Amazon.com Review
Nobody likes a whiner, Frank Pacetta least of all. And, as he sees it, there's been far too much whining going on in corporate America over the past decade, and far too little drive, passion, and inspiration to get the job done and get it done well.
Stop Whining--and Start Winning is Pacetta's honest and hard-hitting manifesto for how to make this happen.
Pacetta and his coauthor Roger Gittines fire back at America's complacent workforce by equipping leaders with a book packed full of "now-tos"--the Pacetta version of how-tos, only more necessary and more urgent. With chapter titles such as "Do Get Excited--Reaping the Rewards of Emotion" and "Make Big Dreams Happen--What a Great Place to Work," Pacetta drives home his overarching theory of leadership: Being a good leader means getting emotionally involved with your workforce and thereby motivating people to contribute their absolute best. There's no room for "leading from a distance" with Pacetta, who claims that successful leaders can and should directly influence such areas as communications, recruiting, and training. In an animated and conversational tone, the sales guru of Xerox fame shares advice and anecdotes from both his professional and personal lives, with tips from his action-packed days at Xerox, family moments in a vibrant Italian American home, and a personal visit from Ross Perot all entering the fray at one point or another. Stop Whining--and Start Winning is not a theory-based tome but a plug for passion and a call for leaders to get off their butts and fire up their workforces. --S. Glass
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Just as senior e-strategists advise client companies that electronic commerce is "all about the customer, stupid," consultant Pacetta warns that "it's all about the employee." Here, then, is his formula for turning around profits, starting and ending with the employee. Don't expect a very structured discussion or highfalutin theories or philosophies. Instead, story telling abounds--revolving around communications, reward-recognition systems, trust, recruitment, and teamwork. Principles are sound, including creating a hard-core vision, finding out why employees leave, and securing buy-in from frontline managers. The prose reads well; for instance, Pacetta regales us with notes about Ross Perot's visit to his home. Not to be considered a main source but good for supplemental anecdotes.
Barbara Jacobs
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.