Book Description
YOU HOLD IN YOUR HANDS A GREAT SECRET.
It has been passed down through the ages, highly coveted, hidden, lost, stolen, and bought for vast sums of money. Fragments of this Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. It has been understood by some of the most prominent people in history: Plato, Galileo, Beethoven, Edison, Carnegie, and Einstein, along with other renowned inventors, theologians, scientists, and great thinkers.
For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life transforming for all who experience it.
In this audiobook you will discover The Secret . . . and you will learn how to have, do, or be anything you want. You will learn how to use The Secret in every single area of your life. You will hear from modern-day teachers -- men and women who have used The Secret to achieve health, prosperity, relationships and happiness. They share their incredible stories of using The Secret to eradicate disease, acquire massive wealth, overcome obstacles, and achieve what many would regard as impossible. Through them, you will begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that is within you, and the true magnificence that awaits you in life.
To experience the film version of The Secret visit www.thesecret.tv
Customer Reviews:
The Secret to Stealing your Money!.......2007-10-15
If you bought this book, sorry that you threw away your money. The whole point of the book is positive thinking and the power that it can have in your life. That's all good, but there is major problems and dissapointments in the book.
True, nothing is better than feeling good and having a positive attitude, but this lady is nuts. She wrote this book with the intention of stealing your money. Everything in here is stuff you already know, minus the garbage she writes about not looking at fat people, her view on the atrocities in the world ( apparently everything happens because you weren't thinking right! ), and the ridiculous notion that if you want money, all you have to do is expect checks in the mailbox and pretend that your bills are checks ( is she serious?)
yeah, lady, I'm going to pretend my bills are checks, and then I'm going to pretend that my poop is gold, and take it to the jeweler. Get REAL!! Anyone that takes this book to heart is gullible and impressionable to the maximum.
Just think, if you buy this book, you can walk out of your house thinking that people in wheelchairs caused their disabilities themselves, because of their negative thoughts!! Idiotic... Don't buy. It's ok in some ways for motivation to be happy, but there are much better ways to lift your spirits than to listen to this trash. The writer composed this book on a whole lot of mushrooms and ecstasy, and I have a feeling it burned gigantic holes in her brain that will never replenish. I hope she doesn't write another book, seriously.
Wealth without skills: the REAL secret.......2007-10-14
For a long time I've been toying with the idea of creating a website and book called "Wealth Without Skills" that promised to give away the true secret of achieving wealth beyond your wildest dreams (not seriously, but more as a kind of joke that I thought actually might make a lot of money if I did it right because a lot of worse products have been lucrative) . I really DO know the secret, and so do the authors of this book. Unfortunately for my bank account, I couldn't bring myself to actually sell this secret. Rhonda Byrne, though, is obviously not bothered by such moral qualms. Though she obscures the secret with religious and philosophical trappings, and combines it with the not-so-secret idea that positive thinking generally puts you in a better position to take advantage of life's opportunities, the essential core of the secret that she employed in writing this book and the secret I was going to sell are basically the same. Here it is, I'll give you the secret for free. The true, hidden and never-before-revealed secret to achieving wealth beyond your dreams without a whole lot of effort and without any real skills or actually useful product is just this: convince a lot of people that you have the secret that will allow them to achieve their dreams without a lot of effort but simply by wishing hard, and that you will sell this secret to them for a small fee. If you can do that, you really can achieve wealth beyond your wildest dreams, as Rhonda Byrne illustrates here. But in fact she has an even better secret on top of this one: if you can convince those same poor sops who shelled out a chunk of change to buy their secret that if they don't achieve insane wealth right away it was their fault because they didn't want it bad enough, then you really have a fool proof scheme, new clothes for the emperor.
The Secret.......2007-10-14
Hallo everyone. I agree with the very first review that I read. I have not read the book but have read similar books mostly from Doreen Virtue and I also read the 4 agreements (among the best books I've ever read. Simple, true and understandable).
But from what I read in the review it appears that probably they wrote the book the "wrong" way. I mean sometimes when you say something you speak the "wrong" words even though you have good intentions.
Is true that the mind has a great power more than we think and is true that whatever we dream we get but...there is maybe something missing in it:
1. is true you have to work to make your dreams come true. Wishing for it is not enough.
2. The thing you wish for will come to you IF it's for your highest good and those around you.
3. What you dream for will come at the right moment.
4. The more you think about your wish there more you delay it. Why? Because we are all made of spirit and spirit is also energy. Everything and everyone has and is energy. The more you think of something and the more you hold on to it and you don't allow the dream to come true.
Think of your dream as a bird you have in your hands. If you hold on to it will the bird be able to fly? No of course.
But if you let it go, you stay positive and faithfull the bird will go the right way will the bird go the right way? Yes, whatever the way it is is always for the highest good and sometimes your way can change.
I don't believe our destiny is completely pre-written. Parts of it are but there are parts who are not written and we are the writers that's why sometimes things can change.
We were born with free will and a poweful mind. We have a big power and we should pay a little bit more attention.
Is difficult to stay positive especially when things go wrong but I do believe we can change the reality we live in by changing our thoughts.
Having money is not a bad thing. Is the way you think about the money or the way you use them that may be wrong. Money can help but the most important things are family and friends and helping people whenever you can or you want to.
Be who you want to be. God doesn't judge you. Human beings do because of their thoughts used the wrong way. We judge eachother but I think there is no best and no worse. For example I can be good at singing and you're not but you are good at math and I am not. Is not that you're worse than me because you can't sing or I am worse than you because I can't understand math. Is just that we have different gifts and abilities and instead of using them "against" eachother we should start to help eachother more and compensate eachother sharing our gifts.
I am still learning and the road may not be easy but I know it goes somewhere and I won't give up.
That's it.
Fran
Imposter name.......2007-10-13
This book is not The Secret. The so called secret has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. I get really peed off when someone like Rhonder Byrnes pretends to have found the secret, when I've been reading about this stuff for 20 years. Some interesting bits but, the writing is too small to read and I have perfect eye sight. Also, it does seem quite shallow. I know of people who have just read it and they think it's going to really change their life. But low and behold they have the same troubles and are in the same place where they started. It's a quick fix and doesn't work for most people. I want something that really works.
The Secret actually worked for me and saved me money!.......2007-10-13
I borrowed the audiobook version from my library. I waited almost three months for my name to crawl to the top of the list. Within the first 15 minutes of the book, the author explains that negative thoughts attack more negativism. The secret, in effect, is to think only positive things and great things will happen. The author even demonstrates this in the book as people think one negative thought and several additional ones are overdubbed.
So...I could have thought "Why did I wait so long for this book?" This would have been negative. Instead, I gave the book a shot and started repeating to myself, "I am so glad I waited for this book, I am so glad I waited for this book, I am so glad I waited for this book." Son of gun, it worked! I suddenly realized that I borrowed the book from the library and didn't spend any money on it! Good things happened for the rest of the day.
Seriously, like another reader I would have liked to toss it out the car window. Instead, I'll just take it back to the library today.
Here's are a few "secrets". You'll be wealthy (by about $15) if you read these and decide not to buy.
Secret 1) Think happy thoughts because more happy thoughts will be attracted to the first happy thoughts. All will be one in the universe and you'll make a lot of money. In my opinion, this is the basic premise of the book.
Secret 2) We all want the silver bullet that solves all of our problems. Ms. Byrne apparently is masterful and building up hype around "the secret" and probably has made a ton of money by preying on our human weakness of wanting the secret answer. I wonder how well she sleeps at night.
Secret 3) Don't be surprised if in a few years, Ms. Byrne is selling "get rich quick programs" on late night TV since I'm sure this one worked for her. She definitely has the experience.
Secret 4) Harold Hill already figured this secret back in the late '50s. His "think method" not only made him some cash, he got the girl in the end. Not sure what I'm talking about here? Buy a DVD of The Music Man. That money will be much better spent. You'll enjoy the evening and be singing the songs for days. Rather than repeating, "Why did I spend that money, why did I spend that money..."
There...now the secret is out.
Book Description
DO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST EVERY DAY?
Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.
In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.
Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself -- and the world around you -- forever.
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEW & UPGRADED EDITION OF STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0
(using the unique access code included with each book)
* A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment
* A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year
* A more customized version of your top five theme report
* 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)
* The more user-friendly StrengthsFinder 2.0 companion website, with a strengths community area, library of downloadable discussion guides and activities, a strengths screensaver, and a program for creating display cards of your top five themes
Customer Reviews:
Useful insights but annoying you can't buy the tests only.......2007-10-09
Whilst the questionnaire can provide you useful insights on what you do best, it is annoying that you have to buy the book to get the code for the on-line tests. There is little extra information in the book that doesn't come with the test results so they've missed a good opportunity to add value. A better approach would be to allow you to buy the tests on line and say get the book at a discount. Only having one shot at the test is also frustrating as I'd like to have another go or two but don't want to stump up the money for more books. If you're happy to pay for the book to do the test then you'll probably get some useful information to help with career planning and personal development.
Dinamic Strengths.......2007-10-01
I found the Strengths Finder 2 to be a great, dinamic tool to helping my team find their talents. The good thing about this version, compared to Now Discover your Strengths is that it has guidelines and activities you can do to change the talents into strengths.
Find and Maximize your strengths...fast.......2007-09-24
Great product for anyone wanting to know themselves better. Especially helpful for job seekers or people in transition.
StrengthsFinder Opinion.......2007-09-23
This is great investment! The price is very low and value of the information provided is very high. The best $15 I ever spent.
Optimal Solution for Understanding Yourself.......2007-09-23
I've been a senior leader of several organizations, and consequently have been exposed to a gauntlet of industrial psychologists, personality tests, intelligence tests, leadership training, cultural orientations, yada yada.
This book/body of knowledge/tool does 2 things extremely well. By well, I mean in an optimal way measured by the degree of understanding relative to the time investment. First, for an investment of maybe an hour at minimum, and an additional few hours to explore the guidance and begin to consider the implications and choose new behaviors, etc. you get, in my opinion, the best single, and correct perspective about yourself than any combination of the other methods mentioned above, period. It is not just directionally correct, like a horoscope type paragraph that would be true for anyone who read it, but rather a set of desciptions of your strengths that just "nail it" and descibe you as you know yourself. It tells you about yourself in a way that you can understand, regardless of whether you or anyone who is around you has ever articulated it.
The second thing it does well is offer a rational and empirically validated framework that is just long overdue. It is a simple truth that has been so elusive. It addresses a major reason why leadership is so rare in business - the modern organization strangles out your ability to contribute by trying to fix what you will likely never be much good at, or hate doing even if you end up with some level of proficiency at it.
Get it, read it (25 minutes) and take the online test (35 minutes). If you are like me and the 50 people around me who've infectiosuly taken and immediately recommended this thing to their inner circle of friends and family, you will absolutley find value in it. But like anything, an idea or a tool is only as good as it is put to use. A master craftsman never blames his tools. Remember to act on it and that is something for which only you can be responsible.
Book Description
Beginning with the million-copy bestsellers First, Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham jump-started the strengths movement that is now sweeping the work world, from business to government to education. Now that the movement is in full swing, Buckingham's new book answers the ultimate question: How can you actually apply your strengths for maximum success at work?
Research data show that most people do not come close to making full use of their assets at work -- in fact, only 17 percent of the workforce believe they use all of their strengths on the job. Go Put Your Strengths to Work aims to change that through a six-step, six-week experience that will reveal the hidden dimensions of your strengths. Buckingham shows you how to seize control of your assets and rewrite your job description under the nose of your boss. You will learn:
• Why your strengths aren't "what you are good at" and your weaknesses aren't "what you are bad at."
• How to use the four telltale signs to identify your strengths.
• The simple steps you can take each week to push your time at work toward those activities that strengthen you and away from those that don't.
• How to talk to your boss and your colleagues about your strengths without sounding like you're bragging and about your weaknesses without sounding like you're whining.
• The fifteen-minute weekly ritual that will keep you on your strengths path your entire career.
With structured exercises that will become part of your regular workweek and proven tactics from people who have successfully applied the book's lessons, Go Put Your Strengths to Work will arm you with a radically different approach to your work life. As part of the book's program you'll take an online Strengths Engagement Track, a focused and powerful gauge that has proven to be the best way to measure the level of engagement of your strengths or your team's strengths. You can also download the first two segments of the renowned companion film series Trombone Player Wanted.
Go Put Your Strengths to Work will open up exciting uncharted territory for you and your organization. Join the strengths movement and thrive.
Customer Reviews:
Worth the read.......2007-10-10
I read this over a brief vacation during the summer. Ive found it has enhanced my abilities dealing with people both at work and my personal life. I plan on reading it again when my busy work schedule permits it.
How to take charge of your work.......2007-10-03
Marcus Buckingham is passionate about helping you identify your unique strengths and unleash their power. As you read and work your way through the program in this book, you will become convinced that growing through your strengths is the ticket to your future happiness, effectiveness and success. He refutes the approach of improvement by fixing mistakes as a dead end that cannot help you discover how you can be exceptional. The book constantly refers you to its associated Web site for materials that will help you work through the exercises. Buckingham wants you to act rather than just read a theoretical tract. Nothing presented in this book will help you without action and implementation. However, if you take up the challenge, you will become empowered as you take charge of your work through your strengths. We recommend this book because it contains just a few simple ideas that could change your life.
Follow-up book, much overlap with earlier books.......2007-09-30
Marcus Buckingham discusses six steps to identifying and putting your strengths to work:
1. Convince yourself that exercising your strengths is more fun and productive that spending your time shoring up your weaknesses.
2. Identify specific activities that exercise your strengths. For example, mine include
a. Determine true value
b. Learn and apply new and useful skills, knowledge
c. Creative problem solving
3. Build your job towards your strengths.
4. Stop / reduce time spent shoring up your weaknesses
5. Build a strong team by enabling each member to exercise their strengths towards delivering business value
6. Make a habit of ensuring that each person's activities around you are aligned with their strengths (including yourself :-)
The book could have been much shorter - the concept was repeated multiple times. More specifics on step 3 would also have been more useful.
Excellent book and great team activity!.......2007-09-13
I manage a team of Sales Professionals and found this book to be a great tool to help them stay focused on the positive aspects of their job. I really like the message and appreciate the fact that it does not immediately say that if you are not happy right now, you need a new job. It points them back to their current position and helps them be more productive and utilize their strengths where they are at.
While he also wants to sell you other stuff, the book is a good way to build your own positive deviance.......2007-09-13
If you really look at what is holding you back, from really using your best qualities and talents, you will almost surely find that most of it are the images and thoughts you hold between your ears. You are so sure about what could go wrong, or about what you HAVE to do, or about what is just not possible, that you just don't even try to step out.
Well, to say it simply, stop it! This book provides you with a six step process to help you build on your strengths rather than chasing and fixing mistakes. It is based on the ideas you will find in the business philosophies of Appreciative Inquiry and Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). The core idea in these movements is that you can't build on your strengths if all you see are your weaknesses. If you want to be a master of something, you have to study those who do it well, not focus on the mistakes of those who aren't very skilled. The term they often use is "positive deviance". That is, that area of performance that deviates ABOVE the norm. The goal is to learn how to create more positive deviance.
In the first step, Buckingham focuses you on giving up belief in three myths: 1) As you grow your personality changes. 2) You will grow in your areas of greatest weakness. 3) A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team. He says that the truths are: 1) As you grow you become more of who you already are. 2) You will grow in your areas of greatest strength. 3) A good team member deliberately volunteers his strengths to the team most of the time.
As he discusses each of these he asks you to examine what you are getting out of believing in these myths. What would it cost you to stop believing in it? Then think carefully about the benefits you would gain by believing the truth. If you sincerely do this, you will likely be shocked and then energized.
The purpose of this book is to help you take charge of your life and especially your work life. You will make it more rewarding, says the author, by centering your work on your strengths rather than just doing whatever comes to you as an assignment. It is a six step process. The first, as I noted above, is to bust the myths. Step 2 is to get clear about your strengths. Three is to free your strengths. Four helps you see and stop your weaknesses (not focus on fixing them). Five coaches you on how to speak up and get your boss supporting your strengths. Six is about keeping the process alive by building strong habits.
Now, Marcus Buckingham is a big-time, high-priced consultant. The book sends you to his website to use some free materials there (but also offers you others to purchase). Underneath this is the desire to sell your company consulting and seminar services with associated materials. It is interesting stuff, but the sheer "salesiness" of it detracts from it a bit for me.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Effectively managing personnel--as well as one's own behavior--is an extraordinarily complex task that, not surprisingly, has been the subject of countless books touting what each claims is the true path to success. That said, Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton's Now, Discover Your Strengths does indeed propose a unique approach: focusing on enhancing people's strengths rather than eliminating their weaknesses. Following up on the coauthors' popular previous book, First, Break All the Rules, it fully describes 34 positive personality themes the two have formulated (such as Achiever, Developer, Learner, and Maximizer) and explains how to build a "strengths-based organization" by capitalizing on the fact that such traits are already present among those within it.
Most original and potentially most revealing, however, is a Web-based interactive component that allows readers to complete a questionnaire developed by the Gallup Organization and instantly discover their own top-five inborn talents. This device provides a personalized window into the authors' management philosophy which, coupled with subsequent advice, places their suggestions into the kind of practical context that's missing from most similar tomes. "You can't lead a strengths revolution if you don't know how to find, name and develop your own," write Buckingham and Clifton. Their book encourages such introspection while providing knowledgeable guidance for applying its lessons. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Unfortunately, most of us have little sense of our talents and strengths, much less the ability to build our lives around them. Instead, guided by our parents, by our teachers, by our managers, and by psychology's fascination with pathology, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to repair these flaws, while our strengths lie dormant and neglected.
Marcus Buckingham, coauthor of the national bestseller First, Break All the Rules, and Donald O. Clifton, Chair of the Gallup International Research & Education Center, have created a revolutionary program to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder® Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The program introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success. In developing this program, Gallup has conducted psychological profiles with more than two million individuals to help readers learn how to focus and perfect these themes.
So how does it work? This book contains a unique identification number that allows you access to the StrengthsFinder Profile on the Internet. This Web-based interview analyzes your instinctive reactions and immediately presents you with your five most powerful signature themes. Once you know which of the 34 themes -- such as Achiever, Activator, Empathy, Futuristic, or Strategic -- you lead with, the book will show you how to leverage them for powerful results at three levels: for your own development, for your success as a manager, and for the success of your organization.
With accessible and profound insights on how to turn talents into strengths, and with the immediate on-line feedback of StrengthsFinder at its core, Now, Discover Your Strengths is one of the most groundbreaking and useful business books ever written.
Customer Reviews:
Great to Use with Employees.......2007-10-15
I've used this book with my team to help them learn about themselves as well as each other. Its a great tool to help people understand how they are "wired".
Strengthsfinder is a powerful tool.......2007-10-01
I have not yet read any of the book, but bought it for the key to taking the online Strengthsfinder assessment for a graduate class in career and workforce development. (NOTE: MAKE SURE TO BUY A NEW COPY OF THE BOOK IF YOU WANT TO GET AN "UNUSED" KEY TO TAKING THE STRENGTHSFINDER ASSESSMENT ONLINE.)
The assessment alone was well worth the price of the book. Structuring one's professional development or career pathing around one's strengths (instead of around one's weaknesses) is an energizing way to invest in one's work self. If you only take the assessment and never read the book, you will have gotten your money's worth.
Regarding the book, my professor tells me it goes a good job at applying the Strengthsfinder to the work world and management.
book.......2007-09-21
great product. exactly as stated it would be. great book. very uplifting!
If you want to know your strengths.......2007-09-21
I read this book and took a class on it, there are coaches that are trained all over the world that will help you discover and use your strengths in every day life. Loved this book. They even have a book for every age, (young students, adults, and college age)
Go straight to the last chapter and forget the rest.......2007-09-20
Very dissapointed as to what the title leads you to believe about the book. Though the authors have done a tremendous amount of research, it flaws in 2 major issues which it forgets:
a) the profile though quite specific, is similar to other profiles out there
b) 90% of the book is about why we should concentrate on our strenghts. Now lets face it, if you are a small business person like me who wants to grow his business, i already understand that i should be concentrating and exploring my strenghts and that of my organisation. I dont think i need to go thru the majority of the book to learn the concept.
If you are a small business owner like me who wants the "how to", just read chapter 7 which goes to practical issues. If on the other hand you have nothing else to do, then yes do go ahead.
Amazon.com
This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people." He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. --Joan Price
Book Description
YOU CAN GO AFTER THE JOB YOU WANT...AND GET IT! YOU CAN TAKE THE JOB YOU HAVE...AND IMPROVE IT! YOU CAN TAKE ANY SITUATION YOU'RE IN...AND MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!
For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
Now this previously revised and updated bestseller is available in trade paperback for the first time to help you achieve your maximum potential throughout the next century! Learn:
* THREE FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES IN HANDLING PEOPLE
* THE SIX WAYS TO MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU
* THE TWELVE WAYS TO WIN PEOPLE TO YOUR WAY OF THINKING
* THE NINE WAYS TO CHANGE PEOPLE WITHOUT AROUSING RESENTMENT
Customer Reviews:
Wanna build your network - listen to Carnegie !.......2007-10-14
Winning friends and influencing people is not an easy thing. Are you gregarious? Do you want to be a networking juggernaut? You should listen to what Dale Carnegie says.
"Do you want to get the attention of others? Watch out what actors do in advertisements and movies". This is such a simple technique that we all fail to recognize in our day-to-day life. "Do more listening than talking" - hmm, another simple technique. Carnegie explains how you can win friends and influence people, with a lot of stories.
This book is a must-read for those who want to build their network.
Great for improving people skills.......2007-10-13
As many will agree, I find this book and the book Understanding: Train of Thought to be quintessential in anyone's library. The information and advice given in these books transcends all boundaries and all areas of human activity. Some of my lessons from these books were that the principles of success in any endeavor are the same, regardless of who you are. Being programmed by the mediocrity around us, we feel that just because we have stopped growing physically when we reach adulthood, we do not need any more teaching. But these books remove that blindfold and demonstrate why we must always be in the learning mode, like students. Being humans and social creatures by nature, it is our sacred duty to learn, practice, teach and then teach others to do the same in improving our people skills and understanding of others.
Life's a Stage..........2007-09-30
Wow..."A Reader" seems extraordinarily bitter...
Every day you go to work, you are on a "stage"...as in "It's show time, folks!" The working world is highly competitive, and a necessary tool to all but guarantee your success is deception. This book/author teaches the art of deception. Whether or not the reader chooses to use this information to his/her advantage is a matter of personal choice.
This book has a purpose, and successfully presents that purpose, hence the four-stars...
BORING.......2007-09-18
...I put the book down after 3 chapters, and haven't picked it back up since. Go with "7 Habits..." by Covey and/or "The Four Agreements" (Author skips my mind)
Impressive!.......2007-09-09
I finally can win many friends and influence people! Another bestseller that I recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You
Book Description
America's most sought-after executive coach shows how to climb the last few rungs of the ladderThe corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They're intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle -- and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference. These are small "transactional flaws" performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith's straightforward, jargonfree advice, it's amazingly easy behavior to change.Executives who hire Goldsmith for one-on-one coaching pay $250,000 for the privilege. With this book, his help is available for 1/10,000th of the price.
Customer Reviews:
Grow the leader inside.......2007-10-14
At the top everyone is smart and accomplished - ok, feel free to argue this one - but all else being equal, Goldsmith argues that it is our behavioral issues and people skills that will ultimate determine how high we can go. Our ability to listen, solicit feedback, identify our behavioral flaws and shift the focus from ourselves to others are integral components of our career path. The author provides a great overview of the most common personality pitfalls and behavioral issues and offers many suggestions to help us improve. An interesting read and well worth everyone's time.
Insightful thoughts based on proven approaches.......2007-10-12
Goldsmith has managed to sustain his edge as a thought leader without unnecessary academic exaggeration. This book is an excellent read for leaders at all levels, and even those who are not. It provides thoughtful lessons on professional and personal development that will resonate with all. I will share it and the book Understanding: Train of Thought with all of my students.
What Got You Here Won't Get You There.......2007-10-09
This is an excellent tool for personal development. If you have a highly successful team, this book is a "must read" for all of them! It will take your staff to new levels of personal development.
Leadership Development 101.......2007-10-03
I have coached over 500 individuals over the last 10 years. I do referral only business. After reading Marshall's book, I felt as if someone punched me hard in the stomach! I at first wanted to dismiss his premise that leaders want to win, be right, and generally look good. Was that me? After careful reflection and becoming introspective, I found Marshall's insights profound, and so simple, not only as a coach, but also as a manager in business. I now use the book as a reference book, and have purchased two copies. For me it's a must read for anyone interested in their personal development, or the development of others.
Good, but not the whole story.......2007-09-16
Bo Burlingham's book offers an interesting look at the ultimate objectives of privately held businesses. Each case is unique and engaging. However, I think Bo could have spent more time discussing exit strategies. Some of the owners stuck with their companies when they could have cashed out and do an even bigger, better company with the proceeds. Risk has to be considered and the failure to more heavily weight this aspect is the only issues I have with Mr. Burlingham's book. I will pass it along to others.
Product Description
Learn to do what you love and love what you do with The 8th Habit, the long awaited follow up to Stephen R. Covey's #1 best-selling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey believes there is a great yearning, in both individuals and organizations, to discover their true "voice," to matter, to make a difference, to find greatness. The 8th Habit can help you acquire a new mindset and the tools—a new habit—to find your voice and your passion. When you do that, you feel more fulfilled and engaged with the world around you and, consequently, with your role in that world.
Customer Reviews:
Pioneering Infromation/Knowledge Based Management Concept.......2007-10-03
As a Senior People and Technology Management Consultant, I too have been frustrated by my voice, and the voice of others, not being heard.
I have also advocated that old Industerial Management techniques can not be applied to an Information/Knowledge Worker Based Management Era with emphessis on Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communal Efforts.
With 25+ years of management in startups and major corporations, I have realized that Mr. Covey's 8th habit, is the foundation to manage and lead greatness, innovation, empwerment, and super effectivity.
Ideas and concepts presented here, including the "Indian Talking Stick" are in agreement with some of the best management and leadership best practices such as the "HP Way", Dale Carnegie, and others.
There are also outstanding examples and suggestions to solve leadership problems.
A must reading!
Bruce Razban,
President/Founder, Razban Internet International,
Silicon VAlley, CA, USA
Habit for Humanity.......2007-09-30
Find your voice and inspire others to do the same. That's habit number eight. To find your voice there must be a conscience-based unity of mind, heart, body, and spirit. As an example, for a person to be fulfilled at work s/he needs to be able to use his/her talents and gifts (Mind), must be passionate about the work (Heart), must be paid fairly (body), and the work must have meaning (Spirit).
After explaining how to achieve personal voice, Covey shows how to achieve and institutionalize organizational voice. It requires the following:
1) Modeling - or setting an example to develop trust.
2) Pathfinding - creating a vision/mission, values, and strategic goals.
3) Aligning - changing structures, systems, processes, etc. to match the pathfinding.
4) Empowering - unleashing people's creativity and various other capabilities.
The concept of the Indian walking stick as a means of communicating and resolving conflict as well as the trim tabbing analogy for bringing about change are also well worth the price tag.
It's not "The Seven Habits," but it's really hard to go wrong with Covey. He genuinely seems to be focused on helping others improve in order to make the world a better place. Actually, the seven habits do weave their way in and out of this book. It also includes quite a few inspirational stories to include the father who leaves his son with the following advice on his deathbed, "Don't do life like I did. I never made a difference." For the first time the son realizes that he wanted his success to reach higher than him.
Nick McCormick - Author, Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager
Finding Identity for Self and Others.......2007-08-27
As with most of the Covey books, there are nuggets of wisdom hidden within this book, the challenge is to find them. The 8th Habit, (defined as `Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs'), attempts to teach one basic paradigm: That people are whole people - body, mind, heart and spirit. But its focus is on the voice. When this `voice' is defined (on page 5) by Covey as the nexus of talent, passion, need, and conscience, it is easy to relate to this foundation element of human nature - our calling or individual identity - from which our contribution to relationships (work or personal) flows.
After getting this identity piece, what may not be so easy to relate to are the next 323 pages of Covey speak, although there is an interesting discussion on the 4 intelligences - Physical, Mental, Emotional, & Spiritual - woven thru the chapters, and Appendix 2, which contains a literature review of leadership theories, was interesting! This book is recommended for those with the time and patience to pan for gold nuggets in a meandering and slow moving stream.
Stephen Covey did it again!.......2007-08-17
This is the perfect book to follow The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Read this book, get your Voice heard.
Surprised by the punch Covey still has.......2007-08-08
I expected to be underwhelmed by this volume. "More of the Covey machine," I thought. I was wrong. This book can reach a part of you that's beyond what you can get to by applying the first 7 habits. "Life changing" is an understatement.
Amazon.com
Using the story/parable format so popular these days, Leadership and Self-Deception takes a novel psychological approach to leadership. It's not what you do that matters, say the authors (presumably plural--the book is credited to the esteemed Arbinger Institute), but why you do it. Latching onto the latest leadership trend won't make people follow you if your motives are selfish--people can smell a rat, even one that says it's trying to empower them. The tricky thing is, we don't know that our motivation is flawed. We deceive ourselves in subtle ways into thinking that we're doing the right thing for the right reason. We really do know what the right thing to do is, but this constant self-justification becomes such an ingrained habit that it's hard to break free of it--it's as though we're trapped in a box, the authors say.
Learning how the process of self-deception works--and how to avoid it and stay in touch with our innate sense of what's right--is at the heart of the book. We follow Tom, an old-school, by-the-book kind of guy who is a newly hired executive at Zagrum Corporation, as two senior executives show him the many ways he's "in the box," how that limits him as a leader in ways he's not aware of, and of course how to get out. This is as much a book about personal transformation as it is about leadership per se. The authors use examples from the characters' private as well as professional lives to show how self-deception skews our view of ourselves and the world and ruins our interactions with people, despite what we sincerely believe are our best intentions.
While the writing won't make John Updike lose any sleep, the story entertainingly does the job of pulling the reader in and making a potentially abstruse argument quite enjoyable. The authors have a much better ear for dialogue than is typical of the genre (the book is largely dialogue), although a certain didactic tone creeps in now and then. But ultimately it's a hopeful, even inspiring read that flows along nicely and conveys a message that more than a few managers need to hear. --Pat McGill
Book Description
The "disease" of self-deception (acting in ways contrary to what one knows is right) underlies all leadership problems in today's organizations, according to the premise of this work. However well intentioned they may be, leaders who deceive themselves always end up undermining their own performance.
This straightforward book explains how leaders can discover their own self-deceptions and learn how to escape destructive patterns. The authors demonstrate that breaking out of these patterns leads to improved teamwork, commitment, trust, communication, motivation, and leadership.
Customer Reviews:
A life Changing Book.......2007-09-27
This book was referred to me by a friend and is a life changing book. I have shared it around the office as well. Well written and an easy read.
Painful slog.......2007-09-21
I received this book as part of a leadership training process. The leader bought a copy for everyone involved. I'm afraid she should have spent the money elsewhere.
Reading the book is a slow painful slog. The story does not draw me in and the prose has the fluidity of cardboard (which is the material used to create the characters).
The thesis, we deceive ourselves by denying our part in creating the problems we face, is valid. It is not, however, new. It's been around since Aristotle, at least.
What I didn't know was hurting me.......2007-09-15
Great book! The things I learned about how I was decieving myself were amazing. Now I have to really think things through so I know why I feel what I feel. I always have a choice to be in or out. If you don't know why I said that, then you need to read the book.
Getting Out of the Box: A New Perspective.......2007-09-10
This is an easy to read book, however, that is no indication of its importance. Tremendously enlightening perspectives presented in a unique frame. A MUST for anyone who interacts with human beings in any arena.
Improve your communication skills with everyone!.......2007-08-31
LEADERSHIP AND SELF DECEPTION IS A BOOK FROM WHICH ALL READERS MAY BENEFIT. I PERSONALLY RECOMMENDED IT TO A CEO OF A SMALL COMPANY, HE SHARED IT WITH ALL OF HIS TEAM LEADERS. I HAVE ALSO ENCOURAGED ACQUANTIANCES TO READ THIS BOOK TO IMPROVE THEIR MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS AS WELL AS THE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR CHILDREN. I GAVE EACH OF MY OWN CHILDREN A COPY; I FEEL THAT IT WILL HELP THEM IN ALL ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATING IN THIER OWN LIVES.
"GETTING OUT OF THE BOX" IS A PRINCIPLE THAT IF PRACTICED WOULD RESULT IN A BETTER WAY OF LIFE. HAPPINESS AND PEACE WOULD ABOUND,PRODUCTION WOULD INCREASE, MENTAL BLURR WOULD DIMINISH, AND FAMILIES AS WELL AS BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS WOULD BE EMPOWERED TO WORK TOWARD COMMON GOALS. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!
Customer Reviews:
Essentials of Firefighting.......2007-03-08
This manual helps not only the new recruit, but the veteren firefighter to enhance their basic training or to review techniques on tasks & operations.
this is a very good book........2005-08-12
i've taught the fire academy using the textbook. it is a very good book for beginning firefighters as well as those who been firefighters for a while.
jim davis
Great Read.......2003-03-01
I recently joined a volunteer fire department and this book
truly helped me through the six months probationary period.
Great!!.......2002-12-02
This is a must have for anyone who aspires to being a firefighter. Vivid descriptions, Helpful tips, How-to Skill Sheets, and Clear illustrations help the student master otherwise difficult material. I'm currently going through firefighting class and would not be able to live without this book.
Firefighter Review.......2002-04-22
The book is excellent in its layout. Is easy to follow and is a very imformative piece of necessary literature for any firefighter taking firefighter 1. Is very informative on NFPA regulations and guidelines. I was impressed with the detail that was given in the book, our instructor was impressed with this book as well.
Amazon.com
Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. The message of Who Moved My Cheese? is that all can come to see it as a blessing, if they understand the nature of cheese and the role it plays in their lives. Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable that takes place in a maze. Four beings live in that maze: Sniff and Scurry are mice--nonanalytical and nonjudgmental, they just want cheese and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Hem and Haw are "littlepeople," mouse-size humans who have an entirely different relationship with cheese. It's not just sustenance to them; it's their self-image. Their lives and belief systems are built around the cheese they've found. Most of us reading the story will see the cheese as something related to our livelihoods--our jobs, our career paths, the industries we work in--although it can stand for anything, from health to relationships. The point of the story is that we have to be alert to changes in the cheese, and be prepared to go running off in search of new sources of cheese when the cheese we have runs out.
Dr. Johnson, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and many other books, presents this parable to business, church groups, schools, military organizations--anyplace where you find people who may fear or resist change. And although more analytical and skeptical readers may find the tale a little too simplistic, its beauty is that it sums up all natural history in just 94 pages: Things change. They always have changed and always will change. And while there's no single way to deal with change, the consequence of pretending change won't happen is always the same: The cheese runs out. --Lou Schuler
Book Description
The Change Survival Kit is an A-Mazing Way to Deal with Changes in Your Work and in Your Life. It reminds you to use what you discovered in the "Cheese" story - and enjoy it!
The kit contains:
A copy of the #1 Hardcover Book
12 Animated Reminders
24 Screen Saver Prompts
12 Desktop Wallpapers
Photo-Top Mouse pad
FREE! Multi-Level Maze Game
Customer Reviews:
Simplified change.......2007-10-15
Got an hour to fill? That's how long it'll take to read. As many have stated, company heads and consultant groups hand this book out to employees when there are about to be changes in the company. Basically, this is a very simplified parable on four different takes on how to deal with change. Of course at the end you are supposed to decide which of the characters you currently are. Sniff - you actively move about seeking change. Scurry - you move about and quickly adapt to the change to make things happen. And then there's Hem and Haw. Both resist change and stick to the old expecting it to return to the promised treasures. Eventually Haw decides that staying in one place with no rewards is not progressing so opts to go seek change on his struggling legs. The Hem remains obstinant and refuses to change and his fate fades away. Of course no one wants to claim they are Hem but most people are. One of my favorite bits in the book is the statement along the lines of "If you can't change, you may become extinct."
Overall this is a very simple take on how people can adapt to change in their personal and professional lives. Seems quite similar on how to change your personal attitude and outlook that is presented in Benjamin Hoff's "Tao of Pooh". If you're in a company that is about to use outside consulting, expect to get 'homework' to read this book.
Great book.......2007-10-15
This is a fantastic book about reassessing your life and career. I've given it to friends after reading it myself.
It's an OK book.......2007-10-04
Just like most of the people, I got this book from my employer (I hope it's not a sign of restructuring :)).
I'm afraid that I do a too good job of reviewing the book one would no longer need to buy it anymore. In essence, the whole book can be summarized in about 10 statements. In all fairness though, these are insightful and worth meditating on statements.
So, like I said... An OK book.
Thought Provoking.......2007-10-03
The book is an easy and quick read but the story will put thoughts in your head that you will think about for years if not a lifetime. Life brings us all challenges so this book is for all of us... That is, unless your life is perfect.
Genuinely Insulting..........2007-09-29
Genuinely insulting to the independent thinker. Yeah I know, it's been said countless times but I felt the need to reinforce that notion. If you're someone that's more comfortable being a follower and having your life and work environment structured for you then you're more likely to enjoy this book and find something meaningful in it. If you're someone that uses logic and reason to guide your decisions then don't waste your time or money on this rehashed brainwashing manual. This is a book written for unquestioning, mindless followers, not a book for leaders. But a tool that leaders would use to try and control their subordinates.
Books:
- The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough (American Institute Architects)
- The Social Styles Handbook: Find Your Comfort Zone and Make People Feel Comfortable with You
- The United Arab Emirates: A Study In Survival (Middle East in the International System)
- Tile Your World: John Bridge's New Tile Setting Book
- Versailles
- VoiceXML 2.0 Developer's Guide : Building Professional Voice-enabled Applications with JSP, ASP & Coldfusion
- William Morris: Decor and Design
- Woodshop Dust Control: A Complete Guide to Setting Up Your Own System: Completely Revised and Updated
- Xeriscape Handbook: A How-To Guide to Natural, Resource-Wise Gardening
- 101 Kitchens: Stylish Room Solutions (101 Rooms)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- John Adair: The Handbook of Management and Leadership
- Angels Within Us: A Spiritual Guide to the Twenty-Two Angels That Govern Our Lives
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- Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller, and Countrywoman
- A Manual For Eucharistic Visitors
- Project Financing 6th Edition
- The Environmentalism of the Poor: A Study of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation
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The Secret (Extended Edition)
You: On a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management
The Science of Success: How to Attract Prosperity and Create Harmonic Wealth Through Proven Principles
Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
