Customer Reviews

The Feiner Points of Leadership: The 50 Basic Laws That Will Make People Want to Perform Better for You

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I know this guy. He is one of the most popular professors at Columbia Business School and his course is one of the highest rated. Students struggle to take his course. I discovered this first-hand when I found my own teaching assistant despondent because she didn't get in and there was no other course being offered that she could get excited about.

The same skills that make one a great professor also can make one a great leader. Feiner cares about his students. If one is absent without explanation, he calls to find out why and if she is OK. He tells them exactly what he will do for them and what he expects in return. And then he does more, much more.

Feiner's basic thesis is that Leadership is all about managing relationships. A great leader has a web of relationships - with subordinates, peers, superiors, clients, external agents like journalists and analysts, and a host of others. How successfully you manage this web is what determines how effective you are.

Feiner gives you principles that you can adapt to your situation and lots of illustrative examples. For example, in the Law of Who is that Masked Man or Woman, he talks about the importance of finding out about a great deal about your boss. He shows you how to. And he also emphasizes that using this as data to prove your boss is incompetent is counterproductive for you. Your focus should be on how to increase your own effectiveness.

I like the fact that Feiner emphasizes personal values. Yes, you should care for those who work for you. But if you do so only because you need their help to get ahead, then you cheapen the relationship and diminish business and society. It is so much better if you care for them because that is an outward expression of your values. These are subtle distinctions and Feiner does not shy away from making them.

Read this book once, quickly. It should not take more than a couple of hours. Mark out the sections that appeal to you.

Then go back to it every two months or so and read it again or atleast the highlighted sections. Figure out how you can adapt and USE the points he makes. And then you will get the full value of this book.

While numerous books on leadership are released every year, most are too vague to be effective in helping the reader implement the recommended practices (i.e., usually broad, too academic, or merely describe behaviors of leaders).

"The Feiner Points" is exceptional because it describes specific actions and activities one can undertake. The author, Michael Feiner, takes a hands-on approach and attempts to answer every reader's natural question: "what can I do today?" to become a better leader. Feiner provides tangible and functional suggestions (he calls them "Laws") throughout the book that are simple and memorable, and thus easy to apply. (Note: The concepts in the book can be applied at various stages of one's career.)

Another reason the book is effective is because the author has taken the viewpoint of a lifelong career and leadership "coach." This differs from other books written by famous leaders, whose advice is often only applicable to someone with similar personality traits or facing a similar situation. Feiner, having seen and worked with a variety of leadership styles, recognizes this and effectively conveys ideas that work for many different personality types.

Overall, the book is simple, straight-to-the-point, and easy to apply... recommended!!

I had this guy as a professor at Columbia (no, he didn't put me up to this). His was by far the best management class I ever took. I'm so glad to see that he's compiled all that great insight into a book.

It's good, solid, practical advice that you can use almost as a handbook. No lame parables, no hyperpunctuation, no facile consultant's tips.

With the Feiner Points of Leadership, Michael Feiner introduces real-world, practical guidelines to leading (upward, downwards and sideways) in organizations (large and small). Searingly apt and intelligent anecdotes and analogies illustrate natural and effective interventions to engage, motivate and lead individuals within an organization in order to achieve both the organization's and their own objectives. Some illustrate what not to do - however tempting! This reader found the hard-learned lessons as helpful as the equally hard-learned best practices.

Self-named a "corporate consigliere", Mr. Feiner offers flexible antidotes to cure temporarily ineffective and frustrated members of organizations. He has created an informal, pleasure-to-read text covering relevant behavior-based topics such as: the distinction between Leadership and Management; leadership cues when working with subordinates, with peers, with teams and with bosses; leading through change and through conflict; and - critical in today's challenging business environment - values-based leadership. This book is both an innovative overview to prepare readers for robust careers and participation in organizations and a practical reference text which can be used just-in-time to prepare for a difficult leadership moment.

In general, I am not a big reader of management books. The ones I have read, I have found to be academic and full of theory that is hard to follow, much less apply. They all have proven quite forgettable.

This book is different which is why I was compelled to write a review. "The Feiner Points of Leadership" was written in a conversational, "plain speak" fashion that used real life examples. They brought texture to the content. I could project myself into the situations; they seemed very relevant and applicable to me and my challenges.

The quality of the advice coupled with the examples taken from Feiner's seemingly endless experiences made this book memorable. I can apply what I can remember. I sincerely wish he had written it earlier.

The "Feiner Points" breaks the mold of the typical generic and intangible leadership book. Here, Feiner provides us with role plays (virtual speaker's notes), takeaways and summaries, told in his passionate yet self-deprecating style. His "laws" give managers tips on networking, coaching and relationship building, all of which can be applied in any corporate environment.

Some examples: Learn to leverage and "contract" with stakeholders, give meaningful feedback, flex your style, and almost most importantly, balance business ethics and personal morals. In the almost endless amounts of books written on similar topics, I have never seen a more comprehensive collection of functional and practical lessons learned. I highly recommend this work for every person who wants to become a more effective and valued leader.

I have several leadership books, mostly social/psychological theory stuff; Feiner makes sense! Every new supervisor should have this on his/her desk, as well as "And Dignity for All" by Despain. Put it to work immediately.

Leadership is an often talked about and more frequently misunderstood concept. Mike Feiner introduces 50 Basic Laws of Leadership, many of which are so obvious, so simple and so easy to put in to practice that you will wonder why you didn't think of them yourself.
The genius of any management book is to influence the reader to change behavior. The Feiner Points did that for me.
An easy and engaging read, The Feiner Points is a must buy for anyone looking to improve their effectiveness, whether at work or at play.

If you're looking for a guide to help you survive the guerilla warfare of the corporate world, look no further. This book has all the tactical tools you need to handle anything thrown your way.

Finally, a book by a man who's BEEN there . . . not some pontificating academician who's never spent a real day INSIDE an organization trying to make it work.

This is clear, concise, direct, no BS . . . practical . . . this guy talks about his mistakes that teach as much as his triumphs. Toss all of those "guru" guides . . . this is the real deal.