Customer Reviews

Handoff: The Only Way to Win the Race of Life

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This book provides a down-to-earth approach to mentoring and coaching the next generation. Whether you are interested in helping your children, grandchildren, youth in the neighborhood, or someone you routinely work or socialize with, "Handoff" will give you lots to work with. Myers suggests, convincingly, that we each have knowledge and experiences of value to pass along to following generations. While that sounds pie-in-the-sky, Myers makes it personal and accessible by focusing on one-on-one relationships. This is broadly about reaching generations, but more specifically how to engage with one person to pass along what you know and have experienced.

Dr Myers has been working with, teaching and studying youth for years, and he has adopted a focus on leadership, mentoring and coaching that shines forth in this book. Whether you see it in yourself or not, Myers will convince you that you have many things of value to pass along to someone (or more than one!) from a following generation. In fact, he defines life as a relay, with winning being the result of successfully passing the baton to those who come after us.

The chapter titles are descriptive, if not entertaining, such as "Feed the Giver, Starve the Taker," "Shutting Up: How to Stop Giving Advice and Start Having an Influence" or "Lessons from a Sled Dog: Discover What You Cannot NOT Do." While I suppose you could pick out a chapter and read it by itself, I read it from front to back and found the approach logical. As you progress through the book, you will find probing questions which will challenge you to consider what to pass along. Rather than leaving you with a nice, "feel-good story", I found Myers' approach to be helpful in framing my own thoughts about things I could ask my sons to start discussions. NOTE: This is not a book that gives you checklists of what to say. Rather, it helps you focus on the needs of someone you want to mentor, then intelligently engage them right where they are while encouraging them forward in life. Having said that, there are a few sections where you can get a bit bogged down with a "list-type" of approach.

Rather than a dry or pompous academic text, "Handoff" is an engaging read. Dr Myers' style is very easy to read and understand and feels quite conversational. He is definitely NOT talking down to his readers. The book itself is very appealing, a hardback book in a paperback size with a sturdy yet comfortable feel. The text is in a larger font than you would expect from the small size of the book, but that makes it easy to read. (And your rapid progress through the pages is also reinforcing!)

Myers writes from a Christian perspective, but the practical aspects of preparing the next generation to take their place in the world clearly transcends any differences among religions. In his writing, he is clear about his own researched perspective on the state of the culture today and our responsibility to prepare the next generation. More specifically, if you think that things in our world are going fine and the next generation is well focused with a healthy outlook on living their lives with excellence, then you probably ought to pass on this book. On the other hand, if you know someone who could use some perspective and encouragment to live a life with excellence as their goal, or perhaps you can't seem to remember your parents giving you much in the way of "life lessons" as you prepared to launch out on your own, then this book is a place for you to start. (I don't mean to imply that he is solely focused on youth. His approach can work in any relationship where trust can be established.)

Ultimately, this book was not meant to be read and placed on some shelf. Myers intends for you to act on what you read, and then to pass the book along to someone else. His message is that important.

In simple, straightforward terms Jeff Myers guides us to being able to effectively reach the next generation. It's not complicated. It doesn't take years of study. The personal sharing of life experiences, both good and bad, to give young people the reins of real leadership is crucial. Myers has been doing it for years. Pay attention to his advice.

The Next Generation are the heirs to the world, and it is the current generation's job to prepare them. "Handoff: The Only Way to Win the Race of Life" takes a scholarly stance on how today's generation is preparing the next. Offering a lot of ideas and philosophy on today's duty to the future, Myers offers a lot of interesting ideas that could make the world a better face for our children. "Handoff" is solid reading, especially for teachers, parents, and anyone heavily involved with the future.

If you're serious about communicating your vision to the next generation, Handoff is a must-read. In an engaging yet challenging style, Dr. Myers gives you practical advice for wrapping your hands around your vision and passing it on. Well worth the read!

Don't settle for the low expectations imposed upon teenagers today - it is a disservice to them and to us! :-) We CAN and should expect more. They will seldom rise above our expectations, so let's keep them realistically, attainably high and then help them achieve them! Wouldn't we want that for ourselves?
Jeff Myers' ministry has been a great source of help and inspiration to us as we seek to raise up our young adults (one a born leader, the other a born follower!) into adults who will make a significant contribution to our world. This wonderful book is just a part of what we've benefitted by - in addition to regular newsletters and updates from passingthebaton.org.
Sow much and reap much! Get the motiviation you need as Jeff Myers feeds you with inspirational testimonies, tips and challenges.
...and buy one for that friend who is struggling with their teen and show them a whole new way to look at life!

Handoff is a refreshing little book with a powerfully delivered, critically important message. The leadership crisis described by John Maxwell and others is exasperated by the tribal nature of post modern culture. Leadership resources appear to be declining at a time when leadership demands are rising at an unprecedented rate. Dr. Jeff Myers battle cry to rally mentors for the next generation comes at the height of the urgency for his message. Jeff combines practical principles to build trust with the next generation with energized anecdotal illustrations from the most unexpected places, such as the sled dogs in Alaska's Iditarod race. This is an excellent read and well worth an afternoon with a cup of coffee and a notepad for your own ideas of passing the baton of leadership on to a generation eagerly waiting to take their lap on life's racetrack.

For all those who want to influence the next generation to reach their full potential spiritually and personally, this is the "go to" resource. Filled with a solid vision for influencing students and practical advice on how to do it, readers will have no excuses left for not training the next generation. No magic stuff here - just good meaty material. Would be terrific for group studies, too.

As a 50+ father of grown children, I enjoy influencing those in Gen X and Gen Y - but to be honest, have a hard time understanding how to reach them. Myers' book helps in that - a LOT. This book contains some new ideas, some ideas I was already familiar with, and some ideas that I had tried, failed with, and given up on - but am now inspired to try again and again. The generational handoff is really that important!

The book is written from a Christian perspective, covering how to hand off the wisdom, values, and life lessons we Christians prize most. But the contents are universal enough that it just might be useful to nonchristians as well. It's a quick read - about an hour and a half - or the audio book is about two and a half hours, the entire book read by the author. Again, a great and timely book - Try it; you'll like it!

Knowing that I am influencing the next generation in my own home, I am always looking for resources that will help me to fulfill this important responsibility. It's not enough to talk about what you should do or about how things should be different. I had to ask myself, "What am I doing today that is making a difference in my life and the lives of my children?" I must purpose to make sure that I just don't think about the things that I want to pass on but to take action. This book is your guide to that end! An interesting and thought provoking manual that will motivate and encourage you with easy to apply, time honoring principles of passing on a Godly legacy of meaningful leadership to the hungry next generation - whether they are in your own home or in the world around you. Thank you Dr. Myers! I always wanted to do this, and now I know I can!

Handoff is a great, down to earth book. It was very easy reading and offers great practical advise on mentoring. This is a great book for anyone! Not just those in ministry.