Book Description

The authors explore and reveal the essentials of effective management. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Continues Where the One-Minute Manager Left Off
Sometimes you need more than a minute and this book helps to continue the thought process behind the One-Minute Series of books...... ... Read more

Reviews (41)

A very helpful book
Although Charles J. Givens is world famous for his unique, practical, and powerful strategies that have helped millions of people along the road to success and financial freedom, it is SuperSelf: How to Double Your Personal Effectiveness that is his most important work and offers powerful, pragmatic strategies that will enhance your personal life and success.

In SuperSelf, Mr. Givens shows you how to achieve your fullest personal and business potential with a set of proven strategies that serves as an actual "operations manual" for your life.

"Of all the strategies I could share with you," says Mr. Givens, "the most important are those that let you take control and achieve success in the total experience of living. Just as there are winning financial strategies, there are specific strategies that will allow you to win in every aspect of your personal and business life."

SuperSelf reveals how you can finally take control of your life, and stop others from controlling and dominating your time. Mr. Givens leads you through the process of setting realistic goals for your future and demonstrates how to achieve those goals by using commonsense "success strategies" in response to those life events you identify as problems.

SuperSelf gives you a toolbox of practical strategies that will guarantee success in any situation. Mr. Givens shows us how to:

-Win the game when you're playing in someone else's ballpark

-Create a blueprint for your life and put it into action

-Transform efficiency into effectiveness

-Control your time line

-Manage mundane details

-Eliminate interruptions

-Extend your peak performance period

-Fight fatique, fear and stress

-Become a victor instead of a victim

Givens strategies will enable you to achieve twice as much in half the time, literally doubling your personal effectiveness.

Not only have they worked for Charles Givens himself, making him one of the wealthiest, most successful and happiest people in the world in his time, they have also worked for thousands of others that Givens has taught since the inception of this program back in 1975. Now SuperSelf makes it possible for anyone to learn the personal habits, the attitudes of mind, and the time saving strategies that create success.

SuperSelf is an excellent book full of uncommon knowledge and I highly recommend it.

Super Book - I doubled my effectiveness
It's been said that to be successful, model the successful. If that is true, then who better to model than a man who turned $500 into $250,000,000 while living a live of passion, fun, service and prosperity?Most people talk about goal setting, but how many talk about balancing goals with values? If you want to be a entrepreneur, working for someone else would be very frustrating. If you value a job, starting and running your own business would be scary and in conflict with your values.How would you like to get twice as much done in half the time? In this book, Givens shows you how. How would you like to be always happy, excited and full of energy? To be ahead of schedule instead of behind? Givens will show you how.This book helped me get my life, emotions and time under control. I went from being super busy and super efficient to being super confident and super effective with more free time to enjoy the good things in life.Thank you Mr. Givens, great book. ...

SuperSelf is a super book/tape
Like his financial books, Charles Givens offers a no nonsense system for becoming your best. You will learn how to flatten your fears, generate goals and add several hours of productivity to your day with more free time for fun to boot.

The tape is an overview. The book is very thorough.

Highly recommended along with Stephen Coveys 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Become ten feet tall and bullettproof!
Interesting that some people are surprised that Charles Givens produced this audio tape program and the book of the same name--SuperSelf; interesting because this is how Givens started way back in 1975 with his first company The Success Motivation Institute which was incredibly successful. SuperSelf is a program designed to take back control. To destroy the control others or events have over our emotions and the direction of our lives. To stop waiting for our ship to come in and go out and swim to it. Not to wait for things to happen but to make thing happen. Not to find ourselves, but to design ourselves. To take the action in our lives to make our dreams into reality.SuperSelf will show you how to design the rest of your life to become the best of your life and to live your dreams.

Helped me more than anything
I have a big library of personal development and sales training books. SuperSelf is my favorite only because it helped me more than any of the others.

SuperSelf is all about effectiveness. Making the most of your time and living your life to the utmost. Mr. Givens created an empire worth a quarter of a billion starting with only $500 and became the 10th most traveled man in history visiting every continent and most every country. Even more importantly, he touched the lives of millions. So it's safe to say that he was an incredible success to say the least.

SuperSelf will help you create that state of being where you can achieve any realistic goal that you are willing to work toward. SuperSelf will show you how to achieve maximum effectiveness, financial success while being totally happy, have phenominal relationships and balance to your life.

SuperSelf is a good read and I highy recommend it. ... Read more

Book Description

Guidelines to Becoming a Multimillionaire

With Big Bucks!, bestselling authors Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles unlock the secrets of making serious money for both you and your company. Through a series of easy to follow steps and powerful strategies, Blanchard and Bowles show how anyone can create lasting wealth. Big Bucks! isn't about investing or squeezing money you already have. It's about making serious money in the first place.

Written in the parable style of their previous books, Raving Fans and Gung Ho!, Big Bucks! distills into three simple steps years of watching, analyzing, and studying successful money makers. In Big Bucks!, you'll meet Len, Who learns from a group of mentors how to overcome three challenges on his way to attaining more wealth than he ever dreamed possible. He learns that these three tests can be undertaken by any individual or organization in the pursuit of big bucks.

Packed with practical advice, Big Bucks! is a must for any individual or business professional seeking wealth. It's destined to become one of the major works on making money in the twenty-first century

Reviews (15)

Big Bucks Here I Come!
Back in January a reviewer of Big Bucks! convinced me I wasn't going to get on Do You Want To Be A Millionaire with Regis so I decided to follow his advice and read Big Bucks! Having read it I was convinced the authors, who apparently did their research over a number of years with The Young President's Organization which seems to be a club for millionaires, knew their stuff.

The first and most important lesson they say is that you can't make big money unless you're having fun. It's the old do what you love advice, but for the first time I now understand what this means. And I know why it works: If you enjoy your work you have the energy needed to be a huge success. Rather than working hard the authors say money makers enjoy their work so much that they're playing hard. I always thought I was in a dead end job. Now I understand the job wasn't dead end. I was! I didn't like it much and I didn't have the energy. I love cars though, so I took a chance and quit for an automotive related job. And at less money. But within three months I'd got two raises and I'm already making more than I was. All because I'm giving the job 12 hours of effort every eight hour shift, rather than the two I gave the other job. Best of all the eight hours passes like two and it used to seem like 12. I'm not a millionaire yet, but if this keeps up who knows I may make it. Even if I don't I'm a way happier than I was, so whoever the millionaire is who wrote the January third review, thanks. Thanks a million I guess.

A quickly read business parable
This is another book in the tradition of The One Minute Manager (co-authored by Blanchard): A quickly read business parable about a young man on a quest. This one is on the always interesting subject of how to get rich, which is quite simple (not easy, mind you, but simple) according to the authors of Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization and Raving Fans - A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service: First of all make sure you have fun. If you don't there is no way that you can create the intensity and work the long hours that are necessary in order to be really successful. This is the starting point of the book, which makes a lot of sense and even manages to keep a good perspective on ethics and meaning at the same time. Highly recommended!

Enjoy the process or do something else...
I received this book along with three others for free upon joining a real estate investors group. Thus, I was not expecting too much from the volume. I also was blissfully ignorant of the authors and their prior successful works, and have not read the other two volumes in this motivational trilogy.

As such, I was pleasantly surprised by the narrative and novel style. The use of the protagonist "Len" is quite refreshing and works extremely well. His visits to the "three Wise Men/Woman" are amusing. The three lessons learned are absolute truths in the working world and totally reinforced my personal belief that having fun while making money is essential. If you love what you do you will be great at it.

I highly recommend this book to everyone with a open mind. It is a quick read (about a weekend ought to do it) and if read and followed, is sure to enrich your life both spiritually and financially.

About my only criticism is that it is somewhat derivative of other motivational types such as Lou Tice (reticular activating systems); Ivan Meisner (givers gain);and the grandaddy of them all: Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich).

Nothing earth-shattering, but it makes sense!
In RAVING FANS, authors Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Knowles
concentrated on the importance of delighting customers . . . in GUNG
HO!, they focused on how companies could become the "employer of
choice" and attract the best employees . . . I liked both those
books and thus looked forward to listening to the taped version of
BIG BUCKS! . . . this third book promised me in its subtitle "How
to Make Serious Money for Both You and Your Company," something
that could be done by focussing my time and energy.

Like other works by Blanchard and Knowles, the points are
presented in a parable . . . here, we're introduced to a man struggling
to make ends meet . . . he goes on a journey to discover the secret
to becoming rich and meets three wise (and successful) people
who present simple truths that can be applied to virtually any
situation.

I liked the above fact; i.e., that when listening, I found myself
thinking that this stuff makes sense--and I should and could

apply it to my situation . . . there's nothing overly earth-shattering,
yet I should add that it got me thinking . . . and it made sense.

Also making sense was the conclusion, in which the authors
reviewed the simple tests that should have been learned from
either reading or listening:

The test of joy . . . you can't make money unless you're having fun.

The test of purpose . . .you can't make money unless making money
is more important than having fun.

The test of creativity . . . incomes, less expenses = profit.

And, lastly, there's perpetual prosperity . . . which comes to those
who help others.

Ranks # 3 in the list
This book is meant to be the third leg of a three-legged stool, the other two legs being Gung Ho! and Raving Fans by the same authors. After taking care of people who work for the organization, who in turn take care of customer delight, this book now aims at making big money both for the employee and the company. Logically this is a good sequence. The style is the same, powerful concepts explained through a parable. In Big Bucks our hero is Len who is a simple person with an ambition to make big money.

Expectations at the beginning of the book makes one align Len with the Area Manager (Raving Fans) or with Andy (Gung Ho!). This comparison may let you down. I should confess that Big Bucks is not a story as powerful as Gung Ho! where Andy Longclaw with the squirrels, the beavers and the geese saves Walton Works # 2. Andy still lives in our hearts. In Raving Fans, it is sheer customer delight straight from first principles applied with absolute clarity and focus, and a feeling of joy that recharges anyone to see the customer in a new perspective. Big Bucks lags behind these two great books in creating such an impact.

The third leg needs a bit of reinforcement. May be I will read the book again when I really decide to go after big money. Till then, Gung Ho! friends. ... Read more

Book Description

Let David McNally lead you on an extraordinary journey of discovery that takes you from motivation to inspiration to action. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Very Inspirational, It's in my top 3 !!!
"In my Life I've read three books, in which EVERY word inspired me. 'Even Eagles Need A Push is one of them.

Motivational and Inspiring
David McNally uses a number of quotes, anecdotes and exercises to create a sense of purpose for one's life. The book is a cross between a motivational business title like something from Zig Ziglar and a feeling-based inspirational book like something from Leo Buscaglia.

McNally encourages individuals to set goals and work daily to achieve them and succeed at them.

Readers will come away with a positive attitude that anything is possible.

From motivation to inspiration
First off, don't be put off by the fact that this book was published in 1994 (copyrighted in 1990). The fact is, it's a timeless book that doesn't draw from current 'techniques' or 'ways of thinking'. It's as relevant today as it was when it was first published.

David McNally begins with the question: "Why does the thrill of soaring begin with the fear of falling?" he goes on to ask how you can overcome that fear and dare to live, and he takes you from motivation through inspiration to action. In fact, if you're prepared to work at this book (sounds strange, doesn't it), it will be you who writes the ending.

This is not so much a table-thumping "You can do it" book, as a quiet journey at your own speed that allows you to discover your own potential and teaches you how to choose your attitude and transform your life... success with dignity would sum it quite nicely.

You can soar like an eagle if you try!
Mr McNally's book is a useful reader for anyone who is in any kind of life transition situation. It is not just another self-help book but more importantly a confidence building journey. In many ways it offers inspirational suggestions and ideas to achieve satisfaction and success in our life journey. Having experienced failure, the author embarks on a journey to rebuild his life. In so doing, he learns some very valuable lessons. These are shared by peppering them throughout the book! Mr McNally quotes the perspective on life by an unknown author. This is interesting reading because if the reader reflects, he or she will realise that life has many facets! The book also includes some good ideas about business. As part of the discovery of the self, the reader will realise that the past cannot be changed, but you can change your tomorrows by your actions today! The author also covers career planning by walking through mission statements, goals, etc. In short, this is indeed a useful book to those who may be encountering a squall or setback in their work or personal life. You too can soar like an eagle if you try; all you may need is a little push!

Flying High
The absolute best book I've ever read. This book is easy to read and it's hard to set down. I've read a lot of self-help books but none have motovated me as much as this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Learn the secrets of Winning Ways and become a winner today.

The greatest challenge for today's executives--and aspiring executives isn't learning the latest software or mastering the global market it's working well with people--the crucial skill for anyone in business, whether in the mailroom or the boardroom, at the customer-service desk or company headquarters. Today, success depends on more than individual achievement; expertise matters only if you combine it with the ability to work effectively with peers. The lessons in this audio will help you cultivate relationships for mutual benefit, maximize team efforts, and achieve more profitable alliances and more profits.

Reviews (17)

A phenomenal book destined to be a classic.
Winning Ways is one of those truly unique books that grabs you and won't let you go. It's one of the few books I've ever read where I actually remembered the lessons the next day.

In this case the lessons are four incredibly powerful "secrets" anyone can use to be more effective in their dealings with other people. The lessons are presented in the form of a very entertaining parable with characters we can all relate to. The simplicity, combined with the power, of this book's message make it one everyone should read.

After reading it, I put it down for a moment, and said "Wow." Not only can I use these ideas, but if I do and others do as well, the world will be a much better place. Then I immediately thought of three friends I couldn't wait to share it with. Thanks, Dick Lyles, for giving us such a powerful message in such an entertaining way.

Entertaining
"Winning Ways" by Richard I. Lyles is about a recent computer science graduate who is having people problems with his coworkers. His manager introduces him to a football coach who claims to know the "Winning Ways" -- the secrets of getting along with other people. Over the course of several meetings, the coach teaches our hero four principals of working well with others: Making others feel stronger, collaborating with others, avoiding two-valued thinking, and influencing for the future.

The book is easy reading, however, I recommend you check the book out of your local library before purchasing it. It's useful for recent college grads who are having problems dealing with other people.

Exception to the Blanchard team¿s typical excellence
A simple, easy to follow book about building teamwork and advancing your career through 'soft' skills. However, I thought the book fell far short of the quality and rigor Blanchard's more popular works on management and team building. While Lyles' ideas work on some level, they seem to fall short when looked at analytically through tested and effective management models.

For example, "Make people feel good about themselves" sounds good on the surface. But what if someone is engaging in unacceptable behavior at work? The assertion "Make people feel good about themselves" is a weakened version of the very effective advice offered in the 'One Minute Manager:' "Be tough on the problem, easy on the people."

What about the advice to 'build camels,' with consensus ideas being better than individual ideas? In my experience, a team's ideas are often better than an individual's. But, think of pork-barreled legislation, and camels seem less appealing; there is a little known clause in the Homeland Security Act that absolves drug companies currently producing the MMR vaccines, linked to childhood autism, from lawsuits springing from its faulty product. So, to vote against the bill because of this clause would make a senator seem un-American, even if it were a vote against pork-barreled protection for unethical drug companies.

I have loved Blanchard's ideas for years, and this one a rare exception to the team's typical excellence. For a better treatment of teamwork, pick up"Gung-Ho,"another book from the Blanchard management training mill.

One of tools to Win
Summary

The story is about the brilliant Albert graduated from the University of Northeastern Michigan (UNM) and he was hired by UGAT (United Global Advance Technologies) quickly because of his intelligent. Albert is very efficient, however, he had poor interpersonal skills and had a problem to work with other people in ¡§Tiger Team¡¨. He believed working alone is better. He felt intellectually superior and rejected others ideas. Therefore, he asked his boss, Megan, let him not work with ¡§Tiger Team¡¨.

His boss sent Albert introduced the famous football coach who set the best record in the history of all of college football and knew the secrets of his winning ways in UNM to him and asked him to learn about the things her taught his team. Over the course of several meetings, the coach taught our hero four principals of working well with others:

1. Making others feel stronger, rather than weaker: give power away to people, the more you give, the more you get

2. Camels are okay: collaborating with others, leveraging their unique talents through others, combining the strengths and vision of everyone on the team to create something everyone can get behind and support

3. Avoiding two-valued thinking: everything is neither good nor bad, nor is one better than the others

4. Influencing for the future: blaming for the future is usefulness for solving problems but need to learn from the past experience as it always is the best teacher to your life

Comments

Easy to read and understand

It is written as context of story as the theory from the coach are given in a story format People can easy to understand what are going on and it is similar to their real life as many people may have the same problem as Albert that can¡¦t work well in a team with other teammates. Feeling own self as the top of people is always the problem of the people who can¡¦t work well with people in a team.

Entertaining

Besides mentioning the four secrets of winning ways, the story finally ended with a marriage of Albert and his teammate Jennifer who had conflicts with Albert before. It is not dry as other book that just mentioning the theory.

The book has good ideas in theory, however, the usefulness and possibility of the four secrets of Winning Ways is uncertain. It is unrealistic to have a good interpersonal skill and good relationship by just using this Winning Ways. Learning about people shouldn¡¦t be seen skimming through a book. People keep changing and also their mind. Moreover, I think working well with people is not just the four secrets in the book. Love, passion, honesty etc there are many elements to build up a good relationship with people. Changing the value and ways of thinking of people may have a higher priority to use this winning ways.

A Loan Officer from North Carolina
I found this book to be very informative. It definitely makes you think about how to win people over. It not only tells you how to win them but it points out things you shouldn't do. The 4 secrets for getting great results by working well with people has already helped me increase my business.

Big things do come in small packages. This is a quick read book but it is packed with lots of good information.

Thanks Dick Lyles, great book. ... Read more

Book Description

LEARN THE SALES SECRETS THAT GET RESULTS!

25 Sales Secrets of Highly Successful Salespeople is a must-listen for all salespeople. Stephan Schiffman, America's Number One Corporate Sales Strategist and President of D.E.I. Management Group, an international sales training and consulting firm, shares with you the 25 traits that will distinguish you as a high efficiency salesperson.

Steve's pragmatic ideas range from how to be a "consultant" to your prospects, to asking for the next appointment while you're on the first visit. 25 Sales Secrets of Highly Successful Salespeople is a practical, results-oriented guide to selling.

Reviews (1)

Excellent audio book to make you a more effective salesperso
I just got done listening to Schiffman's audio book and it's really good. Instead of just listening to it and trying to adapt some things - which I normally do - I actually printed out the 25 secrets and had them laminated and carry them in my car! I also recommended the book to our VP of Sales and our sales staff. I truly think it's that good. Yes the guy hints that he does seminars (he's in sales after all) but it does NOT get in the way of the overall message. In addition he's an excellent presenter and changes tones/attitudes when appropriate and mixes in a bunch of stories as well! Good listening everyone... ... Read more

Book Description

In this totally accessible, ingenious book, you will learn the tricks and techniques used by Albert Einstein and other great minds to solve bewildering problems. From business and parenting to becoming more creative and improving relationships, How to Think Like Einstein provides the tools to discovering breakthrough solutions to everyday challenges.

By discovering how to free your mind and think like a genius, you will be able to break the rules that inhibit you. You will make your business more profitable, improve educational opportunities for your children, achieve artistic and creative breakthroughs, enhance the quality of your life and even get your uncooperative kids to bed on time.

The impossible will become attainable when you learn how to solve problems by calling on such unlikely characters as Henry VIII, Dopey of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and your favorite aunt. Using the creative and original examples provided in this book, you will be able to solve any problem in your life--business, family or personal--and you will have the time of your life doing it. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A structured way to break out of your creativity rut
Some other reviewers have said that this is a simple book for beginners. I have many books on creativity and I thought the book was excellent and wouldn't rate it for beginners. The book was laid out very clearly and thus someone unfamiliar with some creativity concepts could follow it.

As I read the book I have become fascinated with how the author combined solution methodologies.

There's a lot of work in following his long list of things to do and ask, but I think the results will be well worth it.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

I don't think so.
This book is really vague in its recommendation. Most of the suggestions are not readily applicable.

If you want a much better book on thinking read "How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci" by Michael Gelb.

Some good ideas, but hardly unique
Anyone who is familiar with the think-oustide-the-box genre of self-improvement and creativity books will find very little new or inspiring here. And despite the title, the book also has very little to do with Einstein. A deeper analysis of the great thinker's intellectual history woud have been more useful than the largely recycled do's and dont's that dominate the book.

The points presented here, however, are hardly without merit, especially the tips on brainstorming and free association.

Good for beginners
Great Book to help you with developing thinking skills. The first few chapters are very good but after that the author seems to have lost steam. The tables at the end of appendix are specially helpful.

Great for the kids!
I believe this book expands on critical thinking. The one thing that has limited our children in improving thier thought, has been the solidifying of thought or also known as rules or traditions. Those elements due benefit society, but the encouragement of critical thinking can improve it. This book helps question why you do the things you do. Are you a go with the flow type of person? Do you feel like you are a affiliator instead of an achiever? It starts in the mind. This book will help you challenge old ways of thinking and learn to renew your thinking to improve good to better. ... Read more

Book Description

The book all working Americans need today--how to speak money to your boss...and get it! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

anogueira@hotmail.com
You probably won't get a raise in 7 days just because you read this book, but it helps to have someone explain how your boss ('power') sees the issueof a raise ('money): how to talk money to power. The authors also providesome useful information on patterns of compensation and the wholepsychology of HR departments. Recommended (but don't expect a raise, ok?) ... Read more

Book Description

A bind-up of two books that offers the timeless wisdom of Jesus Christ as it can apply to today's leaders.Practical as well as inspirational, the lessons and techniques are perfect for business leaders, community leaders, anyone who need to interact and motivate diverse groups of people. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Leadership from the Greatest Leader Of All Time!
This book neatly identifies major themes in leadership theory and illustrates their being practiced and taught by Jesus.While it is somewhat thin, I consider this perhaps the single best leadership book ever written nevertheless.In 200 years this book will enjoy just as much applicability as it does today and it did 2000 years ago.Few other volumes can make such claims.Regardless of whether you are (or hope to be) a military, business, political, ministry, athletic or social leader, this is the first book to read.

After that I know a few hundred you might want to read.For starters you might want to peruse my Leadership Classics list.

Disagree with Pr. Gary Nokleberg from Appleton, WI USA
I have not read the book, so please ignore my rating which I had to fill in because it's a compulsory field. I disagree with Pr. Gary Nokleberg's viewpoint. As a spiritual person, I believe God can meet us anywhere and everywhere (even in the boardroom). If CEOs and senior managers want Jesus to teach them something about leadership and management, I'm sure God is gracious and flexible enough to meet their needs even if these needs appear to be non-religious. Who can tell after having been inspired by Jesus' teachings, these people will not come to a fuller appreciation of Jesus in a later part of their life's journeys?

Abusing Jesus
Post-modern people in the West have gotten used to the trashing of the past's great minds by holding them accountable to twentieth and twenty-first century ideals. What passed as acceptable in the sixteenth century is vilified by superior moralists today. This is as it should be until the whole raft of a past genius' work is suspect or thrown out because he or she is not politically or socially correct by present standards. Thomas Jefferson and his alleged affair with Sally Hemmings, an African-American slave, is a recent case in point.

The reverse is true in Charles C. Manz's book The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus. Manz takes the central figure of Christianity and mines some of his teachings about leadership so that CEOs and business managers might do better on the job. But what Manz does not understand is that Jesus is not about making better business practices. He is a religious figure with a totally different agenda which includes saving a world bent inward on itself so that it might be opened up to a new relationship with God. What Manz does is abuse this purpose of Jesus to satisfy the "self help" needs of some business professionals whose consciences might be bothering them.

It is true that Manz confesses that he is not writing a religious book (page 3), but misusing the writings of Jesus even for a good cause is abuse. It diminishes what Jesus Christ is really about.

Awe Inspiring!A lesson a day, a lesson for life!
You will truly enjoy this book!Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard bring an exciting and refreshing look at how the greatest leader in the world can provide the blueprint to become leaders in our own lives, our communities, our workplace, and especially in our own families.If you are a father, a brother, a coach, a teacher, or someone in a position of influencing another human being, this is a must read!As you read, pray for the gift of wisdom to understand all that is presented on these pages, so that you can apply them in your own lives!God Bless!

Clear, simple, practical leadership skills
Profound leadership lessons that can be read on a daily basis and based on the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Mark. This small book is packed with many large lessons.Every person can use the wisdom shared in whatever life's vocation they have chosen.I am using them in my workplace and with my children.A must read! ... Read more

Book Description

"Maybe you think you know about time management. Unless you’ve read Kerry Gleeson’s High-Tech PEP, you don’t. This book contains a key. It unexpectedly opens up a whole world—where suddenly you can think clearly and accomplish things you never thought possible." —Duncan Maxwell Anderson Senior Editor, Success magazine "With simple, straightforward tips, [Gleeson] explains how to exploit technology as a personal information management tool.… This book offers concrete suggestions for getting our information lives in order. As Gleeson says, ‘Do it now!’" —Dr. Franklin Becker, Professor and Director International Workplace Studies Program, Cornell University and Partner, @Work Consulting Group LLC "As a result of PEP, I was able to reduce my workweek hours from 70 to 40, and still achieve the same results.… I have been very pleased." —Dr. Richard Bax, Head of Clinical Research SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals "Productivity through the effective use of technology and work process improvement is the key to success in the corporate world globally. PEP is the enabler." —Ed Carr, Senior Vice President of Administration Steelcase, Inc. Make Electronic Gadgets Dance to your Tune—Do More Work in Less Time. Adapted from Kerry Gleeson’s internationally acclaimed Personal Efficiency Program (PEP), The High-Tech Personal Efficiency Program shows you how to apply the low-tech principles of PEP to your high-tech environment—e-mail, groupware, the World Wide Web, cell phones, beepers, and more. The easy-to-learn system Gleeson describes has already enabled hundreds of thousands of businesspeople worldwide to reduce job stress, increase productivity, and find more time to smell the roses. Why not you? ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great way to organize your computer
The author uses a great approach: first get your low-tech materials organized, and then move onto the high-tech materials. There is a parallel structure applied to both paper and electronic resources, which is really great for organizing. Great book.

Good for computer novices, Bad for computer-savvy people
If you already have Gleeson's "The Personal Efficiency Program : How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time," don't buy this. It has pretty much the same information. It's not "high-tech" at all. Most of the book is like a Computer 101 class. I'm quite disappointed, since I was looking for ways to organize my electronic resources, NOT "how do I create a folder in Win95."

It Cuts to the Chase
Simplicity is the greatest strength of Gleeson's suggestions for saving time and literally cleaning up your act. She appears to realize that the reader's quest to save time should not begin with a book that takes hours to read and assimilate.

If nothing else, follow one of Gleeson's first suggestions: Remove everything in your desk drawers and place it on the top. Talk about Slob, meet Thyself. The incomprehensible handwritten notes, staff memos from 1995 and rubber band collection should inspire you to at least try Gleeson's other suggestions. ... Read more

Book Description

To succeed in business today, an individual must be smart, competitive, resilient, tenacious, and fearless. In short, he or she needs a good, old-fashioned backbone. In How to Grow a Backbone, Susan Marshall, a top business consultant and former executive, outlines skills that readers can develop and perfect to become stronger, more confident, and more influential on the job. Using straight talk laced with wry humor, the author draws upon actual business situations from a variety of companies and industries to show how a strong backbone can change not only the outcome of the situation, but also how one is perceived. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Put it on your list
I found this book to be different than the typical management book. Rather than filled with the usual platitudes, it contains some real world advice on how to deal with and capitalize on situations that occur in a corporate environment. The book starts a bit slow, but it gets moving once it gets into the 10 strategies. The author has a nice conversational, straight-talking style of writing. The exercises and advice at the end of each chapter are excellent. I would recommend this book for new graduates starting in management and for seasoned veterans.

How to Grow a Backbone
This is a must read for anyone that wants to move further faster in the business world -- especially those who are fledglings in Corporate America! Marshall writes with clarity and good humor spiced with pithy observations and examples. This is more than a pie-in-the-sky, ethereal how-to book. She backs up her advice with practical, easy to implement ACTIONS to integrate the strategies into all areas of interactions with others. And her "excercises" are more than informative and effective: they're fun to boot!

Everything you can be
Marshall has written an exceptional book, a smart and practical book that reflects a very intelligent and perceptive grasp of business action and the people who are the action-eers. People run businesses and businesses are only as good as the people that run them. "How To Grow A Backbone" is at once very revealing and very familiar. We will all find ourselves somewhere in this book...for better or worse. We may smile or grimace at the unerring precision with which Marshall cuts straight to the bone, through all the usual fat, and shows us how much backbone we really have, I really have, you really have. Most important, she shows us how to grow what we're missing. Every CEO should read this book and then issue it to his staff, to everyone on the staff including the mail boy and the sweeper. If that CEO is big enough, smart enough (and secure enough) to encourage, to allow, to require, to inspire, his people to grow backbone, that boss will have one hell of a spinning business. Action, forward motion, innovation and fun the way business should be fun, going a mile a minute, breaking through. Everyone who dreams of being more than they are, or of being a CEO, should quit dreaming and dig into "Backbone". This is no "guru magic" that pumps you up for a week, this is the straight answer for anyone who has the courage to try to be what he or she can be. Miss Marshall will show you the way. "How To Grow A Backbone" is a lean, no nonsense bible for the feint of heart who want to grow the lion inside them. It's more than a business book. It's for anyone who hears their Jiminy Cricket whispering, you could have, you should have, why didn't you? Anyone who wants to know how to grow the seeds of character we all possess, who wants to be somebody, must read "How To Grow A Backbone". WARNING: Read only if you want to be better than you are.

Even if you are not spineless
There are lots of books on how to manage, lead, and direct. Susan Marshall has produced a great book on how to WORK.

The only problem with this wonderful book is its title. Everytime that I suggest to a friend that they should read it, they react as though I am saying that they are spineless.

As a guy with a backbone as big as the Ritz [he thinks], I have learned much from Ms. Marshall's book. The truth be known, I have found several areas in which I need to grow.

Good Advice
There are insightful tips and change-your-perspective ideas that are useful for anyone.

I think the backbone hook tends to overpower the substance and found the introduction the weakest part. If what you're reading doesn't apply to your situation, don't assume that's true for the whole book - skip to the next section.

I particularly liked the chapter "Get Eyes Wise" and sections titled "The Wonder of Words", "Acts of God and Why You Need Them" and "Shucking for Mental Health." ... Read more

Book Description

For the first time since The Art of Happiness, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has teamed up with psychiatrist Howard Cutler to continue thediscussion about what makes life meaningful.

In conversations with the Dalai Lama over the past several years, Howard Cutler has asked the questions we all want answered about how to find happiness in the place we spend most of our time -- work. Beginning with the basic need to find satisfaction in our careers, Dr. Cutler questions His Holiness about the nature of work. In psychiatry and according to the Dalai Lama, our motivation for working determines our level of satisfaction. The Art of Happiness at Work explores these three levels of focus:

• Survival: focus on salary, stability, food and clothing • Career: focus on advancement • Calling: focus on work as a higher purpose

Dr. Cutler probes the Dalai Lama's wisdom by posing these questions: What is the relationship between self-awareness and work? How does lack of freedom at work affect our levels of happiness? How can we deal with boredom or lack of challenge? Job change and unemployment? How much of our misery comes from our identity being tied up with work?

Dr. Cutler walks us through the Dalai Lama's reasoning so that we may know how to apply his wisdom to daily life. The Art of Happiness at Work is an invaluable source of strength and peace for anyone who earns a living. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

The Dalai Lama and the Workplace
In 1998, H.H. the Dalai Lama joined Dr. Howard C. Cutler, an American psychiatrist, in writing a book "The Art of Happiness" which became a best-seller. This book taught the importance of "looking within" and of controlling destructive emotions in living a good life and finding happiness.

Dr. Cutler and the Dalai Lama have again collaborated in this follow-up book which applies the insights of the initial volume to life situations which are, typically, the sources of great conflict. Several additional books, in addition to this book exploring the world of work, are underway. The book is based upon a series of conversations held between the Dalai Lama and Dr. Cutler over the course of several years. Dr. Cutler is responsible for the format and editing of the book. The final product was read and approved by the Dalai Lama's interpreter.

Early in the volume, the Dalai Lama reminds Dr. Cutler that the focus of the inquiry is "secular ethics" (p.7) One of the most valuable features of the book is that it shows how the Dalai Lama can use his spiritual tradition to articulate values that can be shared by many people, whether or not they are religious believers. Another feature of the book is the significance of the subject matter. Many people trust and listen to the Dalai Lama where they will be reluctant to accept possibly similar advice from experts, such as psychiatrists, or from teachers in Western religous traditions. The book is deceptively simple in tone and teaching, but hard to realize.

In a series of discussions Dr. Cutler explores with the Dalai Lama the reasons why many people tend to be bored or dissatisfied with their jobs. Dr. Cutler brings to bear many anecdotes from his work as a psychiatrist as well has his familiarity with much contemporary literature on job satisfaction. The Dalai Lama brings to bear his wisdom and insight. Time and again during the conversations, the Dalai Lama takes issue with Dr. Cutler, forcing him to redirect and rephrase his questions and assumptions, and to change the tenor of his approach to questions of happiness in the workplace. The Dalai Lama's approach is marked by its circumspectness. He reiterates that the situation of every individual differs and that questions about work admit of no easy solution. In other words,it is not a case of "one size fits all."

With that said the issues and insights are valuable. Chief among these for me are the Dalai Lama's comments on self-understanding. Much difficulty at work is caused by having an overly inflated or an overly deflated view of ourselves and our abilities. This causes discontent because it gives a picture of our abilities and our expectations of ourselves that are out of touch with reality.

Similarly, the Dalai's teachings in this book about patience, humility, self-control, and compassion for one's co-workers provide a great deal to think about in approaching the workplace. The Dalai Lama, in common with others who have thought about these matters, distinguishes between views of work as a "job", simply to support oneself, a "career", with the goal of advancement and growth, and a "calling" in which a person does what he or she finds important to be of service to others. People necessarily occupy different spaces on this continuum. For some people, the goal properly should be to learn the value of one's work and to move towards viewing it as a calling.

The book also teaches that work and money-making are not the sole source of happiness and urges the reader to develop other interests, particularly a sense of connectedness to others through family or through interests and activities outside the workplace.

Many of the criticisms of this book and its predecessor that I have seen turn on the respective roles of the Dalai Lama and Dr. Cutler. Dr. Cutler serves, I think, as a foil to the Dalai Lama. In the book, the voices of the two principal are distinct, allowing the reader to capture a good deal of the spirit of the Dalai Lama.

There is also a tendency to criticize the book for its simplicity. I agree the teachings of the book are simple, but in practice they are difficult of realization. A virtue of the book is its very accessiblity which makes it possible for the reader to try to use it for benefit in his or her own case.

Finally, it should be pointed out again that this book does not purport to be an introduction to Buddhism. It is a work of secular (or applied) ethics. There are ample books available, including many works of the Dalai Lama, for those who would like a specifically Buddhist study. One can learn from this book regardless of commitment or lack of commitment to any religion.

I thought this book helped me with questions that have bothered me for years. I also found that the book would probably be useful to many of my coworkers and, perhaps, useful as well, to management where I work.

This book will not solve any person's workplace issues, but it will encourage the reader to reconsider and to sharpen his or her focus to address these issues.

Dr. Cutler is a genius!
This is a simple but downright astonishing book! Read it and your life is guaranteed to change for the better. The Dalai Lama's teachings are not easy for laymen to understand, but Dr. Cutler is a genius in bringing the ideas like a laser straight to guide our lives. Like the Art of Happiness, this book will be read around the world: it is so applicable to our everyday lives that it is a joy to read. If you buy only one book this year: buy this one! And give it to your co-workers, too. What a gift!!

Attitude, interdependence and serving others
I give this book 3 stars primarily because it could have been "tighter" as a result of more rigorous editing. However, there are good ideas here and they can be engaged immediately.

As the title states, this book is about happiness at work. What are its attributes, what conditions are most important to assure happiness most of the time, how it impacts performance and the other dimensions of life. All, important topics. The book is written in the form of a long conversation between Howard Cutler and The Dalai Lama.

There are a whole host of interesting ideas. For example, the Dalai Lama comenting "By engaging opposition, a deeper understanding of one's own standpoint emerges." Putting a premium on debate to sharpen one's mind and to foster growth and improvement.

But the most powerful elements of this book are the realization that it's wisdom is quite simple in the end. It's simplicity, however, is complex and difficult to execute each and every day. We need a balanced life. A life that recognizes the interdependence between all aspects of our lives (work, family, hobby, meditation time etc.) We must "reduce the gap between who we are and what we do". The things on which we spend time must have meaning and ideally have some connection with creating a "greater good" and service to others.

Most of all, however, a common theme emerges that suggests that the most important aspect of happiness at work (and for that matter in anything) is one's own "attitude" and outlook. How an individual sees the world is the critical aspect in shaping attitude and therefore "happiness". The elements of a positive attitude seem to include a realistic grasp of one's self (self understanding), a desire to serve others, to creatively achieve and contribute, to have confidence in one's own judgment, "right livelihood" ("best to choose work that does not cause harm to others, that does not exploit or deceive others....").

The key is to recognize the fusion between one's self and one's work. They are not separate ideas but one. Moreover, as it relates to happiness, "the primary determinant of one's happiness is the state of one's mind." Attitute, attitude, attitude.

A meaningful contribution even though it could have been shorter and tighter.

Sadly 95% filler.
Howard Cutler's first book with the Dalai Lama, "The Art Of Happiness," was packed with wonderful and accessible teachings from the Dalai Lama. We owe Mr. Cutler much thanks for the work he put into his efforts on his first book when it was not sure thing anyone would either publish or read his collection of interviews with the Dalai Lama.

This new book falls short however. The Dalai Lama doesn't have much of interest to say about the subject in general. Mr. Cutler, in what seems like an ego play, inserts himself into the book at every available opportunity, unlike his first book where he was much more a reporter. The conversations are endlessly boring and sophomoric.

What we do gain is an appreciation of how brilliant a thinker the Dalai Lama is even when he is being hassled by nit picking questions from someone who seems to think there is a sure thing going on. I do hope Mr. Culter gets back on track, becomes a reporter instead of subject, and focuses on topics that are more compatible with the Dalai Lama's keen intelligence.

Or perhaps the interviews have played themselves out and it is time to stop and appreciate the contributions made in the first book.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...
THE ART OF HAPPINESS AT WORK by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler falls considerably short of THE ART OF HAPPINESS, the original work by the same authors. In the original book The Dalai Lama provides very interesting views that can be applied to a variety scenarios in life, including the workplace.

Hence, ...HAPPINESS AT WORK is very repetitive of the original and runs the risk of placing someone as illustrious as The Dalai Lama in the position of appearing too much like other marketing-driven authors of the genre who pump out repeats of their original works under other titles like ...FOR THE WORKING SOUL, ...FOR THE GOLFING SOUL, OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL FAMILIES, ...OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TEENAGERS, etc.

After all, if you read the first book by The Dalai Lama you can easily see how his philosophies concerning happiness apply to all walks of life. Stick with THE ART OF HAPPINESS and discover for yourself how it may apply to a variety of your questions regarding your personal happiness...including in the workplace.

Douglas McAllister ... Read more

Book Description

This audiobook details a series of practical, proven, simple and effective ways to get paid more money for what you do. You'll learn to organize your time, set priorities, solve problems and develop ideas to improve operations. Once people begin to use these techniques, they will make more progress in the next couple of years than the average person makes in 10 or 20 years of just plodding along with the crowd. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Highly Recommended!
Brian Tracy seems to have the answer for everything, including how to get that raise and promotion. Actually, his point is that you have the answer to everything, if only you can achieve clarity - knowing exactly what you want and how to get there - while disciplining yourself to work toward your objective. Can it really be that easy? Well one thing's for sure, reading this book will make it a lot easier. This volume offers 21 short chapters of clearly presented, easy to absorb (if not always strictly grammatical) material. We from getAbstract recommend it to anyone in any field who aspires to be promoted. After all, would you turn down more money? We didn't think so.

It's pretty good
Don't buy this book. Instead, buy a cup of coffee at the bookstore and take 20 minutes out to read it at the bookstore.

The other reviewers who bad mouthed this book are right. It is all common sense. But most self help is common sense. However, sometimes it helps to be reminded of what we should be doing to get further along in our careers. I believe that if you followed his advice completely, you would get promoted and paid more, but you wouldn't make small talk at work, you wouldn't have social life outside of work, you wouldn't listen to music in your car (only audio-books), and you'd probably be a really boring and serious person.

But if you take half of his advice (like reading for an hour each day about something in your field) you'd come out a better person. All for the price of a cup of coffee.

But it's written well.

21 Fortune Cookies in 98 pages
No exaggeration: You would fair better by grabbing a handful of fortune cookies at a Chinese food resturant. This book is simply a list of obvious "good to do" habits for work.

The author, in his words, in his self-photos and attitude oozes a plastic, no value-adding presence: "Bleeched teeth and posing" syndrome to cover for no talent or insight.

This book is so valueless I am throwing it away, not even selling it used to some poor soul.

This Book is The Best!
I have studied much, if not most, of the success literature and I have to say that this book offers some of the best advice for getting ahead in your career. This easy-to-read, succinct book really hits the nail on the head and draws from the wisdom and experience of those in the know about career success. I just gave this book to my nephew who graduated from college last week and told him that it contains very valuable and accurate information.
I am the producer of the PBS television program The Legacy of Achievement™ featuring the lives and lessons of great achievers (www.legacyofachievement.tv) and I also write and teach about success and achievement. I am going to make this one of my recommended books in the "Business and Career Success" resouces area of my web site at www.holman.com.

Nothing but a stating of the obvious.
There is nothing in this little book that anyone of any experience at all does not already know. It contains such profound advice as "work hard," "set definite career goals," "find a career that you enjoy," and "have a positive attitude." The only career that the author will further with this book is his own career as an author of junk self-help books containing nothing but baked-over, recycled advice that has already been put into print many times before. A complete waste of time and money. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Solid Effort!
Chip R. Bell and Heather Shea take a crack at a much overlooked business skill: partnering. While many management gurus espouse the growing importance of partnerships and alliances to modern business, advice on how to actually implement and manage these relationships is much harder to find. Dance Lessons uses simple, emotional language in mapping out guidelines for successful partnering. These guidelines tend more toward general, interpersonal relationships than specific business cases. In fact, much of the book’s content could be re-titled “How to Have a Successful Marriage” without changing so much as one word. Despite this lack of hard business focus, we...recommend this book on the strength of the intelligent exercises that the authors suggest for use in each stage of the partnering process. While Dance Lessons might be light on the numbers and factual examples that business readers have come to expect, the passion that the authors bring to the subject will leave you highly conscious of the critical, but often neglected, personal aspects of business partnerships.

Fantastic & Practical for Professional & Personal Life!
The dance metaphor quickly engages the reader. Relating the different reasons, goals, and values in a partnering relationship to a tango, waltz, line dance, twist, or swing creates great images. The illustrations on style let the reader understand: Good scenarios for partnering Guidelines for being a great partner Partnership in the context of realtionships with suppliers & vendors, other departments, and blending cultures through a merger or acquistion. The applications for this book are for all businesses who interface with other businesses or departments to better serve their customers. Dance Lesson: Six Steps to Great Partnerships in Business and Life is revolutionary. The possibilities for expanding capabilities and opportunities through partnership are rich. ... Read more

Book Description

Thomas Moore on Meaningful WorkThomas Moore.

The author of Care of the Soullooks at the linchpin of our days – work and career – and sees back into a time when opus (work) was considered to be a mirror of God’s creation of the world. With elegant scholarship, Moore uncovers the sacred roots of work and shows how, in our own age, we can restore fullness and depth to this dispirited dimension of our lives. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not worth the time
Thomas Moore meanders around various aspects of work based, it appears, almost exclusively on his personal life's experience. Some of his observations seem insightful, but he completely blows his credibility by long-winded and unsubstantiated diatribes about corporations, corporate managers and technology. These seem to be very naive, uninformed and based largely on the author's sentimental longing for a return to simpler times. Well, folks, that is just not going to happen. If he had spent time discussing on how to best adapt to these times, his observations might be more worthwhile. As it is, this two tape program is too pedantic for an investment of either your time or your money. ... Read more

Book Description

The classic motivational parable (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide) that shows you how to make your own opportunities in life, updated for the modern reader by bestselling business author Alan Axelrod

Ever since its first printing by William Randolph Hearst in 1921, The Go-Getter has inspired employees and entrepreneurs to take initiative, increase their productivity, and excel against the odds. Now, more than half a million copies later, Alan Axelrod, bestselling author of Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO, updates the tale to address today's most pressing work issues.

In The Go-Getter, Bill Peck, a war veteran, persuades Cappy Ricks, the influential founder of the Rick's Logging &a