Customer Reviews

Real Power: Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching

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In the business world there is a distinct division between employees and management. Sometimes it is easy to see why there is no office "loyalty" or true friendship. All you have to do is analyze the totem pole of authority to discover the seeds of dissension.

The Tao Te Ching was written somewhere around 500 years B.C.E., and has been referred to, by many, as the wisest book ever written! It is not just some kind of "new age" thinking or positive thinking "concept"! The Tao Te Ching reveals the true laws of the universe... When reading this translation, you will discover that the journey to true power begins with oneself. By discovering ways of improving oneself, accepting your mistakes when you make them, learning to become more flexible and open to ideas, knowing when to speak and when to listen, living in balance/ or harmony by being moderate, evenhanded and fair... these are only a few of the methods explored in the first few chapters of the book. One of my favorite chapters reveals that the authority management wields over their employees is not what creates success in a company. The true power in an organization is realized when a competent leader knows how to motivate his coworkers... the employees are the one's who can put their passion into a project... they are the one's who's labor of love brings forth the final product... it is their artistic vision that gives a project it's uniqueness, if you will. These are the most important people, the ones that should be happy! A good leader is merely a composer or director... a communicator. In fact, you'll discover that each chapter is really a vault full of treasure for anyone interested in learning the true techniques of Leadership. This book is divided into five sections, each with a main or common thread. The sections are about a) becoming a wise leader , b) giving up control c) proper use of motivation d) creating a community that works, and e) realizing the overall vision.

If you've ever met someone, or read about a person who is indescribably a great leader, or you hear people say "I don't know, but there's something about that person... I just can't describe it or I just can't place my finger on it"... you have just run into someone who is living in harmony, to one extent or the other, with the Tao Te Ching. James A. Autry and Stephen Mitchell provide a most valuable resource in this translation. It is easy to read, and you will find this title applies remarkably well to just about any industry. Recommended reading for anyone serious about becoming an awesome leader!

I have over twenty years experience in senior management positions with $300 million to $1.7 billion businesses. The book "Real Power - Business Lessions from the Tao Te Ching" should be must reading and pondering for executives or leaders who wish their organization to prosper now and into the future. I trust and believe in the principles taught in the book. Creative, clever, inspiring and value oriented.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. I'm a Mitchell fan, and I was expecting a book co-written by Autry and Mitchell. I found a book written by Autry with excerpts from Mitchell's excellent translation of the Tao. The book doesn't even include the whole Tao Te Ching for reflection, just bits and pieces, which seems silly for such a small bit of text in the first place.

I walked away from this book with the same feeling as I did after reading Covey's 7 habits. I feel Autry set out with an idea and found bits of the Tao to fit his ideas, just as I feel Covey started with the Seven Habits and found business examples to fit the idea. It comes out looking forced, and that's not very Taoist. John Heider's "The Tao of Leadership" is a much better book for those looking for a mix of Taoism and business concepts.

I could see some that might dismiss it as just a collection of catchy phrases, trendy euphemisms, and anecdotal and unscientific blathering. But I felt that this book described the kind of management style I will try to emulate in my life. Instead of `creating' the environment through sheer force of will and a desire for control and domination, it focuses on letting order create itself organically. I loved the detached but focused approach the book describes. Short little passages made this book something I picked up from time to time and really thought about the different passages. While the Taoism is not something I accept completely, learning to appreciate the gentle, detached, and innate wisdom of things was something I enjoyed thinking about. The many descriptions of how NOT to do things were the so close to experiences I have had in with bad management that I found myself totally engrossed in this book. The solutions given were so logically and eloquently presented that I could not help but take the words in with a deep sense of satisfaction. This book was a source of confirmation for me. For so long I have had so many bad managers, and seen so many bad practices in organizations, that I was wondering if I was just a complainer. But this book was right with my experiences. It described things so purely for me that I felt justified and inspired to continue in my path as I head off to business school and enter the world of management more on the other side of things. In any event, as I wrote above, this book captured the kind of management style I want to cultivate more than any of all the management books and articles I've read and I recommend it highly. I will keep this book on my desk for as long as it holds together.

Thought provoking, practical and insightful the concepts are extraordinary, but shouldn't be! Not what I thought it would be when ordering, but the book was far beyond any business "how to" management books seen previously. I recommend it to anyone interested in how business SHOULD work!

Of course everyone has heard of Tao Te Ching. But applying ancient wisdom has never been made more simple than in this book. Lessons are highlighted by parts from Tao Te Ching and then applied to various business situations. Leader or not, this book will help anyone in all aspects of live: letting go, making piece with everyone - even one's enemy, achieving harmony thru non-competition, knowing when to step back. Lessons seem to be very simple but their wisdom goes beyond words. This a is management book that should be mandatory for anyone and everyone wanting to learn about business and best means or running sucessful, strong and harmonious group or organization.

I could see some that might dismiss it as just a collection of catchy phrases, trendy euphemisms, and anecdotal and unscientific blathering. But I felt that this book described the kind of management style I will try to emulate in my life. Instead of `creating' the environment through sheer force of will and a desire for control and domination, it focuses on letting order create itself organically. I loved the detached but focused approach the book describes. Short little passages made this book something I picked up from time to time and really thought about the different passages. While the Taoism is not something I accept completely, learning to appreciate the gentle, detached, and innate wisdom of things was something I enjoyed thinking about. The many descriptions of how NOT to do things were the so close to experiences I have had in with bad management that I found myself totally engrossed in this book. The solutions given were so logically and eloquently presented that I could not help but take the words in with a deep sense of satisfaction. This book was a source of confirmation for me. For so long I have had so many bad managers, and seen so many bad practices in organizations, that I was wondering if I was just a complainer. But this book was right with my experiences. It described things so purely for me that I felt justified and inspired to continue in my path as I head off to business school and enter the world of management more on the other side of things. In any event, as I wrote above, this book captured the kind of management style I want to cultivate more than any of all the management books and articles I've read and I recommend it highly. I will keep this book on my desk for as long as it holds together.

This book provides practical applications for one of the the great religious books. The book very calming and provides great values and peace.

I've studied many spiritual worldviews over the years and Taoism is the one that resonates most with me. It's therefore natural that Taoism has come to deeply shape my approach to leadership and management in recent years, and I've found that Taoist principles do indeed "work": I and my staff are more effective and more content, and our clients benefit as a result.

Having "applied" Taoism to business before reading this book, I'm pleased to report that the book accords with my understanding and experiences, and I believe Autry has done an excellent job as an interpreter of the Tao Te Ching. The book has been very helpful in validating and reinforcing my understanding, even if I didn't learning anything completely new.

I highly recommended this book to all leaders and managers. Even if the book doesn't click with you at first, I suggest keeping an open mind, continuing to dwell on it, and trying out its principles in practice. Adopting a Taoist outlook involves fundamental personal transformation (not gimmicks), so the process needs time to unfold, perhaps even years, but the journey is well worth it.

I should be the eighth person who wrote a review for this book. The seven reviewers before me had really extreme opinion on it. Five 5 stars and two 1 star. You seldom find that on Amazon. Anyway, I read and found all of them honest and personal/subjective account of the reviewers' perception/experience.

As a Chinese, I assure you that Tao Te Ching would be voted as one of the ten greatest books of our culture. It touches every part of our daily life and so the application of its principles on business/life/love is popular in the eastern world (similar to Sun Tzu's Art of War). Mitchell's translation is the best I read so far (though so little). Autry's intrepretation of it matches those of the mainstream Chinese and Japanese scholars.

So, if you buy in TQM, Theory Y/Z and self actualization kind of stuff, read this book and you will gain something. Otherwise, spend your money and time elsewhere.