The Achiever Newsletter 

What would happen if a top expert with more than thirty years of leadership experience were willing to distill everything he had learned about leadership into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It could change your life. John C. Maxwell has done exactly that in this profound, revealing study. He has combined insights from years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict.

This book is a powerful, definitive statement of the timeless laws you simply must follow if you want to be a great leader — at home, on the job, in church, or wherever you are called on to lead.

Robert Lutz recently retired as vice chairman of Chrysler Corp. He has held senior management positions in four of the world’s top car companies: Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Chrysler. What else would you expect from a vegetarian who loves a good cigar, a high-achiever who didn’t graduate from high school until he was 22, a former Marine fighter pilot whose "Law Of Life" is a line from a Rolling Stones song?

In this intriguing approach to leadership, Lutz explains how and why every organization must cultivate a "split personality" combining common sense with freewheeling creativity. It defines the leader’s role in maintaining a healthy balance between the two. And it argues that a dynamic tension between them is the prime attribute that enables top-performing companies to introduce new products and achieve record profits.

Spencer Johnson is an internationally known bestselling author who originated and co-authored The One-Minute Manager as well as The One-Minute $ales Person, One-Minute Mother, One-Minute Father, One-Minute Teacher and One Minute For Yourself.

Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths about change. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a "Maze" and look for "Cheese" to nourish them and make them happy.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life — whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health or spiritual peace of mind.

And the "Maze" is where you look for what you want — the organization you work in, or the family or community you live in. In the story, the characters are faced with unexpected change. Eventually, one of them deals with it successfully, and writes what he has learned from his experience on the maze walls. When you come to see "The Hand-writing On The Wall," you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success in your work and in your life.

Written for all ages, the story takes less than an hour to read, but its unique insights can last for a lifetime!

#5
The Power of Alignment
How Great Companies Stay Centered and Accomplish Extraordinary Things
by George Labovitz & Victor Rosansky

Misaligned companies, like cars out of alignment, can develop serious problems if not corrected quickly. They are hard to steer and don’t respond well to changes in direction. This groundbreaking book shows you how to get — and keep — all the vital elements of your organization aligned and headed in the same direction at the same time.

Leaders must keep their people centered in the midst of change, de-emphasize hierarchy, and distribute leadership by distributing authority, information, knowledge, and customer data throughout their organization. Alignment is a response to the new business reality where customer requirements are in flux, where competitive forces are turbulent, and where the bond of loyalty between an organization and its people has been weakened. The old linear approach to management has given way to one of alignment. This book is packed with war stories and firsthand perspectives of industry leaders.

In essence, alignment links the five key elements of an organization —people, process, customers, business strategies, and, of course, leadership — to obtain breakthrough results, chief among them, sustained growth and profit, loyal customers, and a high-performing work force.

#6
Jack Welch and the GE Way
Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO
by Robert Slater

Jack Welch, legendary maverick, discusses the traits that led Business Week to anoint him, "... the gold standard against which other CEOs are measured."

To Jack Welch, change is natural and necessary, and Welch is the master of change. His innate skills and intuition have shaped the course and direction of international business — and his revolutionary strategies have made GE the benchmark for today’s global corporation.

Through Welch’s own words, along with those of dozens of GE insiders who work alongside him, Jack Welch and the GE Way presents a remarkable corporate success saga — and the extraordinary inside story of one of history’s most brilliant business icons.

Welch’s defining credo remains the same: "By reaching for the seemingly impossible, you often do the impossible."

#7
1001 Ways to Reward Employees
by Bob Nelson

Whether you manage a department, oversee a division, lead a company — or run a family business with just only one employee — there’s an essential principle to follow that’s often overlooked: What most motivates the people who work for you is recognition.

A chock-full guide to rewards of every conceivable type for every conceivable situation, this book polls the whole of the American business community, finding innovative ideas in every corner; and from the spontaneous gesture of praise to formal company-wide programs, it presents hundreds of ways to say thank you to the people who truly deserve it.

This book is fantastic for every well-intentioned manager or frustrated employee. It makes a compelling case that recognition, rewards and positive reinforcement all do work and that they can work for you.

#8
1001 Ways to Energize Employees
A Motherlode of Practical Ideas and Practices
by Bob Nelson

Take the brakes off your business. From management specialist and author of 1001 Ways To Reward Employees comes a practical handbook full of ideas for increasing employee involvement and enthusiasm — the key to an organization’s success. Weaving together case studies, examples, suggestions, and quotes from hundreds of American’s most energized businesses and business leaders. This book is a how-to for getting not just the most — but the best — from everyone in the organization.

#9
The Stuff of Heroes
The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership
by William A. Cohen

Dr. William A. Cohen presents the high road to leadership through the eyes of hundreds of outstanding chief executives and combat leaders. This is a book that shows you how to get ahead, not by fighting your way to the top, but by helping others to the top.

What does it take to be an outstanding leader? Creative genius? A tough image? Charismatic charm? No, it’s much simpler. But it’s also much harder. Do you have what it takes? Are you willing to do what is right even when no one is looking? That’s the essence of universal law number one — what Peter Drucker calls Cohen’s "root law." Integrity is a simple concept, but Dr. Cohen brings it to dramatic life with stirring tales from combat, and he demonstrates its complexity in the in the real life of business.

This book will show you how to develop and put to use a variety of sound and proven principles. The author’s practical advice and pointed anecdotes from leaders who have passed the test will inspire and encourage you. The benefits to both your organization and your personal and professional life will be tremendous.

#10
Customer Satisfaction is Worthless ... Customer Loyalty is Priceless!
How to Make Customers Love You, Keep Them Coming Back and Tell Everyone They Know!
by Jeffrey Gitomer

While the title may be shocking at first glance, the concept is indeed profound! It may just be the decisive factor in determining the success of your organization. Loyal. All have heard about it and most have experienced it at one time or another. What a wonderful feeling to have the unconditional love and affection that comes from loyalty. It is the highest form of friendship and the highest form of commitment. Loyal is unyielding, unrelenting, and ever faithful. True to the end. It is with that understanding that this book is centered So how do you get to "loyal" in the relationships with your customers? Simple — apply the principles that build loyalty in every other aspect of your life. Believe it or not, there are easy answers — but you have to work hard to achieve mastery of them. This book helps you discover those loyalty answers. And the best ways to master them.

This book is an easy read laced with bullet points, lists, examples and stories from the view-point of cash-paying customers — some are hilarious — some will make you applaud — some will make you nauseous. All will enlighten and educate you in the fine art of creating customer loyalty. This is a must-read for every member of your organization!