Operation Excellence: Succeeding in Business and Life -- the U.S. Military Way [Hardcover]

Mark Bender Lt. Col US Army--Ret. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2004

"Operation Excellence" shows readers how to harness the same strategies used to great effect by the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines in their own personal and professional lives. Using action-packed examples to deliver the message behind each lesson, the book reveals how a combination of discipline, confidence, and sacrifice can help anyone achieve superior results in leadership, teamwork, tactics, health, wealth, relationships and much more. This exciting, highly motivational book takes readers inside the world of the U.S. military, and presents them with 50 practical, proven strategies for taking control of their work, their health, and their lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Playing off tactics used by the United States Military, you will learn EXACTLY what it takes to understand your 'problem' -- Paul Tulenko, syndicated columnist

Review

"""Aristotle claimed that the aim of life is the development of character. Operation Excellence is a hard-hitting, no-nonsense book full of practical principles to make a better, stronger person -- to improve your character.""

--Brian Tracy, internationally known speaker, development consultant, and author

""Mark Bender's unique perspective and approach makes living in success practical, fun, and totally achievable for anyone.""

--Tim McCarthy, host of the award winning Internet-radio broadcast Living In Success

""Operation Excellence pumped me up!""

--Pete Pierce, President, Punch Software

Paul Tulenko, syndicated columnist: ""Playing off tactics used by the United States Military, you will learn EXACTLY what it takes to understand your problem, learn how to structure your challenge such that you can find a solution, how to go for the win, and how to create the wealth you desire whether it is money or something else.This is a terrific book. I give it 5 stars. (Only the Bible the Constitution receive 6 stars.)"""

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (June 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814408222
• ISBN-13: 978-0814408223
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Philosophy of Performance, May 17, 2004

By 

H. L. Witt (Mill Creek, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Operation Excellence: Succeeding in Business and Life -- the U.S. Military Way (Hardcover)

Finally someone is confronting our country and the fact that we are living in denial. But Mark Bender suggests that we can indeed handle the truth and that in fact, the truth will set us free. This book is rich with insight and no-nonsense wisdom, presented with clarity and an entertaining writing style. Mark enriches us with the skills and knowledge to tap into our potential and summarizes his work with 50 Train Tough strategies that highlight his main points. From navigating a complex bureaucracy to managing your health, Mark gives us the benefit of his personal experience and extensive research. I've already made gains in my professional and personal life from Mark's wisdom - and I'm recommending that our management staff at The Boeing Company (my employer) pick this book up for one of their book study and review sessions. This is a terrific read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Correct , effective, doable, June 12, 2004

By 

Tim McCarthy "Healthy Living Man" (Fort Collins, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Excellence: Succeeding in Business and Life -- the U.S. Military Way (Hardcover)

This book fired me up! I read a lot of books on personal development as I am the host for a radio show that focuses on personal and business success. Unless the book has good stuff in it, I won't feature it. "Operation Excellence" is more than just good. It's got a "charge" to it that ignites the spirit to believe that most anything CAN be achieved and accomplished in. That's why I wanted to write this review.

The anecdotes are perfect serve well to help make Lt. Col. Bender's points crystal clear. The writing style is comfortable and smooth. I am very impressed with "Operation Excellence". I must be. I rarely write reviews for books I feature on my show on Amazon, or any other internet book site. So when I do it means I am VERY enthused about what I believe it offers to everyday people looking for valid, strong, understandable, doable keys for Living In Success.

I definitely recommend this book and invite you to listen to Lt. Col. Bender preview this book at www.600.kcol.com/lis.html

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A very good beginning, but failed to keep it till the end, and not really military, November 15, 2005

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Excellence: Succeeding in Business and Life -- the U.S. Military Way (Hardcover)

I like Part One (4 chapters) of this book discussing Motivation, Discipline, Confidence and Sacrifice very much. As far as I can recall, there's no other self improvement book I had read (tens of them) that emphasized so much the equivalence of discipline to habit building through tough training/exercise, and committment to sacrifice. The self-question sessions named "Train Tough Challenge" after each chapter are quite intelligent and helpful. However, I am sorry to comment that the other three parts or 12 chapters were much less attractive. The author did not write as skilfully and vividly as the average self help book writers. He should have compensated so through exhaustive elaboration on his military/business analogy to differentiate his book from its sea of competitiors. He had done so in Part One, but failed to follow through till the end. Though he had quoted Einsenhower, Patton and some other war heros on his book, those stories seemed disorganised and irrelevant to the contexts where the stories were told.

I am afraid that you will not be satisfied if you really want to learn "the military way" for your own or your business. With all due respect, "Victory" by Brian Tracy is a much better choice.

p.s. Anyway, I like the following messages very much.

Above all discipline; eternally, and inevitably, discipline. Discipline is the screw, the nail, the cement, the glue, the nut, the bolt, the rivet that holds everything tight. - Private Gerald Gersh pg 13

Strategy 13: Commit. Your level of commitment is measured by sacrifice - the two go hand in hand. You cant walk off the field when you're committed; you accept a certain amount of pain, even fear. That's why, as human beings, one of our most treasured attributes is the ability to sacrifice. When we're committed, distractors lose their power. Our focus is on moving forward. pg 36

Train Tough Challenge: List two areas where you're willing to sacrifice. pg 41

The only easy day was yesterday. - Navy Seal pg 211