Customer Reviews

Business Lunchatations: How an Everyday Guy Became One of America's Most Colorful CEOs...andHow You Can, Too!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Dietl, a highly successful, self-made entrepreneur, shares his experiences and insights about achieving success through smart networking, making the most of personal connections, the art of self-promotion (involving the cultivation of a unique personality and style), and doing many other things right. The book is witty, to-the-point, and tells plenty of personal stories, but its prime value lies in such lists as "20 rules for self-promotion," "6 ways to improve your listening skills," "14 networking tips," and many more such in-a-nutshell take-aways. Dietl loves checklists, but advises that "the best" are those "you create yourself" for they are tailored to your problems. The underlying theme appears to be "You can change yourself and your life" and "you can do more than you do now." (p. 31) The CD includes conversations with Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, Bill O'Reilly and others. It's a fast read, that tells much in few words.

Bo's way of doing business may work in NYC, but in the rest of the country you would be laughed out of the room. What a joke. Some of his great advice is to: wear a fine watch(it's a sign of success),Clean. Shower daily. Use deoderant and cologne. I cant believe I wasted my money on this one.

I have probably read 50 books on self-improvement, sales success and other books that talk about building wealth and succeeding in life.

I listen to Imus every morning, and shut it off whenever Bo comes on.

However, when I received a copy of his book for Father's Day (my mother is an Imus fan, also, and read a good review on the book) I promised myself I would keep an open mind, pretend that the Bo Dietl on 'Imus' is just a 'character', and give the book a thorough and objective read.

Here is my thorough and objective critique:

Bo's book poorly written and edited. Filled with self-serving examples of his career, as well as gratuitous explitives, Bo spends an entire book telling you how great he is.

Jack Welch, Lee Iaccoca, Michael Eisner, Michael Ovitz...hell, even Donald Trump!...didn't come off as brash, self-centered, egotistical and poorly spoken as Bo does in his book.

His material..when boiled down to just 1 or 2 summary sentences...is accurate, but it's already appeared in 100 books on the subject. Bo brings nothing new to the subject, unless you take an interest in how much he spends on clothes.

"Lunchatations" was a term created by a successful person who claims he couldn't always remember the right term to use in certain situations, so he created his own vocabulary. Read the 'Glossary' at the end of his book and then take 2 Maalox. Pig Latin is more creative and interesting than Bo-itations.

In 16 years, Bo Dietl made 1,400 felony arrests with a 95% conviction rate - the average NYPD cop made 120 in the same time period. While working as a decoy he was mugged over 500 times, and hospitalized in over 30 instances. Dietl made little headway in the NYPD hierarchy, based on his distaste for taking written exams that focused on paperwork and were the primary province of those assigned to desk jobs so they would have time to study. Regardless, after injuring an ankle skydiving, he chose retirement rather than a desk job, and began a career as a private security expert and investigator, with his own company.

Dietl has several lists of "how to succeed," starting with being well-dressed and in excellent physical condition - both build confidence and impress people,

Other suggestions include set deadlines, don't go for perfection (eg. the last 10% takes too long), don't focus on being an innovator, and do work you enjoy. Networking is also stressed - pick up the check, start conversations, look for wallflowers rather than butt in on on-going conversations, and make notes about those you meet. Success on the job benefits from perseverance, asking for more work, taking on different work, thinking big, having an interest in people, and careful listening.

Nothing earth-shaking, but interesting nonetheless as a quick one-hour read - primarily for the mini-stories of Bo's accomplishments as a cop. However, I would not spend $15 or so on it.

Bo Dietl's combined street smarts and business smarts with Bob Bly's overview of business is a stunning combination that creates a very interesting and valuable book for those who are starting out in business, trying to climb the corporate ladder or if you are on top of one of those corporate ladders. The is a true example of synergy at it's best. If you are interested in business, you MUST read this book!

You have to admire people who start companies and grow them to large, international size companies. He says it's simple: "Know what to say, how to say it, when to say it and whom to say it to."

But what about those of us who know what to say about a day later. Kind of like, "What I should have said was, 'Yes, Officer.'"

This is one of those fairly light, quick reading, this is the way I did it and it worked for me books. I found it very enjoyable, and picked up a few points that I'm going to try at my next big, important luncheon meetings early next week.

You can't, of course, duplicate his experience, his expertise, but if you just pick up a point or two that works for you it's well worth the few bucks and a little time.

This is perhaps the worst book ever written on any subject. Bo may be good at some things, but writing is not one of them. If you can pick through the ridiculously poor grammar and structure, you will find that the book is a collection of uninteresting stories from Bo's career that have no value for anyone other than Bo.

This man makes Donald Trump seem outright humble. Please don't waste your money.

I purchased this book when it first came out but had not gotten around to reading it until now. I was a little suprised by some of the negative comments. I think this book delivers exactly what the title indicates. How a regular guy was able to use common sense and natural charisma to become a success. It reminded me of a lot of the conversations I had with my family growing up in NYC. In my opinion it fills a valuable niche and is worth a read.

I enjoy reading Bo; he is funny and reminds me of guys I grew up with in Brooklyn. Thouse of you who miss the deeper meaning of what Bo is saying,you need to go back to whe 1st grade.

Also I can see the fingerprints of Bob Bly all over. For thouse who are not familiar with Bob Bly; check out the other titles he has on amazon.

Being a recent college graduate, you look for good advice from a reliable source. Mr. Dietl has a solid background of success under his belt from his days as a New York City Detective. So it would only seem that his success would carry on to the private sector. The book includes networking tips for various situations you may find yourself in. I would definitely recommend it for people like me as well as people who have been in the business world for years.