The Power Principle: Influence with Honor by Blaine Lee (Paperback - Jun 4, 1998)

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st Edition. edition (May 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684810581
• ISBN-13: 978-0684810584

From Library Journal

An associate of the Covey Leadership Center, Lee here follows in the tradition of Stephen R. Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Successfully People, S. & S., 1989) with an expose of power. She demonstrates the viability of the three variants of power: coercive (fear), utility (let's make a deal), and principle-centered (virtue/honor). With respect to the first two variants, Machiavelli remains timeless; modern versions include Robert Ringer (Winning Through Intimidation, 1984) and Simon & Schuster's editor-in-chief, Michael Korda (Power; How To Get It; How To Use It, LJ 3/15/76). Regarding the third variant, Lee differs with other experts by taking an organic approach; she argues that power is rooted in honor and is based on transformation rather than transaction. A series of exercises demands reader participation and self-assessment. Indeed, Lee sets an example, listing how some of her personal failures became growth opportunities. Her work will be helpful to anyone in a leadership role such as teacher, parent, or coach.?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This self-help book reflects Lee's views on various types of power and how to develop principle-centered power in your life, which he defines as power that inspires loyalty and devotion, transcending time and place. Such power is based on trust and respect and survives even after one dies. Lee describes three types of power: coercive, which relies on the premise of control and uses fear as its instrument; utility, which is based on fairness, the exchange of what you can do for me with what I can do for you; and principle-centered, which is based on what you can do with others. The author tells us that his purpose in writing this book is to encourage us in our work with people, and he recommends that we choose principle-centered power as the primary way to influence others in our key relationships. Such power requires us to grow, to challenge our assumptions, and often to change our whole orientation in life. Mary Whaley

Review

Stephen R. Covey author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Blaine Lee is one of the greatest teachers I have ever known. He is a world expert on power, how to get it, and how to use it with honor. He will show you how to develop the power to practice the habits of highly effective people. -- Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

A guide on how to influence people without coercion or fear explains how to get people to respect who you are, what you stand for, and where you want to get in life. 125,000 first printing."

About the Author

Dr. Blaine Lee is a vice president of Franklin Covey Co., the leading global provider of integrated, sustainable, professional services and product solutions based on proven principles. Franklin Covey's client portfolio includes eighty-two of the Fortune 100 companies, over two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as thousands of small and mid-sized companies, government entities, educational institutions, communities, families, and millions of individual consumers.Blaine has created and delivered custom leadership development programs for many world-class organizations, including: Proctor & Gamble, U.S. West, Intel, IBM, Pillsbury, General Motors, Conoco, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Andersen Consulting, Arthur Andersen, NASA, Occidental Petroleum, MCI, Mass Mutual, Kimberly Clark, Prudential, Nabisco, Xerox, and many others.
Blaine has been a contributing author to books by Stephen R. Covey and Norman Vincent Peale, and has written college texts on teaching and organizational behavior. His teaching takes him over a third of a million miles annually. His ability to deal perceptively with difficult organizational and people problems has made him a unique advisor to senior executives in many kinds of organizations. A trainer's trainer, he is called a "Life-Coach" by leaders who claim he helps them do with their lives what athletic coaches can do with their muscles.
Blaine has been studying, teaching, and coaching successful men and women for over twenty-five years. He has been on the faculty of four colleges and universities and has twice been recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. He was the Director of Instructional Systems Development for the entire air force as a young captain. He co-founded and was Educational Director for two professional private residential schools for troubled teenagers. He created the National Speakers School, has mentored several past presidents of the National Speakers Association, and is listed in International Leaders in Achievement and Who's Who in America.


Blaine and his sweetheart, Shawny, live in a country home in the Rocky Mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah, where he relishes his time as a deliberate dad. He received his masters degree in instructional psychology from B.Y.U. in Utah and his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. 

Obama: From Promise to Power by David Mendell

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060858214
• ISBN-13: 978-0060858216

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama has captured attention as reporters, politicos, and ordinary citizens have wondered if he might be the nation's first black president. Chicago Tribune reporter Mendell argues that although Obama's rise to the national stage might seem unplanned, it is the outcome of a carefully calculated strategy by an ambitious man. Mendell chronicles Obama's personal evolution, from Barry, a biracial adolescent growing up in Hawaii, to Barack, the Harvard law school graduate. Obama's complex background—white midwestern mother and Kenyan father—has been both an asset and a liability to his search for acceptance among African Americans and voters in general as they have had to assess who he is and what he stands for. Mendell tracks Obama's rise through the frustrations of community organizing and the rough-and-tumble world of Chicago politics to the rarefied, if no less brutal, world of the U.S. Senate. Mendell draws on interviews with Obama, his wife, family, friends, aides, and rivals, as well as his own extensive coverage since Obama's days in the Illinois Senate, to offer a nuanced, compelling look at a man of idealism and ambition intent on making history. Bush, Vanessa --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

The single best source of background information on our new president. (National Review )

Product Description

Barack Obama is arguably the most dynamic political figure to grace the American stage since John F. Kennedy. His meteoric rise from promise to power has stunned even the cynics and inspired a legion of devout followers. For anyone who wants to know more about the man who would be president, David Mendell's Obama is essential reading. Mendell, who has covered Obama for the Chicago Tribune since the beginning of Obama's campaign for the Senate, had far-reaching access to the senator, the details of which he shares in this compelling biography. Positioning Obama as the savior of a fumbling Democratic party, Mendell shows how Obama conquered Illinois politics and paved the way brick by brick for a galvanizing, historic presidential run. With exclusive contributions by family members and advisers, and details on Obama's voting record, this is a complete, complex, and revealing portrait, a must read for anyone interested in American politics in general and Senator Barack Obama in particular.

About the Author

David Mendell, author of Obama: From Promise to Power, has been writing about politics and urban issues for the Chicago Tribune since 1998. Mr. Mendell lives in Oak Park, Illinois.

From AudioFile

This timely biography by a hard-bitten reporter from the generally conservative CHICAGO TRIBUNE covers the personal and political life of the man who may be president. The remarkable thing about Illinois Senator Barack Obama is--no doubt about it--charisma. People who encounter him react enthusiastically with statements such as: ÒI think he might be the one!Ó ObamaÕs main message, that people should come together for the common good, resonates with liberal and conservative alike, says the author. When quoting Obama, reader Dion Graham slips easily into a doppelganger-like vocal cadence and timbre, eerily accurate and compelling. In between quotes he reads with a measured, expressive intonation, sounding personally neutral and yet warm at the same time. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

There's No Elevator to the Top: A Leading Headhunter Shares the Advancement Strategies of the World's Most Successful Executives by Umesh Ramakrishnan

There's No Elevator to the Top: A Leading Headhunter Shares the Advancement Strategies of the World's Most Successful Executives by Umesh Ramakrishnan (Hardcover - Nov 13, 2008)

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (November 13, 2008)

ISBN-10: 1591842255

From Publishers Weekly

As vice chairman of a global executive search firm, Ramakrishman uses his access to the top executives at major corporations to ask the one question aspiring CEOs, and even new entrants to the business world, would most like to know: What do you know now that you wish you had known 20 years ago? The result is a low-key, highly personal look back at success. The advice Ramakrishman elicits from the executives delves into such areas as the importance of choosing only 'A' players when seeking to assemble a strong team and striving for a flatter organizational structure to promote communication and information flow. The subject matter does not vary significantly from standard career topics like the importance of networking, but the real value here is access to the wisdom and guidance of proven leaders such as Steve Reinemund of Pepsi and Terrence Marks of Coca-Cola. Chapter-ending executive summaries underscore key points that will benefit anyone—regardless of their corporate ranking—looking to advance in their field. (Nov.) 

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Longtime search executive, Ramakrishnan, sets out to examine and dissect today’s popular management principles and insights by traveling the world to interview members of the C-suite, the corporate world’s chief officers. Stories abound as the author recounts thoughtful conversations with leaders of Fortune’s largest companies and CEO’s of start-ups, including wisdom and advice from executives of Charles Schwab, JC Penny, Aetna, Cadbury Schweppes, and MediaCorp Group of Singapore to name a few. Lessons learned from his interviews include: everyone’s the CEO’s boss; everyone thinks they own you; not everyone likes you; know what’s going on; your constant responsibility is to filter and synthesize the information flow for your benefit; corporate culture begins with you; prepare as much as possible, then expect the unexpected; leaders know how to rally the troops; always strive to be better; and in the end, there’s only you left to blame. There is so much richness in the ideas and experiences chronicled in this excellent book, which offers special insight for library patrons. --Mary Whaley

A top corporate recruiter reveals what it takes to reach the top of a major corporation.

Few people have as deep an understanding of corporate leadership as Umesh Ramakrishnan. As vice chairman of CTPartners, one of the world’s premier search firms, he has placed dozens of C-level executives at companies around the globe. Now he shares powerful lessons from his long career and also from exclusive interviews with top CEO’s.

Ramakrishnan identifies the qualities that distinguish those who are likely to make it from those who aren’t. And he explains, for instance:

• Why the surest route to the top is not always straight up the greasy pole

• How it’s possible to have a star team without everyone being a star

• Why your listening skills need as much attention as your communication skills

• How to meet the challenges—and grasp the opportunities—of globalization

There’s No Elevator to the Top is like an exclusive lunch date with a tableful of CEOs, as Ramakrishnan features the insights of dozens of top leaders at companies like Dell, Cadbury Schweppes, Aetna, BT Group, Pepsi, Infosys, and Ecopetrol.

About the Author

Umesh Ramakrishnan is vice chairman of the executive search firm CTPartners. He recruits directors, CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and other senior management positions for Global 2000 companies. He is a sought-after speaker and a regular guest on CNBC.

The Law of Success: The Master Wealth-Builder's Complete and Original Lesson Plan forAchieving Your Dreams by Napoleon Hill (Paperback - Dec 26, 2008)

The Law of Success: The Master Wealth-Builder's Complete and Original Lesson Plan for Achieving Your Dreams by Napoleon Hill

Firnando Chau Review

Review

By applying many of the 16 fundamentals of the Law of Success philosophy we have built a great chain of successful stores. I presume it would be no exaggeration of fact if I said that the Woolworth Building might properly be called a monument to the soundness of these principles. -- F. W. Woolworth

Dear Mr. Hill: Thank you for your Law of Success. It is great stuff; I shall finish reading it. I would like to reprint that story "What I Would Do if I Had a Million Dollars" in the Business Section of the Public Ledger. -- Cyrus H. K. Curtis, Publisher of Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal

I know that you are doing a world of good with your Law of Success. I would not care to set a monetary value on this training because it brings to the student qualities which cannot be measured by money alone. -- George Eastman

I know that your 16 fundamentals for success are sound because I have been applying them in my business for more than 30 years. -- John Wanamaker

Mastery of the Law of Success philosophy is the equivalent of an insurance policy against failure. -- Samuel Gompers

May I congratulate you on your persistence. Any man who devotes that much time...must of necessity make discoveries of great value to others. I am deeply impressed by your interpretation of the "Master Mind" principles which you have so clearly described. -- Woodrow Wilson

My Dear Mr. Hill: Allow me to express my appreciation of the compliment you have paid me in sending me the original manuscript of Law of Success. I can see you have spent a great deal of time and thought in its preparation. Your philosophy is sound and you are to be congratulated for sticking to your work over so long a period of years. Your students...will be amply rewarded for their labor. -- Thomas A. Edison

My Dear Mr. Hill: I have now had an opportunity to finish reading your Law of Success textbooks, and I wish to express my appreciation of the splendid work you have done in this philosophy. It would be helpful if every politician in the country would assimilate and apply the 16 principles upon which the Law of Success is based. It contains some very fine material which every leader in every walk of life should understand. -- William H. Taft, Former President of the United States and Chief Justice

Whatever success I may have attained I owe, entirely, to the application of your 16 fundamental principles of the Law of Success. I believe I have the honor of being your first student. -- William Wrigley, Jr. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Here is the Holy Grail of success philosophy: Napoleon Hill’s complete and original formula to achievement presented in fifteen remarkable principles—now newly designed in a handsome single-volume edition.

This is the master volume of the extraordinary work that began the career of Napoleon Hill. Originally produced by Hill in 1928 as an eight-book series, The Law of Success is now available to contemporary readers in a single edition, redesigned and reset for ease of reading.

The Law of Success is the “golden key” to Hill’s thought—his complete and unabridged mind-power method for achieving your goals. After interviewing dozens of industrialists, diplomats, thought leaders, and successful people from all walks of life, the young Hill distilled what he learned into these fifteen core lessons, organized with an introductory chapter, “The Master Mind,” that serves as a primer to Hill’s overall philosophy.

As Hill saw it, these lessons work as a “mind stimulant” that “will cause the student to organize and direct to a DEFINITE end the forces of his or her mind, thus harnessing the stupendous power which most people waste.”

While future classics of Napoleon Hill would inspire millions of readers, there is no substitute for The Law of Success for everyone who wants to grasp the full range of Hill’s ideas and tap their transformative power.

From the Author

A Word From the Author In every chapter of this book, mention has been made of the money-making secret which has made fortunes for hundreds of exceedingly wealthy men whom I have carefully analyzed over a long period of years.The secret was brought to my attention by Andrew Carnegie, more than half a century ago. the canny, lovable old Scotsman carelessly tossed it into my mind, when I was but a boy. Then he sat back in his chair, with a merry twinkle in his eyes, and watched carefully to see if I had brains enough to understand the full significance of what he had said to me.
When he saw that I had grasped the idea, he asked if I would be willing to spend twenty years or more preparing myself to take it to the world, to men and women who, without the secret, might go through life as failures. I said I would, and with Mr. Carnegie's cooperation, I have kept my promise.
Napoleon Hill, 1928 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Napoleon Hill was born in 1883, in Virginia, and died in 1970 after a long and successful career as a lecturer, an author, and a consultant to business leaders. His 1937 work Think and Grow Rich is the all-time bestseller in its field, having sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, and setting the standard for today’s motivational thinking.

Integrity Selling by Ron Willingham

Integrity Selling by Ron Willingham (Paperback - May 15, 1989)

Paperback: 176 pages

Publisher: Main Street Books (May 15, 1989)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0385239106

ISBN-13: 978-0385239103

Product Description

Integrity Selling offers a practical, six-step program that focuses on today's more sophisticated customer. From initial contact to the close, the customer's needs are always at the forefront. Illustrated.

From the Publisher

"A masterful blend of practical philosophy tied to effective techniques. Must reading for all ambitious salespeople." -- Zig Ziglar, author of Top Performance

Product Description

Integrity Selling offers a practical, six-step program that focuses on today's more sophisticated customer. From initial contact to the close, the customer's needs are always at the forefront. Illustrated.

From the Publisher

"A masterful blend of practical philosophy tied to effective techniques. Must reading for all ambitious salespeople." -- Zig Ziglar, author of Top Performance

Tribes: We need YOU to lead us by Seth Godin

Hardcover: 160 pages

• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; 1 edition (October 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591842336
• ISBN-13: 978-1591842330
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces

From Publishers Weekly

Short on pages but long on repetition, this newest book by Godin (Purple Cow) argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet (consider, for example, the popularity of the Obama campaign, Facebook or Twitter). Tribes, Godin says, can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong. The book's helpful nuggets are buried beneath esoteric case studies and multiple reiterations: we can be leaders if we want, tribes are the way of the future and change is good. On that last note, the advice found in this book should be used with caution. Change isn't made by asking permission, Godin says. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later. That may be true, but in this economy and in certain corporations, it may also be a good way to lose a job. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Tribes is a must read for all of us. It’s up to each one of us to lead in today’s new kind of world.”
—Former U.S. senator Bill Bradley

Product Description

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature.


Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.


And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?


The Web can do amazing things, but it can’t provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals— people just like you who have passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips.


If you think leadership is for other people, think again—leaders come in surprising packages. Consider Joel Spolsky and his international tribe of scary-smart software engineers. Or Gary Vaynerhuck, a wine expert with a devoted following of enthusiasts. Chris Sharma leads a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, runs her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle. All they have in common is the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.


If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a “sheepwalker”—someone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers don’t do very well these days.


Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers. . . . It’s not easy, but it’s easier than you think.

About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of ten international bestsellers, including the New York Times bestseller The Dip. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and include Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, and Meatball Sundae. He is also the founder and CEO of Squidoo.com (a huge and fast-growing tribe) and the most popular business blogger in the world.

From AudioFile

Though a bit dry and languid with his delivery, Godin provides some interesting food for thought about the new modes of leadership emerging within an ever-changing cultural landscape. He remains steady throughout his performance but never delivers his information in as compelling manner as the text suggests. Godin takes a good look beyond typical leadership models to focus on the spheres of influence and group branding (tribes) emerging most strongly with the Internet generation. Social networking and other new media and technology are changing the power, direction, and investment of numerous people and, as Godin believes, can change the dynamics of business and culture. L.E. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine