No comments about How to Master the Art of Selling Anything (12 Audiotapes) (The most effective sales training program ever produced!).

5 comments about The WINNER WITHIN: A Life Plan for Team Players.

1. I am a first year basketball coach and found this book very inspirational. It makes me want to work even harder than I have and set higher standards for myself. Pat Riley is an excellent motivator and role model. I like any coach who is willing to write about his major losses in his career as well as greatest triumphs. A must read for any coach. However, he needs to write a sequel since he won his new title this summer. Go Heat!



2. This is a book about how Pat Riley coaches to get out of the individual the Winner Within. There are 12 short chapters in this 271 page book with many quotes from many great individuals throughout history including this one from Sir Winston Churchill: "Success is never final."
   
   Shaq has stated the Riley is the most motivating speaker he has ever heard and after reading this book I think you will get a feel for what he meant. Most of the book focuses on Basketball and the Lakers. But there are some good business principles scattered throughout the book that will inspire you to be the best. Riley lets you into his mind so you can see his thoughts and how he worked to get the most out of his team to bring home the championship. It's a great book that will prove a quick read.



3. He is the ultimate strategist, always thinking ahead and planning every act of inspiration and conversation he might use to channel more out of his players than they were currently giving. In 'The Winner Within', Pat Riley shares his tactics for converting his basketball teams into units with an emphasis on the greater good. The highlights of this book came for me in the following:
   
   * Pat Riley's acceptance of being in the right place at the right time when the Lakers needed a head coach and how preparation added to his own confidence that he could succeed at a high level.
   
   * Riley's view on the strengthening process of one's mentality and how being thrown the wolves can be a very healthy experience.
   
   * Making the LA Lakers a team instead a collection of self-serving, finger-pointing superstars. He mentions tactics he employed on each of his different leaders, including ways to use Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's moody eccentricities as a leadership tool.
   
   * How embracing success hurt the Lakers in the mid-eighties and the ways Riley developed a plan to combat complacency on the team.
   
   * How leaders in any profession must be willing to confront cancerous team members swiftly and thoroughly.
   
   * Riley's methods of using strategic moments of temporary insanity and how this can be highly beneficial to the overall good of the team.
   
   * When to know your time is done and move on, as he did when he left LA for New York in 1990.
   
   * Setting reasonable goals that are both attainable and difficult. For example, his 1992 New York Knicks set the goals of being the most hated team in the league, the most conditioned team in the league, and the most professional team in the league. To a T, they succeeded in meeting all their goals.
   
   Riley is very open and honest in this book. He admits that he knew his Knicks would have zero chance of beating the Bulls in a do-or-die game seven in 1992. He had predicted Jordan would get calls and go to the line, and that Ewing would get into foul trouble quickly. Both of his predictions became eerily true. He admits that you must know your place in the pecking order and follow this format:
   
   #1. From nobody to upstart
   #2. From upstart to contender
   #3. From contender to winner
   #4. From winner to champion
   #5. From champion to dynasty
   
   Riley's book is also filled with numerous quotes from histories great minds and leaders. Each quote helps highlight what Riley is trying to emphasize.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who is or hopes to be a manager in any avenue in life. Riley gives a clear-cut format to achieving goals as a leader.



4. I am reading this book again.. prob the 5 time and I have used about 3 different colors of hi-liter so far. I recommend it and even used the lesson and guidance to help me with my addiction issues this time around.
   
   First time it was family issues, then 2nd time was work issues, third time was deaths in family and fourth time was post college work issues. Its been there for me everytime and this time along with Tx, I am using it again.



5. The Winner Within actually gets 4.5 stars from me. If you like team sports, not even basketball, this book will get to you. When you're in business and are strongly dependent on good teamwork, his lessons can be transformed to business life.
   
   Riley's success is known throughout the US. Being European and less familiar with the person itself it gives me good fundamentals for judging without strings attached. I think his methods work. His methods work, but they may not last or can be implemented in any situation. You have to take the best 60% of his method and mix it with your own beliefs and culture. This last 40% will be your adaptability withing your own situation.
   
   I have learned a great deal reading this book, as I was soon to become a business owner with a team of programmers. Riley's methods definitly helped me in creating my own team and, as important, my own style.
   
   Read it, absorb it, use it. Do not copy it.

5 comments about Pepys' Diary (Classic, HighBridge).

1. I loved these tapes. I concur with the reviews that they are addictive - better for a long country ride than a harried rush hour. Then let Pepys (Branagh) be your witty and engrossing travel companion.
   
   It obviously helps to be familar with the Restoration to enhance your enjoyment of these diaries; though many with even a general background will still find them entertaining. Highly recommended.



2. Samuel Pepys' Pepys' Diary is an outstanding classic which comes to life in audio cd format, narrated by Kenneth Branagh whose background in film and direction lend to a vivid narrative indeed. Pepys' classic has lasted centuries because it records in vivid descriptions the bygone world of 17th-century London life: this vivid written word in turn translates well into audio and brings a rich history to life.



3. Of course it is not the complete Pepy's diary but is wonderful to listen to while on long drives. Kenneth Brannagh as the reader brings life into the English language of yesterday. I wonder if a movie is in the offing.



4. 
   I chose to listen to this book because I felt I "should" be better acquainted with what can arguably be called the most famous diary in history. I looked upon it as a chore that would improve my mind.
   
   I may have, indeed, improved my mind but it turned out to be no chore! What an absolute delight. I've read many historical novels that weren't half as exciting, funny and fascinating as this book. I kept having to remind myself that this man REALLY lived through all these things -- the plague, the great London fire, the machinations of the court.
   
   Plus, his willingness to expose in frank (and sometimes bawdy) detail his personal life, health, sexual dalliances, etc., brought *him* as well as his times vividly to life.
   
   I doubt if trying to read through the actual diary would be as much fun, but the editors' careful selection of entries culled out the best bits while never losing continuity.
   
   And what more can I add to the praise of Branagh as narrator? The man is a phenomenal talent and shows it in this book. Never over-acting, he manages to convey a perfect tone (for instance, just the hint of a whisper at the more personal parts, as though Pepys was confiding in us).
   
   All in all, this book convinced me that improving my mind doesn't HAVE to be tedious.



5. Used to listen to this on tape and wanted to replace it with cd so I could listen to it in the car. If you want to get a taste of life in 1660's London, this is it. The written diaries are also fascinating but fairly hard to read, so Kenneth Branagh helps us out here. Anyone interested in English history will be very pleased with this diary. If you don't yet know who Pepys is then, for sure, you need to buy this. I've listened to it at least twice over the years and alway hear something new with each listening. Highly recommended!

2 comments about Managing for the Future (New Millennium Business Classics).

1. It is difficult to know how much value it is possible to get from reading a book that examines future trends nearly 15 years after it was published. The earliest essay in this book was written in 1986. There is a nearly inevitable dated feel to this kind of selection that would kill the work entirely for lesser thinkers.
   
   Being Drucker, however, there is still an awful lot to draw from this collection. Divided into four parts (economics, people, management and the organization), there are a number of absolutely brilliant essays. Favorites are hard to choose, but I particularly recommend "The Poverty of Economic Theory" and "Permanent Cost Cutting: Permanent Policy".
   
   As usual from Drucker, darned good reading-- insightful and smart.



2. 1. Contrary to popular belief, many of the US multinationals are advancing rather than retrenching in Western Europe and in Japan.
   
   2. A small car plant in Fremont, Ca is jointly owned by GM and Toyota and was designed to teach GM how to build small cars profitably. The two cars produced are the Chevrolet Nova and the Toyota Corolla FX.
   
   3. Going transnational is not confined to manufacturing firms. Companies become transnational to gain leadership positions in the developed world.
   
   4. In an age of sharp and violent currency fluctuations, this means a leader must be able to innovate, to produce and to market in every area of the developed world - or else be defenseless against competition should foreign-exchange rates sharply shift.
   
   5. In the early 80s, currency fluctuations approached 50 percent due to a stronger dollar and high interest rates. The world market share of manufactured goods produced by the US based companies stayed at 20 to 22 percent, a level sustained since the 60s. Exports decreased in steel, automobiles, consumer electronics, machine tools, and semiconductors. American manufacturers with Western European ventures substantially increased their market penetration in computers and computer software, in pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, telecommunication equipment, and financial services.
   
   6. No company was hit harder in the early 80s by the tide of Japanese imports into the US than Ford. What saved Ford was its leadership position in the European Market, giving profits and cash flow to pull it through the dismal years. Major US banks accounted for 50 percent of the services during this time period.
   
   7. International trade has been steadily slowing down for the most of the past decade. But international investment is booming as never before. Most of the investments are in securities. A third is permanent investment in manufacturing and financial services. Trade is becoming dependant on investment.
   
   8. One-fifth of the capital invested in US manufacturing firms is in facilities outside the US. About One fifth of the output of US manufacturing is offshore. Three quarters of the output is for sale abroad and one quarter is exported back to the US. Major American commercial banks and major brokerage firms have assets invested abroad through foreign branches.
   
   9. Protectionism is a minor factor in international investment.
   
   10. The protection of foreign investment in case of war is in the self-interest of every single free world country.
   
   11. World investment rather than world trade will be driving the international economy. Exchange rates, taxes, and legal rules will become more important than wage rate and tariffs.
   
   12. Between 1986 and 1991 US manufacturing exports nearly doubled with big sales to Japan and West Germany. The export boom fuel US economic expansion. The list of export items during the economic jump, included: jet engines, heart valves, and sophisticated software. It included no tech items, such as, movies and rock recording, running shoes, blue jeans, and office furniture. Among the star performers were firms that have been active in the world economy for a long time and many who for decades had big plans aboard.
   
   13. All successful export products had clear product differentiation. They were distinct. The successfully export products were high value added goods. Most of the export successes had clearly defined markets and clearly known customers. The world market is a foreign market only in statistics.
   
   14. The winners in the US boom were middle-sized companies with high expertise in a given field. They are all single-product or single technology companies.
   
   15. A successful exporter must manage foreign exchange exposure and avoid foreign exchange losses.
   
   16. Exporting and manufacturing abroad complement each other.
   
   17. Quality, design, service, innovation, marketing have become more important than low wages. Low wages does not give enough of a competitive advantage to matter. Transportation, communications, travel, insurance, and finance offset labor savings with increased cost of distance.
   
   18. Blue-collar costs in US manufacturing account for 18 percent of total costs. Labor Costs are dropping as productivity is rising. GM still has a blue collar cost of nearly 30 percent - in part becomes of the restrictive work rules in its union contract. Toyota and Honda in US plants want to reduce labor costs to 15 percent within a decade.
   
   19. Japan wants control of brainpower.
   
   20. Japanese companies are quickly restructuring their organizations on the assumption that the winner in a competitive world economy is going to be the firm that effectively shortens the product life of its own products. New accounting measures time costs against the benefits of finished-goods inventory.
   
   21. Statistical Quality Control, SQC is a rigorous scientific method of identifying the quality and productivity that can be expected from a given production process in its current form so that control of quality and productivity can be built into the process. SQC can instantly spot malfunctions and show where they occur, a worn tool, a dirty spray gun, an overheating furnace. SQC uses small samples to identify problems. Malfunctions are reported immediately, allowing operators to correct problems in real time. SQC quickly identifies the impact of any change on the performance of the entire process. SQC identifies where and often how, the quality and productivity of the entire process can be continuously improved.
   
   22. In US factories, especially mass-production plants, non-operating, blue collar employees substantially outnumber operators. The introduction of Statistical Quality Control almost always increases the number machine operators. First line supervisors are eliminated, with only a few trainers that take their place. SQC makes it possible for machine operators to be in charge of their work and make this control mandatory. No one else has the hands knowledge needed to act effectively on the information that SQC constantly feeds back.
   
   23. Most US brand good sold in Japan are manufactured there rather than imported. US brands that have good leadership in Japan are computers and software, soft drinks, candy, analytical and clinical instruments, and pharmaceuticals.
   
   24. Japan is the largest buyer of US farm products. There is not one product that could not be purchased elsewhere for a cheaper price. Japan is buying from the US to protect their exports to America. US beef and feed commodities are exported to Japan meeting a substantial demand. Japan's ban on foreign rice creates demand for US wheat.
   
   25. Japanese barriers to foreign entry are extremely high. American business that have been allowed entry into service have done well while substantially improving standards and quality.
   
   26. The investment driven economy worked in Japan. The highest number of Japanese tax exempt saving accounts was strongest among the fairly low income earners. In 1998, the tax exempt accounts were scrapped. The savings helped fund the explosive growth of the Japanese economy. A rapid growing Japan did not have to borrow abroad. Japanese loan rates were 5 percent compared to 15% in the US for commercial loans. Investment and low capital costs help Japanese businesses become profitable.
   
   27. Any country that has given a tax exemption or tax deferment to saving ahs had the same experience as Japan: middle and lower income earners take the most advantage of these opportunities. "We have learned since Joseph Dodge that nothing works as well in a developed country as legalized tax avoidance." The high cost of capital destroys confidence.
   
   28. Latin America, rather than Japan, holds the key to the US trade deficit.
   
   29. The US is the world's largest producer and exporter of agricultural and forest products, and about one-third of the trade deficit is directly traceable to this collapse in prices and demand. Another third owing to the impact of raw-materials depressions and Latin America was one of US manufacturers best foreign customers.
   
   30. Japan's export surplus is far less a result of industrial prowess than of raw-materials depression. Japan is the world's largest raw-material importer is the beneficiary.
   
   31. US food exports to Japan will not be expected to bounce back. The US will be hard pressed to maintain current export volume with the developed world in the years to come. When foreigners convert their dollar claims into US assets and buy American business and real estate this will not be tolerated politically.
   
   32. There are two ways to cut the trade deficit: a very sharp recession cuts domestic consumption by 10 percent or revival of Latin America as a customer for US manufactured goods.
   
   33. Until the raw materials depression hit, Latin America worked effectively in a market economy and participated in rapid economic growth. Latin America has three times as much capital as foreign debt.
   
   34. Latin America needs to stop inflation by turning off the spigot of government spending; dismantle the unproductive monopolies owned by the government or the military; cut excessive nominal tax rates that discourage honest enterprise, but increase tax collection.
   
   35. Mexico has dismantled governmental monopoly industries. Every day the Mexican economy is becoming more closely integrated with the US. A US, Canada, and Mexico agreement could create a North American Economic Community. Foreigners can now own a 100% of an industrial park in Maquiladora, the maquila. Parts and supplies for a maquila are waved through at the border and enter Mexico duty-free. In turn, the maquila products when exported to the US are subject to American duty only on the value added in Mexico. Maquiladoras have created 500,000 new jobs in the last decade.
   
   36. Brazil has sold off a hundred unproductive government enterprises.
   
   37. What Latin America needs from the US is trade, not aid.

3 comments about Managing in Turbulent Times/Audio Cassettes.

1. es un gran libro, como nos tiene acostumbrados el señor Drucker y les hará muy bien leerlo a los ejecutivos y managers cuyas empresas estan en problemas



2. I think Drucker, even after all these years, still stands head and shoulders above the other management gurus, writers, and flash-in-the-pans that we've seen in recent decades. His thoughts and insights are still the most profound in the business and this recent book is no exception.



3. We enter in anew economic age with new tendencies , new markets , new technologies and new institutions . If we add a progressively more exigent customers list the competition will be the new Darwinian paradigm .
   This text develops themes of singular interest , such as the possibilities of surviving of the worker syndicates , the new markets of consume , the deceitful ciphers of unemployment or the necessities of workmanship in the developed countries and those in ways to be.

5 comments about How to Sell Anything to Anybody.

1. This book is called "How to Sell Anything to Anybody," but it should be called, "How to Sell Cars." All the examples and all the author's experience is related to selling cars. I know there are a lot of similarities between selling cars and selling other things, but this book centered on a lot of things that are only relevent to the auto industry. The title is definitely deceiving!



2. If you are looking for a big on tips, tricks and tactics for improving your sales then this may not be the best for you.
   
   If on the other hand you believe that some basic fundamentals, executed continuously and well is the road to success, then read on.
   
   Joe Girard is in the Guiness Book of Worlds Records as the worlds greatest salesman. Working at a Detroit area Chevy dealership he has sold more cars than anyone, and it is really based on fundamentals.
   
   Focus on the customer, ask for the referral, word of mouth, and making a memorable impression. That may sound simplistic and there is much more to the book than these few things.
   
   Girard treats being a salesman as a calling and profession not just a job and his results speak for themselves.
   
   Read Girard, put it down for a time, then read it again and let it sink in, and the wisdom of his experience will come to light for you.
   
   Cheers!



3. I heard about this book years ago, but I never took time to read it. Actually, I thought the book was too old to be relevent. I saw the book in Charlotte recently and was suprised when I thumbed through it. First of all, the comments on the cover got my attention: "World's Greatest Salesman" and "The Guiness Book of Records." If that wasn't enough, his writing captured my interest immediately. Joe Girard is straight up and honest. I love his style. I have to admit, some of it is a little bitter to swallow because he tells the truth and hold no punches. He hits the soft spots of procrastination and fear of rejecton, however, most of his teaching goes down easily, tickling my funny bone in the process.
   
   Joe Girard knows what the everyday salesperson goes through and his teaching style easily reflects it. When he is in "teaching mode," I can easily imagine him standing in an auditorium, possibly pacing the floor with his wireless microphone on how to become a better salesperson. When he is in his "storytelling mode," I can picture him sitting beside me telling one of his great stories about what he went though on his way to the top. For example, he mentioned his very first car sale. He didn't remember his customer's name or even the name of the car he sold, but what he remembers was that the customer worked for Cocoa-Cola. He associated Cocoa-Cola with groceries because he had to make that sale so he could feed his kids! He was "hungry" for that sale in more ways than one. Every time I opened the book, his words would grab my attention, and every time I closed the book, his teaching points would stick with me. One of the most important parts of the book was the story about his dad. While Joe was young, Joe's father would beat and berate him constantly, telling Joe that he would never amount to anything. At the end of the story, he writes: "you're probably wondering what this has to do with how to sell. Well it has everything to do with how attitudes get planted in your head." That is deep.
   
   I am faced with many people how have a problem with getting over self-esteem issues and fear of failure. Selling is fun, especially with a product that you are passionate about. However, it has its stuggles too. Sometimes we are surrounded by those who have lost their own dream in life. It has been a struggle of my own, living in the South, seeing those who do not see beyong their own struggles in life, day to day, year to year. The point about his dad and overcoming those self-defeating attitutes was so deep I had to close the book and "digest that nugget for awhile." It is hard to see people with the potential to achieve greatness to give up on their dreams and quit. No, selling is not always easy, in is the process of working hard, treating people right, and working with integrity, we are in fact, achieving greatness, even if those riches have not yet manifested. That is one of the great keys in this book. I am a bit ashamed that I have not read it earlier. Kudos, Joe Girard. You knocked this one out the ballpark, and thus, I recommend this book to every salesperson.



4. If you've never managed salesmen you might not realize
   what a bunch of wimpy little girly-men a lot of them
   are... they have a big bluster about how great they
   are at selling but the truth is they are in general
   too craven, lazy, or lacking in real personal development
   or skill to go out and get the customers in the door.
   
   Girard pulls no punches. He never sat around waiting
   for the phone to ring. He didn't hang out bitching
   around the coffee machine... he was on the phone
   calling people, asking them to please come in and
   ask for Joe Girard. He got fired from his first job
   selling cars because he was making the other salesmen
   feel like losers.
   
   A great salesman gets out there and gets customers
   to walk in the door. A lazy salesman just hangs
   out on the floor.
   
   Which type would you rather have working for you?
   
   Yeah, it's dated. It's from the 1970s. the cars
   were big and ugly then... and so were the suits
   Girard wore. His customers were working class guys
   who would be impressed by a pinkie ring - so he
   dressed that way. Girard, he's a smart guy, he
   assesses the lay of the land - scoping out the
   territory, making friends, scmoozing.
   
   How the 'ell else do you think you get to the
   top of the game selling cars?



5. Great book. My husband is a car salesman and he thought it was very informative.

5 comments about Getting Results for Dummies.

1. Reading this book is rather like being beaten over the head with a club - for example, he asks (over and over) - Do you have your planing tool at your fingertips 24 hours a day? If not - you are NOT ORGANIZED!!!! Three lashes!

   He writes for a different audience than I, one that has In and Out boxes on their desk (I've never seen In or Out boxes on anyone's desk, ever), that needs an introduction to the net and that makes phone calls all day (executives on the East coast maybe).

   None the less, if you can handle being beated up by the author, he does have some good suggestions. He suggests planning not only what to do, but when to do it, which is probably the biggest win I'll get from the book. Every day I know my list is too long, but I start at the top & work down. I think that if I figure out when things will happen (even if the time spans are only guesses, since I don't know how long many things will take) it will help me to understand better what I can really accomplish & what I can't and thus, to focus my energy on what I can do.

   So I'd say that if you want to make things happen, it's worth reading for the hints that work for you.




2. It is hard to argue with Mark McCormack's success. He's built up an almost billion dollar business. I will say that in another book, he said he takes only 3 day vactions. That if he took a 2 week vacation "I'd be so worried about my business at the end of the second week, it wouldn't be worth it." And he promotes working long hard hours. But I know more than one filthy rich self-made man, who are not retired but active in their businesses, who nonetheless do NOT work long hard hours year round, and take as much as a month off straight, while their businesses hum along nicely without them. I would say McCormack is failing in his methods of getting results if he can't at this point take long periods of time off, without worrying about his business. Richard Branson is active in his much larger Virgin empire, but he takes weeks off to go on those balloon expeditions of his. What is he doing right that McCormack isn't?

   An example: In the book TIME TRAP (a time-management book I highly recommend) the author sites a salesman who made two goals for the next few years. The goals were to, each year, 1) double his income 2) double his vacation time. (!!) And the salesman succeeded, so that he doubled his income, as well as his vacation time, so that in the third year he had a lot more money, plus 6 weeks in vacation time. THAT'S what I call getting results!!!!

   Harvey Mackay in one of his books sites a saleswoman he hired, who told him she worked 20 hours a week at her interview. Mackey told her, "But your resume says you did $2 million in sales at your previous job." She said, "I did. You can phone them and ask." Mackay did so, and they confirmed what she said. Mackay says to the reader, "So I don't care HOW many hours a week she works, with those kind of results."

   Maybe it's the nature of a service business (which is what McCormack's management company is): you can't let a factory stamp out widgets while you do something else. You have to keep cracking the whip, or inspiring your subordinate agents, if they are what make-up your company. If that's the case, I'll avoid service businesses.




3. If you've never read any other book on organization, time management, or efficiency, do NOT get this one. The author provides many useful tips, but not a "system."

   The tone of the author is unfortunate. I have never read a book where I was so put off by the author. You know how Tom Cruise portrays Jerry McGuire at the beginning of the movie "Jerry McGuire"? That's what the author sounds like. Business is life, money is the bottom line, winning is everything.

   The author, Mark McCormack, was the founder of the sports management company on which "Jerry McGuire" was based, so maybe that's where the similarity comes in. Whatever the connection, the tone of the book is that of an obnoxious braggart.

   On more than one occasion, Mr. McCormack excuses bad behavior in favor of the results they achieve. The ends always justify the means.

   With that said, there are some useful tips if you have already brushed up on time management and organization. If you have not, this should not be your first purchase. I would suggest: "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, "The Organized Executive" by Stephanie Winston, and/or "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.




4. I read the condensed version of this book. I picked it up while waiting on line to buy groceries at the supermarket. If the full version is anything like the condensed version, then I am sure that you cannot go wrong with this book. The title caught my attention. I am sure glad that I bought the book because it really gives you some helpful advice about getting the most out of your day. For example, we all know about writing to do lists. But this book takes that idea a step further and tells you to actually schedule the time that you will be doing the tasks and to schedule the time that you will finish the tasks. I found that just by following this one piece of advice I was able to get more things done from my to do list. That's because work tends to expand if you don't have any idea how long it will take to get something done.



5. I have liked all of the "For Dummies" books I have read, as well as a couple of books and tapes by Mark McCormack. This guy lives and breathes time management. Though dummies books are more like reading a textbook, they can be perused rather quickly. Planning, taking notes, assuming best and worse scenarios, dealing with the person who will make the final decision, etc.. There's a lot a person can do to make things go his/her way--especially when most people are just not willing to take the necessary steps. The author has learned, through the school of hard knock how to get ahead. And he has. This book doesn't miss a beat! I highly recommend it.

5 comments about Working With Emotional Intelligence.

1. Daniel Goleman encountered many leaders of industry emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence rather than technical expertise in excelling in their respective businesses. It is through his findings that he decided to write Working With Emotion Intelligence. In this book Goleman emphasizes that emotional intelligence is what makes one excel.
   Increasingly organizations are becoming larger and more team oriented, thus being able to work in teams well and effectively is one of the most important skills to have in the work environment. A good manager will be able to get the best talents out of the group. Golemans book examines the changing work environment and the personal qualities that are of importance. The qualities listed are initiative, empathy, adaptability, and persuasiveness.
   The traits that make great leaders are described in detail in the book. Goleman emphasizes high self confidence in leading people is essential to create a more productive work environment. Empathy is an ability that helps leaders in how to approach an individual by sensing what others feel. Empathy serves as a cohesive tool, which allows for effective communication amongst individuals.
   Working With Emotional Intelligence is a great book for anybody interested in learning more about emotional intelligence and its uses in the work place. Daniel Goleman lists the parts of emotional intelligence and describes their use while providing illuminating examples. With the current explosive growth of information, no single individual can have enough knowledge to successfully compete in today's extremely competitive and rapidly changing environment. It is because of this that emotional intelligence is crucial to excel in organizations today. People that work well in teams have a key advantage. Emotional competencies can be learned, by reading this book you will be able to gain knowledge on these emotional competencies and put them to use in your daily life and career.



2. I would give this book no more than 3 stars. The Reader puts you to sleep. The reason I only gave it 2 stars is because Disc 9 belongs to a totally different book. Chapers 40 to 40 something being read by a british woman. I did not get the entire book. Be rest assured I will be returning the item for a full refund or a complete book. Thank you.



3. The whole idea about Emotional Intelligence is appealing and I actually buy it. But the just keeps telling stories after stories of how emotional intelligence is important, how most companies/people/training guides overlook it. The book never talks about how to actually develop emotional intelligence. The book is so incredibly repetitive and lacking any useful content that I am surprised how an intelligent person like Daniel Goleman could have thought of publishing it.
   
   Let me tell you the gist of how to develop emotional intelligence (based on this book and several others):
   
   - The part of brain dealing with emotional intelligence learns by practise/repetition. You cant unlearn an old habit or learn a new one by just thinking about it conceptually.
   - Therefore to develop emotional intelligence, you have to train your mind repetitively.
   - The re-wiring of a habit in your brain happens at the instant when an event occurs that triggers a habit and you react to that event in a different way than you are habitual of doing. By repeating this over and over, your brain will learn the new habit. There are numerous self-help books out there which will create exercises for you to follow in your daily routine so that you can repeatedly apply the new habits you want to learn. But these methods are very slow simply because the number of iterations required to re-wire the brain will require a long time to happen.
   - If you want to change your habits fast, you can use certain meditation techniques. Some of them are more useful than others. A very potent technique is Vipassana meditation. Due to the way you use your brain while doing this meditation, the re-wiring happens very fast.
   
   I do not want to explain this in detail here because:
   1. This is a book review and the space is not enough :)
   2. I am talking from my personal experience.
   3. people usually like to read proofs for such claims. I am not an expert on meditation, nor a neuro-scientist. But I have practised Vipassana and it has given me great results.
   
   So all that I will say is: you heard from me that Vipassana meditation is useful. Go do your own research find out what it is. Try it out. If you understand it, and apply it for a while, most likely you will start observing changes in your life very quickly (within weeks). If it actually benefits you, then accept it. Otherwise its just something you tried. If nothing else, you will atleast have learned a stress-reduction technique.
   
   PS: If you find it absolutely useless, I feel sorry for you. Please dont sue me. :-)



4. Working with emotional intelligence is a landmark book in that when it came out it made the first strong case for how emotional intelligence operates and work and why it's so important to have it. The information linking emotional intelligence to job performance is fascinating. The only place the book falls short is it's a bit outdated and it doesn't provide a lot of how you do it. For that I prefer The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book which just came out a couple of years ago and it's very how you do it focused including an online test that comes with the book and measures your EQ.



5. I like Goleman's work and find his classifications of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills) to be very valuable in treatment and coaching. Some of my better counseling sessions discuss these areas. The studies noted in the book help in understanding the ideas presented. One of my top ten favorite concepts in treatment and coaching. Buy it!

2 comments about Frank Knight and the Chicago School: The Role of Economic Uncertainty (Great Economic Thinkers).

1. I have the whole "Great Economic Thinkers" set on audio cassette. I found the material quite interesting and the presentation excellent. These presentations are more than just a book turned to audio media. Even if you have a fairly short commute, you can get through this material in a week.
   
   The Chicago School is towards the end of the series. You may want to start with Adam Smith and work your way forward.



2. I have many of the audiobooks on economics. This is by far my most favorite. I have listened to it three times over the last few months. Very entertaining listening to Knight's views on people with his sarcastic comments thrown in. This is a biography and does not go into his theories.

No comments about Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? SP.