Customer Reviews

The Leadership Training Activity Book: 50 Exercises for Building Effective Leaders

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I have been an educator and adult trainer for 30 years. I have a full library of activities books by Lois Hart. When building new classes (sometimes on the same topic, but with a different purpose) I continue to count on her manuals of activities as my most valuable reference materials. I highly recommend the Leadership Training Activity Book to trainers and educators who are responsible for curriculum development

According to all accelerated learning theory, adults learn best when actively involved in the topic. Therefore learning activities are very important when providing people experiential learning. Learning activities built around the subject matter helps them "get it" so that the concept "sticks" in their minds. I have been delighted with the materials I found in her books on developingl eaders and many others written by this author, Lois B. Hart.

It is difficult to create a totally new workshop to teach concepts and principles such as Leadership, Team building, and Management skills. I am grateful to find resources that have well thought-out learning exercises. I have been very happy to apply ideas and training techniques to help explain concepts from Hart's books.

As I've found with all her books, this newest book not only saves time developing the course, but provided fun, entertaining and interesting ways to make a point, explain how a method works, or give a true-to-life example. My supervisor, manager, and leader audiences have given very complimentary evaluations on classes I have developed around her activities.

I also recommend you buy her 50 Activities to Develop Leaders Vol I. Faultless Facilitation, Training Methods That Work, and Learning from Conflict. These save me many hours of preparation time because they have easy to follow instructions. The directions explain the objectives, provide a list of supplies required and tell me how much time the activity will take.

Furthermore, these books have provided inspiration. Sometimes I have adapted the ideas in the books and altered them. I have used them when training all types of groups with a variety of different levels of experience and knowledge. You won't be disappointed.

It is comforting to know that programs presented in these reference manuals are based on research and created by a knowledgeable professional who is an expert in the topic. The activities have been tested and carefully constructed so that even an inexperienced trainer can follow the directions to a successful guided activity.

If your organizational culture is one that supports and encourages leaders to spend a lot of time discussing their feelings then this might be a good book for you. If your leaders enjoy learning through creative techniques such as making crafts, drawing pictures, writing poems, and metaphores, then this is book is just what you've been searching for.

I have never encountered such an organization (not counting my girl scout troop). Feelings and creativity are important in every business. This book, in my opinion, goes too far. Working in the HRD field, I'm accustomed to reading lots of corny ideas for training and most of them can easily be modified to suit the company culture. I wasn't able to salvage any activity from this book - it was just too "out-there" for me.

I wish someone else had reviewed this so I didn't make the mistake of purchasing it.

I've used many of Lois Hart's books in my 25 years of training and consulting so was very interested in seeing her newest contribution, The Leadership Training Activity Book, written with Charlotte Waisman. As one who is certified in Accelerated Learning and bases workshops on participative learning, I found this book priceless. It begins with exercises that set the tone for a workshop and includes many valuable activities including three different leadership assessments. Its exercises include such areas as conflict resolution, negotiation skills, diversity, team building, presentation skills, meeting management as well as applications to help the leader develop his/her coaching and teaching skills. Each activity has clearly been road-tested and is presented with thorough, step-by-step instructions. How wonderful that someone of Lois' caliber has taken the time to put together such a helpful resource for those of us in the field. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I have known Lois Hart for over 20 years, and have enjoyed many of her books. The Leadership Training Activity Book--50 Exercises for Building Effective Leaders, is one of my favorites! It has practical exercises that are relevant to Leadership issues in the 21st Century. The activities are excellent and include detailed instructions--a Trainer's dream! Each activity can be utilized in a variety of ways, depending on time, participants, issues and culture. The Forward, by Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge, is impressive and indicates his support of this body of work. I found the Organizational Leadership Assessment very useful when putting together a needs assessment for my new client groups.

Cudos to Lois Hart, Ed.D., and Charlotte S. Waisman, Ph.D. for putting together a great collection of useful, pertinent, and profound exercises to support our leaders in their development.

For anyone planning to give a presentation on leadership or develop a class on leadership, this book has quite a few helpful exercises. On the flip side, some exercises are better classified as ice breakers and meeting openers than true leadership exercises.

I have been working as an intern in the recreation field for the last six months and have felt so frustrated with the relationship(s) between mentor and "protégé" in my profession. My frustrations lead to an interest in researching leadership education and mentor training, and eventually to finding this book.

Like the authors, I am also a firm believer that leadership can be taught, and more importantly that it needs to become a vital part of college and work training curriculum. After reading this book I felt liberated and energized, ready to lead others and to help others lead more responsibly and effectively.

I have recommended this book to many of my colleagues and friends, as a great resource for in-service trainings, staff meetings, and personal growth as a leader. I might also add that with some skepticism that I would ever receive a response, I e-mailed the authors to ask for their feedback and suggestions on my thesis topic. To my surprise they did in fact return my e-mail, and provided me with a lot of great information and references to help me on my journey. For their kind words, encouragement, and for this wonderful book I am very grateful!

As a teacher of leadership, I am always looking for activities that could deliver a "guau effect". In other words, experiences that "magically" allow people to grasp significant concepts thru brief experiences; something as the scenic magic which does not need much artifacts to amaze people. For the most part, I don't think this book has that. In fact, in thos field, I have not found any book with this feature. Hope someone knows what I am talking about and give me a good recommendation.