Book Reviews

This book aims to make leaders and team members aware of the skills that are necessary for creating the best team experience.  Almost all aspects of business activities depend upon how well teams function together, whether it’s selling a product online or in a brick and mortar store, getting projects completed on time and within budget or driving cutting edge innovation, and offering top quality products and services. The authors emphasize the importance of developing ESI or emotional and social intelligence for helping teams perform optimally.

Keith Rosen, the author of this book and a working executive coach himself wrote this book over a two year period basing it upon his years of experience as a coach and the multitude of sales management problems he has come across and resolved permanently. According to Mr. Rosen the core problem behind management inefficiency and failure lies in the leadership principles that are taught to managers. Most leadership training programs focus on ideology, but results are produced by developing core competencies or skills.

The traditional strategies and solutions of PR and marketing have become outdated with the adoption of Internet by the masses. A recent study found that 3 out of 4 Americans were Internet users. People all over the world are taking to Internet very fast, increasing bandwidth, decreasing cost of Internet, availability of mobile Internet devices along with traditional PCs have ensured that a huge number of people spend a considerable amount of time online. Moreover the internet has also become a primary source of information for such people.

Jim Collins enjoys a reputation as a heavyweight management consultant. He has written some wildly popular business books including “Built to Last” and “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don’t”. Apart from being counted among the bestselling business management books of all time these books are sworn to by many well-known and admired business leaders and teachers.

Hiring is tough and wrong hires can be very expensive to an organization (studies in this field have found that the average wrong hiring decision can cost a company up to 15 times the base salary of the employee in productivity loss and hard costs. Not only that, employees that do not fit into their job and organization can lower productivity and have a negative effect on other employees’ morale and customers.

Business organizations that make their mark in the world are usually found to have more number of remarkably talented people than organizations that are not doing well. I think most people would agree with this statement. Those who run businesses would like to get their fill of talents who would help make their business grow like never before. However wishes do not produce results. Leaders require taking steps that consistently produce results.

The corporate world is very much like a battlefield, and in both it is ultimately the ability to get things that decides the winners. Early on in the book the authors state that CEOs are attracted towards disciplines like leadership, strategy, and innovation because they are the glamorous aspects of the job of leading a company. However, even the most brilliant of strategies cannot automatically lead to results if it is not implemented as required. Execution is the discipline where a lot of good companies falter.

Jay Abraham – the CEO and founder of Abraham Group Inc. and a well known Marketing genius comes out with ways and means to do business in tougher times and not only to do business but also grow and make profits during this time. 

The book and the author are well known.  It is a classic after all.  Many have read it and many others will.  This review can be used as a precursor to a full reading or a quick refreshment of the last read.

The financial meltdown of 2008 has left hundreds of casualties in its wake. As the fallout continues, business, industries and even entire markets are either holding on desperately to survive, or have thrown in the towel unable to deal with the magnitude of chaos. The worst may be over, but the tumultuous times may continue for quite a while.