Bottom Line Results: The 10 Strategies for Achievement [Hardcover]

Randall Bell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 2006

Complete title: 10 Traits: My experience with major disasters and what they teach us about failure & success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bell offers valuable life lessons gleamed from some of the most fascinating and dramatic real life incidents and disasters in the world. As a father of three teenagers and a pre-teen, Bottom Line Results is truly an MBA for life for everyone in your family! -- Robert S. Griswold - Award Winning Radio Host & Author, Real Estate Investing for Dummies

Bottom Line Results take the concepts of productivity and time management that I have taught for over twenty years and put them in the perspective of the `Global Approach'. Bell's ability to organize, prioritize and communicate effectively has connected all the dots for me. This is the quintessential organizational tool for everyone from business management to household management. -- Hyrum Smith - Co-Founder, Franklin Covey & Chairman, The Galileo Initiative

Bell brings new and innovative thought to the leadership arena. His "Global Approach" and "Left Line - Right Line - Bottom Line" concepts can increase productivity in either business or life, in general. -- Donald T. Phillips - New York Times Best-Selling Author, Lincoln On Leadership

Bell offers valuable life lessons gleamed from some of the most fascinating and dramatic real life incidents and disasters in the world. As a father of three teenagers and a pre-teen, Bottom Line Results is truly an MBA for life for everyone in your family! -- Robert S. Griswold - Award Winning Radio Host & Author, Real Estate Investing for Dummies

Bell scores a Perfect 10! Bottom Line Results contains the secrets that so many "success gurus" chase, but only a guy with practical experience can deliver. -- Peter Vidmar - Olympic Gold Metal Champion & Author, Risk, Originality and Virtuosity

Powerful! Bell just knocks you over with both his managerial concepts and then illustrating them through his hands-on experiences in working on some of the world's toughest challenges. It is a must read for emerging leaders! -- Jon Luther - CEO, Dunkin Donuts

Randall Bell correctly points out those who can face a crisis head-on and solve it, ultimately enjoy the highest achievement. -- Dawn Hudson - President & CEO, Pepsi-Cola North America

Wow! Sometimes life gives us lemons, but Randall Bell shows us how to make the lemonade! "Bottom Line Results" is fascinating and simply packed with genius. -- Denise Brown - Founder, Nicole Brown Simpson Charitable Foundation

From the Author

Today is fairly typical.

So far, I have received two FedEx packages--one assignment involving a flood and the other dealing with a major landslide. I still need to finish looking at the documents that arrived yesterday dealing with widespread contamination in Colorado. A client just called from Hawaii to give an update on the state's largest pesticide spill. Before my business partner left for the airport, we discussed one of our cases involving a deranged woman who went into an office building and started shooting people. Two weeks ago, I was in Pennsylvania with the owner of the land where United Flight 93 crashed on September 11, and my secretary just handed me my itinerary to go to St. Louis next Tuesday to inspect a nuclear waste landfill. On the way out, she added that the nuclear fuel pellet on my bookshelf was making her nervous and made some crack about Homer Simpson.

Figuring out big problems is just a part of my life.

I've been working in the field of damage economics, crisis management,and strategic planning for more than a decade. My days are spent working with tough situations that involve many lives and hundreds of millions of dollars. It's my job to sort out the problems, determine the financial losses, and find solutions.

I imagine I'm the only person in the world who has visited the melted-down nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, consulted for the owner of the "Heaven's Gate" mass suicide mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, stood at the smoking rubble after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, advised the government concerning the nuclear test sites at the Bikini Atoll, spoken to student protestors at Tiananmen Square, driven a humvee through flooded neighborhoods in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, and sat at the kitchen table with Nicole Brown Simpson's family. While most of these situations involved dramatic circumstances, each one has provided amazing lessons; in fact, I feel as if a truck has backed up and dropped a huge load of remarkable experiences on me.

Through it all, I've gained considerable insights--not only on the problems themselves--but on what caused them, how effectively they were managed, how they could have been avoided, and, in some cases, even how to create something worthwhile out of them.
The Business of Problem Solving

Most people have no trouble behaving and performing well when everything is coasting along. But a major crisis shocks the system; it exposes the core values embedded in both individuals and organizations. While lots of people want to jump right to "success," the fact is that success is a function of problem solving. The better we get at facing a challenge head on and solving it, the more achievements we will enjoy.

While we all presumably want success, finding the right formula can be elusive. Some people who chase it remind me of five-year-old kids playing soccer. They run around in a swarm, clamoring at their chance to kick that big ball of "success."

They chase the idea that success is a result of "goal setting"--but even the Menendez Brothers had "goals."

The ball gets kicked over to the idea of "positive thinking"--but even in the immediate aftermath of Chernobyl, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a "positive thinker," so much so that he felt he could hide a nuclear meltdown from the world.

Then the ball rolls over to the "be proactive" or "just do it" camps. Certainly those concepts have merit, but the truth is that activity doesn't necessarily equal accomplishment.

The "success gurus" of our day stress honesty. I think honesty is fundamental, but once I got hit up by a panhandler on the Santa Monica Pier who told me he was going to use my money to buy drugs. He believed that his "honest" approach would score a few bucks.

The same success gurus chase after the idea of developing a positive self-image; but research says our prisons are full of people who test out with great self-images. In fact, prison inmates generally have better self-esteem than college students.

So, the pack rushes over to "thinking win-win." The "win-win" concept is great much of the time, but do we really want child molesters, terrorists, and drug pushers to "win?" In today's competitive environment, more and more emphasis is spent in "drilling down" into deeper levels of specialty. I appreciate that, as I'm one of less than ten people in my specific field. But I am also convinced that everyone, no matter how specialized, can benefit by also going the other direction and getting a clear "big picture" of the organizational landscape in front of them.
The Art of Achievement

After studying and working on a number of high-profile cases, I've determined that achieving real success is more involved than what some "success gurus" would have us think. There is no single target. Honesty by itself will not get you to the top. Goals will not do it alone. Knowing the right people and demonstrating "people skills" are just part of the picture. We must combine all of these concepts into our particular specialties.

My particular core specialty is in the field of real estate damage economics. In other words, I measure the loss of property values resulting from some type of detrimental condition, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, environmental contamination, crimes, and so forth. (The details and mechanics of my specialty are the topic of another discussion. If you are interested, read my textbook, Real Estate Damages, Home Owners Manual, or Disasters: Wasted Lives, Valuable Lessons). However, this book is not about real estate or my particular specialty, although I do use many of my experiences to illustrate the key points.

Having worked on dozens of these cases for many years, the scope of my work has evolved beyond economic damages, and into the areas of leadership and strategic planning. Having been involved with several world-class projects, I have been fortunate to work with many of the top experts in their respective fields from all over the world. Working at this level, there is no time for happy talk or excuses. We must work as a team. We must have a clear game plan. We must produce results.

From my work, I have documented the ten strategies that are actually used in major-league management decisions. These ten strategies have been proven and field tested in the most rugged of circumstances and they will also bring great "bottom line results" to any home or office.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Owners Manual Press (June 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974452106
• ISBN-13: 978-0974452104
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,337,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Fun, and Inspirational, January 16, 2008

By 

Selective Reader "Reader MB" (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bottom Line Results: The 10 Strategies for Achievement (Hardcover)

Interesting and unique stories that have a lot of lessons from which we can all learn from. Bell teaches us how to apply them in our lives. Highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Must Read for Professional Development & Success, January 11, 2008

By 

James Kearns "Jim" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bottom Line Results: The 10 Strategies for Achievement (Hardcover)

This is a book that gives strategic professional advantage to those taking the time to read and learn. The book has extensive discussion of real-life events and the lessons we can take from them. The lessons assisted me in my professional life. I bought additional copies for my son and a co-worker. This book will help your professional development and career decisions. Bell understands the strategic roadmap to success.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for success, January 10, 2008

By 

M. Kearns - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bottom Line Results: The 10 Strategies for Achievement (Hardcover)

This book is indispensable for anybody wanting to get ahead in life. Numerous lessons and insights for success are presented in an easy to understand format. You will enjoy this book whether you're a Fortune 500 CEO or starting a corner lemon-aide stand. I run a small, independent-contracting company and was able to use many of these lessons, both on a macro-level (setting long-term company goals) and on a micro-level (setting and achieving short term, day-to-day goals). Without this book, I would not be nearly as successful as I have been. I would highly recommend this book to anybody.