Customer Reviews

The ABCs of Successful Leadership

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I teach a course on Leadership Principles in the Call Center industry. Ray's book provides excellent insight on what is important in leading large groups of people and motivating them to peak performance. We use numerous excerpts from Ray's book in our course material. The book is an efficient and effective manual on the "art" of leadership.

The ABCs of Successful Leadership is an easy-to-read, thoughtful handbook filled with inspirational quotations and insights. It's a guidebook of rules to live by for success in life, and in business. Definitely a must read!

Interesting grouping of quotes and stories. No new information and very little content. Most pages are 75% "white space." Not a very good value for the high price.

This book is a truly effective TOOL: Don't judge by heft! I keep this book on my desk and browse thru it whenever I need ideas, or inspiration or just something that makes real sense. I had to smile about the person who wrote the review that follows this one....Is it realistic -- or chauvinistic -- to judge a book just by the number of pages, or by the white space on a page?

Or is it better to judge a book by it's effectiveness...by the value it brings to a situation...by it's ease of use...by the realistic realization that today's leaders don't want hefty tomes that use multi-syllabic obsure words to make simple points. What they want is something they can use quickly to make effective decisions, and this book delivers that in spades.

I've worked on and off in organizations that Ray Wenderlich, the book's author, has managed over the last decade--always as an interested observer several levels below--never working directly for Ray.

Through it all I've made the following observation: Ray is a hell of a leader and Ray practices what he preaches in this book.

What you get with this book is a template. You use the template to fill in the information specific to your situation. Then you make the right decision.

This book is invaluable, if you use it the right way. Don't expect the answer to every question in the world. Expect a map that can lead you to those answers.

Nuff Said.

The notion that leadership is a trait to be dissected and codified into an instruction manual, to be learned and practiced by any aspirant, is utterly void of merit. Though great leaders can be studied; their habits, practices, and communicating styles compared, they tend to possess singular qualities which defy articulation. They tend to excel in situations uniquely suited to their personalities. Scholars may spend an academic career studying, for example, George Washington. But his judgement, bearing, and charisma defy replication. Yet Mr. Wenderlich would have us believe that achieving leadership stature is as simple as A,B,C. (Scroll down for next paragraph.)

A triumph of style over substance, this hard bound pamphlet of feel-good quotes (both famous and obscure) is as void of content as it is of depth. The self-improvement genre is littered with such bogus tracts of the sort, "Buy my book, apply its insights, and become an overnight success." But these authors at least pack their fraudulent offerings with complete pages of mind-numbing drivel. Mr. Wenderlich simply quotes a line or two of someone else's patented wisdom, carefully centering it on each otherwise blank page. And at the beginning of each chapter (or at the end; it's hard to tell), the reader is invited to record his ponderous thoughts on a page of horizontal lines provided to make the exercise a participatory one. At 128 pages of large font-size text, this tome could easily be condensed into 28 with pages to spare. But then it could no longer masquerade as a book. (Scroll down for next paragraph.)

Though a disciple of and cheerleader for New Age Medicine Showman Ed Foreman (who provides a predictably glowing jacket endorsement), Mr. Wenderlich is no con-man himself. He actually takes his balderdash seriously, a feat requiring self-deception on a grand scale. His book would make a great gag gift...for 2 bucks, not for $22! (Scroll down for next paragraph.)

With truth-in-advertising in mind, I offer 3 additional quotes for inclusion in a later edition:

1) "There's no there, there." -Gertrude Stein

2) "Staring at empty pages..." -Steve Winwood in the song by TRAFFIC, "Empty Pages".

3) "Mommy, that man is wearing no clothes." -unknown child in the fable, "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Scroll down to end.)

Though judging from this book, it is more likely the clothes have no emperor.

I also worked both with and for Mr. Wenderlich, and I can assure you that his success had little to do with his leadership skills. Ray is a gifted motivator, this is true: and there are times when organizations get beaten down and need lifting up. Ray was the right guy at the right time. But there is where it ends. Ray totally lacks any decency and integrity where his coworkers are concerned. People who work for him are intimidated and otherwise unduly pressured to make Ray look good. Leaders lead by example, not by writing books about themselves. I would not advise anyone to learn from the example set by Mr. Raymond Wenderlich.

In reality, Ray's simple parables are more of a tribute to himself than anything else. Undoubtedly, Ray is one of those guys who has a list of 50 things he wants to do before he dies, and writing a mind-numbing, useless tome to himself is one of them. I was one of the first to read his book. It sent eyes rolling everywhere. I would not advise you to buy this book unless you have absolutely no common sense whatsoever. In that case, Mr. Wenderlich's book will set you down the right path.

Want to make a positive change in yourself/your business forever? Read and have your co-workers/employees read this book. It is full of simple, easy to understand, no nonsense concepts, thoughts and behaviors that, when learned and practiced, will make the only true resource a business has, it's people, happy and motivated to succeed. I have used some of concepts and they work. I rate this book a must buy, must read, and must use.

The ABC's of Successful Leadership by Raymond L. Wenderlich and P.K. Daniel is a concise and to the point guidebook for improving your ability to lead your company to success. It is particularly valuable if your days (and evenings as well!) are too full of keeping up with things and you do not have time to attend a course. In a concise manner, Mr. Wenderlich and Mr. Daniel have developed a book with practical and succinct ideas for everyday use.

I like the layout. I can write in my own comments and use it as a personal diary so I can work at being a better leader. It's a good review of key management concepts I learned in my MBA courses. It's quick to read, and because I'm writing in my own comments, I'll refer to it often.