The Source of Success: Five Enduring Principles at the Heart of Real Leadership (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) by Peter Georgescu, Ram Charan, and David Dorsey (Paperback - Aug 8, 2005)

• Paperback: 177 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (August 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787980374
• ISBN-13: 978-0787980375

Product Description

In The Source of Success, Peter Georgescu, former CEO of  the world-renowned advertising agency Young & Rubicam, reveals the nature of the new economic world, and shows what it takes to win in this intensely competitive arena. Georgescu presents a new standard of leadership that focuses on the key source of value in today’s corporation: the relationship between the informed customer and the creative employee—a relationship, he shows, that must be built with honesty and integrity. Georgescu’s vision rests on five crucial principles, which together can unleash a tremendous untapped reservoir of energy within our organizations, and within ourselves:

• Creative capacity and the brand integrity that grows from it are an   organization’s most important assets.
• Enlightened leaders inspire creativity through understanding, cooperation, and respect.
• Competence and execution are as important as ever, but they must be aimed at building intimacy with the customer.
• Alignment is the critical concept for the twenty-first-century organization.
• Great companies don’t happen without leaders who have transformed themselves.

From the Inside Flap

Dramatic change has swept the business world in?recent years, rendering standard paradigms of?leadership obsolete.In The Source of Success, Peter Georgescu, former?CEO of the world-renowned advertising agency Young & Rubicam, reveals the nature of the new economic world, and shows what it takes to win in this intensely competitive arena. Georgescu presents a new standard of leadership that focuses on the key source of value in today's corporation: the relationship between the informed customer and the creative employee—a relationship, he shows, that must be built with honesty and integrity. Georgescu's vision rests on five crucial principles, which together can unleash a tremendous untapped reservoir of energy within our organizations, and within our?selves:

• Creative capacity and the brand integrity that grows from it are an organization's most important assets.
• Enlightened leaders inspire creativity through understanding, cooperation, and respect.
• Competence and execution are as important as ever, but they must be aimed at building intimacy with the customer.
• Alignment is the critical concept for the?twenty-first-century organization.
• Great companies don't happen without leaders who have transformed themselves.

Rich on many levels, the book is filled with stories taken from the author's experience—his early life experiences growing up in communist Romania and his professional career working with the most powerful companies and brands in the world.

From the Back Cover

"In The Source of Success, Peter Georgescu tackles two issues that have special resonance in today's business world: creativity and integrity. At the intersection of the two stands the type of enlightened business leader we need in the twenty-first century. Peter shares important insights forged through a remarkable career—and fascinating life story."
—Bob Wright, vice chairman, GE, and chairman and CEO, NBC Universal"Peter Georgescu gives us all a lot to talk about in The Source of Success. He tells us what's essential for business success and then shows us how to attain it. The core of this values-based business book is the belief that to be a business success you must be a good person. In a time of corporate scandal, his message has never been more right. A great read."
—Bill Bradley, U.S. Senator
"One of the most enduring principles for success is integrity, in both our professional and personal lives. The Source of Success should be considered a leadership compass for new, as well as established, executives to achieve greatness in today's business world."
—Leonard A. Lauder, chairman, Estée Lauder
"Peter Georgescu eloquently articulates a vision of decency, fairness, and humanity in corporate life. A utopian dream? Not at all. What Georgescu is really describing is the optimum recipe for success in the twenty-first century."
—Vernon Jordan
"Peter Georgescu's career has allowed him to work with some of the great companies and great leaders in the world. From this perspective he offers observations and very provocative advice on what it takes to win in today's world of 'excess supply.' This is a book that really makes you think. The views are fresh; and Peter is a wonderful storyteller."
—Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
"With America still reeling from the orgy of corporate dishonesty and malfeasance symbolized by ENRON, there is already a backlash against more regulation of business. In this climate of cynicism and mistrust, this timely book comes as a breath of fresh air and courage. Corporate leaders may smile at being told they need to be honest and decent to succeed today, but this book should wipe the cynical smiles away. Peter Georgescu, former CEO of Young & Rubicam, warns that global forces have created a brutal new business environment in which productivity outstrips demand, the consumer has won, and every company's survival is always at stake. Georgescu should know: on Madison Avenue he was a master shaper of demand. Now, he argues, to win and keep loyal customers, business will have to adopt revolutionary values: honesty, trust, respect for others, integrity, and accountability. Imagine! Those are the very values business has claimed to be observing all along."
—Robin MacNeil, newscaster, journalist, and author

About the Author

Peter Georgescu is chairman emeritus of EYoung & Rubicam Inc. Under his leadership, EYoung & Rubicam transformed from a private to a publicly held company. The company built the most extensive database on global branding and from its findings developed a proprietary model for diagnosing and managing brands. Georgescu was elected to the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2001.David Dorsey is the author of The Force, which was selected as one of the ten best business books of the year by BusinessWeek. He is a freelance writer who has contributed to magazines such as Fast Company, Esquire, and Inc., among others.

The Seventy Great Battles in History by Jeremy Black

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500251258
• ISBN-13: 978-0500251256

• Product Description

Twenty-five military historians from around the world describe the decisive conflicts that shaped history from the fifth century BC to the present.

Cannae and Agincourt, Waterloo and Gettysburg, Stalingrad and Midway, the Tet Offensive….The latest book in the popular Seventies series assesses the great battles and conflicts in history from the past twenty-five centuries, and discusses the effects they have had on the development of states and civilizations.

Organized chronologically into seven parts, the book encompasses the ancient and medieval worlds as well as the wars of the past hundred years, including the conflict in Iraq. The contributors analyze not just the greatest land battles of all time, but sieges such as Constantinople (1453) and Tenochtitlán (1521); naval battles such as Actium (31 BC), Trafalgar (1805), and Tsushima (1905); and the crucial conflicts in the air during the Battle of Britain (1940) and the American attack on Japan (1945).

The coverage is truly worldwide in scope, from the battle in Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, where the Germans defeated the Romans, to Hakata Bay in 1281, where the Japanese defeated the Mongols, and the first battle of Panipat in 1526, where the Mughals conquered Hindustan. The reader is presented with a masterly overview of advances in military technology, and of the changing tactics and strategy of battlefield commanders from Hannibal to Napoleon, Montgomery, and Eisenhower.

Richly illustrated in color with hundreds of photographs, contemporary paintings, and specially commissioned battle plans and maps, this will be essential reading for anyone interested in military history. 350 illustrations, 230 in color.

About the Author

Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and the author or editor of more than forty books, including World War Two: A Military History and The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492-1792.

Getting it Right the Second Time by Michael Gershman

Getting it Right the Second Time by Michael Gershman (Paperback - Mar 30, 2005)

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201550822
• ISBN-13: 978-0201550825

From Library Journal

Anyone interested in marketing new or old products will gain insight from some, if not all, of Gershman's case-study examples of marketing failures-turned-successes. Almost 50 famous products, including Jello, Post-it Notes, and Timex watches, were abject failures when first introduced, but after "remarketing" they all went on to become very big. It is estimated that 93 out of 100 new food products fail. Does the ingenuity, enthusiasm, and determination of their creators make the difference? Each of the 12 chapters highlights a valuable marketing lesson, such as "Don't Quit," "Don't Price It Wrong," and "Don't Skimp on Promotion." Don't miss these fascinating believe-it-or-not business anecdotes. For public library business collections.
- Susan Awe, Natrona County P.L., Casper, Wy.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Remarketing strategies that have turned failures into success.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Hardcover - Sep 23, 2005)

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1ST edition (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401308589
• ISBN-13: 978-1401308582

From Publishers Weekly

"At the time of his death, Eddie was an old man with a barrel chest and a torso as squat as a soup can," writes Albom, author of the bestselling phenomenon Tuesdays with Morrie, in a brief first novel that is going to make a huge impact on many hearts and minds. Wearing a work shirt with a patch on the chest that reads "Eddie" over "Maintenance," limping around with a cane thanks to an old war injury, Eddie was the kind of guy everybody, including Eddie himself, tended to write off as one of life's minor characters, a gruff bit of background color. He spent most of his life maintaining the rides at Ruby Pier, a seaside amusement park, greasing tracks and tightening bolts and listening for strange sounds, "keeping them safe." The children who visited the pier were drawn to Eddie "like cold hands to a fire." Yet Eddie believed that he lived a "nothing" life-gone nowhere he "wasn't shipped to with a rifle," doing work that "required no more brains than washing a dish." On his 83rd birthday, however, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl. He wakes up in heaven, where a succession of five people are waiting to show him the true meaning and value of his life. One by one, these mostly unexpected characters remind him that we all live in a vast web of interconnection with other lives; that all our stories overlap; that acts of sacrifice seemingly small or fruitless do affect others; and that loyalty and love matter to a degree we can never fathom. Simply told, sentimental and profoundly true, this is a contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership. Bringing into the spotlight the anonymous Eddies of the world, the men and women who get lost in our cultural obsession with fame and fortune, this slim tale, like Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, reminds us of what really matters here on earth, of what our lives are given to us for.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Albom, newspaper columnist and radio broadcaster, is, of course, best known as the author of the astonishingly successful Tuesdays with Morrie (1997). This is his first novel. With an appropriately fable-like tone, Albom tells the story of Eddie, "an old man with a barrel chest." But for us, Eddie's story "begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun"--at Ruby Pier, an amusement park by the sea, where he spent most days, for despite his advanced years, he worked as a maintenance man on the rides. He dies on his eighty-third birthday trying to save a little girl from an accident. Eddie wakes up in heaven, where he is informed that "there are five people you meet in heaven. Each . . . was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth." And, not surprisingly, this is what the novel is about: Eddie coming to appreciate his 83 years of mortal life; the novel's "point" is that apparently insignificant lives do indeed have their own special kind of significance. A sweet book that makes you smile but is not gooey with overwrought sentiment. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"It reminds you of how everything is somehow connected." -- Diane C.


"Let me finish wiping my tears. What a beautiful journey. Such a touching, moving, thought-provoking story." -- Alicia Fleischer

Product Description

A specially produced paperback edition -- with flaps -- of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller, that has sold more than six million copies in hardcoverEddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.
Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.
One by one, Eddie’s five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.
In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you’ve ever thought about the afterlife -- and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure.

About the Author

Mitch Albom is the author of the #1 international bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie. A nationally syndicated columnist for the Detroit Free Press and a nationally syndicated radio host of his own show, Albom has also been named the top sports columnist in the nation 13 times by the Associated Press Sports Editors of America -- the highest honor in his field. He is the founder of The Dream Fund, a charity that helps underprivileged youth study art, and of A Time to Help, a volunteer program. Albom serves on the boards of numerous charities. He lives with his wife in Michigan.

From AudioFile

"I'm especially proud to have an audio version of this book, since it harkens back to the way my first stories came to me--not by the written page, but by other people's voices." That's Mitch Albom himself in his introduction. This writer's commitment to the aural tradition is clearly demonstrated in the sophistication with which his book is presented. Erik Singer's virtuoso performance is set off with musical interludes and background noises that are diverting but never distracting. The teaching parable is built around an 83-year-old war vet turned maintenance man who dies trying to save the life of a little girl. This is at the Ruby Point Amusement Park. "All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..." B.H.C. 2004 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

The 250 Sales Questions To Close The Deal by Stephan Schiffman (Paperback - Apr 1, 2005)

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593372809
• ISBN-13: 978-1593372804

Product Description

The key to more sales is closing more deals-and sales guru Stephan Schiffman knows all the tricks and techniques you need to do just that. Organized in a simple question-and-answer format that allows you to implement new strategies virtually overnight, this new Schiffman classic is a gold mine of practical information for all salespeople-newcomers and veterans alike. The 250 Sales Questions to Close the Dealoffers cutting-edge sales questions in six core areas to help you:

Initiate contact with prospective clients

Build rapport with your customers

Help secure the "Next Step" with every prospect

Craft customized presentations

Cope with setbacks or obstacles

Negotiate and finalize the best dealsNo matter what you're selling-or to whom you're selling it-you'll sell more with Stephan Schiffman by your side!

About the Author

Stephan Schiffman, America's #1 Corporate Sales Trainer, is the author of dozens of bestselling books, including Cold Calling Techniques, 5th Edition (That Really Work!); and Closing Techniques (That Really Work), 3rd Edition. His clients include Aetna, AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Boise Office Solutions, ChevronTexaco, Cox Communications, EMC, Federal Express, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, The New York Times, Sony, and Waste Management.

Microsoft First Generation by Cheryl Tsang

Microsoft First Generation: The Success Secrets of the Visionaries who launced a Technology Empire by Cheryl Tsang

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (October 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471332062
• ISBN-13: 978-0471332060

Amazon.com Review

If a company's soul is defined by its employees, Cheryl Tsang's Microsoft First Generation offers the definitive look at the way one of the world's top corporations has really been shaped. In straightforward but perceptive profiles, Tsang introduces a dozen key individuals hired by Bill Gates and Paul Allen before 1990--when the primary focus was creation and development, rather than growth and maintenance. They are mathematician-programmer Bob O'Rear (hired two years before Microsoft relocated from Albuquerque to Seattle), technical writer Russell Borland, programmer Richard Brodie, senior vice president Scott Oki, chief information officer Neil Evans, CPA Dave Neir, Ida Cole (the first female VP), CD-ROM author Min Yee, technical manager Ron Harding, publishing-systems manager Russell Steele, Asian-business-development manager Paul Sribhibhadh, and senior diversity administrator Trish Millines Dziko. "The people who comprised Microsoft's first generation were exactly right for their time. They were the pioneers," Tsang writes. "The founders of Microsoft were shrewd to have hired them, for the company's monumental and continuing success would not have been possible without [their] exceptional work and passion." --Howard Rothman

From Library Journal

How has mighty Microsoft, begun 25 years ago as a two-man (Bill Gates and Paul Allen) partnership of extremely bright "twentysomethings," amassed an estimated market value of nearly $500 billion and become the predominant computer company in the world? This is the focus of business journalist Tsang's collection of personal stories from 12 former "softies" and their fond reminiscences about their work in the very early days of the firm. Among the alums interviewed are Bob O'Rear, the original programmer of the first MS DOS program for the IBM machine, and Trish Maline, an early beta tester who became the advocate for the ethnic diversity movement inside the company. From these tales, Tsang summarizes keys to the unprecedented success of Microsoft, including its famous maniacal work ethic, an emphasis on risk taking, an unwavering drive to success, and the unique internal culture mainly influenced by the even more unique personality of CEO Gates. Throughout these fascinating inside scoops, listeners will be continually intrigued by the always crisp narration by Mary Woods, which reveals some of the truth about what it was really like to work for Microsoft in the beginning. While this is not a historical analysis of the company, a story yet to be told, these nostalgic recollections are important to the growing computer history genre and are essential for all university libraries supporting an information systems curriculum.ADale Farris, Groves, TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist

Microsoft and Bill Gates are synonymous. Although Gates appears on the covers of news magazines and is treated as a celebrity, few are familiar with Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Allen, who left Microsoft in 1983, is nonetheless the third richest man in America, with $22 billion. Then there are the even more anonymous "Microsoft millionaires," the young workers hired by Gates and Allen because they were bright, willing to take risks, and possessed a "maniacal work ethic." In return, they collected stock options that were worth more when they left Microsoft and cashed them in than they could ever have dreamed. Tsang profiles 12 of those people, who represent a cross section of Microsoft's first generation of employees. Included are programmers, project managers, and individuals who worked in marketing and in accounting. Tsang conducted extensive interviews to find out the paths those men and women took to arrive at Microsoft, what life was like there, and what happened to them after they left the company. David Rouse

Product Description

What began as a modest start-up partnership only twenty-five years ago has already surpassed all the giants of contemporary capitalism, including General Electric and IBM, and has achieved a value estimated at nearly $500 billion. How did Microsoft achieve all of this in so short a time? What was the true nature of the Microsoft environment in the beginning, and what are the secrets behind its triumph?Find the answers here. With Microsoft First Generation, Cheryl Tsang skillfully renders recent history in bold, colorful strokes, highlighting each of the specific business qualities and entrepreneurial traits that turned Microsoft's dreams into reality. Meet the early builders of Microsoft, and step inside the famous culture of loyalty, the storied "maniacal work ethic," and the hardcore world of reckless risk-taking that remains so integral to the computer giant's matchless and ongoing success.
Here, up close and personal, Tsang introduces readers to twelve members of Microsoft's mythic first generation, each of whom has walked away from Microsoft as a multimillionaire. The collection spans a diverse collection of creative geniuses and business wizards, from Bob O'Rear, employee number seven, who joined the team in 1977 and wrote the original MS-DOS program on the first IBM PC; to bestselling author Russell Borland who, after innocently answering a help wanted ad for a technical copywriter in 1980, suddenly became the mouthpiece of an entire company, singlehandedly familiarizing the world with Microsoft products; to Trish Millines, who began as a software tester in 1988 and then blazed a trail and effected lasting change as a powerful advocate for ethnic diversity in the technological arena.
Featuring candid appraisals of the idiosyncrasies of software culture, fascinating portraits of the enigmatic Bill Gates, and rare photographs of the company's early days, Microsoft First Generation uncovers a range of surprising success secrets-and reveals, once and for all, exactly what makes Microsoft tick.

About the Author

CHERYL TSANG is an award-winning business journalist and fiction writer. She lives in Bellevue, Washington.

From AudioFile

Before Microsoft became an alleged monopoly, it was a group of smart young people working very hard on revolutionary software. The members of this founding generation were bright and aggressive people thrown together in a company in which ideas and competitiveness trumped protocols and procedures. Tsang managed to interview many of the key early employees; most have since "retired" as "Microsoft millionaires." These men and women opened up their life stories and shared a wealth of insights and anecdotes that help explain how Microsoft became what it is. Whether you love or hate Microsoft, this audiobook will hold your attention. Mary Woods's singsong voice is not suited to the production, but the material wins over the presentation. T.F. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Firnando Chau Review

The 36 Stratagems for Business by Harro von Senger

The 36 Stratagems for Business : Achieve Your Objectives Through Hidden and Unconventional Strategies and Tactics - Hardcover (Jan. 1, 2005) by Harro von Senger

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Cyan Communications (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904879462
• ISBN-13: 978-190487946

• Product Description

  ACHIEVE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS BY APPLYING THE STRATEGIES AND TACTICS OF THE 36 STRATAGEMS FROM ANCIENT CHINAThe 36 Stratagems are a set of powerful Chinese aphorisms embodying the essence of the ancient Chinese Art of Cunning. First mentioned about 1,500 years ago, the 36 Stratagems were committed to paper at about 500 years ago, and have gained in popularity in Chinese business circles since the 1990s. More than 80 books have been published recently in the Far East recommending the use of the 36 stratagems in the modern business world. These books are, however, unknown in the Western countries. Managers at all levels will therefore benefit from this English-language book evaluating the 36 Stratagems and detailing how to apply them in management as well as "economic warfare".
  Harro von Senger has written The 36 Stratagems for Business on the basis of the insights gained during his many years of research, much of it whilst he lived and worked in China. Entertaining and thought provoking, the text includes examples of managers who have been able to achieve objectives using the strategems. As far as the application of the Art of Cunning is concerned, China is far ahead of the West. Knowing this Chinese Art would give you a great advantage in business. The 36 stratagems encourage flexibility and new ways of thinking about business issues, making this handbook widely adaptable to changing conditions.
  

  From the Author

  Harro von Senger is a leading expert in sinology. He has doctorates in both law and classical sinology, and is a professor of sinology at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and author of The Book of Stratagems.
  

  About the Author

  Harro von Senger is a leading expert in sinology. He has a doctorate in law and another doctorate in classical sinology. Originally from Switzerland, he is currently a professor of sinology at the University of Freiburg in Germany. His previous publications include the bestselling 'The Book of Stratagems: Tactics for Triumph and Survival' (Penguin).

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

• Hardcover: 616 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Expanded and Updated edition (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374292795
• ISBN-13: 978-0374292799

Amazon.com Review

Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)
Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Before 9/11, New York Times columnist Friedman was best known as the author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree, one of the major popular accounts of globalization and its discontents. Having devoted most of the last four years of his column to the latter as embodied by the Middle East, Friedman picks up where he left off, saving al-Qaeda et al. for the close. For Friedman, cheap, ubiquitous telecommunications have finally obliterated all impediments to international competition, and the dawning "flat world" is a jungle pitting "lions" and "gazelles," where "economic stability is not going to be a feature" and "the weak will fall farther behind." Rugged, adaptable entrepreneurs, by contrast, will be empowered. The service sector (telemarketing, accounting, computer programming, engineering and scientific research, etc.), will be further outsourced to the English-spoken abroad; manufacturing, meanwhile, will continue to be off-shored to China. As anyone who reads his column knows, Friedman agrees with the transnational business executives who are his main sources that these developments are desirable and unstoppable, and that American workers should be preparing to "create value through leadership" and "sell personality." This is all familiar stuff by now, but the last 100 pages on the economic and political roots of global Islamism are filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by. Add in Friedman's winning first-person interjections and masterful use of strategic wonksterisms, and this book should end up on the front seats of quite a few Lexuses and SUVs of all stripes. (Apr. 5) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This brilliantly paced, articulate, and accessible explanation of today's world is an ideal title for tech-savvy teens. Friedman's thesis is that connectedness by computer is leveling the playing field, giving individuals the ability to collaborate and compete in real time on a global scale. While the author is optimistic about the future, seeing progress in every field from architecture to zoology, he is aware that terrorists are also using computers to attack the very trends that make progress plausible and reasonable. This is a smart and essential read for those who will be expected to live and work in this new global environment.–Alan Gropman, National Defense University, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Friedman, nominally a liberal, has historically taken the middle path and supported laissez-faire capitalism, globalization, and the power of institutions like the International Monetary Fund. Ever optimistic about globalization, he pleases its proponents and disappoints its detractors in The World Is Flat. There’s no doubt that Friedman asks timely questions, even if he sometimes shirks definitive answers. Although he acknowledges terrorism’s global weight, he identifies an even more potent force shaping global economics and politics: the "triple convergence—of new players, on a new playing field, developing new processes … for horizontal collaboration," particularly in China and India. Friedman’s story comes alive as we meet the movers and shakers of Globalization 3.0, eavesdrop on Friedman’s interviews, and witness collaborations in progress. Friedman’s personal journey, if slightly padded, makes for entertaining and accessible reading. Yet critics, even those who support globalization, differed on Friedman’s thesis; India, for example, has not yet become the global superpower he describes; many scholars still describe the "flat world" as a nicer name for "cheap labor." Friedman also less effectively analyzes the effects of Globalization 3.0 than its players, and embraces technological determinism at the expense of thoroughly considering major political factors (like terrorist networks, which he’s previously compared to World War III). No matter your stance on the benefits or pitfalls of globalization, The World Is Flat is an important, thought-provoking book—even if Friedman’s answer to unresolved issues is, "Sort that out."Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Although it may be catchy, the title of New York Times columnist Friedman's latest book needs explaining. "Flat" here means "level," as in the level playing field on which virtually any nation can now compete, thanks to the explosion of global telecommunications, including the Internet as well as the transfer of information from First World to Third--and back. There's also a leveling of hierarchies within organizations, thanks to the increasing democratization of information from sources such as the Web. Friedman cites 10 forces that have caused this "flattening," including the fall of the Berlin Wall ("We could not think globally about the world when the Berlin Wall was there," said one economist), the emergence of Netscape as an Internet platform, workflow software, open sourcing, outsourcing, the streamlining of the supply chain (witness Wal-Mart), the organization of information on the Internet (Google, Yahoo), and the ubiquity of powerful personal telecommunications devices. Friedman is very thorough at projecting the consequences of these changes, noting the benefits we all share from this hyper-globalization, while realistically addressing, for example, the challenges American workers will face in the coming decades from talented, highly motivated workforces in such countries as India and China. A little more humor might have offset the author's trademark earnestness; still, as he has with other global issues, Friedman brings coherence and a workable plan of action to the fundamental changes our world is experiencing. Alan Moores
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Captivating . . . an enthralling read. To his great credit, Friedman embraces much of his flat world's complexity, and his reporting brings to vibrant life some beguiling characters and trends. . . . [The World is Flat] is also more lively, provocative, and sophisticated than the overwhelming bulk of foreign policy commentary these days. We've no real idea how the twenty-first century's history will unfold, but this terrifically stimulating book will certainly inspire readers to start thinking it all through."--Warren Bass, The Washington Post

"Nicely sums up the explosion of digital-technology advances during the past fifteen years and places the phenomenon in its global context. . . . Friedman never shrinks from the biggest problems and the thorniest issues."--Paul Magnusson, BusinessWeek

"[This book's] insight is true and deeply important. . . . The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, is ingenious."--Fareed Zakaria, The New York Times Book Review (front cover review)

"A brilliant, instantly clarifying metaphor for the latest, arguably the most profound conceptual mega-shift to rock the world in living memory."--David Ticoll, The Globe and Mail(Toronto)

"No one today chronicles global shifts in simple and practical terms quite like Friedman. He plucks insights from his travels and the published press that can leave you spinning like a top. Or rather, a pancake."--Clayton Jones, The Christian Science Monitor

"[The World is Flat] is filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by. Add in Friedman's winning first-person interjections and masterful use of strategic wonksterisms, and this book should end up on the front seats of quite a few Lexuses and SUVs of all stripes."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman's account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before--creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman's travels around the world and across the American heartland--from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt.
In The World Is Flat, Friedman at once shows "how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive" (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. More than ever, The World Is Flat is an essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.

From the Back Cover

"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times, reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005. For this updated and expanded edition, Friedman has seen his own book in a new way, bringing fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. New material includes:

• The reasons why the flattening of the world "will be seen in time as one of those fundamental shifts or inflection points, like Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, the rise of the nation-state, or the Industrial Revolution"

• An explanation of "uploading" as one of the ten forces that are flattening the world, as blogging, open-source software, pooled knowledge projects like Wikipedia, and podcasting enable individuals to bring their experiences and opinions to the whole world

• A mapping of the New Middle--the places and spaces in the flat world where
middle-class jobs will be found--and portraits of the character types who will find success as New Middlers

•An account of the qualities American parents and teachers need to cultivate in young people so that they will be able to thrive in the flat world

•A call for a government-led "geo-green" strategy to preserve the environment and natural resources

•An account of the "globalization of the local": how the flattening of the world is actually strengthening local and regional identities rather than homogenizing the world 

About the Author

Thomas L. Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The New York Times, where he serves as the foreign affairs columnist. He is the author of three previous books, all of them bestsellers: From Beirut to Jerusalem, winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction; The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization; and Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11. In 2005 The World Is Flat was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and Friedman was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family.

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth by T. Harv Eker

About the Book:-

Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: HarperBusiness; roughcut edition (February 15, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0060763280

ISBN-13: 978-0060763282

Firnando Chau Review



From Publishers Weekly


Eker's claim to fame is that he took a $2,000 credit card loan, opened "one of the first fitness stores in North America," turned it into a chain of 10 within two and a half years and sold it in 1987 for a cool (but somewhat modest-seeming) $1.6 million. Now the Vancouver-based entrepreneur traverses the continent with his "Millionaire Mind Intensive Seminar," on which this debut motivational business manual is based. What sets it apart is Eker's focus on the way people think and feel about money and his canny, class-based analyses of broad differences among groups. In rat-a-tat, "Let me explain" seminar-speak, Eker asks readers to think back to their childhoods and pick apart the lessons they passively absorbed from parents and others about money. With such psychological nuggets as "Rich people focus on opportunities/ Poor people focus on obstacles," Eker puts a positive spin on stereotypes, arguing that poverty begins, or rather, is allowed to continue, in one's imagination first, with actual material life becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. To that end, Eker counsels for admiration and against resentment, for positivity, self-promotion and thinking big and against wallowing, self-abnegation and small-mindedness. While much of the advice is self-evident, Eker's contribution is permission to think of one's financial foibles as a kind of mental illness—one, he says, that has a ready set of cures.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Eker, a multimillionaire, teaches us how to become rich. He believes thoughts lead to feelings, which lead to actions, which lead to results, and hence the key to attaining great wealth begins with thinking--like rich people do. He offers new ways of thinking and acting that will lead to new and different results, and he tells us, "Success is a learnable skill. You can learn to succeed at anything." The book emphasizes Eker's 17 principles for amassing wealth, which include: rich people believe that they create their life, while poor people believe "life happens to me." Rich people focus on opportunities, while poor people focus on obstacles. Rich people act in spite of fear, while poor people let fear stop them. Rich people constantly learn and grow, while poor people think they know enough. This is an obvious infomercial for the author's training seminars; however, although many may not agree with all of Eker's ideas, his book offers thought-provoking advice and valuable insight. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review


"Harv Eker is one of the most extraordinary speakers and trainers in the world today!" -- Mark Victor Hansen, Coauthor, #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul

"I have admired Eker’s work for years and I highly recommend this book for everyone seeking to increase their wealth." -- Jack Canfield, Coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Soul

"If you want to learn about the root cause of success, read Secrets of the Millionaire Mind." -- Robert G. Allen, author of Multiple Streams of Income, and The One Minute Millionaire

"If you want to move to a new level of success quickly, memorize every word in this profound book." -- Linda Forsythe, Founder/CEO, Mentors Magazine

"Study this book as if your life depended on it...financially it may!" -- Anthony Robbins, the world's #1 peak performance coach

"T. Harv Eker is a master at making the road to riches simple." -- Marci Shimoff, coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

"This is the most powerful, persuasive, and practical book on becoming wealthy that you will ever read." -- Brian Tracy, author of Getting Rich Your Own Way

About the Book

SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND reveals the missing link between wanting success and achieving it!

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to get rich easily, while others are destined for a life of financial struggle? Is the difference found in their education, intelligence, skills, timing, work habits, contacts, luck, or their choice of jobs, businesses, or investments?

The shocking answer is: None of the above!

In his groundbreaking SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND, T. Harv Eker states: "Give me five minutes, and I can predict your financial future for the rest of your life!" Eker does this by identifying your "money and success blueprint." We all have a personal money blueprint ingrained in our subconscious minds, and it is this blueprint, more than anything, that will determine our financial lives. You can know everything about marketing, sales, negotiations, stocks, real estate, and the world of finance, but if your money blueprint is not set for a high level of success, you will never have a lot of money -- and if somehow you do, you will most likely lose it! The good news is that now you can actually reset your money blueprint to create natural and automatic success.

SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND is two books in one.

Part I explains how your money blueprint works. Through Eker's rare combination of street smarts, humor, and heart, you will learn how your childhood influences have shaped your financial destiny. You will also learn how to identify your own money blueprint and "revise" it to not only create success but, more important, to keep and continually grow it.

In Part II you will be introduced to seventeen "Wealth Files," which describe exactly how rich people think and act differently than most poor and middle-class people. Each Wealth File includes action steps for you to practice in the real world in order to dramatically increase your income and accumulate wealth.

If you are not doing as well financially as you would like, you will have to change your money blueprint. Unfortunately your current money blueprint will tend to stay with you for the rest of your life, unless you identify and revise it, and that's exactly what you will do with the help of this extraordinary book. According to T. Harv Eker, it's simple. If you think like rich people think and do what rich people do, chances are you'll get rich too!

About the Author

Using the principles he teaches, T. Harv Eker went from zero to millionaire in only two and a half years. Eker is president of Peak Potentials Training, one of the fastest growing success training companies in North America. With his unique brand of "street smarts with heart," Eker's humorous, "cut-to-the-chase" style keeps his audience spellbound. People come from all over the world to attend his sold-out seminars, where crowds often exceed 2,000 people for a weekend program. So far, Eker's teachings have touched the lives of more than a quarter million people. Now, for the first time, he shares his proven secrets of success in this revolutionary book. Read it and grow rich!