From Booklist
Dilenschneider provides a thoughtful (though occasionally pompous and filled with celebrity name-dropping) treatise on the nature of getting things done in today's society. As he proceeds in explaining the fundamentals, the organization, the management, and the emotions of power, readers will find themselves agreeing with his theory and his examples because of the very readable prose and the commonality of the samples. After all, who could argue with the vivid picture of Clinton's bus (versus Bush's Air Force One) as a symbol of 1990s power? Or with the removal of more and more CEOs by their boards because of egotism and arrogance? Power as a tool to achieve good and great deeds is an idea whose time has definitely come; the author's exposition, though not probingly philosophical, points to a world that should be. Barbara Jacobs
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From Kirkus Reviews
Dilenschneider (Power and Influence; A Briefing for Leaders) here continues his series on the fine arts of wielding power and exercising influence. While the high-profile public-relations practitioner offers only a broad definition of power (i.e., the capacity to get things done for one's self or others), he makes a generally enlightening job of appraising its many-splendored aspects in the context of latter-day democracy. In large measure, the author's discursive, short-take perspectives reflect the outlook of those who have or had power (corporate CEOs, Mother Teresa, Henry Kissinger, et al.), the kinds of figures that would make attractive additions to any firm's client list. At any rate, relying mainly on anecdotal evidence, Dilenschneider makes valid points about the bases of power (competence, knowledge), plus its essentially transactional, collaborative, and morally neutral nature. Covered as well are the realities (information, political, socioeconomic, or otherwise) that serve as power's organizing principles: its varied forms; the means whereby those in positions of putative authority may secure the assent of diverse constituencies; the responsibility of leaders to focus on constructive ends; and even the emotional responses triggered by what could be called command performances. In brief, then, informed as well as informative insights that collectively afford a useful primer on clout's uses and abuses. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
