Customer Reviews

The Success Effect: Uncommon Conversations With America's Business Trailblazers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The leadership book category is extremely crowded. John Eckberg deserves a lot of credit for providing a new entry that is truly unique - and truly adds value to the topic. As the subtitle suggests, he takes an uncommon approach to interviewing an unconventional line-up of interview subjects. The result is a collection of success-oriented insights on leadership you simply won't find anywhere else.

Todd Sebastian
Best-selling author, Tell Your Clients Where to Go! A Practical Guide to Providing Passionate Client Leadership

I reallly like John Eckberg's book. It's got some uncommonly engaging touches for a business book. Each CEO he interviews gets asked some personally revealing details, such as to list what CDs are prominent in his CD rack, and what books are on his nightstand. It humanizes them. And Eckberg shows flair and personality in his questioning, far beyond the usual bottom-line fixations. It ends up peeling back the mask on many of his captains of industry, showing a little of what makes them tick. My only criticism, really, is that some of these mini-profiles are too brief. Just when they're opening up, it's over. But that's a quibble over the book's formatting. This one's a winner.

I wondered when I first approached this book how well I could do a review since I was not sure if the contents would even hold my attention. I am a simple person and at my age perhaps not one that would be going forth to be a success in business, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

You see, this is a book that is chock full of information that can be used in many areas of one's life, not just in business. The wisdom given and life lessons learned and shared, can be implemented in dreams both large and small in one's own life. Between the pages of this book our author, John Eckberg, compiles for us interviews of some of the most successful business people in the world. His questions are straight forward and asked in such a way that they actually bring the person to answer in a down-to-earth way that is both informative and at times down-right entertaining and always interesting. We hear from names like Donald Trump to Jerry Springer and we even get a little glimpse into their personal tastes with the injection of little sections such as, Books on The Nightstand, and CD's In The Changer.

I have to say this was a really interesting book, written in a free-flowing style, candid and alive and one that you will find some real gems of information to help you succeed in your heart's quest in life.

Shirley Johnson

Senior Reviewer

MidWest Book Review

I have been meaning to write a quick review of this book ever since I read it a few months ago just after publication. Normally don't read business books they bore me out of my wits and besides they all trot out the same tired old platitudes souped up with this year's latest buzzwords.

This book however was decidedly different in approach, in tone and in information. It actually has an awful lot of really down-to-earth and practical advice and he also talks to differnt people.. first time I've seen Doobies' and Steely Dan's jeff baxter in the pages of a business book. read it in one sitting then gave it to mty eldest boy who won't listen to a word I say ;-) It's good.

Eckberg has managed to sit down with movers and shakers; Trump, Pelz, Longaberger, and yes, Jerry Springer (who is actually cooler than you would guess), and a bunch of others you've heard of and some you haven't, for a peek into what makes someone successful, or as the cover says, a "trailblazer." I was surprised at what these people said, and how, left to their own devices, away from traditional media, soundbites and their PR people, just responded to the author's sometimes goofy and off the cuff questions. He asks Deepak Chopra how to interpret the fact that he and his friends were fishing and not catching anything and then happened upon a stream of dead fish floating through their legs. Interesting in the least. It really is conversations, so don't be expecting career advice laid out for you-- you have to intepret what to take from these discussions. unique to say the least.

What a refreshing read. The Success Effect by John Eckberg made me add a lot of other books to my Amazon Wish List. John has included interviews with America's best business leaders and innovators. Several of them have their own books and many of these were added to my wish list.

The personal jokes and stories are so rarely found in most books of this genre and it made for an entertaining and more impactful read. Thank you John for referring me to this book and for autographing my copy! I am excited to go through your new "Pot of Gold" book this next year

I like The Success Effect in its entirety and believe one of its great strengths is that no one interview stands out. The interviews for me - primarily due to the author's penetrating questions and revealing responses - maintain a consistency and cohesion rarely found in collections of interviews I have read.

I enjoyed the interviews that surprised me the most. The Success Effect contained success stories from so many walks of life, they allow the reader to believe that - unlike success stories from more typical business books where business talks to business - here the reader feels one could actually apply their ideas and suggestions to their own life and work. The questions the author puts forth have a profound humanizing effect on each of the interviewees.

That said, I did especially like several interviews including the interview with Jerry Springer (because the author helped reveal someone in contrast to expectations put in place by the media;) Deepak Chopra (because I thought coming to the interview I was very familiar with him and his work and, despite the relative brevity of the interview, felt that he revealed something more of himself here;) Doug Newburg (because of his principled insights and ideas about top performers;) Tom Kelley of IDEO (the author manages in very few pages to reveal yet another facet of his success;) Patrick Lencioni, Doug Hall and Peter Block (because I personally find everything Block writes and says to be worthy of our time and interest. The interview with him did not disappoint.) All-in-all I believe you will find this book of interviews to be a success.

I am enjoying The Success Effect because you can open to any page, read a little and learn a lot. My main take away is that the road to success is often "the road less traveled". The Success Effect has story after story of business case studies where the success was fueled by non-conventional strategies. It was a matter of seeing things in a completely different way, or just seeing needs, which could be converted to opportunities. Speaking of seeing, my favorite story so far is the Lens Crafters story.

Bob Kramer
Author of Revolutionary Retailing

Business and investing is all about people. Great ideas are not just about numbers, and are not just about metrics. Developing an insight into how a business is run is easily translated into what creates a business' competitive advantage. Those sorts of insights are best garnered by interviewing and observation of managements, their competitors, and their customers.

Prior to the onset of Sarbanes-Oxley and Regulation FD, most analysts spent considerable time in interviewing of CEOs and CFOs of companies under their coverage. Unfortunately, in today's world where selective disclosure fears abound, far less time is spent in training analysts how to interview, and what sort of questions can be asked.

The "Success Effect" is written by the business reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer,John Eckberg. Eckberg kept his tapes from various interviews he has conducted as a reporter. These interviews offer unusual and unique insight into the minds of this collage of successful, entrepreneurial and motivated people.

The book is an easy read based on Eckberg's easy, conversational style. His interview candidates have ranged from true business scions such as Donald Trump, Larry Bossidy and Lou Gerstner to much lesser known business people such as Dennis Spiegel whose career evolved from the age of 13 when he began taking tickets at the gate of an amusement park to founding the largest amusement park design and operations firm.

The interviews never drag...I think the longest interview of the 47 presented spans ten pages. This staccato style makes this an ideal night table book, where each chapter represents a rapid observation of what that person holds true, what has influenced his/her life, as well as lessons in leading a successful life.

Eckberg also compiles some additional personal information for each interviewee... each chapter contains a little vignette of "Books on The Nightstand," and "CD's In The Changer."

One of the more interesting interviews is of Doug Newburg, the Director of Performance Education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He believes that top performers share a trait of "resonance"- a sustained energy flow, an ever-present buzz that is linked to performance and engagement. As he observes, "Real competition is the competition between your vision and your skills-not between you and other people." Essentially, the more engaged you are, the more you enjoy what you are doing, and the better you perform. People who make it, hate to lose. The people who don't make it are afraid of losing.

At the end of each interview, Eckberg summarizes the findings with a two or three line "carryout," a summary of lessons learned. Here is an example from the Oscar Robertson interview:

"For group success, help the worst guy on a team achieve. Talented staff take care of themselves. Let customers know you and your company. Familiarity brings revenues because business in a cyber-age is still about relationships. Opportunities are all around you all the time."

There are many role models here from all walks of life. There are valuable lessons in what it takes to lead, to prosper, to establish a brand or niche, and to succeed.

This is an enjoyable read, a great stocking stuffer for yourself, your partner, your friends. I highly recommend!

This was a very conversational book with good tidbits about leadership and success. I enjoyed reading it and would also recommend "Running with the Rhinos" by Christian Warren. Running with the Rhinos: Courageous Leadership for a Complex World