Customer Reviews

Revved!: An Incredible Way to Rev Up Your Workplace and Achieve Amazing Results

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Years ago, my editor met Revved! co-author Harry Paul, one of the creators of the bestseller FISH!, and asked him to consider endorsing my forthcoming book The Soul of an Organization. He not only agreed to look at it, but read it with interest, and later spoke with me by phone to discuss his thoughts on some of the book's finer points. It was a kind gesture for a budding author that I will never forget.

I later had the pleasure of meeting Harry in person for the first time, together with his co-author Ross Reck, at last year's Book Expo America, and I was amazed at what I saw. With a long line of people waiting to meet him and get his autograph, he did more than smile and sign books - he truly created a connection with each and every person on line. It was like watching someone greet his best friend over and over again.

So, I smiled when I finally sat down to read Revved! - because it spells out, in story form, exactly how to be the way Harry is in real life. His three steps to getting people "revved" are common sense, and yet elegant and procedural at the same time - and I can tell you from personal experience that they work. Buy this book for your entire management team, or better yet, get Harry to come speak in person. If everyone put his words into practice, our workplaces would be the happiest places in the world.

-Rich Gallagher, author of The Soul of an Organization and Great Customer Connections.

Fast and easy reading and good information for many managers who truly are missing this piece of management - the caring piece can make or break your effectiveness as a leader! Following the guidelines in this book can take you to the top of your team as a leader of anything in any organization. Simple concepts + easily implemented = SUCCESS!

I have been waiting for a book like this to come along for more than three years. Harry and Ross do an outstanding job of driving home the three steps for getting others excited about going the extra mile--Winning Them Over, Blowing Them Away and Keeping them Revved. REVVED! is the kind of book you'll want to read over and over again--I've already read it twice. Also, the exercises at the end of the book are excellent and easy to use--great bonus material! REVVED! will not only make you more successful at work, but it will enable you to live your personal life more fully as well. I can't recommend this book enough! Read it and you'll see why.

FISH! was one of the best business books I've read in the last
several years . . . so when I saw that one of the co-authors, Harry Paul,
came out with a new book, I just had to get hold of a copy.

His latest, REVVED!, certainly does not disappoint . . . written
with Ross Reck, it is a business parable about how any workplace
can be energized to achieve amazing results.

However, the ideas contained in this brief but oh so powerful
book can be applied in other situations too--such as with
families, our personal lives, etc. . . . though they may not
appear to be brilliantly new, I'm amazed at how rarely
we follow all three basic principles:

1. Winning them over;
2. Bowling them away; and
3. Keeping them revved.

Paul and Peck provide much useful advice, presented
in a very realistic fashion . . . there were several passages
that particularly caught my attention; among them:

* When you share your dreams and goals with those close to
you-a change of careers, starting a new business, going back
to school-you're very likely to hear a negative response. Don't let others
rain on your parade-instead, go for it!

* Caring energizes everyone around you. When you open up and really
care about people, you make them feel really good about themselves.
This releases the reservoir of positive energy that resides in all of us.

* Whether it is a put-down or a rude driver cutting you off in traffic, do not
take it personally. Remember, you are in charge of your emotions!

One other thing I liked about REVVED! was that it contained a plausible
love story that left me smiling at the end.

This book puts forth a simple yet terrific concept: recognize the accomplishments of people in your organization and they'll go out of their way to support you.

I did some contract work for Digital Equipment Corporation in the 80s, and the book reminded me of what I called their "atta-boy" culture.

It's not a complex idea, but it definitely works.

Revved us an incredible short book that makes us realize the obvious on people management. Most of us know already what is shared in this book, but are we following the same in real life, I bet no. That's why when you read this book, you will get the first shock, oh my GOD, I know all these things, and then the realization surfaces, when we ask the question whether we are following the same in real life? At least to me, the answer was big NO.

This is where this book scores really well, narrated by a simple story, this one makes us realize and also provides a concrete action plan on how to improve your life by caring for others. What goes around comes around. So when you help others, and truly care for them, they will in turn reciprocate the good will and soon you will have an personal army :) that will be ready to go the extra mile for you.

The theme of this book is, how to become a successful manager, but the same applies to anyone in general.

So read this book, practice what was preached ( I have taken my step 1) and become a better human being. Success will follow.

Item received quickly and exactly as described. 'Would gladly do business with this service again!

Now, here's a book I'm almost embarrassed to review, it's so far from "great literature." But every now and then, such how-to-get-ahead books (like a Hershey with Almonds) call out to me, even though my workplace is only my home office with its staff of me.

This lively volume, an imaginary story set in an imaginary workplace, brags that Looking Out for #2 (you) takes only three steps: 1. Winning Them Over, 2. Blowing Them Away, 3. Keeping Them Revved.

Winning Them Over counsels you to engage people. "Plaster a smile on your face that makes you look like one of the happiest people in the world" (even if you're not), the authors advise. Find something nice to say, like "Good morning." Listen.

They promised instant results, so I slapped on a fake smile, headed to the grocery store. Sure enough. The utterly silent teenager who usually pushes my cart to my car began to whistle.

On to Step 2, Blowing Them Away. Say your secretary does a fantastic job. Don't just thank her. Write a letter about how terrific she is. Send it not only to the president of the company, but also include carbon copies all the way down the line to the deserving secretary. Blow Her Away. This soon will spread the word about how great you are.

I couldn't figure out a grocery store application for this, so I went on to Step 3, Keeping Them Revved. To keep 'em revved, you keep repeating Steps 1 and 2. So I plastered on my fake smile and headed to the post office. Struck up a conversation about the unseasonably warm weather with a gentleman in line. He smiled.

Looking Out for #1 (them), the authors say, is really Looking Out for #2 (you).

Hey! Who can quarrel with that? At least (unlike Hershey's) it's not fattening.

Marilyn Coffey is an award-winning writer of poetry and a widely published author of prose. See her works: Great Plains Patchwork, Marcella, or KANSAS QUARTERLY Vol. 15 No. 2.

This is a thoroughly great read which I have been able to share with people in my training and coaching role.

The book provides sound guidance for the reader who is challenged to implement the ideas given.

This book is easy to read and most of all easy to implement! The examples used are realistic. I was so inspired by the book, my company hired Harry Paul as our speaker for a manager's conference. The feedback from our managers: "They were more tuned in to their individual employees, which made their jobs easier!"