BOOKWORM.PH

From Scientific American
Audible Ready: On the football field, when the game plan just isn't working, that coach and team ready to execute substitute plays inevitably have the edge. Just as Dan Marino's on-field "audibles" (verbal commands) can turn crises situations into game-winning touchdowns, the office quarterback prepared with a variety of options can execute quick, on-target decisions in the face of unexpected change or challenges.
Consistency: The same reactions in similar circumstances may not seem a lot to ask of a leader - but many bosses let their moods, their "toughness," or their need to be liked get in the way when it comes to offering appropriate praise or reprimands. For Shula and Blanchard, the rule is simple: "You can't let poor performance go unnoticed - even from a superstar. The same goes for good performance - performance is all-important; that's what you need to respond to on a consistent basis."

Honesty-based: Effective leaders, Shula and Blanchard maintain, are always straightforward in their dealings with other people. Shula sets out to win fair and square and makes sure his team does the same: It's no coincidence that during Shula's seasons with Miami the Dolphins have been the least penalized team in the NFL. Though penalties in the corporate sector are less immediate than those in a stadium, studies show that the decline of ethics and integrity in a business inevitably lead to the decline of that business. Business leaders who tell it straight, who are open and honest even about bad news, develop the trust essential for strong long-term relationships - inside and outside of the company.

Featuring vignettes drawn from Shula's training sessions and actual Dolphin games, and from the corporate offices where Blanchard has encountered the best - and the worst - of management coaches, Everyone's a Coach sends leaders well on their way to creating a championship team.

From Booklist
Examples from the game of football are often used to illustrate determination, overcoming adversity and long odds, competition, and success; and our everyday language is filled with gridiron metaphors and memorable quotes. It is only natural, then, that Shula, the coach with more wins in professional football than any other, should write about inspiring others to win. He provided similar guidance with The Winning Edge (1973), his account of his success in turning around the ineffectual Miami Dolphins. He now teams up with Blanchard, author of the best-selling One Minute Manager (1982) and its popular sequels. Alternately, the two dispense their advice using key points based on the somewhat forced mnemonic COACH (conviction-driven, overlearning, audible ready, consistency, and honesty). Shula, a deeply religious person, includes frequent references to his faith and God. Blanchard, meanwhile, sings the praises of Shula and offers up business applications of Shula's playing-field tactics. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
From winning the attention of the boss to focusing on the causes of problems with children and everything in between, this guide provides specific solutions, step-by-step advice, and examples readers can follow to turn communication challenges into rewarding opportunities.

Review
“Executive Intelligence” is a breakthrough.” (Noel M. Tichy, Professor, The Ross School, University of Michigan and author of Cycle of Leadership )

“Executive Intelligence offers real insights into what differentiates the great leaders from the pack.” (Kevin Sharer: Chairman, President & CEO of Amgen, Inc )

“Menkes offers a stimulating analysis of an important topic.” (BusinessWeek )

Menkes does a great job of dissecting executive intelligence -- the ability to analyze and solve problems in a business environment.” (James M. Kilts, Chairman, President & CEO, The Gillette Company )

“Justin Menkes has provided a useful guide for helping to identify the people you want to bet your company on.” (Ed Breen, Chairman & CEO, Tyco International Ltd. )

“This will transform the way companies hire, promote and evaluate senior-level employees. It is nothing less than a revolution.” (James M. Citrin, board director and practice leader, Spencer Stuart, and coauthor of the national bestsellers The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers and You’re in Charge, Now What )
Product Description

The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers—and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.

Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the 'right' people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.

In a sense, Menkes's work reveals an executive IQ—the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognise the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.

Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.

Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.

Fueled by the drive to be bigger and better, today's church has adopted principles and practices created by the corporate world. The result is a toxic mix of the spiritual and the secular, where success is measured in numbers, and pastors are encouraged to become CEO superstars.

In short, the world is infl uencing the church. How do we get back to a biblical foundation for leadership and church development?

Trusted and best-selling author Don Cousins will take you on a groundbreaking exploration of what makes a church leader successful. Lead using the gifts God has given you. Fulfi ll your calling to be a leader who equips others for the work of service. Experience God's blessings as you carry out His work, His way.
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Experiencing LeaderShift Together is a curriculum designed to guide ministry teams and small groups through the core principles of LeaderShift. learn more » Experiencing Leadership Together Participant's Guide
Experiencing LeaderShift Together is a curriculum designed to guide ministry teams through the core principles of LeaderShift.
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About the Author
Former associate pastor and one of the founding leaders of Willow Creek Community Church, Don Cousins has been equipping leaders for more than thirty years. He is the coauthor of the Medallion award-winning, gifts-based curriculum study Network. Don resides in Holland, Michigan, with his wife, MaryAnn, and their three children.Bruce Bugbee is the founder and president of Network Ministries International. He is also an executive for the Far West Region of the Reformed Church in America. He emphasizes leadership development and gift-based ministry teams throughout the country and in all kinds of churches. He is the author of What You Do Best in the Body of Christ and Discover Your Spiritual Gifts the Network Way (Zondervan).

Amazon.com Review
Competently managing a group of peers is unquestionably among the most difficult of workplace tasks, but key steps that produce success are laid out so clearly by consultants Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister in First Among Equals that even those who completely lack experience should find the process feasible and effective. McKenna and Maister focus on leading teams of professionals--often composed of people who don't feel like they are part of a team or in need of leadership--by transforming the way managers assume responsibility and direct members. "Success in helping your group succeed is mostly about you. Not them," they write. Their book starts by explaining how to prepare for the job ahead, for example, by meeting informally with participants and displaying sincere interest in things that matter to them. It then explores coaching the individuals involved (offering methods for gaining acceptance, building rapport, assisting underperformers and dealing with prima donnas) and guiding the collective group (by developing rules, building trust, invigorating meetings, and resolving conflicts). Finally, it proposes measures for continued success, such as integrating new hires and gauging performance. Dozens of self-assessment questionnaires and diagnostic tests help make this an exceptionally practical guidebook on a critical but oft-neglected topic. --Howard Rothman

From Publishers Weekly
Organizations are more successful when they mold highly talented individuals into a cohesive group. But most talented people especially professionals hate to be managed. How to resolve this tension is the subject of this tightly focused, effective book by consultants McKenna (Herding Cats) and Maister (Practice What You Preach). Recognizing that all groups of professionals are different, the authors don't set off to create sweeping rules. Rather, they divide the task of leading groups of professionals into three parts what one must accomplish as the leader; how one wants to interact with individual members of the group; and how one wants to deal with the group as a whole and then offer concrete suggestions. A big part of this book's appeal is the authors' inherent understanding of how professionals resist overtly and otherwise being managed. Not surprisingly, McKenna and Maister spend a great deal of time explaining strategies for getting colleagues to agree to being led. They are particularly effective in outlining approaches for dealing with talented prima donnas (e.g., "listen to the individual's reasons for this behavior" and "inform the individual how improved behavior will improve his or her career"). This is a valuable resource for anyone in the position of trying to manage someone who was and still is, to a large extent a peer.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Amazon.com Review
What are the most important things in your life? Do they get as much care, emphasis, and time as you'd like to give them? Far from the traditional "be-more-efficient" time-management book with shortcut techniques, First Things First shows you how to look at your use of time totally differently. Using this book will help you create balance between your personal and professional responsibilities by putting first things first and acting on them. Covey teaches an organizing process that helps you categorize tasks so you focus on what is important, not merely what is urgent. First you divide tasks into these quadrants:

1. Important and Urgent (crises, deadline-driven projects)
2. Important, Not Urgent (preparation, prevention, planning, relationships)
3. Urgent, Not Important (interruptions, many pressing matters)
4. Not Urgent, Not Important (trivia, time wasters)

Most people spend most of their time in quadrants 1 and 3, while quadrant 2 is where quality happens. "Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things," says Covey. He points you toward the real human needs--"to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy"--and how to balance your time to achieve a meaningful life, not just get things done. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly
This is the latest time-management book from the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Sheahan, consultant and Young Turk of the business world, turns conventional wisdom around to discover marketing techniques effective with today's younger consumers, "who can't go to the toilet without phoning five of their friends." Sheahan puts forth business model-shattering concepts like gaining control by giving it up: allowing customers, networks and rank-and-file employees to improve products through feedback, interaction and inclusiveness. He even "flips"conventional thinking on outsourcing: "It is one thing to make products or do the paperwork for the world cheaply, and it is another entirely to innovate, design and sell goods and services to the world's advanced consumer markets." Sheahan illustrates his points convincingly with examples pulled from the business headlines, though some of his ideas may strike readers as overly dramatic and hard to follow, like putting as much effort into staff satisfaction as into customer satisfaction. Elsewhere, readers will find business fundamentals updated ("absolutely, positively sweat the small stuff" and "you've got to be fast, good, cheap, and more!"), and increasingly familiar lessons on exploiting a niche ("Mass-market success: Find it on the fringe"). Business owners and decision makers trying to capture the hearts and minds of today's younger consumers will find this a helpful guide.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What do the superstars of modern business have in common? An ability to "flip"—to think counterintuitively and then act boldly, with no regard for "business as usual" conventions. one of the youngest and fastest-rising stars on the international consulting and speaking circuit, Peter Sheahan reveals how the world's most effective organizations and individuals distinguish themselves from the competition instead of running with the pack.

Sheahan explores six major flips

* Action Creates Clarity—to move forward you must act in spite of ambiguity.
* Fast, Good, Cheap: Pick Three, Then Add Something Extra—the new standard in every industry.
* To develop competitive advantage, you must Absolutely, Positively Sweat the Small Stuff.
* Satisfy customers' needs for engagement and contact—it's not "just business"—Business Is Personal.
* To win mass-market success, be courageous, Find It on the Fringe, and separate yourself from the competitive herd.
* To Get Control, Give It Up—empower others to create, dream, and believe for you.

Stick to what you learned in business school at your peril. Today's small-world economy calls for a new way of doing business. It calls for Flip.

Amazon.com Review
Focal Point is author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy's latest guide to professional and personal development. Combining the basic principles of career success and life balance he has advocated in the past with anecdotes for inspiration, the book proposes a unified approach to simultaneously achieving improvement at work and at home. The crux is finding the "focal point" in all pertinent areas--business, family, finances, health--and then launching a seven-step "personal strategic plan" that "helps you identify exactly what is most important to you ... identify what you need to do to achieve your most important goals (and) determine the steps you have to take to get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go." Tracy shows quite explicitly how to incorporate the specific phases of the process, including Values, Vision, Goals, Knowledge and Skills, Habits, Daily Activities, and Actions, into a drive for long-term growth and overall advancement. Not all who follow Tracy's program will find their incomes doubled and work hours pared while their personal relationships blossom, of course, but anyone who applies it diligently should see definite improvement. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"This is a book that needs to be reread whenever you think you've lost your focus." -- Jim Pawlak, syndicated columnist

"Tracy's book offers relief to frustrated business people with too many professional and personal demands on their time." -- Time.com

After reading this book,you can accomplish more in the next coulpe of years than most people achieve in a lifetime" -- Today's Chicago Woman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon.com Review
Focal Point is author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy's latest guide to professional and personal development. Combining the basic principles of career success and life balance he has advocated in the past with anecdotes for inspiration, the book proposes a unified approach to simultaneously achieving improvement at work and at home. The crux is finding the "focal point" in all pertinent areas--business, family, finances, health--and then launching a seven-step "personal strategic plan" that "helps you identify exactly what is most important to you ... identify what you need to do to achieve your most important goals (and) determine the steps you have to take to get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go." Tracy shows quite explicitly how to incorporate the specific phases of the process, including Values, Vision, Goals, Knowledge and Skills, Habits, Daily Activities, and Actions, into a drive for long-term growth and overall advancement. Not all who follow Tracy's program will find their incomes doubled and work hours pared while their personal relationships blossom, of course, but anyone who applies it diligently should see definite improvement. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"This is a book that needs to be reread whenever you think you've lost your focus." -- Jim Pawlak, syndicated columnist

"Tracy's book offers relief to frustrated business people with too many professional and personal demands on their time." -- Time.com

After reading this book,you can accomplish more in the next coulpe of years than most people achieve in a lifetime" -- Today's Chicago Woman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
A sequel to Andrew Matthew's "Being Happy" and "Making Friends", this is a simple and practical guide for anyone who wants to find purpose in their life and work. It is about: doing what one loves; dealing with bills and broken legs; discovering one's own power; finding peace of mind; dealing with disasters; and not blaming one's mother. The book is also about: how happy people think; why rich people make money, even by accident; and what losers do, and how not to be like them. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"2+2 is a revolutionary approach to performance appraisal that provides a key building block for leaders to be effective coaches." -- Noel M. Tichy, coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Engine and The Cycle of Leadership

"Formula 2+2 shows managers and employees alike how to balance encouragement with suggestions for improvement ." -- Jack Canfield, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul

"If you think managing and evaluating employees is frustrating, time-consuming, and exhausting, then read this book-right now! " -- Dorothy Marcic, faculty member at Vanderbilt University and author of Managing with the Wisdom of Love

"Read this book. Practice the concepts presented. I guarantee it will make a difference in the way your organization operates." -- Ken Blanchard, coauthor The One Minute Manager

"The 2+2 system allows managers to address positive and negative aspects of performance, encouraging feedback with a constructive spirit." -- Xu Erming, Dean, School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing

Product Description
Even the best managers often view employee coaching and feedback as necessary evils, tasks to be done with little enthusiasm and as rarely as possible. Formula 2 + 2 provides managers with a simple yet powerful approach to revolutionizing feedback conversations and making them a regular and even welcome part of their duties. Based on the assertion that feedback is most effective when motivated by a spirit of helpfulness and a sincere desire to help employees succeed, the book explains five concepts — timeliness, balance, focus, specificity, and follow-up — that transform correction into encouragement, build an atmosphere of trust, and create positive and productive performance evaluations. The simple steps outlined in Formula 2 + 2 result in a more engaged and productive workforce and a more effective manager.

"Remarkably emotional... a gripping book."--The New York Times Book Review.

"A fine and lucid book, teeming with vitality... Schwarzkopf is a compelling storyteller.--Los Angeles Times.

"A must-read... a riveting reminder that one man can influence major events."--Detroit Free Press.

"An excellent book by an excellent man."--The Wall Street Journal -- Review

In Gettin' There, bestselling author Steve Farrar delves into the book of Psalms to give men a new sense of continuity, direction, purpose, and perspective. The Psalms are like a marked trail through life, showing that others have walked ahead and faced many of the challenges, temptations, heartaches, and perplexities that men will encounter on their journeys. Farrar shows that when a man begins to understand that the strong and caring hand of God is sovereign over everything in his life -- including his trials and heartaches -- his confidence, hope, and joy will increase dramatically in the God who created him and desires to use him. Now in paperback!

About the Author
Steve Farrar is the founder and chairman of Men's Leadership Ministries in Bryan/College Station, Texas, and brings his message to thousands of men each year. He holds a master's degree from Western Seminary and an earned doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary.

From Publishers Weekly
Ronald Reagan was just a B-list actor when Winston Churchill assumed control over Europe's fate. Even as president, Reagan remained at heart a California rancher with Midwestern roots, while Churchill was a British aristocrat groomed for the political stage from a young age. Despite these obvious differences, American Enterprise Institute fellow Hayward (The Age of Reagan; Churchill on Leadership) argues that the two icons possessed the same essential ingredients for the making of political greatness: boundless vision and imagination; a capacity for strength and optimism, even humor, in the face of crisis; an iron will; and a denunciation of evil, embodied most famously in Churchill's Iron Curtain speech and Reagan's "evil empire" and "tear down this wall" counterparts. While the two were essentially conservative figures, Hayward's analysis is not innately political but is, rather, marked by balanced insightfulness. Finally, the author argues, with an optimism worthy of his subjects, that political greatness in the 21st century—an ostensible oxymoron at times—is not only necessary but possible. This is a useful primer for students of political science, not to mention politicians, in the essential qualities of truly great leaders. (Oct. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Hayward compares and contrasts two stalwarts of conservatives' twentieth-century pantheon. Sympathetic to Reaganism, Hayward finds similarities between Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan and strives to generalize them as generic attributes of political greatness. Perhaps that will expand his audience; in any case, admirers of his two subjects will be reinforced in their views by Hayward's observations. These typically reflect off the criticisms made of Churchill and Reagan by contemporaries, such as their fear of wielding power. This attitude was not the preserve of socialist or liberal opponents but existed in the men's own parties. Consequently, both men experienced a "wilderness" period before events moved toward their way of thinking, a validation in their own minds, in Hayward's argument, that providence had marked them for a special historical mission. Imagination was also behind their conservatism, which was instinctual rather than intellectual, Reagan characteristically explaining his policies anecdotally. Concluding with their repugnance for the Soviet system--which each believed, against the grain of realpolitik, was destined for collapse--Hayward's essay previews his forthcoming history of the Reagan presidency. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal
In these days where the computer reigns supreme and management thought is presented in complicated models, there is something refreshing about management principles taught by allegory. Blanchard (The One Minute Manager, LJ 3/1/84), along with coauthor Bowles (Raving Fans, Morrow, 1993) recounts an organizational turnaround based on three Native American lessons. In "The Spirit of the Squirrel," the lesson is one of the power of worthwhile work. In "The Way of the Beaver," the lesson is accomplished through empowerment. In "The Gift of the Goose," the lesson is the exponential factor of motivation. The problem inherent in the principles in this work, or any change program from weight-loss diets on up, is that there needs to be constant focus; success, if it is not continually renewed, is dissipated over time. Although new, this work makes a good preface and companion to Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox's The Goal (North River, 1992. 2d ed.).?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
""Gung Ho!" will make a difference in your life, and in the lives of all of those you have theprivilege to touch."-- Anthony Robbins, author of "Awaken the Giant Within"and "Unlimited Power"""Gung Ho!" will become the preeminent book in energizing and empowering people as "The One Minute Manager? has become for management and "Raving Fans for customer service."-- Harvey Mackay, author of "Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive"and "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty""Aboriginal North Americans are running banks and hospitals, designing computers and teaching in universities. They own and operate thousands upon thousands of successful businesses. It's nice to have the business-book world finally catch up to reality and give us Andy Longclaw, a man who saved 1,500 jobs and may well save yours." -- Phil Fontaine, Grand Chief, Assembly of Canadian Chiefs"Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles strike again. "You need and "business needs "Gung Ho!" This book will revolutionize any organization which adopts it, and those that don't won't survive. It's that simple."-- Tom Peters, co-author of "In Search of Excellence""I predict that like "Raving Fans" and "The One Minute Manager?, Gung Ho!" will become an invaluable tool in our team's pursuit of excellence. It conveys meaningful lessons about motivation, inspiration, and goal-setting that any organization can put to immediate use."-- Sally Gore, Human Resources Leader, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.""Gung Ho!" shows in three easy steps how to release the energy and enthusiasm of your whole team and focus it on success. A great book."-- Stephen R. Covey, author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

From Publishers Weekly
In this brief but significant book, the authors, a grandfather-grandson team, explore how using positive psychology in everyday interactions can dramatically change our lives. Clifton (coauthor of Now, Discover Your Strengths) and Rath suggest that we all have a bucket within us that needs to be filled with positive experiences, such as recognition or praise. When we're negative toward others, we use a dipper to remove from their buckets and diminish their positive outlook. When we treat others in a positive manner, we fill not only their buckets but ours as well. The authors illustrate how this principle works in the areas of business and management, marriage and other personal relationships and in parenting through studies covering a 40-year span, many in association with the Gallup Poll. While acknowledging that most lives have their share of misfortune, the authors also make clear that how misfortune affects individuals depends largely on their level of positive energy and confidence. The authors also underscore that our human interactions provide most of the joys or disappointments we receive from life. The book comes with a unique access code to www.bucketbook.com, which offers a positive impact assessment and drop-shaped note cards that can be used to give praise and recognition to others.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"50 years of research . . . reveal how positive reinforcement can powerfully boost productivity, satisfaction, and stability in all kinds of organizations." -- Entrepreneur magazine, September 2004

"For all the veneer of easygoing pleasantry, this is serious business." -- USA Today, August 30, 2004

"Kindness really is contagious." -- Ladies’ Home Journal, November, 2004

"Tangible, actionable steps to help turn your workplace into a bustling bastion of positivity and productivity." -- Selling Power magazine, September, 2004

"This positive give-and-take leads to solid marriages, higher worker satisfaction and productivity, and a happier world." -- O, The Oprah Magazine , October, 2004 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Most books about career advancement are either weighty examinations about success in the workplace (e.g., How to Be a Star at Work and Working with Emotional Intelligence) or flippant, humorous takes on surviving the countless inanities of modern work life (e.g., Working Wounded). Jeffrey Fox's book, How to Become CEO: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization is neither. Instead, Fox presents 75 commonsense rules about successfully conducting your career.

Rules like "Know Everybody by Their First Name" and "No Goals No Glory" may seem obvious; others, such as "Don't Take Work Home from the Office" or "Don't Have a Drink with the Gang" may not. Each is accompanied by page or two of succinct and thought-provoking explanation. For example, for rule 27, "Don't Hide an Elephant," Fox writes, "Big problems always surface. If they have been hidden, even unintentionally, the negative fallout is always worse. The 'hiders' always get burned, regardless of complicity. The 'discoverers' always are safe, regardless of complicity." Wise and to the point, How to Become CEO will help just about anybody's career, whether you want to become CEO or not. --Harry C. Edwards
From Booklist
Fox heads his own marketing consulting company, and he demonstrates here that he knows how to package an idea. While there is nothing especially original about a list of rules for getting ahead, Fox's guide is filled with 75 tips that are short, sweet, and to the point. Moreover, the ideas themselves are fresh. You have to admire the pluck of someone who counsels spending one day a month in the library and recommends sending handwritten notes. For each suggestion, Fox includes one or two pages of elaboration. Other advice: Always take vacations. Always take the job that offers the most money. Never write a nasty memo. Don't take work home from the office. Never let a good boss make a mistake. And, nary a mention of Machiavelli or Sun-Tzu. Refreshing! David Rouse

The bestselling author of How to Become CEO returns with a pithy, smart, and useful collection of wisdom learned by business leaders at their own family dinners

Do you want to get to the top? Do you want to know how to rise above the crowd and become a leader in your field? Then this is the book for you. In How to Get to the Top, bestselling author Jeffrey J. Fox combines his own experience as an extremely successful entrepreneur with lessons learned at the family dinner table by business leaders such as Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks; Tom Chappell, founder of Tom’s of Maine; Leslie Blodgett, CEO of Bare Escentuals; and George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the New York Yankees. The essential guide on how to get to the top -- and stay there -- this compelling book contains hard-hitting advice on independence and self-reliance, management dynamics, and problem solving, including:

--You can’t unsour the milk.
--Speak sweetly: You may have to eat your words.
--Tip as if you were the tippee.
--Act like you own the place.
--You have to know the rules to break them.
--Never be late.
--Always compliment the chef . . . especially at home.
--Teach your girls to whistle.
--Spend the company’s money as you would your own.
--Don’t teach the quarterback to catch.