How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success
by Lucinda Watson

If I were given three wishes, I’m certain one of them would provide me with the opportunity to sit down and chat with outstanding men and women who have reached the peak of their professions. This group would include legendary CEOs, celebrated entrepreneurs, and social and cultural visionaries. I would ask them to reveal how they discovered their life’s passions, how they pursued their goals, and how they overcame adversity. I’d strive to distill those special qualities of personality that separate such unique winners from the also-rans. I would then author a best-selling book followed by an equally successful audio tape that would lead to a whirlwind tour of national keynote appearances allowing me to share this valuable insight with those interested in personal growth and success.

Well, for me that happens to be one of three wishes I’d love to have granted. However, for Lucinda Watson, it’s a proud reality. She did exactly what I just described as one of my three wishes. In fact, it was relatively easy for her to accomplish this admirable feat. Her father and grandfather turned IBM into “Big Blue.” Now an accomplished scholar in her own right, Watson grew up surrounded by the greatest business leaders and thinkers of the twentieth century. Her unique access to these top-level achievers combined with her own training and expertise make her especially qualified to obtain their fascinating inside stories. Featured are the stories of such well-known achievers as John Sculley (Former CEO of Apple Computer), Faith Popcorn (Futurist), and Donald Kendall (former CEO of PepsiCo).

This is an intimate look at what motivates people to become high achievers. The stories are organized around three types of people and what drives them: entrepreneurs fueled by risk taking and the need to create something out of nothing; CEOs/executives driven by the desire to succeed in an already established structure; and visionaries motivated by societal concerns and wanting to make a difference in people’s lives. Those interviewed remember their heroes and mentors, relive their most difficult decisions, and explain how they overcame inner demons such as fear and insecurity. What are the qualities that enable certain extraordinary individuals to transcend self-doubt and stiff competition to reach the pinnacle of success? Can these qualities be learned and emulated by others? The message they deliver is that self-confidence and self-esteem—both key ingredients for success—are not natural gifts but can be learned, developed, and strengthened.

The author discovered that strength of character, passion and hard work are the most important components to a successful business career and happy life. She brings her subjects to life, and leaves the reader with the impression of really knowing these super-achievers at a very intimate level. How They Achieved is a badly needed antidote to the Internet generation’s belief of overnight success.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 9.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Business Masterminds: Roads to Success – Put Into Practice the Best Business Ideas of Eight Leading Gurus
by Robert Heller

Here we have a book that may very well pose a few problems for you. First of all, it’s expensive as business books go—$40 suggested retail. Here’s still another problem: It’s extremely difficult to put this book down once you get into it. Why is that a problem? It’s contains 864 pages! This masterpiece will rival any “coffee table” book you may now possess as it offers a wealth of information graphically enhanced by hundreds of beautiful multi-colored photographs, tables, charts, diagrams, and graphs.

In this enlightening volume, best-selling business expert Robert Heller presents the ideas and innovations of eight of the world’s most successful business leaders. Charting each guru’s rise to the top, Heller analyzes the factors that contributed to each one’s phenomenal success. Heller then shows you how to make their strategies work for your own success.

The eight leading business and management gurus chosen for this masterpiece are:

• Bill Gates, multibillionaire co-founder of Microsoft and master of seizing opportunities and staying ahead of the game.
• Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly-Effective People and celebrated teacher of practical management skills.
• Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric for 30 years and an advocate of motivating the workforce and discarding bureaucracy.
• Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence and leading advocate of management by “perpetual revolution.”
• Peter Drucker, the first to define the art of effective management and a ground-breaking pioneer of management theories.
• Warren Buffett, globally acclaimed financial investor and pioneer of managing for shareholder value.
• Andrew Grove, Silicon Valley innovator who piloted the rise of Intel and defined the model for high-tech management.
• Charles Handy, renowned social philosopher and prophet of emerging business trends, such as portfolio careers.

Comprehend the strategies Bill Gates uses to focus on his goals, forge key collaborations, hire the best brains, make solid decisions, and dominate the market place.

Understand why Stephen Covey advocates widening circles of influence, developing “abundance mentalities,” exercising self-leadership, and optimizing personal capabilities.

Discover why Jack Welch will enter the history books as America’s greatest manager of all time.

Realize why Tom Peters’ management strategies enable businesses to exploit “perpetual revolution” and live with chaos in a commercially volatile world.

Discover the ideas of Peter Drucker on managing by objectives, achieving innovation, and focusing on customers.

Learn how Warren Buffett identifies strong brands, minimizes risk, recognizes ideal business acquisitions, and values hard work and honesty.

Grasp the methods Andrew Grove uses to manage innovation, drive performance, and master revolutionary change.

Appreciate how Charles Handy sees businesses as communities, challenges dogmas, makes groups work, and lives by the “doughnut principle.”

This “Business Bible” should adorn the shelves of every corporate library in the country. It will educate and inform you and yours for years to come. You do the math, all of these leaders are the top of their segments in business and innovation, and Robert Heller has captured what business students, managers, and CEOs need. Each subject has developed model approaches to how business is done and will be done in the future. A great read and well worth your investment.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 9.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t
by Jim Collins

If you read, enjoyed, and benefited from Built to Last, and you should have, you’ll be anxious to get your hands on Jim Collins’ latest contribution to managers and CEOs everywhere. In that previous classic, the result of a six-year research project, the author revealed Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.

In his latest effort, Collins sets out to answer the question, “Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?” He and his 21-person research team began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They read and coded 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and created 384 megabytes of computer data in a five-year project. The author’s ability to distill the findings into an interesting and easy-to-understand guide is a testament to his writing skills. After establishing a definition of a good-to-great transition that involves a 10-year so-so period followed by 15 years of increased profits, Collins’ crew combed through every company that has made the Fortune 500 (approximately 1,400) and found 11 that met their criteria. In taking a closer look at that 11—including Fannie Mae, Gillette, and Wells Fargo—they discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success.

Making the transition from good to great doesn’t require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Although you may not have expected findings like this, I think you’re going to read and hear much more along these same lines in the very near future. It was a pleasure to discover that many of Collins’ perspectives on running a business are amazingly simple and commonsense. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 9.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The 108 Skills of Natural Born Leaders
by Warren Blank

The myth of “born leaders” has been with us for decades. However, that myth misses an important fact: the qualities great leaders display are waiting in all of us to be discovered, developed, and magnified. No one is actually born a leader. Anyone can become one. All you need is to master the specific set of skills people commonly associate with so-called “natural born” leaders.

Included in this book is a self-assessment inventory which you can use to ascertain which skills are most in need of improvement. You must know where you are before you can determine where you need to go.

Warren Blank’s work identifies the 108 specific traits that typically cause others to see people as natural born leaders. The self-assessment inventory allows you to match up to that common portrait. The book then provides strategies and methods for developing your strengths and improving on your weaknesses.

With examples ranging from Franklin D. Roosevelt to G.E.’s Jack Welch, this book illustrates that leadership qualities fall into three basic categories: Foundational Skills (such as self-awareness), Direction Skills (including the ability to set a course and develop others as leaders), and Willing Follower Skills (such as the ability to influence others and create a motivating environment). The ongoing theme is the simple fact that everything you need to become a leader is right inside of you. This book will help you let your own “natural” skills blossom.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 7.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success
by Brian Tracy

I’ll be short with this one. For more than 30 years, Brian Tracy has been teaching the world about business success via his best-selling books and audio tapes. This book is the bottom-line, cut-to-the-chase, keep-it-simple success guide. Here is a set of principles or “universal laws” that lie behind the success of business people in every kind of enterprise, large and small. These are natural laws, and they work everywhere and for everyone, virtually without exception. Every year, thousands of companies underperform or even fail, and millions of individuals underachieve, frustrated by thwarted ambition and dreams—all because they either attempted to violate or did not know these universal laws. However, ignorance of the law is no excuse!

Tracy breaks the 100 laws into eight major categories: life, success, business, leadership, money, selling, negotiating, and time management. He not only identifies and defines each, he also:

• Reveals its foundation, whether in science, nature, philosophy, or common sense;
• Provides real-life examples that show how it functions in the world; and
• Shows how to apply it to your life and work through specific questions and practical steps and exercises that anyone can use—sometimes in just minutes—to begin the journey toward greater success.

Brian Tracy has done it again, and you’ll want to take advantage of it a.s.a.p.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 7.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People
by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.

THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED. Those predisposed to protect “dead wood” will take issue with the basic underlying philosophy of this book. Those who, way down deep, would sooner see an organization die than nudge a hopelessly incompetent person out of a job, should not read this book. This person is probably not an A player, will not become an A player, will not want to hire A players, will not want to coach people to become A players, has difficulty retaining A players, and does not belong in a premier, topgraded organization. Topgrading is for A players and all those aspiring to be A players.

The author defines topgrading as the practice of filling every position in the organization with an A player, at the appropriate compensation level. A player is defined as the top 10% of talent available at all salary levels—best of class. He believes that great companies are made, not born. The secret is hiring the right people—the “A” players. This is, of course, easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment situations result in a mis-hire: the wrong person for the wrong job. And with the cost of a mis-hire at 24 times salary, the financial drain can be staggering.

This 400+ page book is a compilation of insights and advice based on more than 4,000 career case studies … first-hand, exhaustive interviews of successful managers’ entire careers. The tools and strategies offered here come from 27 years of working with dozens of organizations, many premier in their industries.

Discover a silver-bullet assessment technique, the Chronological In-Depth Structured (CIDS) interview. CIDS can boost your hiring success rate from 50% to 90% or better. It’s not perfect but close enough that it permitted entire companies to topgrade in one year, replacing players with almost all A players and a few Bs. If you attempt to topgrade and your batting average in replacing C players is only .500, you will fail. CIDS is not just desirable, but necessary in assuring that you replace Cs with As.

I could go on and on describing the useful contents of Topgrading, but I fear you’d break a leg racing to the bookstore. Walk slow. Read fast. You need this one.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 7.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The Mind of the CEO
by Jeffrey E. Garten

If you ran across this “jewel” in your favorite bookstore and read the few words that appear on the cover, you’d want to sit down and immediately investigate further. It reads: “Suppose you had the chance to travel around the globe and meet today’s most powerful business leaders, one on one. Suppose they talked frankly and openly to you about their business strategies, what it takes to be a leader, their vision of the future, and what keeps them up at night. Jeffrey E. Garten took that trip. Here’s what he heard—and what he didn’t hear.” How could you walk away from an invitation like that? 

Reading this book is like being at the World Economic Forum—not at the formal presentations but in the hotel bar afterward, where the microphones are turned off and world-famous business leaders say what they really think. Better still, their confidant, Jeffrey Garten, interprets what they say, telling you how their views relate to each other and the world economy, and noting the many important things left unsaid. Learn from the experience of 40 of today’s greatest leaders as they share insights to their careers and their organizations. This impressive list includes Leonard Riggio (Barnes & Noble), Stephen Case (AOL), Michael Dell (Dell Computer), Andrew Grove (Intel), Jack Welch (GE), William Clay Ford (Ford Motor), Fred Smith (FedEx), Roger Enrico (PepsiCo), Christopher Galvin (Motorola), John Brown (Amoco), and many others. 

This author is obviously well credentialed to offer this revealing glimpse into the future of business. Jeffrey Garten is the Dean of the Yale School of Management and a monthly columnist for Business Week.  He was previously Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade in the Clinton administration, and before that a managing director for two Wall Street Banks.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 6.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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