Heroz: Empower Yourself, Your Coworkers, Your Company [Paperback]

William Byham (Author), Jeff Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 1995

"I hate Mondays."
"They say I'm responsible, but my boss makes all the decisions."
"We're supposed to work as a team, but everybody's out for themselves."
Sound familiar? You don't have to take it anymore!
In HeroZ, you'll actually have fun learning how to survive and even thrive in today's work world. Step-by-step techniques--proven by thousands of companies around the globe--show you how to make meaningful decisions, measure your progress, and work efficiently in teams. By the time you finish reading HeroZ, you'll feel that you control your job, not that your job controls you.
Millions of leaders have been energized by its bestselling predecessor, Zapp!: The Lightning of Empowerment. The Wall Street Journal declared that "Zapp! helped redefine the genre" of business books. Fortune magazine's reviewer raved, "I couldn't put it down."
Now, with HeroZ, you can restore meaning and purpose to your work life and make a real difference--no matter where you fall on the organizational chart!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Written as a tale from a mythical time when dragons roamed and knights slew them with magic arrows, this book takes us behind the scenes to those poor assembly-line workers who made the magic arrows. Unfortunately, not only are the dragons multiplying faster than the knights can kill them and rival villages are springing up promising fewer dragons, but the arrow makers are unhappy and unfulfilled in their work. Three of them decide to improve their work life. Not only do they succeed, but with the help of a wizard they end up diversifying into producing magic cleaning wands. Byham and Cox (Zapp: The Lightning of Empowerment, Crown, 1990) have written a fable intended to motivate employees. To succeed in that task they will need more substance than this book offers. Not recommended.
--Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. System, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

One of the burgeoning business fields of the 1990s seems to be human resources--that is, keeping your employees not only happy but productive and ambitious to do more. In their previous book, Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment (1989), leading human resource expert Byham teamed with Cox to teach employers and managers how to persuade employees to increase production on their own. HeroZ targets the workers themselves, demonstrating that they can be content in their jobs if they take charge of their own careers, identify areas of improvement, and work with one another to make things better for everyone. Sounds like a tall order and a potentially a deadly dull book, but the authors juice up the action with a fantasy tale of knights and castles serving as a metaphor for any large modern-day firm. Seems the folks in "Tower Two" of the castle need to increase arrow production to fight dragons, and Dave the Wizard teaches the workers the use of empowerment, which he calls "zapp!" HeroZ is loaded with little inspirational catchphrases ("Quality is only one aspect of being productive," "Offer help without taking responsibility for action," etc.) as reminders of the common goals of the workers and is infinitely preferable to ponderous business tomes. Expect this to fly off the business-section shelves. Joe Collins --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (July 18, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449909581
• ISBN-13: 978-0449909584
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > Motivation & Self-Improvement

More About the Author

WILLIAM C. BYHAM, Ph.D. is Chairman and CEO of Development Dimensions International (DDI), a leading-edge Human Resources consultancy that specializes in the identification and development of leadership talent. He co-founded DDI in 1970, and has worked with hundreds of the world's largest organizations relative to executive assessment, executive development, and succession management. His work on executive succession has been featured in Fortune, the Los Angeles Times, and many other leading publications. Byham is co-author of Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment, a groundbreaking book on empowerment that has sold more than 4.5 million copies since its 1988 publication. He has co-authored 18 other books, including seminal books on the assessment center method, which established the effectiveness of assessment centers as a method of executive selection and development-needs diagnosis. His best-selling business book HeroZ:Empower Yourself, Your Co-Workers, and Your Company offers step-by-step techniques for making meaningful decisions, measuring progress, and working effectively in teams.AUDREY B. SMITH, Ph.D. is consulting vice president of the Staffing and Assessment Consulting group and Executive Succession Management group at DDI. In this role, she directs the activities of consulting teams that deliver executive development and succession management consulting services and leadership assessment center technology. Her work has focused on the design, implementation, and validation of Acceleration Pool systems; selection systems, including executive team reengineering applications; development assessment; and executive coaching. She has worked with many clients throughout the world, including General Motors, Northern Telecom, BMW, PPG Industries, the U.S. Postal Service, Steelcase, Whirlpool, the United Nations, United Airlines, Toyota, and Unisys Corporation. Before joining DDI, Dr. Smith worked for Rockwell International as a training and management development specialist. MATTHEW J. PAESE, Ph.D. is manager and practice leader of DDI's Executive Development practice and is responsible for designing executive coaching, selection, development, and succession management systems that align with clients' strategic objectives. He has designed executive selection and development systems for General Motors, Steelcase, and Cisco Systems; and has consulted on executive succession throughout the pharmaceutical, health care, manufacturing, financial, and service industries. He formerly served as an internal HR consultant for the Anheuser-Busch Companies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book ever on empowerment, December 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Heroz: Empower Yourself, Your Coworkers, Your Company (Paperback)

This book is a must for every small business owner. It takes the blinders off and lets you see the big picture of your compnay. I am ordering this book for my entire management staff. I can't wait to see the results after they read this wonderful, eye-opening book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Managers Spell Book, September 8, 2000

By 

Adam F. Jewell (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heroz: Empower Yourself, Your Coworkers, Your Company (Paperback)

Facing the constant threat of Dragons attacking the village, and encountering a mysterious gloomy fog each and every workday, was the reality for the people of Lamron. In order to preserve the village, and bring some meaning to the everyday work experience, change had to happen.

Heroz is a tale of a fictional village, of fictional characters facing problems common to the daily grind of work. Throughout the book, the people working in the arrow factory strive to determine and achieve the goal of the business, to make money and provide the knights charged with slaying the dragons, the quality arrows they need. Throughout the book, the factory workers and management personnel learn to work together, to enhance teamwork and motivation, and experience the enhanced ZAPP! gained by working together.

Heroz is a breeze to read, easy to identify with, especially if you experience the fog that rolls in the workplace at the beginning of the day, and lifts completely only after the last person has gone home. It's entertaining and humorous. You'll learn spells to use in all different situations, and upon completion of the book, will have them all compiled in the "Zapp! Wizard's Spell Book", conveniently tucked in at the conclusion of the novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Good Book From Byham and Cox, February 26, 2003

By 

"scbryanw" (Fort Campbell, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroz: Empower Yourself, Your Coworkers, Your Company (Paperback)

For those of you that read Zapp! this book continues on the same idea. It's in parable form, which makes it easy to read and the points made are on target.