The Truth About Managing People offers real solutions for the make-or-break problems faced by every manager. You’ll discover: how to overcome the true obstacles to teamwork; why too much communication can be as dangerous as too little; how to improve your hiring and employee evaluations; how to heal “layoff survivor sickness”; even how to learn charisma. This isn’t someone’s opinion; it’s a definitive, evidence-based guide to effective management: a set of bedrock principles you can rely on throughout your entire management career.
Adding Amazon review for those lazy to search...looks like the person described in the last line is from SlickDeals! This is an excellent book about "managing people" (I prefer "leading people") with 63 short myth-dispelling "truth" chapters. By the way, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."
Here's how this book will change you. It's time for the weekly staff meeting--and your interruptions have been interrupted by interruptions. Your job is to lead, inspire and motivate--and you need something fresh, but quick. This book is your CliffsNotes for all things management. Pick from 63 two-page chapters--and get this--the memorable content is not just opinion--the insights are all research-based.
Does Barack Obama (or Sarah Palin) have enough experience to be U.S. president? Eventually, yes/maybe. Author Stephen Robbins writes, "Even in the most complex jobs, real learning typically ends after two years." His research says that "experience, per se, is not a very good predictor of effectiveness. Just because a (job) candidate has 10 years of previous experience is no assurance that his or her experience will transfer to a new situation. What is relevant is the quality of previous experience and the relevance of that experience to the new situation that the leader will face." He adds, "Too often, 20 years of experience is nothing other than one year of experience repeated 20 times!"
The 63 mini-chapters are listed under 10 sections: The Truth About...Hiring, Motivation, Leadership, Communication, Building Teams, Managing Conflict, Designing Jobs, Performance Evaluation, Coping With Change and Managing Behavior. They fit well with the 20 buckets in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit.
The well-researched conclusions/chapter titles are compelling: Truth #4: Want Pleasant Employees? It's in the Genes! Truth #16: Not Everyone Wants to Participate in Setting Their Goals; Truth #28: Effective Leaders Know How to Frame Issues (he suggest five ways: metaphors, jargon, contrast, spin and stories); Truth #31: Charisma Can Be Learned; Truth #36: Hearing Isn't Listening (he gives eight behaviors associated with effective listening--like making eye contact); Truth #45: Not Everyone Is Team Material; and Truth #62: People Aren't Completely Rational: Don't Ignore Emotions!
"Personal references are easy to acquire but they're essentially worthless," says Robbins in the chapter, "Don't Count Too Much on Reference Checks." He says friends of applicants won't be honest with you. I tend to agree with him.
Some teams lower productivity, says the author. According to his research, "The truth is that teams often create negative synergy. Individuals expend less effort when working collectively that when working individually, so 2 + 2 can equal 3!" He calls it "social loafing." We need to look deeper at this research--it might dramatically change how we organize work.
From Chicago to Orange County last week, the senior manager in Seat 10C read the book over my shoulder--and plans to order it. That's a pretty good indicator of a great book! (Yeah--I got the dreaded middle seat.)
This is an easy read and hits on good, solid concepts for those who want to be or are in management positions. Good book to use as a refresher of the key points and strategies.
Your Credit Score, Your Money & What's at Stake (Updated Edition) (Free Book for a Limited Time): How to Improve the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future (Kindle Edition) link
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) The book begins by establishing the importance of a good credit score. While the example that demonstrates this is obviously fictional, it is still a sobering reminder that the cost of credit is something that we usually do not consider when making a purchase.
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I think of myself as a fairly informed consumer, and yet, I learned some new things from this book.
Some key nuggets:
# a payment normally has to be at least 30 days overdue before a creditor reports it to the bureaus, so you can probably stop worrying about that utility bill that you forgot to mail in until a week after it was due.
# Not all debt is equal. You should pay down debt on cards that are closer to the maximum credit limit on that card. In particular, your balance should not exceed 10-30% of your total credit limit.
# Lenders usually report your balance on the closing date for an account to the credit rating agencies. So even if you pay off your credit cards every month, the balance on your card on that reporting day is what affects your credit score. You should try to pay off your balance a few days before the closing date to ensure that you have more head room between your balance and your max credit limit.
# Don't close your oldest credit accounts. This is because the age of your oldest account and the average age of all your accounts affects your final score.
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On a very subjective level, I found the general level of advice in the book to be fairly ordinary. For example, while its hard to argue with advice like: Don't raid your retirement accounts, Keep a rainy day fund, Buy only as much house as you need, and Pay off your credit card balances; its still hard to think of this as anything but common wisdom.
However, what I considered off-topic digression for a book titled "Your Credit Score", may just as easily be seen by others as providing a holistic perspective on credit.
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The "must read" chapters of this book are chps. 4 and 5 - both of which give you invaluable tips on how to tune up your credit score. This is where the heart of this book can be found.
Happy Reading!
Mav12
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 30, 2010 @ 10:03p
Curious Folks Ask (Free Book for a Limited Time): 162 Real Answers on Amazing Inventions, Fascinating Products, and Medical Mysteries (Kindle Edition) link
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Open the book to any page and you're bound to find a captivating question with a well-written and interesting answer. It's perfect for teachers wanting to add some spice to their lectures...and makes for an excellent gift for the budding genius of the family.
Here's a sampling of the questions:
Is a lightsaber (yes, the Star Wars sword) possible?
Why does my radio crackle with static or some other interference?
Since contact lenses move with your eyes as they move, how are bifocal contact lenses possible?
Why is it so difficult to make a hearing aid that works?
Why do certain electrical cords (those used by fans, in particular) curl over time? Certain others do not.
Why is the adhesiveness of white glues, such as Elmer's, stronger than that of glue sticks?
How come I can use cold water in my washing machine but I have to use hot water in my dishwasher?
Fun stuff!
Seethaler is a Science Writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She holds a B.S. in Biochemistry (University of Toronto), a M.S. in Biology (Yale) and the Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education (Univ. of California-Berkeley), thus, readers can be confident that her answers are based upon good data and reliable information sources.
Highly recommended for school, public and college library collections and consideration for gifts to bright, curious and inquisitive individuals of all ages.
R. Neil Scott Middle Tennessee State University
Mav12
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 30, 2010 @ 10:10p
Bright of the Sky (Entire and the Rose, Book 1) (Kindle Edition) link
This review is from: Bright of the Sky (Entire and the Rose, Book 1) (Hardcover) This is a brilliant piece of SF/F writing and does not deserve to suffer simply because HK reviewed it in "her" usual, incoherent style. The two professional reviews give a good summary of the plot, so I'll just comment on why I enjoyed the book so much:
Kenyon's characters are so vivid that I found myself attached to even minor characters, wondering what happens to them after they leave the stage. There are only a handful of writers whose characters I've actually had dreams about, writing further adventures for them in my head, after I finish a book. Kenyon is one of those writers, and I can't wait to read the subsequent installments in the series.
The characters are the stars for me here, but I must mention how fascinating the world is that Kenyon has created. The two parallel worlds are revealed gradually to the reader throughout the course of the book, but even from the first scenes they feel solidly real. They make sense because Kenyon adds the kind of telling details that bring them alive most subtly and completely for me. Both worlds come complete with nuanced social and political stresses: corporate greed and executive dogfights, difficult family dynamics, political power struggles, clashes between cultures, xenophobia, and lots more. It sounds like a lot for one book, but the strands are so skillfully built and intertwined that the reader's knowledge builds in an apparently natural way. From the first, wrenching scene in the Rose (future Earth) universe--where we encounter an entire ship at the mercy of technology so complex that only one person on board is capable of fully understanding, much less controlling it--to the first scenes in the Entire universe--where we witness a summary execution by one of the powerful and terrifying Tarig--Kenyon sets up fascinating and illuminating parallels between the two parallel worlds.
The plot is complex and surprising also. The pace is never dull, yet events are allowed the proper time to build believably and achieve resonance for the reader. Kenyon doesn't pull any punches, and the consequences of the characters' decisions are sometimes brutal, adding increasing depth to the plot and characterization as the book progresses.
Entirely enjoyable. Highly recommended for those who enjoy both SF and Fantasy worldbuilding and want something complex and engrossing.
This review is from: The Art of War (Kindle Edition) Needless to say, Sunzi's this book is a must have on your shelf whoever you are whatever job you are doing, you are going to use the ancient art of war to deal with daily trivia or business critical things.
This review is from: War and Peace (Kindle Edition) This is one of my all-time favorite books. Tolstoy writes with an amazing inner knowledge of people, each of his characters really comes alive. Occasionally he departs from the story to comment on the war, but I appreciated his views on that, too. This is a story to settle down in for awhile. Worth your time.
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