Book Reviews

Who’s Your Gladys?: How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest Fan
by Marilyn Suttle and Lori Jo Vest

I have more than 3,400 books in my personal library. It’s quite obvious I’ve read my share of what’s been offered in book stores over the years. For our book reviews section, I’ve written 201 reviews of books which we feel might benefit our clients, blog subscribers, and readers.

Of the 201 reviews, 13 have thus far focused on customer service, and I can’t help but note that they all share a very common thread … “Customers are the backbone of ANY business.” Care of those customers should be of the utmost importance to any organization that hopes to prosper in today’s challenging and very competitive marketplace. That statement is so obvious that it’s almost reached a point of ad nauseam (a disgusting or ridiculous degree). If that is, indeed, true … why is it so difficult to find good customer service today?

Our co-authors both agree that when times are tough, it’s the companies with exceptional customer service that survive. They then proceed to provide their readers with a blueprint on how this is accomplished by some of the most diverse and successful companies in the nation.

They use a very unique approach to accomplish this task. Every successful book must have a “hook” if it hopes to hold the attention of the reader throughout the content they offer. These talented authors took no chances inasmuch as they provided several “hooks.”

The first “hook” is “Gladys”. You’re going to hear a lot about Gladys from cover to cover. She’s actually a combination of those people who represent a company’s most challenging client—the one who requires a high level of skill to manage. This person could be a man, woman, or child. They may be young or old … a long-time customer or first-time patron. We’ve all had to deal with this challenging person, and Gladys will probably never go away. This book will not only provide strategies to cope with Gladys but will show you how to turn “your Gladys” into a Raving Fan. Now that’s a transformation that certainly makes your effort worthwhile!

Here’s another powerful “hook.” While it’s quite obvious that our authors are both well-educated, experienced, and very accomplished, they choose to make their very valid points by providing real-life examples rather than their own opinions. They offer detailed case studies on how 10 very successful companies deal with their most challenging customers. Each of the case studies demonstrates a unique solution to relatively common customer service challenges. They interviewed front-line employees as well as leaders within each organization to discover how each has learned to deal with a variety of challenging circumstances in dealing with Gladys. This approach allows us, as readers, to learn from realistic successes and failures of real people in authentic circumstances.

To illustrate the diversity of the case studies, the authors chose a moving company, a self-help organization, an airline, a polyethylene piping product supplier, a spa, an eyeglass distributor, a medical center, a high-end guitar manufacturer, a residential building business, and a television production studio. That kind of diversity alone proves that you simply can’t escape “Gladys” so you’d best focus on pleasing and transforming her!

The following “hooks” are frosting on the cake! The authors aren’t about to let you forget their valuable content. At the end of each chapter, you’ll find:

• Practical Points … a multi-page review of the critical points outlined within the previous chapter.
• Progress Checklist … a challenge to review those critical chapter points and rate yourself and/or organization on a scale from one to ten. After an honest appraisal, you’ll have an accurate snapshot of what areas to recognize and reward and what areas need enhancement.
• Lessons Learned … a list of critical questions as to how you can and will apply what you’ve learned from that chapter to your own daily situation. These questions are excellent for group discussions among your staff members.
• Answers … after you have discussed the previous questions, the authors provide additional thoughts to ponder for each of the questions.
• Who’s Your Gladys? … a closing chapter statement that can lead to further discussion of the chapter content as well as providing food for thought before you move on.

Upon completion of this pleasant and strongly informative read, you’re not going to walk away feeling as though you’ve been exposed to the typical customer service “fluff” which we’re all so familiar with. You’ll be armed with real-life, marketplace-tested, tips, tools, and strategies that will surely put a smile on the face of any Gladys you may have to deal with!

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Social Media, but were afraid to ask …: Building Your Business Using Consumer Generated Media
by Hilary JM Topper

I’ve never had the honor of being mistaken for a “techy” … nor will I be in the future. In fact, I’m probably as far from being a “techy” as one can possibly be.

About four years ago, I was invited to speak at a major conference for Realtors from several neighboring states. As is my usual behavior, I sat in on several of the break-out sessions in hopes of enhancing my knowledge base. One of the speakers informed the audience of a new technology that was growing very rapidly and would soon be known and used nationally to communicate among its millions of followers. It was called “Twitter,” and the rest is history.

Of course, with my limited knowledge of social media, “Twitter” fell into the same category as “MyFace” and “Spacebook” for me. Obviously, “Twitter” was the only one I could even pronounce properly! If only Hilary JM Topper had published her basic social media 101 book at that time! It would have solved a lot of problems for me and millions of others. However, don’t let me mislead you as the author has written this helpful guide for both non-technical and Internet-savvy readers.

In a mere 172 pages, Hilary provides some insight into a host of various web sites … many you have probably never heard of. She describes each site and, based on a great deal of research, shares the pros and cons of each as well as techniques to best tap the full potential of every site.

At the conclusion of each chapter, the author shares her personal insights in a short summary she calls “My 2 Cents.” I found these comments to be very helpful indeed.

If you’re looking for the fastest was to communicate your ideas today, you’d better be investigating in social media. In this revealing guide, the author will:

• Describe how to use social media sites, blogs, and microblogs.
• Review more than a dozen social networking sites.
• Provide an understanding of the importance of podcasts and video podcasts.
• Discuss what it means to “Go Viral.”
• Give suggestions for handling crisis situations via the Web.

Are you familiar with Brightkite.com, Bebo.com, FriendFeed.com, hi5.com, Identi.ca, koornk.com, Plaxo.com, Plurk.com, Spoke.com, Tumblr.com, Yammer.com, or YouAre.com? Well, you will be after finishing this useful guide, and you’ll more than likely be much more familiar with more common sites such as Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Get the most out of social networking, whether your goal is to cultivate an online following, build a business, reach new markets or find quick and useful information. This book will certainly assist you in meeting your needs.

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation
by Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D.

Another “mini-book” (169 pages) hits the book store shelves … this one from Stephen C. Lundin, author of the bestseller FISH! which has been published in 34 languages. The author is a writer and filmmaker with a background in business, management, and education.

Lundin unveils the next big trend in business—innovation as a tool of personal success. I can’t think of a better time to focus on obtaining the many valuable benefits of such a powerful resource. Within these pages, readers will learn about innovation and how companies and people can innovate more. The author’s belief is that innovation and creativity can be learned, and there are certain things that can be done to enhance creativity. Learn how to tap into your power of innovation and then unleash it in every member of your organization. You’ll learn how to recognize and deal with the four basic challenges that must be overcome in order to enhance your innovation edge:

1. Doubts, Fears, and Distractions (fraidy cats never innovate).
2. Being Normal (stop being normal—make your own rules).
3. Failure (embrace it—it’s the only way to learn).
4. Foster Creativity (don’t be a control freak).

Lundin then describes the Nine Lives of Innovation, each of which is a step toward realizing your inner CAT and becoming a fully contributing member of an innovative organization.

1. Create an Innovation Friendly Environment.
2. Always Be Prepared.
3. Know That Innovation Isn’t Normal.
4. Welcome Physical Provocation.
5. Enjoy Social Provocation.
6. Promote Intellectual Provocation.
7. Put Failure Into Perspective.
8. Fail Early and Fail Well.
9. Understand Natural Energy.

The author also demonstrates his own creativity by utilizing additional learning tools such as:

• CAT Nip—an activity that provokes your thinking or tests your newfound CAT skills.
• CAT Pause (paws, get it?)—A break in the action that creates a space for reflection.
• CAT’S Eye View—A real life example used to illustrate a point.

CATS is full of simple yet profound information and anecdotes that can be used to spark the curiosity and creativity within every employee and, thus, inspire innovative approaches to ordinary situations.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Peaks and Valleys: Making Good and Bad Times Work for You-at Work and in Life
by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Here we find another of those very popular “mini-books” (103 pages) aimed at those readers craving a powerful message via a short read. Who better to grant that request than author Spencer Johnson, who did exactly that in Who Moved the Cheese, The Present, and his solid contributions to the One Minute Manager series? More than 46 million copies of Spencer Johnson’s books are in print worldwide in more than 47 languages.

The timing couldn’t be better for this story. If you’re a person who has been trying to survive or just make it during these tough times, this narrative may just provide that valuable clarity that you need right now.

This tale focuses on a man who is struggling in his life. A friend tells him a story about another man in a similar situation. He lives unhappily in a valley until he meets an old man who lives on a peak. That meeting changes his work and life forever.

Initially, the young man has no idea he is talking with one of the most peaceful and successful people in the world. However, through a series of conversations and experiences, the young man learns that peaks and valleys are all a part of life. The key to living a richer life is how you perceive and address the peaks and valleys and what you learn while you are traversing the peaks and valleys.

He realizes he can use the old man’s remarkable principles and practical tools in good times and bad times to make a difference in his life. As a result he becomes more calm and successful and takes more control of his life.

While the messages may be somewhat basic, they are indeed powerful if properly applied. For instance:

• “You can have fewer bad times when you appreciate and manage your good times wisely.”
• “The pain in a valley can wake you up to a truth you have been ignoring.”
• “The path out of a valley appears when you choose to see things differently.”

Understand and apply this wisdom to successfully navigate the peaks and valleys of your life at work and at home. Recognize and utilize the positive that is so often hidden in the bad times. Appreciate and capitalize on your good times. This book will provide you with the clarity to do just that.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Monkey Business: 7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch
by Sandy Wight, Mick Hager, and Steve Tyink

Here we have another of the numerous “mini-books” adorning book store shelves today. Three experienced consultants have combined their experience, talent and creativity to fill a mere 114 pages with a light-hearted approach to the serious business of engaging customers and employees in a mutually beneficial relationship.

What I found intriguing was the fact that they managed to accumulate, in so few pages, so many basic rules, lessons, ideas, principles and strategies for creating the optimum customer service environment—most of which are not being used by the majority of today’s organizations.

The jungle provides a clever metaphor of today’s business climate and that theme is astutely carried out from cover to cover.

You’ll discover the profound power of “Monkey See-Monkey Do” as well as the 7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch.

1. Establish Your Rock.
2. Create Your Value Vine.
3. Live the Exclamation Factor!
4. Set Your Customer Connection Points.
5. MMFI (Make Me Feel Important).
6. Take Full Responsibility for Our Customers.
7. Use the Energy Advantage!

Utilizing the magic of analogy and fantasy, the authors have created a guidebook on customer service that will captivate readers from start to finish.

To enhance your experience, you’ll discover useful and unique tips and tools in the form of sidebars on most every page. They’ve been arranged in four categories:

• Monkey Wisdom – (66)
• Monkey Magic – (14)
• Monkey Instinct – (10)
• Monkey Speak – (15)

Join a special spider monkey, Leader, on his journey through the jungle, and you’ll learn along with him how to create an enduring, relationship-driven, service-focused, customer-centered, profitable organization.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

50 Prosperity Classics: Attract It, Create It, Manage It, Share It (50 Classics)
by Tom Butler-Bowdon

I’ve already reviewed the acclaimed trilogy written by this particular author. You might want to revisit those three reviews as they are certainly very valuable resources that should be kept at arm’s length of your personal office and/or home library. Simply click on the following links for these reviews:

• 50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life
• 50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Work and Life from 50 Landmark Books
• 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose

The author now follows up those terrific resources with 50 Prosperity Classics. I should again alert you to the fact that you more than likely will not find these titles on the shelves of your local book store but can certainly order them very easily from your favorite store or online from Amazon.com.

This fourth book focuses on the great works on wealth, entrepreneurship, personal finance, investing, economics and philanthropy, providing guidance and encouragement to develop the millionaire mindset, become a wealth creator, make wise investment decisions and―once you’ve made it―give a little back.

Butler-Bowdon follows the same reader-friendly format here that was so successful in his trilogy. I’ll explain that template here and then share the individual content under each title. Each classic has its own chapter which is reasonably short and to the point while extremely revealing. The first page of each chapter begins with a few notable quotes from the classic followed by a feature titled “In a nutshell.” This profile summarizes the entire classic in one or two sentences followed by another interesting feature, “In a similar vein,” which lists several other classics that address the same subject. Thus far–one page.

The author then offers the main idea, context, and impact of the book itself followed by a short, interesting biography of the author.

The author has organized his content into four elements for easier access to this reader-friendly material.

• Attract It: Master the inner game of wealth and abundance with books such as Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling The Secret, Charles Fillmore’s Prosperity, Napoleon Hill’s The Master Key to Riches.
• Create It: Learn from the secrets and strategies of wealth creators such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Conrad Hilton, Anita Roddick and Donald Trump.
• Manage It: Discover the nuts and bolts of personal finance and investing such as Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, Suze Orman’s Women and Money, Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Revisited and Peter Lynch’s One Up on Wall Street.
• Share It: Understand the flow of wealth and how to give something back with inspiration from Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth, Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism and Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money.

This book is loaded with wisdom in the form of interesting quotes from some of the greatest minds in this area.

The book concludes with five pages of “Prosperity Principles” and recommendations for 50 additional prosperity classics.

You may also want to check out the author’s website at www.butler-bowdon.com.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell

The author of #1 international bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink is a staff writer for The New Yorker and was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post. Malcolm Gladwell’s one of the very few authors kind enough to consider his readers by offering a definition of his chosen title in the first paragraph of the book. I’ll do the same for you in my second paragraph.

Out-li-er \ noun 1. something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body 2. a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.

After reading several chapters, I found myself identifying outliers as those men and women with skills, talent, and drive who do things out of the ordinary. We’ve all known someone like this from school, work, church or the neighborhood. We knew them—we just didn’t always understand them or how they managed to reach such levels of performance so effortlessly. It left us wondering why some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential?

Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t appear in their cribs as aggressive life changers ready to take on and conquer the challenges of the world as we know it.

The author claims: “They are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.”

In this book the author continues to do what he does best—illuminating secret patterns behind everyday phenomena. He does so while sharing examples from every aspect of our lives.

He examines the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, building the convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”

He asks the question: What makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Read this book if you’d like to learn:

• Why most pro hockey players were born in January.
• How many hours of practice it takes to master a skill (10,000 hours).
• How a pilot’s culture impacts his/her crash record.
• What Bill Gates, the Beatles and Mozart had in common.
• Why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York.
• How a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math.
• The reasons for school achievement gaps.

Malcolm Gladwell expounds on how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential.

Like his previous work, Outliers is a thought-provoking, category-defying book. It is also available in audio form read by the author.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You
by Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten

Ok, let’s get a few things straight right off the bat. Yes, this is a book about books … in fact, it’s a list of books you should read if you really enjoy business books. Why do you need to invest your time and money on something like this? Well, there is good reason.

More than 1.9 million business books are now offered by Amazon, including more than 267,000 in the “business management” category. Last year, 11,000 business book were published in the U.S. Yes, 11,000 focused on business. Placed one on top of another, the stack would stand as tall as a nine-story building! Can you visualize that? And the 880 million words in that nine-story pile would take six and a half years to read. Locked somewhere in this tower of paper is the solution to your current business problem. It’s that simple. However, do you have the time and money to purchase that pile and then search for that answer? Of course not, and that’s where this book comes in.

It’s much more than a simple list of books. It’s truly informative as it gives you a quick recap of the author and content, provides fantastic insights you couldn’t find elsewhere, some great one-liners, and important take-aways and sidebars.

Now, let’s be realistic; anyone reading this book is going to discover books listed that they personally would not have included in their own personal list of top 100 business books. They’ll also identify other titles which they feel should have been included and were not. This is typical. You can’t please everyone.

The authors, Covert and Sattersten, didn’t simply list their favorite books. They actually utilized a system to rate the hundreds of business books they’ve read and reviewed as founder and president, respectively, of 800-CEO-Read, a specialty book retailer. To choose the books in this list, the authors used a three-point criteria.

1. The quality of the book’s idea.
2. The applicability of the idea to businesses today.
3. The accessibility of the book’s writing.

They then divided the books into twelve specific categories: You, Leadership, Strategy, Sales and Marketing, Rules and Scorekeeping, Management, Biographies, Entrepreneurship, Narratives, Innovation and Creativity, Big Ideas, and Takeaways.

Within those categories, the authors waste no time in telling us the major themes of each book, why they’re important for us to read, and how they can actually help us. At the end of each review, the authors direct readers to other books both inside and outside The 100 Best.

They even recommend movies that display characters with outstanding leadership characteristics, novels, and even children’s books that offer equally relevant insights. Some additional treats I found interesting include:

• Fresh Perspectives Not in a Bookstore Near You.
• Leadership in Movies.
• Conferences to Attend.
• The Best Route to an Idea.
• Results of a Reader’s Poll.
• Getting Your Bearings.
• Globalization of Manners.
• For Your Ears Only (podcasts).
• Industry in Depth.
• Choose Your Approach to Learning.
• Selling on the Silver Screen.
• Business Books for Kids of All Ages.
• Learn from Experience (case studies).
• Business Issues Found in Fiction.

At the end of the book, we’re invited to visit 100bestbiz.com for more information about all of the books discussed, including chapter excerpts, interviews with authors, videos about the books, and more. I also signed up for the 800-CEO-READ Blog which provides daily updates of various kinds. This book is a valuable resource to anyone who reads for business regularly.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s: The 7 Leadership Principles that Drive Break Out Success
by Paul Facella

I must be honest here. When I began my business career decades ago, the above title would have been my very last choice for a successful business book. Who could have known?

Of course, those were the days when a McDonald’s hamburger sold for 15 cents, a cheeseburger sold for 19 cents, golden french fries were only 10 cents, a Coke was just a dime, and you could get a triple-thick shake for a mere 20 cents.

Now that I’ve read the book, I can assure you that this book should be mandatory reading for anyone about to enter or already working in the customer service industry and anyone leading employees in hopes of providing ultimate service.

I also learned a great deal about a company I’ve taken for granted for years as I drove by or feasted at thousands of its Golden Arch locations from coast to coast. For instance:

• McDonald’s serves food to nearly 52 million people daily in 31,000 restaurants worldwide!
• McDonald’s has sold well over 100 billion hamburgers!
• McDonald’s employs more than 1.5 million people!
• McDonald’s operates in more than 119 countries on six continents. Antarctica is the only continent without a McDonald’s!
• McDonald’s has also produced more millionaires from within its ranks than any company in history!

I’m not certain this particular book could have been written by anyone more qualified as company insider Paul Facella. He’s one of many who started working behind the counter at age 16. Over the next 34 years, he moved from the counter to the grill to Regional Vice President. I guess you could say he practically grew up within the golden arches. As a result, he has a first-hand education living the fast-food giant’s management practices and culture. He has also built strong personal ties to its legendary leaders, including founder Ray Kroc and CEOs Fred Turner, Mike Quinlan, Jack Greenberg, former President Ed Rensi, and current CEO Jim Skinner. That may have led to some of his memories seeming a bit syrupy at times, but that’s understandable as he is speaking about what he considers his family and one of the great American business success stories.

The author shares seven good leadership principles that have certainly passed the test of time and, if implemented properly, should help any business … even in tough business climates like those we’re facing today.

These principles are:

1. Honesty and Integrity: All in a Handshake.
2. Relationships.
3. Standards: Never be Satisfied.
4. Lead by Example.
5. Courage: Telling It Like It Is.
6. Communications.
7. Recognition.

Facella devotes a separate chapter to each of the seven principles, sharing examples and anecdotes supporting each.

Throughout his 226 pages, the author includes 36 valuable “Lessons” accompanied by “Food for Thought” personal observations to enlighten his readers. At the end of each chapter, he provides a brief “In Summary” recap and “Key Learnings” from that chapter.

The author also uses an interesting “one-on-one” feature to share personal insights about company executives, franchisees, and vendors. These reader-friendly devices certainly add value and insight as this book delivers an up-close-and-personal look at a company where talent is cultivated and encouraged to thrive, from the individual restaurant to the corner office.

Again, we tend to overlook how successful this organization has become as we think of it as only a local fast food restaurant. Keep in mind that seven out of the top 10 current McDonald’s executives began as restaurant “crewmembers” and built their careers through the chain. In addition, Fortune magazine reveals that McDonald’s revenues were greater last year than all of the following competitors combined: Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, A&W, Long John Silver’s, and Cracker Barrel.

Pick up a copy of Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s and learn how it achieved and managed to maintain that level of performance.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

A Sense of Urgency
by John P. Kotter

Here’s another much-needed approach to the very familiar but often ignored subject of change. I’m not certain anyone could be more suited to address this critical issue than change guru John Kotter. This Harvard Business School Professor is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. His is the premier voice on how the best organizations actually “do” change. He’s very well-known for his previous best-sellers, Leading Change, The Heart of Change and Our Iceberg Is Melting.

In his newest work, A Sense of Urgency, Kotter shows what a true sense of urgency in an organization really is, why it is becoming an exceptionally important asset, and how it can be created and sustained within organizations. His latest work is, simply put, a sequel of his previous book; Our Iceberg Is Melting … a fictional story of emperor penguins who fight for survival during the threat of change. In that bestseller, Kotter shared the eight steps to overcome and embrace change. The initial step of the eight was a sense of urgency.

His latest book is focused on that first step. As Kotter wrote, “Most organizations handle step 1 poorly.” This book is sorely needed in today’s times for that very reason. Without a “true” sense of urgency, the following seven steps to embrace change are simply an exercise in futility. A sense of urgency is vital to a process of change. Kotter also reveals the two most hazardous enemies to developing a sense of urgency: complacency and false urgency and how to cope with each.

This focused narrative concentrates on the actions and practices involved in creating and sustaining a sense of urgency. Kotter provides four core tactics for driving urgency into an organization. These tactics are supported by anecdotal stories and detailed tools which make the book actionable and practical. The tactics are:

1. Bring the outside in.
2. Behave with urgency every day.
3. Find opportunity in crisis.
4. Deal with NoNo’s.

Kotter provides tips, tools and strategies for overcoming the fear, anger, and ingrown complacency that derail the change process. Charts and chapter summaries help connect theory to the practical question: How do we move people to act?

A Sense of Urgency is a powerful tool for anyone wanting to win in a turbulent world that will only continue to move faster.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.