Book Description

Drawing from John Maxwell's bestsellers Developing the Leader Within You, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, and Becoming a Person of Influence, Leadership 101 explores the timeless principles that have become Dr. Maxwell's trademark style. In a concise, straightforward style, Maxwell focuses on essential and time-tested qualities necessary for true leadership —influence, integrity, attitude, vision, problem-solving, and self-discipline —and guides readers through practical steps to develop true leadership in their lives and the lives of others.

Reviews (6)

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

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

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

* follow your vision and bring others with you

* produce a lasting legacy

* grow the lotalty of your followers

* determine your leadership "lid"

* create a foundation of trust

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

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

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

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

Part I: The Development of a Leader

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

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

Part II: The Traits of a Leader

3. How Can I Become Disciplined? Jerry Rice

4. How Should I Prioritize My Life? Paul Tsongas

5. How Do I Develop Trust? Billy Graham

6. How Can I Effectively Cast Vision? Walt Disney

Part III: The Impact of Leader

7. Why Is Influence Important? Princess Diana

8. How Does Influence Work? Robert Dilenschneider

9. How Can I Extend My Influence? His father

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

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

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

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

Tips, tricks, techniques, insight, keys to self-confidence
Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know by John Maxwell (a gifted public speaker and the founder of "INJOY", an organization helping people maximizing their personal and leadership potential) is a concise and profound guidebook to unlocking one's inner potential to influence, motivate, and unite others toward a common goal. Tips, tricks, techniques, insight, keys to self-confidence and more fill this practical and resourceful pocket resource. Leadership 101 is strongly recommended, highly rewarding reading for anyone with leadership responsibilities or aspirations.

WOW
I think this is a very well written book. It really encouraged me, and I would recommend it to anyone. ... Read more

Book Description

Leadership from the Inside Out is an interactive,reflective journey into the heart of authentic,personal leadership. It gives you the practical tools to grow as a whole person to become a leader for life. Leadership from the Inside Out was named the #1 best selling business book by CEO-READ in 2000. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

review of Leadership From The Inside Out
This book is a classic. It takes readers on the reflective journey that Cashman himself has travelled through his years of coaching national and international leaders. Cashman takes a long-needed fresh perspective on the essence of leadership, parting ways with those who have viewed leadership as a collection of "techniques." He is among the first to gleen that the key to effective leadership is inherent in the leader him or her self. As he points out in this great book, effective leaders are those who come to understand that who they are, and what they value will drive how they uniquely add value. Cashman's definition of leadership is a fascinating one. He posits that "leadership is authentic self expression that adds value." Read the book and you will surely agree!! It's a must read for those grappling with the concept of executive excellence.

A great book!
Kevin Cashman, founder and CEO of LeaderSource, an executive coaching firm based in Minneapolis, MN has chronicled his dynamic training perspectives Pathways to Mastery (1998). With a prestigious client list to his credit, Kevin's unique efforts are potent due to their comprehensive focus on cultivating the core of being and potential, the inner self, versus simply developing extraneous skill sets and behavior modifications. As rightly stated on the jacket cover, "..most books on leadership see leadership as only as something we do rather than as an expression of who we are... we learn what to do instead of how to be. This book is different-it gives you self-expression that creates value." Knowing Kevin as I do, informally but over time, I've had occasion to casually chat about spiritual philosophies that we both cherish. I truly believe he has a marvelous gift, the ability to convey these oft-elusive principles in a manner both understandable and practically applicable. If there were one book that hits the nail of self-development and leadership on the head, I'd say this is it

Top Notch
Leadership is a behavior -- not a job title. This book does an excellent job of explaining how and why.

For those committed to their own leadership journey
We use this book as a core text with the personal leadership course in our Pepperdine University Doctoral Program in organizational leadership.

Why? It stimulates a journey on becoming a leader of yourself, which we believe is central to sustainably leading others.

I highly recommend it to those committed to engaging in a personal leadership journey.

Vance Caesar, Ph.D.
Leadership Faculty
Pepperdine University
vancecaesar.com

A Valuable Personal Resource
Leadership from the Inside Out is a wonderful book about becoming a better leader, not only of an organization but of one's own life.

Cashman covers all the bases, from Being - the innermost core of who we are - to Action, which he talks about as "leading as a whole person." He offers expert guidance, based on more than two decades as a coach to leaders worldwide, on aligning with our core purpose, authentic self-expression, adapting (and giving direction) to change, creating balance in our lives, and building synergistic relationships.

The book is packed with stimulating quotes, questions to foster self-understanding, and meaningful exercises for growth. All this in a well-designed format for easy reading. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

The definitive work concerning Warren Buffett and intelligent investment philosophy, this is acollection of Buffett's letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway written over the past fewdecades that together furnish an enormously valuable informal education. The letters distill in plain words all the basic principles of sound business practices. They are arranged and introduced by a leading apostle of the "value" school and noted author, Lawrence Cunningham. Here in one place are the priceless pearls of business and investment wisdom, woven into a delightful narrative on the major topics concerning both managers and investors.These timeless lessons are ever-more important in the current environment. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

The Wit and Wisdom of Warren Buffett
If you are used to reading public company annual reports, including the (usually) short letters from company presidents, you know how shallow, self-congratulatory and sometimes even misleading these reports can be. On the (extreme) other hand, Warren Buffett's annual letters in his Berkshire Hathaway annual reports represent detailed, on-target, lively and highly readable masterpieces of valuable education, information, and wit. You can read Buffett's annual letters for free at Berkshire Hathaway's website, but it will take you a while, since there are many of them (back to 1977) and they run 20+ pages each. Further, Buffett's various letters weren't intended to serve as serial chapters of a book. Better, you can shell out the cost of Lawrence Cunningham's thematically organized collection (220 pages or so)of Buffett's essays and gain a better appreciation of the numerous important topics that Buffett addresses. These topics include, first and foremost, the critical impact of the quality of corporate governance--Buffett was years ahead of most investors in focusing on this area. Other topics include corporate finance (addressed with a clarity that is both unusual and revealing of Buffett's powers of insight), mergers and acquisitions, accounting (Buffett is the only person I know who can regularly make accounting seem positively interesting), taxes, junk bonds and much more.

Moreover, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is nearly unique in its intense commitment to shareholders. The opposite (a commitment to management entrenchment and exorbitant compensation) is the norm with so many companies today that it would be easy to forget how vital shareholder primacy should be. As you read Buffett's essays you will have a model to measure other companies against--which should come in handy the next time you exercise your voting rights as a shareholder.

Life is short. As an investor or a concerned citizen-shareholder, you can learn through your own experiences, of course. There's nothing wrong with that, but the process can be long and expensive. (Depending on one's experiences, it can be very expensive.) Alternately, you can learn via Warren Buffett's lifetime of experiences distilled into a very readable, lively, fascinating collection of his essays. Buy the book-I doubt that you'll regret it.

Wisdom from the Heartland
This collection of essays by Warren E. Buffett, compiled by Lawrence A. Cunningham, is an excellent introduction to basic investment concepts that have proven successful for the 'Oracle of Omaha' and his loyal following. The reader will want to supplement these papers periodically with more timely updates from the annual letter Buffett writes to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett's ideas have been widely reported so there are no surprises here. To be sure, Buffett is consistent. He pokes fun at the 'efficient market' school which confuses stock price with stock value. Early on we hear him calling for the expensing of stock options and urging more transparent, segmented financial reporting by large companies. For Buffett mechanically rebalancing portfolios to achieve diversification, back in fashion, may miss the point of holding-on to your best investments for superior returns. Distinguishing between Growth and Value styles of investing is unnecessary and misleading. If you have ever wondered why Berkshire Hathaway does not pay a dividend or why it doesn't split its high stock price, Buffett gives his reasoned explanations. It was Warren Buffett's fundamental school mentor Benjamin Graham who introduced the allegory of Mr. Market and the concept of 'margin of safety' both of which get satisfactory attention here. Most importantly, I think, Buffett reminds us continually that as stock market investors we are buying for the long-term parts of real businesses that produce measurable cash flows as evidence of their intrinsic value. Real businesses that produce real value are run by dedicated, competent leaders who know how to allocate capital. Hanging-on to such deceptively simple principles can get an investor through some very rough market cycles. Reading this collection is a lot like listening to the conversation of an avuncular and very experienced elder who with great patience, common sense, and wit explains what principles have guided his (investment) life. Indeed uncommon sense and integrity are hallmarks of Warren Buffett's writings. Humor too. In what other serious investment study will you get quotations from such luminaries as Woody Allen, Mae West, and Yogi Berra. Buffett loves aphorisms to make his point. I challenge anyone reading this book not to underline or commit to memory some of these gems. For a general introduction to the fundamental school view of investing this collection is required reading.

Delayed in print and not "OUT OF PRINT"
I have been talking to Professor Cunningham and apparently, this book is not "out of print" as amazon states (Third party private sellers are selling the book for as much as $99) but rather, just delayed in printing. He will have the next shipment of books to amazon soon, and it will be retailing for US$25. This should appear on amazon very soon, so just keep checking back!

For bulk orders, please contact Professor Cunningham directly at cunninlb@mail.bc.edu.

Hope this help!

Cheers
Alex

Proper Business Practices
"The Essays of Warren Buffett" is a textbook on proper business practice used at Cardozo Law. Yeah, I know you can go to the Berkshire Hathaway website and get all of Buffett's letters to the shareholders (in fact those who truly want to know more can do this). But this book cuts to the chase. It is edited in such a way that the essays are grouped in a logical manner. Thus, you don't have to plow through all the letters ( which at times can be boring and redundant).This makes reading rather convenient and efficient. The parts of the book that are most useful for an individual investor are the sections on "corporate governance" (in which Buffett describes what makes a good CEO and Board) and on "corporate finance and investing" ( in which Buffett argues against the Efficient Market Theory and argues for the Graham-Dodd approach). I found the essays on "accounting and valuation" and "accounting policy and tax matters" a bit tedious (though the section on stock options was rather interesting).

Abandoned his own principles in the late 1990s
Buffet is trenchant and smart but abandoned his own principles in the late 90s after run ups of KO, FRE, and other stocks he had the foresight to purchase in the 80s. He attempts to justify this in the 90s with inapt analogies, covering up his own failure to stay true to the principles he learned at the feet of Dodd and Graham. His stockholders paid, and he has since and recently recanted. Only this leaves him in the category of those investors who deserve the platinum medal of investing .... one of the all time greats. ... Read more

Book Description

Ask the successful CEOs of major corporations, entrepreneurs, top salespeople, and pastors what characteristic is most needed for success in leadership positions, and they’ll tell you—it’s the ability to work with people.

Some people are born with great relationship skills, but those who are not can learn to improve them. In Winning with People Maxwell has translated decades of experience into 25 People Principles that anyone can learn.

Maxwell has divided the People Principles in this book according to the questions we must ask ourselves if we want to win with people:

• Readiness: Are we prepared for relationships?
• Connection: Are we willing to focus on others?
• Trust: Can we build mutual trust?
• Investment: Are we willing to invest in others?
• Synergy: Can we create a win-win relationship?

Each section contains guiding People Principles. Some are intuitive, such as The Lens Principle: Who We Are Determines How We See Others. Others may go against your instincts, such as The Confrontation Principle: Caring for People Should Precede Confronting People. All of them are 100 percent practical!

Book Description

This comprehensive and massive 600 page new book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful foodservice operation. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining the risky business of running a restaurant. Operators in the non-commercial segment as well as caterers, and really anyone in the food service industry will find this book very useful.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management in an easy to understand way, pointing out methods to increase your chances of success, and showing how to avoid the many common mistakes that can doom a start-up. The new companion CD rom contains all the forms demonstrated in the book for easy use in a PDF format.

While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan, how to buy and (sell ) a restaurant, franchising, basic cost control systems, profitable menu planning, sample restaurant floor plans & diagrams, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety & HACCP, successful beverage management, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire & keep a qualified professional staff, brand new IRS tip reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high profile public relations and publicity, learn low cost internal marketing ideas, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, learn how to keep bringing customers back, accounting & bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines.

The extensive resource Guide details over 7,000 suppliers to the industry, this directory could be a separate book on its own. This Restaurant Managers Handbook covers everything that many companies pay consultants thousands of dollars for.

This book is also ideal for professionals in the hospitality field as well as newcomers who may be looking for answers to cost containment and training issues. There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. In addition operators will appreciate this valuable resource and reference in their daily activities and as a source of ready-to-use forms, web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Fabulous Book
This comprehensive 600 page book showed me in detail how to set up, operate, and manage a restaurant business. The author covers everything there is to know about the very risky business of running a restaurant.

As a caterer looking to open a restaurant I also found the book very helpful. I didn't need recipes or help in sales - I needed help in running the financial aspects of my business.The chpater on computers was very helpful as well.The book is very easy to read and understand. Complicated accounting subjects are simplified, easy to understand and ( almost) fun to apply.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book helped me locate a manufacturer I needed a part from - I will use this book often.

Hospitality News November 2002
This comprehensive and massive 600 page new book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful foodservice operation. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining the risky business of running a restaurant. Operators in the non-commercial segment as well as caterers, and really anyone in the food service industry will find this book very useful.The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management in an easy to understand way, pointing out methods to increase your chances of success, and showing how to avoid the many common mistakes that can doom a start-up. The new companion CD rom contains all the forms demonstrated in the book for easy use in a PDF format.There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits.

If you know the restaurant business, this book is not for u
This book has a lot of information, however it does not go into great detail for those who are familiar with the principals listed inside but are looking to expand on those ideas. If you are an experienced restaurant manager or owner, this book is a waste of money.

Superb!!
The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book is superb - we will use this book often.

Generic Junk
This book is an elementary guide, definitely not one I would reccommend fo an upscale restaurant owner. Plenty of outdated material that has no relevence for todays operator. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is the definitive and most comprehensive guide to modeling derivatives in C++ today. Providing readers with not only the theory and math behind the models, as well as the fundamental concepts of financial engineering, but also actual robust object-oriented C++ code, this is a practical introduction to the most important derivative models used in practice today, including equity (standard and exotics including barrier, lookback, and Asian) and fixed income (bonds, caps, swaptions, swaps, credit) derivatives. The book provides complete C++ implementations for many of the most important derivatives and interest rate pricing models used on Wall Street including Hull-White, BDT, CIR, HJM, and LIBOR Market Model. London illustrates the practical and efficient implementations of these models in real-world situations and discusses the mathematical underpinnings and derivation of the models in a detailed yet accessible manner illustrated by many examples with numerical data as well as real market data. A companion CD contains quantitative libraries, tools, applications, and resources that will be of value to those doing quantitative programming and analysis in C++. Filled with practical advice and helpful tools, Modeling Derivatives in C++ will help readers succeed in understanding and implementing C++ when modeling all types of derivatives. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In their 2002 bestseller, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan identify why people don’t get results: they don’t execute. Bossidy and Charan are back with another stellar study on organizational behavior that shows how companies can succeed if they return to reality and examine every part of their business. Confronting Reality is based on a simple concept, but many companies approach strategy and execution in a surprisingly unreal manner and even the simplest of measurement methods, like the business model, are not applied correctly.

Cisco, 3M, KLM, Home Depot, and the Thomson Corporation are just a few of the companies that Bossidy and Charan examine. To demonstrate how to examine a business using the business model, Bossidy and Charan map out external variables, financial targets, internal activities, and an iteration stage (defined as a time to "make tradeoffs, apply and develop business savvy") to prove how a dynamically evolving business model will help improve performance.

"The version of the business model we have developed is a robust, reality-based process for thinking about the specifics of your business in a holistic way. It shows you how to tie together the financial targets you must meet, the external realities of your business and internal activities such as strategy development, operating tactics, and selection and development of people."

Larry Bossidy, retired chairman and CEO of Honeywell International and Ram Charan, author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and Profitable Growth Is Everyone's Business, have once again shed industrial-strength light on how to run a successful business. --E. Brooke Gilbert

Amazon.com Exclusive Content

Amazon.com Interview: Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are back with Confronting Reality to show how companies can succeed if they get back to reality and examine every part of their business. Amazon.com senior editor E. Brooke Gilbert interviewed Bossidy and Charan to discuss the current business climate, their new book, and future projections.
Read the interview.

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan Discuss the Airline Industry

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan discuss the airline industry's failure to confront reality based on a recent Wall Sreet Journal article and their new book as a backdrop.
Read their comments.

... Read more

Book Description

The Memory Jogger II is an easy-to-use pocket guide that describes tools to help you make continuous improvements in an organization. The tools help people at all levels participate in identifying and solving problems; eliminating rework; streamlining processes; improving cross-functional communication; decreasing costs; and measuring results. The guide supports organization-wide consistency and participation in creating organizational breakthroughs and improvements. It measures 3.5" x 5.5". ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The guide for all
I first used this as a high school student then later at univerity doing engineering. Now I use it as an engineer. It's so worn it's due for replacement. Handy size, useful tools, practical.

US Navy Leadership School
This US Navy uses this book in the Leadership School for PO1s/E-6s. It's a great hip pocket book.

Great customer service
Great customer service. Arrived within 3 days, no problems getting the product ordered. Highly recommended!

A management book that's meant to be USED!!!
This little book omits all the BS and jargon of textbooks and compresses the actual TOOLS for planning, process improvement, and quality control into just the information that you need to select and implement the appropriate management tools. Keep it in a desk drawer where it's handy to use, instead of on a bookshelf! I bought it for a class (in Project Management), but I USE it at work!

It is NOT a book that will give you all the theory behind the methods, nor the history of how they were developed and have evolved. It SIMPLY (and that's the beauty of it) describes when, why, and how to use the variety of tools, and gives very helpful examples showing them in action.

This ... book is worth more to me than most of my $100 textbooks combined -- and it's one I'll keep and not resell.

Great little book on CPI
This little book can go anywhere, and gives excellent examples of continuous process improvement tools. The explanations are straightforward, and you don't need to be an engineer or statistician to understand and apply the tools, techniques, and concepts presented. ... Read more

Book Description

"Every once in a while ONE book defines a category."
—Jack Covert, 800-CEO-READ

One of "The Ten Books Every Sales Person Should Own and Read"
–The Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage Program–

Jeffrey Gitomer’s bestselling guide to the art of the sale has helped hundreds of thousands of people get ahead in the sales game. The Sales Bible offers the proven methods and techniques that lead to bigger sales and more loyal customers. Full of practical, hands-on information, it offers everything salespeople need to know to improve their results immediately.

What do REAL salespeople think about The Sales Bible?

"The Sales Bible has directed my sales successes from Sales Manager, to Sales Director, to Area Sales Director, to my current position of Vice President of Sales. Thank you, Jeffrey, for leading me up ‘ the corporate ladder.’ "
–Bryan D. Moore, vp of Sales & Marketing, Targeted Golf Solutions

"I have read many different books about selling, but Jeffrey’s book is the only one I keep on my night stand. I can look at it every night–reading only a few sentences as a refresher or whole chapters to enhance my skills."
–James A. Wilton, Account Manager, AETEA Information Technology

"I’d be a better Catholic if only the Holy Bible was this easy of a read."
–Lance Cassidy, Sales Director, MAMSI Health Plans

"The Sales Bible is a book of truth within the sales world. I only hope my competitors don’t see the light."
–Jeff Williams, Vice President of Sales, Unishippers Cincinnati/Dayton

"Wait! The material in this book is only priceless if you choose to apply it. Don’t even think of opening this book . . . until you’re ready to become a success."
–Mike Tischer, New Business Development, Tailored Solutions, Inc.

"This book should be shaped like a key. After reading it I unlocked my toughest market."
–Joseph Andrade, Personal Financial Analyst, Primerica Financial Services ... Read more

Reviews (41)

Packed with tips, in a quite unorganized fashion
Being in search of basic sales knowledge, I figured the Sales Bible would do the trick.
This book IS packed with lots of techniques, "standard" lines and useful tricks. But the delivery is quite confusing. This book has little to no structure (completely lacks a sales process for example). Some tips are repeated from one chapter to another. It feels like an aggregate of unrelated publications. The style is enjoyable to really funny, when it is not for the abusive usage of bold, italic and oversized fonts which only add to the confusion.
However, it still deserves 3 stars for being a good reference on specific stages in the sale process. Gitomer knows his stuff and it does show in the content. You might want to check the Accidental Sales Person for a more structured approach.

This book is the ultimate sales training boot camp in print.
I've read them all. And as a sales trainer and speaker myself, I can say that this is the ultimate book for sales people in any industry no matter what skill level you are currently at. Plus it is very easy to read and understand. If all salespeople were to read this book, there would be no reason for sales trainers like me. If you want to do yourself and your career a huge favor, buy this book and read it. Then use the information in it to soar. I recommend it to the people I've had the opportunity to train.

Good stuff
as a memory development trainer and speaker myself, I can say that this is very good book for people interested in selling their knowledge. The most important is - that this book is easy to read and follow...
If you dream about success- this is book for you. Just follow all instructions.
Author knows what he is talking about.
Also I would suggest to look for some Robert B. Cialdini books to read them at the same time.
This is book for people who are seriously thinking about their career in selling. This is not important what you sell. If you know 'how to sell' you can sell everything!

This book sucks "DON'T BUY IT"
This book sucks. I have not read many books on sales but I still say this book sucks. I can write this 300 page of crap in this review.
Step one make a to do list
Step two do what is on the to do list
Three be honest
Four be persistent
I would like to know who gave this piece a good review. I wasted $12 bucks on it. Buy a different book this one is worthless.
And another question; who would publish such a big pile of crap?

Want it sooner that later? Read the Book!!!
I got this book on my Birthday and I have to say happy birthday to me. This is the definitive sales text. Others might have their favorite books about different genres of selling but when its time to put a text book on the desk of a new class of salesman, this better be the book! It will shorten the learning curve and soften the hard road and focus you on the criteria and techniques, used by Mr. Gitomer, to become one of the best there is and to help you elevate your game. It's a must read for anyone who sells and wants success! God Bless you all! ... Read more

Book Description

In this third edition of his classic book, Edgar Schein shows how to transform the abstract concept of culture into a practical tool that managers and students can use to understand the dynamics of organizations and change. Organizational pioneer Schein updates his influential understanding of culture--what it is, how it is created, how it evolves, and how it can be changed. Focusing on today's business realities, Schein draws on a wide range of contemporary research to redefine culture, offers new information on the topic of occupational cultures, and demonstrates the crucial role leaders play in successfully applying the principles of culture to achieve organizational goals. He also tackles the complex question of how an existing culture can be changed--one of the toughest challenges of leadership. The result is a vital resource for understanding and practicing organizational effectiveness. ... Read more

Book Description

A Bold Manifesto on the Future of Information Technology

Over the last decade, and even since the bursting of the technology bubble, pundits, consultants, and thought leaders have argued that information technology provides the edge necessary for business success.

IT expert Nicholas G. Carr offers a radically different view in this eloquent and explosive book. As IT's power and presence have grown, he argues, its strategic relevance has actually decreased. IT has been transformed from a source of advantage into a commoditized "cost of doing business"-with huge implications for business management.

Expanding on Carr's seminal Harvard Business Review article that generated a storm of controversy, Does IT Matter? provides a truly compelling-and unsettling-account of IT's changing business role and its leveling influence on competition.

Through astute analysis of historical and contemporary examples, Carr shows that the evolution of IT closely parallels that of earlier technologies such as railroads and electric power. He goes on to lay out a new agenda for IT management, stressing cost control and risk management over innovation and investment. And he examines the broader implications for business strategy and organization as well as for the technology industry.

A frame-changing statement on one of the most important business phenomena of our time, Does IT Matter? marks a crucial milepost in the debate about IT's future.

... Read more

Reviews (21)

Where is IT going?
Full Title: Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage -- With $2 trillion being spent on computers and communications each year there is an underlying assumption that IT is critical to increasing the competitive advantage and strategic success of a business.

But with the ready availability of computers, storage, software and people, has the IT function perhaps become one of the foundation building blocks of a corporation, just like sales, engineering or manufacturing?

Similar to other books that are appearing, the author argues that it is time to look at IT with a managerial view. What are you getting for the investment? Is IT simply another cost center or a strategic benefit to the company? How do you control costs and yet get the information you need in a timely manner? The book provides an interesting and timely view of such points.

A different view of the computer revolution
There has seemed to be a neverending flood of hype about computers for at least the last 20 years. Information technology (IT) is going to change everything, we've been told - from the way businesses operate to the way people live. Well, the flood ends here. Meticulously argued, well researched, and surprisingly lively, this short book dissects one computer myth after another. Most of it focuses on the business world, showing how IT is turning into another commonplace technology like electricity. There's an engaging historical review of how big technologies create big business changes early in their development, but then quickly turn into routine costs. It also provides practical advice for companies on how they should manage IT. It ends, though, with a broader examination of how we tend to get carried away with our dreams of big technological revolutions. It shows that in comparison with earlier technologies computers have had a fairly modest impact on society and commerce - and that some of the consequences have been less than positive. This book is a breath of fresh air.

Excellent questions with inferior answers
'Does IT Matter' is a difficult book to rate. As to the questions it raises, it deserves 5 stars. But its answers, are two-star, at best.

By way of analogy, most bomb threats are bogus, but each one must be treated as if it were genuine. With that, in his new book Does IT Matter?, Nicholas Carr throws a bomb, and it turns out to be a dud.

Carr's book is an outgrowth of his article "IT Doesn't Matter," which appeared in the May 2003 issue of the Harvard Business Review. His hypothesis is that the strategic importance of IT has diminished. Carr views IT as a commodity, akin to electricity.

He also compares IT to the railroad infrastructure. In the early days, railroads that had their own tracks had a huge advantage, but once the rails become ubiquitous and open, that advantage went away.

Carr feels that since all companies can purchase the same hardware and software, any strategic advantage is obviated. It's true that the core functions of IT (processing, network transport, storage, etc.) are affordable and available to all, but there's still huge strategic advantage to be gained in how they're implemented.

It's much like two airlines that purchase the same model of airplane. If one airline streamlines and optimizes operations, trains its staff and follows standard operating procedures, it can expect to make a profit. If the other has operational inefficiencies, labor problems and other setbacks, it could lose money. The airplane is identical, but the outcome is not.

Carr is correct in that there have been some huge IT outlays of dubious value. But to say that IT is simply the procurement of hardware and software is to be blind to the fact that hardware and software are but two of the myriad components of IT.

To use the railroad metaphor, hardware and off-the-shelf software are the rails of IT; how they are designed and implemented is what provides their strategic value. Carr views IT as completely evolved. But the reality is that although IT has matured, it still is in a growth mode. The IT of today is vastly different from the IT of both 1999 and 2009.

Carr's view that most innovations within IT will tend to enhance the reliability and efficiency of IT rather than provide a competitive advantage is in direct opposition to what is said by every CIO I have met.

Does Enterprise Architecture Matter?
Readers of this book should also read books on Enterprise Architecture as a solution to the concerns raised by the author.

Provocative title, narrow claim, strong argument
You may recall the uproar in 2003 around a short Harvard Business Review article entitled "IT Doesn't Matter". Various IT company leaders spoke out against the article, with Carly Fiorina calling it "dead wrong" and Steve Ballmer calling it "hogwash". There were also many lengthy rebuttals. Nicholas Carr, the author of the original 8 page article, expanded the argument into a well-written book, explaining his claim more thoroughly and responding to his critics.

The book (like the article) has a provocative title, but in fact Carr's claim is much narrower than the title suggests. Carr is only focused on *corporate IT*, the systems that companies build and deploy for their own use and the use of their customers and suppliers. He is not looking at consumer IT --- the digital wonders that are showing up in our living rooms, cars, and in our pockets. And he is not looking at governmental IT --- the systems that are used to find terrorists, wage combat, or evaluate welfare eligibility.

More significantly, Carr is also focused on one corporate use of IT, to attain a *competitive advantage*. Can Coke achieve some competitive advantage over Pepsi by implementing a new application? Carr is not asking whether IT can add value to a company --- clearly there are thousands of examples of IT saving money, providing value to customers, to suppliers, and adding value in other ways. Instead, Carr asks whether we can expect IT to add this value in a way that competitors cannot quickly realize the same added value. Can Coke do something significant with IT that will not be quickly replicated by Pepsi?

Finally, Carr agrees that in the past IT has been used to gain competitive advantages. By automating reservations, pricing, and seat assignments in the 1960s, American Airlines really did achieve a lasting advantage over its rivals. By creating logistics applications in the 1980s, Walmart really did achieve a lasting advantage over Sears and Kmart. Carr's claim is that *those days are gone*, that the days of using IT for competitive advantage are over.

His claim rests on three broad trends, each of which undercuts the opportunities for competitive advantage. First, the time needed to replicate a particular IT application---the "technology replication cycle" in his words---has shortened considerably over the last few decades. Hardware, tools and platform technologies have made it increasingly easier, faster, and cheaper to replicate a successful application built elsewhere. This declining technology cycle is likely to continue, and make any advantage in the ownership of a particular application to be short-lived.

Another reinforcing trend is the push toward standardization. 40 years ago every company built their own applications. Since then software products have emerged. These products can always be customized to particular situations, but they often are not. It is often cheaper and easier to adapt the business to the best practices in SAP, rather than to customize SAP to the specifics of the business. The economics of standardization --- the cost advantages for companies to be like their competitors --- trump the advantages of maintaining differences. BPOs further this push to standardization, and away from competitive advantage via IT.

A third trend is the spread of IT business insight. It is much better understood today how to achieve value with IT. The secrets of how to do this spreads with individual experience, with analysts, with books and trade rags, and with consultants. If a company has success with a particular technology, everyone in their industry knows about it quickly.

These three trends (Carr claims) are reducing IT to a role much like electricity. Electricity is critical to all businesses today, but (aside from mishaps like the recent problems in California) no one would expect to find a competitive advantage in superior use of electricity.

Does Carr make his case? I think he does, although there are some big exceptions to his argument. ... Read more

Book Description

This streamlined volume covers the principle concepts of management to provide readers with a solid foundation for understanding key issues. Organized around the four traditional functions of management—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, it reflects current trends in management and organizations, and presents the latest research studies in the field.The authors address managing in today's world, foundations of planning and decision making, basic organization designs, staffing and human resource management, foundations of individual and group behavior, leadership and trust and foundations of control and value chain management.For managers of all kinds. ... Read more

Reviews (54)

I recomend this book to any potential business students.
I feel that the textbook, Fundamentals of Management by Stephen P. Robbins, is a good tool for the beginning management student. Throughout the course, I learned many different approaches to becoming a successful manager. The book made use of illustrating it's points by using graphs, charts, and tables. This is important for the students who are having a hard time understanding what the author is trying to say. The author made it very easy to understand his teachings. However, I believe that there are two sides to management. These are the "good" and "bad" or "ethical" and "unethical" sides. The book touches briefly on the unethical side and the side is just as important. It's hard for someone to succeed at something if they do not understand the different aspects. This is my only complaint. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning to chase a career in business. I know I plan on keeping this book for future reference.

Learning Tool
Fundamentals of Management 2nd ed. by Robbins and De Cenzo was the text use for my Management course at Hannibal-LaGrange College. While using this book, I noticed that it had many definitions in the side margins. They were helpful to me to better understand and comprehend the material I was reading. The many exhibits through out the book made the material applicable to the business world. The exhibits helped me to learn visually. To test my comprehension, the text had helpful "Testing Your Comprehension" Quizzes at the end of each chapter. I found these helpful after taking in a lot of material, I was able to sort everything out and refresh the newly learned material. Though this book's good out weigh the bad, I would like to have seen the text and the corresponding exhibit on the same page, so that page flipping would not take place. Page flipping can cause the reader to lose interest and even concentration. My only other complaint was that it is in serious need of a face-lift, something that would attract the eye. The books overall appearance has the ability to make the reader want to read it more. Some suggestions would be to put a photograph on the front, use computer graphics in the book, and hardback to be more durable and more presentable. When writing this book, I believe that the authors did a wonderful job of making the difficult to understand material, easy for people to read and learn from it. Many different majors were in the class that I took and I do believe that each took with a better understanding of Management and how Managers function in the business world. In comparison to other books that I have used in other courses, I think that the material inside was excellent, but as I mentioned before, I think that it could use a face-lift. After studying the material that was inside the book, I believe that I will keep this book. The reason being, is that I think that once I get out into the work place, I will need to know how to work with others and how others work best together. This book has encouraged me to keep pursuing my career as an accountant. In my future profession, I assume that I will placed in a management position. I will be a "boss"/manager and have to know how to motivate my employees, make sure that the task is completed in an effective and efficient way and all the while encourage my employees to be innovative in the work place.

Review of Fundamentals of Management
I used this text book in an Introduction to Management course in College. I felt that the text did a great job explaining the different concepts and functions of management. The examples made it easy to understand. I also felt that the exhibits were very helpful and easy to understand. The tables and diagrams were all easy to interrupt. I also found the end of the chapter summaries very useful. I would reccomend this book to anyone who has an interest in understanding the basic fundamentals of management.

Book Review
I found this book to be very informative and helpful as an introductory management text. The order of the book was clear and precise with smooth transistions between concepts. I appreciated the use of relevent stories to follow the concepts and also the Ethical Dilemmas in Management. They forced me to apply the concepts being introduced so that I would really learn them. This is an excellent book to use and follow and will help any student who is taking an introductory management course to successfully learn the material.

Fundmntls of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications
I used this book in my Fundamentals of Management course at Harlaxton College. Of the two textbooks used for this class, I thought this one was much more useful. My favorite aspects were the definitions in the margins, the quizzes at the end of each chapter and the various exhibits throughout the chapters. I felt these learning tools made taking notes easier, let me see what exactly I did and did not know about the material and helped me better understand some of the more difficult concepts being taught. I also enjoyed the short "real world" managerial examples at the beginning of each chapter. I felt these stories helped me ease into the material I was about to read and give it a little more meaning in an outside the classroom situation. Overall, I found this textbook as helpful and informative. ... Read more

Book Description

It’s a fact! Leadership is the single most important organizational factor separating the winners and the "also rans?" It’s the key to your business success. And who better to identify what makes a good leader than the people being led. That’s what this handbook is all about!

Unique in both content and format, Listen UP, Leader! provides powerful insights into what employees want and need from their managers, supervisors, and team leaders. It pinpoints the behaviors and attributes necessary to be the kind of leader that employees will follow ... to new levels of performance ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Good things come in small packages
This is the most effective leadership book I have ever read.It is straightforward and real.It contains all of the information that leaders know, but don't want to hear.What is significant, is the title.It's not titled, "Listen Up, Manager."It's "Listen Up, Leader."Leaders must influence, engage, and enroll employees.Managers complete tasks and oversee.This book provides all of the employee thoughts and whispers that you may not hear.The content is invaluable and timeless.Everyone in leadership needs to read it.Ten times better than "Who Moved My Cheese?"

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

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

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

Listen Up
Make sure your boss reads this book.It is true to today's work place. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The world you live in is all in your mind, according to Wharton Business School Professors Yoram Wind and Colin Crook. The Power of Impossible Thinking is a witty and lucid translation of neuroscience research about "mental models"--the deeply ingrained assumptions and images that shape our reality and influence opportunities for success and failure. "Our models are gated communities," say Crook and Wind, who offer a superb crash course on the power and limit of mental models.

The key questions: How do you know when an old model is worn out? How do you avoid "cognitive lock," filtering out information that conflicts with your model? How do you know a new model will live up to its hype? Many of the answers lie in "Mind R&D"--developing an inventory of new and old models and refining your intuition to fit your current reality. These engaging ideas are detailed with portraits of three impossible thinkers (Oprah Winfrey, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Intel's Andy Grove) and vivid examples (The music industry vs. Napster, a French fry cancer scare, O-rings on the Challenger). Wind and Crook make such a brilliant case for new ways of seeing that readers may wish for more coaching to recognize the obsolete models that keep us from changing our minds. --Barbara Mackoff ... Read more

Book Description

This best-selling volume has long been considered one of the most user accessible books for management science. The new edition retains and updates the traditional, comprehensive coverage of past editions but now adds spreadsheet-based problem solutions to most chapters. In addition, the book is now packaged with free software.The authors provide a comprehensive introduction to quantitative analysis, probability concepts and applications and decision theory models, as well as forecasting, control models, linear programming models and applications, transportation and assignment models, integer programming, goal programming, nonlinear programming, and branch and bound models, network models, project management, lines and queuing theory models and statistical quality control.For those interested in a comprehensive, yet accessible presentation of QM for management. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A book for graduates--Not undergrads
After the first week of our class falling behind, my professor mentioned to our class that this book was the wrong format for undergrads. So this book is only good as the teacher and the students. It's easy to read, but hard to understand. And, the CD-ROM was not user-friendly enough, but had an awesome integration into MS Excel. I aced all of my math classes in college (undergrad), but this class...I'm not gonna to ace. But if you aced all math classes and you're using this book for a grad class, then go for it. Otherwise, find another book.

Great Book
I had one of the worst instructors on the planet this semester. I literally had to teach myself this entire course.
This book made it so much easier. Great diagrams, simple explanations. I ended up with an A.

Easy to follow
This book is easy to follow and the included cd makes solving the problems easy. It also has online links for each chapter. ... Read more

Book Description

"Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn't good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans."

This, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day--in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organization or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results.

Written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature--not just another program of the month.

America is in the midst of a service crisis that has left a wake of disillusioned customers from coast to coast. Raving Fans includes startling new tips and innovative techniques that can help anyone create a revolution in any workplace--and turn their customers into raving, spending fans.

Reviews (65)

I'm a Raving Fan!
Kenneth Blanchard continues his trend of writing easy-to-read books with BIG ideas for making your business better. Raving Fans is a book of stories relating how fictional companies have created an environment of delivering awesome customer service. A guy that has just been put in a managment position requiring a turnaround goes on a fictional trip with his "angel" to visit businesses that have figured out their vision and their system to deliver customer service extraordinary. Based on three simple principles (Decide, Discover, Deliver), each company has created a group of Raving Fans (not just customers, but fans) who wouldn't consider shopping anywhere else for what one of these companies offers. Within each story is other nuggets of common sense and good ideas that can be implemented in any company that has customers and wants to create fans. We required our store managers to read the book and each created a list ranging from 20-40 points that they can put into effect at their stores to improve customer service. This is a simple, must-read for every business owner and manager.

Great Model for Approaching Perfection through Innovation
A major problem with most books on management processes is that that do too little to focus on how to make large amounts of progress beyond what is now done. Raving Fans is a big success in providing you with simple instructions for making large strides toward achievable perfection.

Imagining perfection is a critical first step to improvement, yet most people have never thought about what that could mean. Then testing that perfection with customers (and potential customers) must be done to be sure that there is a valid opportunity, and to be able to understand customers' ideas about achievable perfection. Then attaching the idea of continuous improvement toward that vision is also valuable, and useful. There are plenty of practical tips about how to do each part, which is key to making this book so valuable.

One of the reasons that I enjoy writing reviews about books on-line is that I can find a Raving Fans that agrees so much with my own perspective and research. This book will quickly get you past your Psychology of Disbelief, Bureaucracy, Procrastination, Communiation, and Ugly Duckling stalls.

Good for Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles . . . and good for you, too!

Fluffy
Way too fluffy. It should have been presented as a bulleted list, not a book. If you must get this book, I recommend the print version; Charlie's voice is quite annoying.

good concepts, juvenile delivery
The intellectual content of this little book could fit nicely and succinctly in a 500-1000 word magazine or journal venue. Instead, Blanchard sticks to the successful story telling formula that served him well in The One Minute Manager. The concepts are good, and I think their true value lies in their simplicity. They are easily understood and therefore should be easy to apply. Successful implementation may be another matter. If you agree with the concepts, and it's hard to see how you wouldn't, the actual book is a great tool to get them out to your people. The long narrative has the effect of beating the points into your head and the examples leave little to the imagination as to how the concepts can be fleshed out. I have found that people who last raved about Who Moved My Cheese also rave about this book. Those who don't care for this type of cutesy, least common denominator writing style will try to get through it as fast as possible and glean the concepts for further consideration afterwards. It can be read cover to cover in about an hour and a half at a pretty leisurely pace. Regardless of whether or not you like the style of the book I think you will find the concepts and down to earth examples good food for thought in your own enterprise.

Raving Fans
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is an easy read and contains some great fundamentals on providing excellent customer service. Readers who enjoy this book may also enjoy reading Time Management is an Oxymoron. ... Read more