2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Position Yourself and Others for An Opportunity to Succeed, April 20, 2010
This review is from: The Power of Pause: How to be More Effective in a Demanding, 24/7 World (Hardcover)
Four time Emmy winner, executive coach educator and author, Nance Guilmartin, shines with her latest book, "The Power of Pause: How to be More Effective in a Demanding, 24/7 World." The book contains Guilmartin's learnings gained from years strengthening people's capacity to change behavior...adopting more constructive and fulfilling ways to achieve their goals. Guilmartin's approach focuses on the "Power of the Pause" - pausing to make a choice, learn what is unknown, be curious, and be truly in-touch with the other.
In today's world, most respond immediately to what is seen, what is heard, and/or what is sensed. This automatic and emotionally unrestrained response can undermine our effectiveness, and our relationships with others. However, we have another choice after something happens, we can choose to pause. Pausing, even for a moment, provides THE opportunity for another perspective, a more effective response, and freedom from the tyranny of our emotions.
Guilmartin adds that the pause cannot stand alone and must be combined (which is covered in the book) with curiosity and humility to achieve the personal effectiveness and fulfillment she has successfully coached others to achieve.
Pause (Presence of Mind) + Curiosity + Humility = Professional Effectiveness and Personal Fulfillment
"The Power of the Pause" is not a mindless book like so many other self-help books, Guilmartin packs a lot into the book's 218 pages. She provides practical ways to apply the principles provided; the research that drive these practices; and true stories, case histories, and personal reflections on how the practices work in the real world.
The power of pause practices which are highlighted in this book are:
* Drive your choices instead of being driven
* Be aware of your filters (and theirs)
* Give the benefit of the doubt
* Stop putting deposits in your resentment bank account.
* Use rephrasing as a 21st century risk management tool
* Use the curious not furious approach
* Ask: What's on your plate?
* Ask: What Don't I know that I don't know?
* Take responsibility for being understood: reverse rephrase.
* Make withdrawals from your resentment bank account.
* Know your trigger points (and theirs)
* Strengthen relationships: Offer timely, specific appreciation.
The author sets high expectations - by the end of the book, she says the reader will be able to:
* "Suspend the urge to react on automatic and give himself/herself a chance to make better choices;
* Have a productive conversation in the midst of disagreement, or regain control when the unexpected happens, without launching personal attacks or getting ahead with an instant answer or reactionary defense;
* Hit their internal pause button, regroup, and discover what he/she didn't know he/she didn't know that can lead to an unimaginably successful result; and
* Put the effectiveness and communication intelligence practices in this book to work and helping others join with the reader, giving him/her more time and energy to do their best in a 'just do it' world."
Guilmartin wrote this book to help people "play the game to position" oneself and others for an opportunity to win. You may not always win but you will always be "positioned for a better chance to win." She succeeds and provides many gems for all who are struggling with time, life-balance, doing one's best work, being understood, trusting relationships, and/or change, uncertainty, and meaning...which is just about all of us!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Much More Than Telling Us What We Already Know (Even if We Don't Always Do It), January 25, 2010
This review is from: The Power of Pause: How to be More Effective in a Demanding, 24/7 World (Hardcover)
This book does one thing fairly well: it tells us things that many of us already know but don't really put into practice. The premise of this book is that we should think before we act. In our hyper-fast world, this is more often said than done, but the author (correctly) points out that the time avoided by making the right decision is worth the time it takes to arrive at that right decision.
As a PhD student who struggles to meet my academic demands as well as those of my required 2o-hour-a-week assistantship (and still manage to have time to go to conferences, etc), I was hoping for a book that would delineate strategies for how to use reflection time before making decisions wisely. What types of things should I think about when pausing? How might one know when one has made the best decision amongst many options, etc. All I got was (a) that we should pause before making decisions and (b) that doing so can ensure making better decisions, avoiding 'heat of the moment' reactions, and avoiding misinterpretations of data. I wanted a bit more than this but didn't get it.
So, my conclusion is that one need not buy this book, but instead only need to read the front and back cover: the 200+ pages in the middle of these are just repetition
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
