Lessons from the Top

Posted on by
Reply

Lessons from the TopLessons from the Top: The Search for America’s Best Business Leaders
by Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin

What makes a business leader great? This is one of the burning questions in companies and boardrooms across America. An even more compelling question: Are there things each of us can learn from these leaders that we can apply to our own lives? Not surprisingly, there is no single answer to copy or formula to follow in order to excel in business. 

In fact, the leaders selected in Lessons from the Top are wildly different in their personalities, their paths to the top, and the industries they work in. But perhaps the best way to learn how to excel is by studying the strategies and thinking of the wide range of leaders who have proven themselves the best in their industries. 

Spencer Stuart, specialists in hiring CEOs, is one of the nation’s leading executive recruiting firms. Neff is the chairman and Citrin a managing director. After several of their clients had asked them to identify the traits that make a leader successful, the firm commissioned the Gallup Organization to conduct a survey to “nominate” the best leaders in the U.S. on the basis of 10 factors, including vision, long-term performance, customer focus, and impact on business or society. 

The result was a list of 240 successful leaders, which the authors narrowed using the same proprietary criteria they use to select executives for their clients. This roster of America’s 50 best is the end product. Finalists’ profiles include their comments on the difficult issues, what they consider to be most important about leadership, and how those factors improve organizational performance. In the final section of the book, the authors distill the surprising number of qualities and characteristics that these extraordinarily accomplished individuals share, to offer lessons to help us in our own lives and careers. It is noteworthy that those at “the top” represent a wide range of leadership styles. 

A groundbreaking book on business and success, Lessons from the Top should be required reading by leaders—and future leaders—everywhere.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

In the Words of Great Business Leaders

Posted on by
Reply

In the Words of Great Business LeadersIn the Words of Great Business Leaders
by Julie M. Fenster

This book presents the accumulated experience of 19 business legends, in their own words. Each leader provides inspiring and motivating wisdom that runs the gamut from investing to setting priorities to making the most of opportunity. 

This book also features thorough background information on each leader, telling the stories of their struggles to succeed, their triumphs—both good and bad—that formed their business philosophies. 

The 19 legends, are divided into five categories: hustling hard workers, self-made successes, bosses, mavericks, and salesmen. 

Thrive on the wisdom of such legends as:

  • Thomas Watson (IBM),
  • Andrew Carnegie (Steel),
  • Sam Walton (Retail),
  • John Rockerfeller (Standard Oil),
  • Henry Ford II (Ford Motor),
  • J. Paul Getty (Oil),
  • Mary Pickford (United Artists),
  • Alfred Sloane (GM),
  • David Packard (Hewlett-Packard),
  • Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines), and
  • Ted Turner (Broadcasting) to name just a few.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

The Circle of Innovation

Posted on by
Reply

The Circle of InnovationThe Circle of Innovation: You Can’t Shrink Your Way to Greatness
by Tom Peters

In 1982, Tom Peters introduced himself to the business world by co-authoring one of the most influential management books of all time: In Search of Excellence. Now, through his in-your-face style, bold graphics, astounding facts and figures, and quotes whose sources range from Martha Stewart to Bill Gates, Peters introduces his seventh work, The Circle of Innovation. In this offering, he blows the lid off accepted management styles and opens our eyes to new ways of envisioning the challenges of today’s world. 

Whether you manage a six-person department or a 60,000-body behemoth, this book empowers you to transform your organization, your career, and yourself. Inspiring and timely, this blueprint for success is pure Peters—a handbook as energetic as it is profound. Tom provides a practical guide that will teach you how to reverse the rising tide of product and service commoditization and foster uniqueness, capitalize on the skyrocketing purchasing power of women, and convert sluggish staff into vital centers of intellectual capital, creativity, and innovation. 

Tom Peters has become a recognized leading voice in management theory, urging large and small companies to thrive on chaos. This book is certainly a step in that direction.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

Posted on by
Reply

Dig Your Well Before You're ThirstyDig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need
by Harvey Mackay

Harvey Mackay practices what he preaches. He would be the first to tell you that his success in a variety of fields can be attributed to his vast knowledge and practice of networking. 

Mackay gained recognition with his previous best-selling books: Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive and Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You his Shirt. In this outing, Mackay offers a very practical, readable, and relevant guide for anyone who has discovered the importance of knowing the right people to accomplish any task. Networking is not rocket science, yet some authors would have us think that we require mystical abilities in order to accomplish our networking goals. Mackay, on the other hand, lays out a game plan for us. He tells you exactly who you need to know and what to do once your rolodex is full. This book is a must for anyone who wants to get ahead by reaching out.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

Nuts!

Posted on by
Reply

Nuts!Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success
by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg

How’s this for performance? Southwest Airlines has turned a profit every year since 1973, yet it maintains the lowest fares in the industry. It has never laid off an employee, regularly ranks best in customer service, and has a consistently high safety record. It is continually rated as one of the ten best companies to work for in America and the CEO and employees have all been labeled as NUTS!

This book will explain how Southwest Airlines can be so NUTS and so successful at the same time. The authors describe the inner workings of one of America’s biggest success stories, complete with 60 color photos. The book is conveniently divided into several different parts that emphasize various perspectives. You’ll learn the history of how the culture was born, some key principles of the company’s vision and culture, and how the culture is maintained and encouraged. The final section takes a more leadership-oriented perspective.

You’ll discover how Southwest manages problems under tight constraints and intense competition. You’ll learn how they think and act “out of the box” to achieve faster results. You’ll discover how to re-define the rules and make the impossible happen. You’ll gain valuable insights into corporate recruiting and employee retention. You’ll learn to manage in difficult times, how to manage with limited resources, how to be optimistic and how to overcome heavy odds in your personal life to fulfill your dreams. You’ll also laugh to yourself from cover to cover!

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

The Power of Focus

Posted on by
Reply

The Power of FocusThe Power of Focus: What the Worlds Greatest Achievers Know about The Secret of Financial Freedom and Success
by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Lew Hewitt

The best-selling authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series join forces to show you how to hit your business, personal, and financial targets with absolute certainty.

Whether they are corporate professionals, budding entrepreneurs, or home-business owners, most people are looking to achieve more in less time, while earning enough money to live comfortably. This book reveals the proven techniques thousands of people have used to attain all of the money they wanted while living healthy, happy, and balanced lives. This book is a practical, no-nonsense guide that shows readers how to reach their business, personal, and financial goals without getting burned out in the process.

Discover the three most important fundamentals for consistent success and ten powerful focusing principles as you enjoy numerous anecdotes and inspiring stories that reinforce each principle.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

EVEolution

Posted on by
Reply

EveolutionEveolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women
by Faith Popcorn and Lys Marigold

“Within a decade, the companies that do the best job of marketing to women will dominate every significant product and service category!” predicts best-selling author, Faith Popcorn. Following her success with The Popcorn Report and Clicking, her third book continues to break new ground and chart exciting new territory as she explores marketing to women.

Faith Popcorn runs a marketing consultancy in New York called BrainReserve and has been a real presence in the business world for the past two decades. She is not to be dismissed lightly as she boasts a roster of big-time clients ranging from BMW to IBM and Nabisco. When she speaks, they listen. They want her to tell them the pulse of the economy from a consumer standpoint. After all, she predicted the great success of SUVs and the failure of New Coke. She knows of what she speaks. 

The bottom line is that women today have the economic power, and corporations and marketers who want to succeed had better figure that out. Women “purchase or influence the purchase of 80% of all consumer goods.” 

With references to EVEolve, EVEangelical and EVEsdropping, Popcorn shares eight essential truths of EVEolution—the trend that will redefine the way companies create profitable and lasting relationships with women.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

Living the 7 Habits: The Courage to Change

Posted on by
Reply

Living the Seven HabitsLiving the 7 Habits: The Courage to Change
by Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey has been teaching people and organizations how to be more effective since 1989. He has, at times, been criticized for not using enough real-life inspirational stories in his motivational speeches and texts. This book strives to rectify that situation. 

Covey presents 70 short stories of people as they meet challenges and practice the 7 Habits. Some are ordinary slices of life while others are pivotal moments or life changes. The stories are organized thematically into four areas labeled individual, family, community and education and workplace. Covey, himself, stitches the stories together with commentary. 

If you liked Covey’s previous work, if you practice the 7 Habits, and if you seek inspiration and a feeling of community, you’ll want to add this book to your library.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

Great Leaders See the Future First Series

Posted on by
Reply

Great Leaders See the Future FirstGreat Leaders See the Future First: Taking Your Organization to the Top in Five Revolutionary Steps
by Carolyn Corbin

Carolyn Corbin is co-founder and president of the Center for the 21st Century, a think tank providing executive briefings, organizational training, consulting, and studies. She is also the author of the best-selling Strategies 2000 and Conquering Corporate Codependence. 

This renowned business strategist and futurist cites critical issues that impact all organizations. This thought-provoking book on leadership makes a nice connection to the need to lead differently in the face of powerful, irresistible forces that are becoming stronger. This book offers many diagnostics to give you a sense of where and how you might become more effective. 

The author heads a think-tank called the Center for the 21st Century, and she draws on a lot of forecasts to describe important issues for the new century in terms of trends. Basically, she is calling for a convergence of forces in a way that will make organizations uncomfortable places for many to work. She sees leadership as being the answer. “Leaders determine whether an organization succeeds or fails,” she says. This will require a new model of leader who is more of a strategist, innovator, seer, speeder-upper, and user of new technologies in a more free-form environment with mostly project workers involved.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)

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.

If You Want to Make God Really Laugh, Show Him Your Business Plan

Posted on by
Reply

If You Want to Make God Really Laugh Show Him Your Business Plan: 101 Universal Laws of BusinessIf You Want to Make God Really Laugh Show Him Your Business Plan: 101 Universal Laws of Business
by Barry J. Gibbons

The former CEO of Burger King blows the cover on corporate incompetence—and uncovers the secrets of good business—in his sharp-tongued, riotously funny book.

Why are so many businesses such depressing, poorly directed messes? Ask Barry Gibbons, enlightened capitalist, high-spirited wit, and the man who nearly single-handedly pulled Burger King out of a long, disparaging slump, rendering it robust and dynamic (without cutting heads).

In this rollicking, easy-to-read book, Gibbons blasts apart the thick wall of arrogance, hierarchy, regimentation, and exaggerated complexity so often contributed to the corporate world—and lays bare his 101 “Universal Laws of Business,” commonsense truths about how to run a business profitably and well. His sage witticisms and sensible opinions cover motivational theory, limited terms for business leaders, being big but acting small, hurdling marketplace barriers, unhealthy profit, new branding, innovation, information technology, and more.

And Gibbons deftly answers nagging questions, such as: why mediocre products litter a hyper-competitive marketplace that demands distinct ones, why the workforce is supremely alienated, exactly at a time when businesses need savvy, motivated employees and why the most meticulously crafted business plan contains the one and only scenario guaranteed not to happen.

These 101 business truths will grab readers by the gut and make them gasp in relief because they’re the things that most everyone (especially the folks laboring in the trenches) know to be true—and wonder why the top dogs don’t have a clue.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 3.)

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.