This book should be sold for $100 at least. The one thing I can say about his work is he can communicate marketing like no one you've ever heard. With his mindset... money does grow on trees.

This book is dangerous
If you don't want to change your whole world view on marketing and successful business growth, stay away from this book. If you don't want to be challenged, and prompted into creative, radical, always innovative ways to develop yourself and your approach to new business sales, then leave it well alone. If you do want more success - read it, and grow!

Very dissapointing
After reading all the build up and praise of Jay Abraham I was really looking forward to reading this book. Most if not all the marketing ideas he talks about are presented better in other books. The book is in large type and very wordy and quite a few stories and examples. The actual content of the book could be easily condensed by half.
And some of the examples he uses seemed highly unlikely to happen. In the chapter "with a little help from my friends" he tells about a landscaping company using a moving company's customer list. And for the use of the list the landscaping co is estimating to pay the moving co $47,000 in 6 months and every 6 months for life. Examples like that remind me of the get rich stories MLM's tell. They should of left out the chapter on internet marketing, short and only general information. Overall some good information but way way over hyped. I hope his $5,000 seminars are a lot better than this book. "Guerrilla Marketing Attack" has many more specific ideas without all the hype. ... Read more

Book Description

Subtitled: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm

IDEO, the widely admired, award-winning design and development firm that brought the world the Apple mouse, Polaroid's I-Zone instant camera, the Palm V, and hundreds of other cutting edge products, reveals its secret for fostering innovative, out-of-the-box thinking across the world of business.

There isn't a business in America that doesn't want to be more innovative and creative in their thinking, products, and processes. At many companies, being first with a concept and first to market are critical just to survive. In The Art of Innovation, the general manager of the world-renowned design firm IDEO, Thomas Kelley, takes readers behind the scenes of this wildly imaginative and energized company to reveal strategies and secrets it uses to turn out hit after hit.

IDEO doesn't believe in the myth of the lone genius working away in isolation, waiting for great ideas to strike. The fact is, as Kelley points out, everyone is creative, and the goal at IDEO is to tap into the wellspring of creativity among its employees. How does it do that? First, IDEO fosters an atmosphere conducive to freely expressing ideas, throwing out (most of ) the standard rules, and freeing people to design their workspaces and environment to fit their personalities. It is IDEO's focus on teams that has resulted in its countless innovative breakthroughs - the constant give-and-take among people willing to share ideas and trust in the group process, dubbed "the deep dive" by IDEO. In entertaining anecdotes illustrating some of IDEO's own successes (and mistakes), as well as pioneering efforts at other leading companies, Kelley shows how teamsresearch and completely immerse themselves in every possible aspect of a concept or problem, examining it from the perspective of the companies they are designing for, from the perspective of safety, and from the perspective of consumers.

IDEO has won more awards in the last ten years than any other design firm, and full half-hour Nightline presentation of its creative process received one of the highest ratings in the program's history. Total immersion in The Art of Innovation will provide business leaders with the insights and tools they need to make their companies the leading-edge, top-rated stars of their industries. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Read this Book
I read this book awile back during a vacation and couldn't put it down.I only read no-fiction books and this one was the best I'd ever read.I've never felt compelled to review a book before, but his one was worth it.It was very well written, informative as well as inspirational.It made me want to go work at Ideo.Well worth your time.

The Art of Innovation
Thanks Tom! We're just starting a new technology business and we're wanting and needing to create the sort of culture that you have at Ideo. Our industry is dynamic, so if we're not dynamic then we will not succeed. For us that means innovate - deliver true value to our customers - learn - innovate - deliver more value to our customers, in a continuous cycle. You have given us some practical ideas about how we can ingrain innovation into our culture as we grow. Thanks. ... Read more

Book Description

Proven Tools for Transforming Your Work Life -

Consciousness, teaches Fred Kofman, is the capacity to observe, choose, and act in accord with your values. And "conscious business" means using that ability at every level of your work: in being aware of the needs of others and expressing your own—in seeing the hidden emotional obstacles that may be holding your team back—in making good decisions under pressure—and even in delving into such "spiritual" questions as "Who am I?" and "What is my real purpose here?" On Conscious Business, you will join this visionary teacher and founder of Leading Learning Communities to master these skills.

Higher Consciousness,Real World Results, What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that others finally understood your work challenges and were ready to help you solve them…that every meeting was valuable…that everyone honored the commitments they made to you…and that your strongest talents were finally being put to use? For more than 10 years, Fred Kofman has helped organizations ranging from small nonprofits to major corporations become "learning communities" with these remarkable qualities. Now, you can learn the five specific skills you need to transform your workplace in the same way.

Becoming more conscious in business requires courage and an open mind. It means putting aside the "right way" in order to discover something better. If you’re ready to make that leap—and start turning your workplace into an adaptive and resilient community that cultivates intelligence, creativity, and integrity in every member — Conscious Business is the place to begin. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Could be called 'Conscious Living'
Fred Kofman does an outstanding of job of teaching the essentials of human interaction; communication, negotiation and implementation. His simple but profound insights are delivered in a converstational style and by the end of the program I felt like I had found a friend who inspired me to become a 'conscious leader'!

Learning to be conscious. Learning to be.
Consious Business is a wonderful way to understand that the only way of making our businesses and lives be what we want them to be is by doing the effort of becoming aware, of becoming present and becoming completely responsible players.

Interesting
Kofman presents much in the way of interpersonal relations but is weak in grounding his work in current psychological data.
Great sizzle, not much meat.

Simply Stated - Profoundly Moving
This book teaches great lessons on interpersonal relationships. Applying these lessons makes you a more real person both to yourself and others.

Want A real shift in the way you see yourself, your family and your co-workers? Give this a listen, you'll be glad you did.

Amazing and unique
I got the tapes and I believe this is a masterpiece. The way the concepts are integrated is unique. I strongly recommend this to any business leader seriously interested in living life as a player. ... Read more

Book Description

What would happen if a top expert with more than thirty years of leadership experience were willing to distill everything he had learned about leadership into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It would change your life.

John C. Maxwell has done exactly that in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He has combined insights learned from his thirty-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. The result is a revealing study of leadership delivered as only a communicator like Maxwell can.

Reviews (138)

Good beginning
I liked the book, but like others I was looking for more application than theory. If you can get past Maxwell's logic on how the examples explain EVERYTHING and determine how to apply the laws to your own situation you will do well to read the book. One reason his book doesn't explain how to apply the laws is because he has published numerous video tapes, audio tapes, and other books that you can buy which do explain how to apply them. In the video series on this book each of the "21 Laws" has references listed (which are published by Maxwell, imagine that)which cost hundreds of dollars. If you bought all of them they would cost almost $3000! He has a good system but it is very expensive. THe book is not meant to teach you everything, it is only a beginning. Learning leadership takes a lot of time and money if you are going to learn it from Maxwell.

If he put everything into one book it would be a VERY BIG BOOK and Maxwell wouldn't make as much money as he does from the complete series......

This book offers a background for successful leadership.
John Maxwell's hard cover is available on audio cassette. It was a pleasure to listen to it in the car on my way to work. It is filled with bits of wisdom I found very valuable to have in my thinking. The narrator has a steady, pleasant voice. He explains each of the Laws clearly and understandably one at a time, thus allowing the listener to pause at each new law to reflect.

There are many references to founders of popular businesses. I could relate to his success stories of well known companies like McDonald's or Apple Computer.

Maxwell is himself a minister of a church which he built successfully using the laws he describes. Because he is a minister, he has the ability to communicate in layman's terms. The story like manner in which the book is written allows for stress-free listening and easy learning.

I would recommend this book as an excellent supplement to any class in leadership skills or mentoring. It gives the reader a broad base to rely on when dealing with the long range goals.

The reality of leading in business
This is an excellent book of legendary leaders and management. We gain the opportunity to see the "big picture", and learn from the successes and failures of others. If you believe that we should always be surrounding ourselves with more wise and experienced people, then this book will make sense to you. I will reiterate that this is not a step-by-step, tips, tricks, or get rich tomorrow book. Whether, you are an entrepreneur or climbing the corporate ladder, this book will help with your vision and relationships in business.

On The Soap Box
Zig Ziglar has some good ideas, but the overall advice in this book doesn't offer clear tips to improve leadership skills in the short term. With elections drawing near, it reminds me of a dry, rambling political platform. Check out Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life, it has practical every day advice on how to be the leader of your own life.

The most concise and applicable book on leadership
This book is the best book on leadership i've ever read. It seems to me that the negative reviewers of this book misunderstood this book. The book is not meant to go step by step through all 21 laws. The book is meant to tell you what the laws are of leadership, it's ur responsibility to find out how you can use these laws in your life. Honestly the laws are practical and simple and they can be implemented as soon as u understand them just by the way u speak , how much u read, how many seminars you attend and audio training material you listen to. All those things will help increase your lid of leadership but that won't happen until you know what u need to work on and this book pinpoints what a true leader is and does in the world as we know it. ... Read more

Book Description

Under Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chipmaker, the fifth-most-admired company in America, and the seventh-most-profitable company among the Fortune 500. You don't achieve rankings like these unless you have mastered a rare understanding of the art of
business and an unusual way with its practice.

Few CEOs can claim this level of consistent record-breaking success. Grove attributes much of this success to the philosophy and strategy he reveals in
Only the Paranoid Survive--a book that is unique in leadership annals for offering a bold new business measure, and for taking the reader deep inside the workings of a major corporation. ... Read more

Reviews (33)

A Perspective From the Inside
Having personally worked (and plan on working for after I graduate from college) for Intel, Corp. Mr. Grove offers some of the insights to the success of Intel. Strategic Inflection Points (SIP) are applicable in any business, but in a high tech world, SIP's tend to occur more often. Mr. Grove, currently also teaching at Stanford Business School, offers examples of SIP's and how he, and Intel, has dealt with these market changing pressures. In addition, through his book, he also gives insight to the type of company, and corporate culture that is present at Intel, and how only through this type of verticle cooperation can a Santa Clara start-up become the techology giant it is today. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever heard of the name "Intel" and discover what it really means to be "Intel Inside"

All Fear the Status Quo
Andy Grove has verbalized the mindset that we must all develop to survive in the 21st Century. While his idea of constantly looking over your shoulder has always been applicable, the speed of the Internet economy requires that we do it much more frequently and penalizes us much more quickly if we do not.

Grove does a great job of showing how one man's crises is another's opporuntity and uses the term strategic inflection points to describe these periods of 10x change.

This book is a good reminder for anyone who thinks that what made them successful to this point is any guarantee that they will be successful in the future.

Nothing new here
This is something that any first year business student could have written. It is a fast read but it provides no new insights.

Want to be a great manager - Go to West Point
I was very dissapointed by this book as a lesson in management. The lessons learned are basic management and military strategy that every CEO should now. i.e. Basic lessons from the book: include understanding the nature of the battlefield (6 forces that affect business), recognizing change (strategic intelligence), listening to the troops in the field, making sure you're not insulated from the bad news, seperate the noise from real intelligence, have the courage to make changes, issue clear orders, re-evaluate and adjust as conditions change, be prepared to replace the top management (not for incompetence, but to get fresh perspectives (change the old guard and the old ways of doing things), Realize that your company runs on the quality of middle management (i,e NCO and junior officers in the military). Give them clear goals and empower them to act. I have a lot of respect for Andy Grove, and the insights into his business was great, but if you want a good management book, read a military strategy manual. There's nothing new here.

Good content...a little hard to read.
This was a good book. A little to technical and difficult to read ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (52)

Leading through Emotions, Intellect and Cognitive Skills
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee first correctly remind us about the importance of dealing with emotions in the workplace. To their credit, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee do not downplay the dramatic impact of both intellect and cognitive skills in building a company to last. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee then explore the four emotional intelligence dimensions and their associated competencies: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Those capabilities are key to managing others successfully. After exploring each of these four concepts of emotionally intelligent leadership, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee apply them to the six types of leadership styles: Visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding. The authors convincingly demonstrate that emotionally intelligent leaders are flexible in their use of leadership styles because some styles are more appropriate than others in specific situations. Emotionally sub-optimal leaders who are willing to improve themselves can learn through self-directed learning and with the help of others how to fill the gaps that separate them from emotionally intelligent leaders. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee also explore how to build emotionally intelligent organizations. Ignoring how to deal with the realities of team norms and organizational culture often is a recipe for disaster as Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee clearly show us. The result is indeed a toxic and rebellious environment that will have a negative impact on both customer and investor loyalty. Finally, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee examine the process for sustaining emotionally intelligent leadership over time. To summarize, "Primal Leadership" is a good read that brings an additional dimension of leadership to our attention.

Emotionally Sound Bytes
The control board 'Emotion' requires balanced computerised system programming of Thoughts and Actions. How Powerful are emotions that override circumstances with ease! The author focus on four domains of emotional intelligence - self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. At a workplace, Management always stands at cross roads and is hard to understand but you got to slowly convince coz they too need to be Savvy in some areas too. In Primal Leadership, the author emphasis on 'smart leaderships' to cultivate emotionally intelligent savvy leaders.
The development of the four EI competencies initiate leadership qualities that call attention to vision for their organization restricting the commanding and authority style which hinders pace setting reach. The author Daniel Goleman discuss on the research done with Executives who render real life examples. The leaders do need to nurture good feelings and develop human relations in those people whom they lead. Though the concept remains the same like in 'Emotional Intelligence', Daniel Goleman implies to repeat the same rule. Most successful leaders are emotionally intelligent but yet remains problems to tackle with new ideas, diversed fields and more and over, Emotionally being stable to balance to lead the organization to par excellence. Communication is the key to success and that is also one factor that misleads many Leaders to stumble the blocks with the correlated managers and staff. Leaders get 'stalled' and hooked off emotionally knocking off the tolerance of the Executives who no longer stick to the rule of 'grudge & grumbles' - No way, flying them off to check out for better prospects elsewhere as we see these days. Daniel's book is an insight to be Emotionally sound and so if you haven't read his earlier book, sure this is the pick! Go ahead, adopt the Leadership styles!

Highly recommended for leadership development
I have to admit, I enjoyed the first half of the book (devoted to personal leadership styles, competencies, and learning) more than the second half (which focuses on organizational development).

I've assigned this book and related exercises to a number of my executive coaching clients. Even if they only breeze through emotional intelligence domains and associated competencies (page 39) and the styles of leadership (summarized on page 55), we have plenty to work with. Clients come back amazed at how often they employ non-resonant styles (and begin to notice the consequences), at how transparent their moods are to others, etc.

One client, hugely successful in prior businesses, wondered aloud if he should "go back" to his former hard-driving (Pace-Setting) style, given his lackluster experience in his current tech start-up using a softer approach.

It helped him to distinguish between his former endeavors (where his teams were highly self-motivated, competent, and connected to one another) and his current endeavor (where there was less intrinsic trust and some questions about competencies on the team). Rather than the often dissonant Pace-Setting style, he realized the need to emphasize more resonant styles, especially some very specific Coaching style interventions to address competency issues. After working together, it wasn't just about "hard" or "soft" styles in business, but about appropriate styles for different situations.

If you're interested in "integral theory" then this is one of of the ones that counts. Here's a quick mapping of models that Primal Leadership explores and how they relate to the the domains of integral theory:

* Self-awareness and self-management map to the subjective world, my world, the world of "I." While "mood" is covered, I would have liked to see more of a distinction between mood (a person's ongoing "climate") and emotions (a person's current reactions or "weather").

* Social awareness and relationship management map to the intersubjective world; the world of business, culture, and relationships, where many rules are unwritten and must be sensed. Social competence is the world of "We."

* The "neuroanatomy of leadership," with its focus on how the brain works and learns, maps to the objective world, the world of physical phenomena and measurements, the world of "It."

Primal Leadership is an easy read, but it's also a great reference, with models that people "get." Highly recommended!

We read this book for a class assignment - mixed reviews
We read Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. The authors are well educated and actively participate in the organizational field through consortiums, boards, and consulting. Each author has written numerous best selling books, articles, and programs to help leader become great leaders.

The book is broken into three parts: The Power Of Emotional Intelligence, Making Leaders, and Building Emotionally Intelligent Organizations. The main points of The Power of Emotional Intelligence are that leaders are not born, with opportunity and training leaders can be made, and leaders either create resonance or dissonance. Resonant leaders bring positive energy, create excitement and passion for an organizational goal or objective, inspire excellence, and promote collaboration. Dissonant leaders are out of touch with the feelings of others, create emotionally toxic environments, and dispirit by misleading or manipulating. The authors describe four traits that emotional intelligent leaders have in varying degrees: self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship management.

The main points of Making Leaders are that many leaders do not get appropriate feedback, training and seminars rarely provide lasting change, and self directed learning is the best way to change behavior. Self Directed Learning is a five step process that address who you want to be, who you are, developing an agenda, practicing, and feedback.

The main points of Building Emotionally Intelligent Organizations are that the most effective teams are those where the leader relinquishes complete control to the team and sustainable changes should be an ongoing process rather than a one time program.

Overall, we felt that the book was well presented. We, each had a different break-through with the book. For instance, one group member felt that the discussion about leaders being made instead of born was beyond prevailing mainstream thinking. Another group member had never heard of the CEO Disease, which describes how, as a leader ascends in power and influence, the quality of feedback diminishes and the leader becomes unable to correctly self assess their effectiveness. Others related to the differences between resonant and dissonant leaders and the realization that many of our leaders are untrained and have no organizational opportunities to grow as a leader.

Our action plan includes making sure that leaders have 360 degree feedback, access to mentors and coaches, establish weaknesses and goals to bridge the gaps between their strengths and weaknesses, and have opportunities both social and professional to practice.

In conclusion, we would recommend this book to some people but not to everyone. The book focused more on theory rather than practice. We would have preferred several different applications of the theories to case studies, and a more in depth discussion of the four main skills used by managers. Overall, the book was relatively easy to follow, but difficult to remain engaged in. There were some discussions about neuroanatomy that some of us found hard to understand and that tended to break the flow of the book. Primal Leadership had great leadership philosophies in it, but we found many of those philosophies were not knew. We agreed that there are other books on the market that are easier to read and provide more application.

More connections of "Primal Leadership" and Neuroscience
This is a very interesting and substantial book and I recommend it highly. It illustrates one thing that'd probably be too trivial in the context of child development, yet is very surprising when applied in the context of leadership: a leader would probably be considered autistic if he/she leads by being just intellectually or analytically superior - the leader must connect affectively with troops to be effective, explicitly or implicitly. Having said that, I think the main points can be further elucidated if it spends a bit more time in incorporating more findings from neuroscience. In particular, I find its arguments for the main themes inadequate by just employing brain¡¯s cognitive and emotional functions. In fact, there are two other brain functions that are orthogonal to the fore-mentioned functions, but nonetheless play key roles in the leadership as well: the automatic and controlled function of the brain. Some of leadership behavior can probably be better explained by the following framework: cognitive and controlled, cognitive and automatic, emotional and controlled, and finally emotional and automatic. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

What do employees and coworkers have in common with a five-ton killer whale? A whole lot more than you think, according to the mega-bestselling author Ken Blanchard and his coauthors from SeaWorld. Whales respond best to positive reinforcement. So do humans. In this moving and inspirational new audiobook, Blanchard explains how using the techniques of animal trainers -- specifically those responsible for the killer whales of SeaWorld -- can supercharge your effectiveness at work and at home.

When gruff business manager and family man Wes Kingsley visited SeaWorld, he marveled at the ability of the trainers to lead huge killer whales in performing acrobatic leaps and dives. Later, talking to the chief trainer, he learned their techniques of building trust, accentuating the positive, and redirecting negative behavior -- all of which make these extraordinary performances possible. Kingsley took a hard look at his own often accusatory management style and recognized how some of his shortcomings as a manager, spouse, and father actually diminish trust and damage relationships. He began to see the difference between "GOTcha" (catching people doing things wrong) and "Whale Done!" (catching people doing things right).

In Whale Done!, Ken Blanchard shows how positive reinforcement and redirection can help increase productivity. These techniques are remarkably easy to master and can be applied equally well at home, allowing listeners to become better parents and more committed spouses and have happier personal lives. ... Read more

Reviews (44)

A Good Read!
Ken Blanchard of One-Minute Manager fame draws on the positive training techniques that SeaWorld whale trainers use to get their whales to want to perform. Although using whale training as a teaching model is a unique twist on the literature about training and motivating employees, the material itself is not nearly as exotic. Much of it draws upon traditional principles for getting along with others, such as building trust, emphasizing the positive and redirecting undesired actions into more productive channels. If you've read Blanchard's previous book about being aware when people do something right so you can praise them, some of this content will seem familiar, though he says this is his "most important" book. The story line tracks mythical businessman Wes Kingley's discussions with whale trainers who reveal what they do to train their creatures, gradually, carefully and with real warmth. These conversations blow some very basic points up to whale-size, but Blanchard writes with charm. We recommend this splashy manual, the first course in Whale Psyc 101.

Another winner from Blanchard
Whenever Ken Blanchard (one of my favorite authors) comes
out with a new book, I usually rush to read it . . . so when I
saw that WHALE DONE! THE POWER OF POSITIVE
RELATIONSHIPS had just been released, I got hold of
a copy and devoured it in one sitting.

You'll be able to do so, too, in that it is real short . . . but
don't be fooled into thinking that there's not a lot of "meat"
contained in its 128 pages . . . Blanchard, along with
coauthors Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins and Jim

Ballard, takes a simple tale and uses it to get you
thinking about how both whales and people perform
better when you accentuate the positive . . . that information
may sound basic, but it is far too often never used.

The story revolves around a gruff manager who visits
SeaWorld and is impressed with how animal trainers
of killer whales can get them to perform amazing
acrobatic leaps and dives . . . he begins to see how
these same techniques could be applied to his
business life, as well as his situation at home . . . in
addition, he learns the difference between "GOTcha"
(catching people doing things wrong) and "Whale
Done!" (catching people doing things right).

I particularly liked the many examples that were used,
and the fact that these could be applied to countless
work and home situations.

There were many memorable passages; among them:
"The point here is that progress--doing something better--is
constantly being noticed, acknowledged, and rewarded.
We need to do the same thing with people--catch them
doing things better, if not exactly right, and praise
progress. That way, you set them up for success and
build from there."

"Killer whales can 'take out' any other animal in the
ocean. We sometimes use that information when we're
working with dog trainers. Some of them scold and yell
at their animals. They use choke chains and sometimes
hit them. When they talk about that kind of treatment, I
ask them, 'If your dog weighed eleven thousand pounds
like Shamu, the whale, how would you treat him? Would
you use a choke collar or smack him around?' I don't
think so."

If you don't hire people on a performance review curve,
why grade them on one?

My only criticism is that some of the material seems
recycled from Blanchard's first bestseller, THE
ONE MINUTE MANAGER . . . but maybe that's not
such a bad thing, in that I still consider this his best
work . . . and a "must" read for anybody who has not
yet had the pleasure of experiencing it.

An okay read!
"Whale Done!: The Power of Positive Relationships" by Ken Blanchard talks about the importance of building trust, accentuating the positive side of things and redirecting the energy when mistakes are made. According to Blanchard, it is crucial to provide recognition appropriately to either co-workers or family members. He uses the example of training the killer whale, Shamu at the SeaWorld. When it comes to training killer whales, trainers have to reward the whales when they do something right to reinforce the same behaviors and that it is basically useless to punish killer whales if they make mistakes.

I think this is an okay read because there are basically nothing new here. However, I do like the "training of killer whales" illustrations that help to reinforce what Blanchard is saying - rewarding animals/people appropriately. Like a few reviewers here, I do prefer "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "Fish!" better. I also agree that some of the lines in "Whale Done!" are sort of cheesy. It's basically an okay read.

A Good Read!
Ken Blanchard of One-Minute Manager fame draws on the positive training techniques that SeaWorld whale trainers use to get their whales to want to perform. Although using whale training as a teaching model is a unique twist on the literature about training and motivating employees, the material itself is not nearly as exotic. Much of it draws upon traditional principles for getting along with others, such as building trust, emphasizing the positive and redirecting undesired actions into more productive channels. If you've read Blanchard's previous book about being aware when people do something right so you can praise them, some of this content will seem familiar, though he says this is his "most important" book. The story line tracks mythical businessman Wes Kingley's discussions with whale trainers who reveal what they do to train their creatures, gradually, carefully and with real warmth. These conversations blow some very basic points up to whale-size, but Blanchard writes with charm. We recommend this splashy manual, the first course in Whale Psyc 101.

Simplistic book that should be no more than an article
Written as a fictional story with unnatural dialogue, very simplistic message, does not even scratch the surface of human motivation. Nothing new here, this would not even be noticed as an article by a popular magazine. A typical example of low content book that is no more than a streched and pumped-up 4-page article. Nuff said. Leave on the shelves. ... Read more

Book Description

"Tom Gegax has a particular talent for making real what others can only imagine."
-Deepak Chopra

Hungry for a different kind of winning? According to entrepreneur Tom Gegax, in the game of life, effective self-coaching is the first step to success that encompasses every aspect of life. Gegax should know, he thought he had it all until a three-ring wake-up call of divorce, cancer, and a business in crisis changed his game forever. Through a self-designed program of personal and professional evolution, Gegax recovered and now enjoys a life rich with family, friends, peak health, and a thriving company.
        Winning in the Game of Life, Gegax's integrated plan, merges the lessons of home and work into lessons of life. This unified approach helps you identify your purpose in life--your guiding mission--and teaches you the strategies that put it in play, including the Seven Take-Action Steps. Strategies for effective communication, better organization, and time competency smooth the way. Self-coaching plans for real wellness of body, intellect, psyche, and spirit plus ten lessons to ensure lifetime learning help keep you on a winning track. Integrating the best of Western business models, mind-body techniques, and spiritual wisdom, Gegax's comprehensive game plan will awaken your true potential and dismantle barriers to a fuller life. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Charming self-help guide for personal improvement.
Tom Gegax has written an easy-to-read book that covers new ground for those of us in the business world. Ever had a series of events that made you believe life might not be worth living? Read about Tom's experiences and learn from the health-sustaining and life-giving techniques he discovered in turning things around for himself, his loved ones and for his company. I wonder what kind of world we'd live in if there were more executive "coaches" at the helms of America's corporations.

Mr. Gegax is hardly alone in dealing with these kinds of struggles. But his is a unique voice in discussing and transforming life's difficulties into opportunities. A "must read" for fast pacers whose lives have suddenly encountered what appear to be too many bumps in the road. Way to go, Tom!

Michael Wieland

Life changing
I was drawn to Gegax' book by the glowing enticements of Publisher's Weekly, articles in the New York Times, Fast Company,and a piece that aired on CNBC. After having the pleasure of experiencing his book I was charmed by his ideas. He has a whole new way of looking at and integrating life and work in our modern society. It is beautiful that there is discussion in the book on "Determining Your Mission". Gegax has shared his own story. After determining his life's mission, he has turned his life into one filled with love,and joy. The timing of his book coming into my awareness is perfect for me with the coming of the year 2000. I plan to implement Gegax' "Seven Take Action Steps to Manifest Your Mission" for the new year. It is comforting to know that there is a formula that can act as a quide to help me make my life more fully enriched.

Solid
This is an interesting book for someone who is just starting on a personal improvement plan. The best part about it is that Gegax's approach is holistic - he really has a strong understanding of the connection between the mind, body and spirit. The writing style is smooth and the book is easy to read. The concepts all make sense and he gives a clear plan for readers to follow in applying his steps. The parts I found most useful were the first two sections, on personal mission statements and action planning. After that, I found the book was at turns too simplistic and too far out there for me.

The caution I would give people in reading this book is two-fold. First, Gegax writes in a very autobiographical style. I learned more about him and his personal trials and tribulations than I wanted to; I'm the type of reader who prefers more theory and fewer examples. Secondly, as someone who has already read Stephen Covey and a host of other self-help/health authors, I found that alot of what Gegax had to say was old news to me.

This isn't a bad self help book to have. Some people will really value having a book that encompasses physical, emotional and mental health, and the connection between them, in one volume. If you don't mind the oversimplifications that can result in trying to bring such a range of material together, and you're interested in these sorts of issues, you may find the book of value.

Planning your work, and working your plan
I heard Tom speak at a business conference in Santa Fe recently and found his ideas very compelling. The book focuses on how to put those ideas into action, and I view it to be an excellent guide for organizing how I think about work, family, friends, emotional & spritual health, etc. As a 48 year old CEO, I have discovered you can help an pld dog pick a new path.

A worthwhile read on the Mission Statement alone
I thought the core of the book for me was in the first 2 chapters, where the author expressed the importance of a personal mission statement, writing about his own example as well. After that, I found the book a bit repetitious.

Nevertheless, the mission statement section was a worthwhile read alone, if only to stress the importance of having one for your own personal life. Just like many corporations are starting to have a mission statement, individuals should have a life mission statement. Once this mission statement is determined and articulated, your actions and choices in life can be measured against it. Part of your journey though is to think about and determine your mission statement, a journey/process of self-determination which only you can undergo. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people." He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. --Joan Price ... Read more

Reviews (371)

Buy friends and coerce people
This is a very funny book. It's not meant to be, but the ideas it tries to put across are machiavelian, childish and short sighted. The underlying theme is that one should do favours for others in order to receive the same from them: hardly a theme to build friendships on.

If you are currently paying people cash to be your "friend", you might find significant financial savings from the ideas in this book: you could be paying them in plenty of other ways.

It makes a great gag gift: you will find yourself passing this around to read out loud at parties.

A Charter Member of My Self-Help Collection
here are a number of KEY books that helped me to develop
the best aspects of myself as a man and as a person. This
book is one of those cornerstones of who I am. It is timeless,
universal, and comprehensive in its coverage of the subject
material.

Other books and self-help products which are on par with this book are:

NEW SEX NOW: Life's Ultimate Pleasure DVD
Giant Steps
Think & Grow Rich
Self Matters
7 Spiritual Laws of Success
Ageless Mind, Timeless Body
THE 4 AGREEMENTS
The Power of Concentration
GODDESS WORSHIP dvd

I believe that anyone who wants to be a great person would do well to study all of the above very sincerely.

It won me over.
Just a joy to read, this book is truly a classic. With its timeless stories the author uses to illustrate the principles of getting along with others, this book should be requires reading for all human beings. Other self-help books I liked include "The No-Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan, A Pocket Guide To What Works."

One of the first how to social skills books
Well, this is the grand dady of all social skills how to books from business to love and romance.I have the old fashioned politically incorrect version and have to re-read it to pick up the important points.

Some people understandably don't like this sort of book.It could make one so superficial to do things by rote all because you want something - but Carnegie himself points this out and scorns selfish motives.

It is ultimately about survival in a tough, competitive world and being genuinely nice to people - which naturally works.Especially good if you want to deal with Americans as Americans already know the lessons of this book and have studied it compared to continentals.

No book can necessarily help you get a top job or win the love of your life, no matter how much they promise to - especially if you mechanically try and follow instructions supplied in them.But for general principles this book is so important.

After all etiquette is something taught by Confucius, the Buddha and many historical personages - and this book has looked at all the greatest books before it came up with its strategies and rules of thumb.

The original book was based on so much research (and I don't really want the update) - that it would repay study.

Carnegie is the founder of emotional intelligence
I'm a big emotional intelligence fan, and when I read this book I can't help but see the parallels between Carnegie's thinking and the modern emotional intelligence works. This book, despite it's age, speaks to some of the core truths of how people work and provides excellent strategies for how to connect with other people. Carnegie has a keen understanding of what motivates people and I really enjoyed how succinctly he is able to sum things up and give me a useful way to approach my own life.

My favorite "modern" emotional intelligence book is "The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book" because it includes a free online test where you can measure your own EQ and learn how to better connect with people. ... Read more

Book Description

How do we as individuals and organizations survive and thrive amid tremendous change? Why are efforts to improve falling so short in real results despite the millions of dollars in time, capital, and human effort being spent on them? How do we unleash the creativity, talent, and energy within ourselves and others in the midst of pressure? Is it realistic to believe that balance among personal, family, and professional life is possible?

Stephen R. Covey demonstrates that the answer to these and other dilemmas is Principle-Centered Leadership, a long-term, inside-out approach to developing people and organizations. The key to dealing with the challenges that face us today is the recognition of a principle-centered core within both ourselves and our organizations. Dr. Covey offers insights and guidelines that can help you apply these principles both at work and at home -- leading to not just a new understanding of how to increase quality and productivity, but also to a new appreciation of the importance of building personal and professional relationships in order to enjoy a more balanced, more rewarding, and more effective life. ... Read more

Reviews (41)

Excellent Book!
Covey's books always leave a positive impression on his readers because they inspire in a practical way that can result in immediate changes. Since everyone is a leader in some regard the audience for this excellent book is widespread. Principles do not discriminate. They work in all circumstances and cultures. Covey helps his readers discover ageless principles and makes their application a logical followup. The analogy of courageous explorers is given for people going into uncharted territories. That's everyone. Each of us face things unique to our lives. Covey encourages people to view these factors positively. Flexibility is essential to living the abundant life he explains. This book is full of insight that helps keep a person focused on living in a maximum way.