books
The Timeless Leader
by John Clemens and Steve Albrecht
What do Herman Melville, Plato and Winston Churchill have in common? They
all created works of literature-fiction and nonfiction-that illuminate the
roles, responsibilities and issues of leadership. The Timeless Leader presents
their lessons to the modern manager.
The 12 case studies included here represent a wide-ranging collection of
thinking that is sure to occasionally surprise even the most well-rounded
readers. For example, who would expect to find lessons about paradigm-busting
in Plato's book, The Republic. In his "Allegory of the Cave,"
Plato describes a group of people living in a cave who know no other existence.
He asks us to consider the natural reaction when one group member is thrust
into the real world and then returns to tell of his experience. The results
won't surprise any manager who has attempted to implement fundamental changes
in an organization.
The value of The Timeless Leader (Adams Publishing, $22.95) is not so much
in the originality of the lessons it conveys. They are, after all, already
well-known. Rather, it lies in the time-proven value of these ideas about
leadership. It also lies in the important realization that business wisdom
does not always come packaged with a label that says "Business."
Instead, there are valuable lessons for businesspeople in less obvious places.
-Reviewed by Theodore B. Kinni
Circle No. 116
Customers as Partners
by Chip R. Bell
Customers as Partners harkens back to an earlier time in our business history.
It evokes an era when the people with whom we did business were usually
our neighbors and treated us accordingly. Chip Bell deliberately summons
our memories of this time in this thoughtful and sometimes elegant examination
of the nature of partnerships.
Bell finds that successful partnerships include a strong emotional content.
He finds that partnerships require six essential ingredients: abundance,
trust, dreams, truth, balance and grace-each of which receives several chapters
of explanation.
These ingredients are purposely labeled with old-fashioned words, according
to the author. Half the ingredients are fairly simple: Abundance is defined
as "a spirit of giving." Trust represents the leap of faith we
must take in any partnership; truth is an obvious requirement. Others are
not so straightforward: Dreams-the ingredient that Bell finds toughest for
organizations to master-encompass shared goals and common missions. Balance
is the respect and equality that must exist between service provider and
customer, and grace represents that "easy to do business with"
quality that seems so widely lacking these days.
The book is designed for easy reading and may work best as a discussion
platform for groups. Bell encourages readers to start anywhere they like,
a strategy encouraged by the usually short and mostly self-contained chapters.
Small-business readers will be glad for the many examples culled from smaller
enterprises.
It is easy to recommend Customers as Partners (Berrett-Koehler, $24.95)
to anyone interested in creating meaningful, long-term customer connections.
It serves as a fine primer for neophytes, as well as a rich source of food
for thought for more advanced partnership architects.
-Reviewed by Theodore B. Kinni
Circle No. 117
Paradigms and Parables
by Brother Louis DeThomasis and Bill Ammentorp
Capitalism has never been admired for its ethical underpinnings; nevertheless,
in the last decade, it has emerged as the dominant global business philosophy.
To stay on top, warn the authors of Paradigms and Parables, capitalists
will have to establish a "new ethical paradigm."
In an effort to illuminate the precepts of this new paradigm, DeThomasis
and Ammentorp create a list of business commandments and illustrate each
with a parable. The result is a sort of "New Testament of Business,"
which starts with the admonition to "walk the walk of social justice"
and ends with the 10th commandment, "Remember: Peace and prosperity
in all the world are created by ethical business practice."
The parables themselves are fun to read. They are written in biblical style
but set in modern Wall Street. The authors' 10 commandments and parables
are meant to ease the reader into the more serious discussion that makes
up the bulk of each chapter. And, although they do accomplish that task,
the discussions themselves are complex and conducted at a level that the
average manager may find difficult, if not impossible to apply. For the
most part, this is an abstract, philosophical text.
Paradigms and Parables (Human Resource Development Press, $12.95) offers
an interesting basis for debate regarding an ethical foundation for corporations.
Readers charged with creating organizational programs will find plenty of
food for thought, but those looking for practical direction might better
look elsewhere.
-Reviewed by Theodore B. Kinni
Circle No. 118
Walk the Talk
by Eric Harvey and Alexander Lucia
This package deal contains three books plus a wind-up set of walking and
chattering teeth! The books (Performance Publishing) are: Walk the Talk
and Get the Results You Want ($18.95), Walking the Talk Together-An Employee
Handbook ($5.95) and 144 Ways to Walk the Talk ($6.95).
Walk the Talk and Get the Results You Want seems to be the centerpiece for
the training package. An earlier version of this book received an enthusiastic
endorsement in the January 1994 issue from another reviewer. This latest
update contains a number of refinements and additions that made a good book
even better.
What really caught my attention was the foreword by Ken Blanchard. His enthusiastic
three-page foreword was the best possible endorsement. Ken Blanchard wasn't
the only person to lend his support to these books. Several others, including
Stephen R. Covey, also had words of praise for this down-to-earth set of
books.
Walk the Talk contains the answers to some of the most pressing business
challenges facing us today and tomorrow. Through the application of its
principles comes the ability to tackle fierce competition, the aftermath
of downsizing and the onslaught of labor and employment legislation.
Walking the Talk Together-An Employee Handbook and 144 Ways to Walk the
Talk are important additions to this package. Both are colorfully and creatively
presented-nothing dull and stodgy about these publications. And both are
loaded with simple but profound truths. The authors seem to be talking directly
to the reader.
If you are into establishing meaningful commitment at all levels of your
organization, these books are required reading.
Circle No. 119
other new books...
NBS Quality, by David Crosby
(Crosby Co., 57 pages + disk, $48.50)
Readers will either love or hate this looseleaf notebook. Crosby, who labels
most quality strategies as "BS" programs, advocates "No BS"
quality. NBS Quality focuses on "doing the right thing and doing it
right." The notebook includes one disk with four software programs.
Your Boss Is Not Your Mother, by Brian DesRoches
(Morrow, 217 pages, $21)
The dynamics of work groups are much like families, according to DesRoches.
Using the basics of family-systems therapy, he shows how to recognize and
cure the dysfunctional office. The book includes a six-step plan for mapping
and changing group emotions and 13 "power tools" that members
can use to develop positive team dynamics.
Best Practices in Reengineering, by David Carr and Henry Johansson
(McGraw-Hill, 235 pages, $29.95)
This volume interprets a survey of 47 companies that successfully completed
process reengineering projects. The authors offer up 16 "best practices"
confirmed in the survey and eight more "prospective best practices"
drawn from their own experience. The practices are organized into chapters
that follow the typical reengineering process.
What to Say When . . . You're Dying on the Platform, by Lilly Walters
(McGraw-Hill, 271 pages, $14.95)
Here is a book full of situations that give speakers nightmares . . . and
the tips, tools and one-liners they will need to overcome them gracefully.
Walters organizes her material into six sections: speech delivery problems,
audience problems, room and equipment "afflictions," "miscellaneous
maladies," audience participation tips and speech preparation and design
information.
The Invisible Assembly Line, by Daniel Stamp
(Amacom, 222 pages, $24.95)
Stamp applies the productivity-increasing techniques of manufacturing operations
to white-collar work in this volume. He identifies the key components and
connections in knowledge work, as well as process integration tools. The
body of the book describes an eight-step "Knowledge Proc-ess"
for boosting white-collar productivity. Plenty of self-assessments, worksheets
and forms are included.
Mastering Meetings, by The 3M Meeting Management Team, with Jeannine
Drew
(McGraw-Hill, 232 pages, $24.95)
This guidebook covers all the basics of planning and conducting meetings.
Several chapters are devoted to cutting-edge information on electronic meetings
and the preparation of presentations using new technology.
Open-Book Management, by John Case
(Harper Business, 180 pages, $23)
This book makes a good supplement to earlier "open-book" tomes.
It includes case studies exploring how open-book management works in a variety
of businesses.
