The Tao of Motivation: Inspire Yourself and Others [Paperback]

Max Landsberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009

From the bestselling author of The Tao of Coaching comes a book on how to motivate and inspire others - and yourself! Motivation is much more than just a few words of praise. It is an essential skill which anyone can learn, and with which you can have an indelible, positive impact on yourself and others. Yet most of us are never taught this crucial life skill. In this book, bestselling author Max Landsberg fills that gap, providing simple tools, tips and techniques that really work. One of the key points of the book is, you cannot motivate someone else if you are not motivated yourself. Landsberg examines what it takes to motivate yourself, at work and at home, as the basis for inspiring and motivating those around you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Successfully demystifies the murky world of motivation' - Ben Cannon, Goldman Sachs. `Few investments are risk free. Motivation is one of them. This practical and engaging guide helps to show you the way' - Adair Turner, former Director General, CBI.

About the Author

Max Landsberg is an internationally recognized authority on executive coaching and professional development. His books on coaching, motivation and leadership have sold more than 200,000 copies and have been translated into 14 languages. He is a regular instructor on corporate educational programs, and serves as faculty on courses for professional coaches.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Profile Books (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861976550
• ISBN-13: 978-1861976550
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How motivation works, December 22, 2004

By 

Albert van der Zwart "Librarian - www.reading... (IJsselstein, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tao of Motivation: Inspire Yourself and Others (Paperback)

"You have the key to motivate yourself and others" the opening of 'The Tao of Motivation' by Max Landsberg. The book is one of three in a series about leadership and management. The others are The Tao of Coaching and The Tools of Leadership.

The book is presented as a guide and uses the story of Alex and his struggle to become a board member to illustrate the theory behind motivation. (Alex is also the name of the manager in The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, coincidence?)

The book follows the learning process of Alex, the theory builds on previous chapters and the VICTORY-circle (Vision, Impetus, Confidence, Taking the Plunge, Outcomes, Responding to feedback, and of course 'You'). As in all things when working with people, just telling isn't enough: Show, don't tell. In order to be able to motivate others you must first learn how motivation works and how to motivate yourself. A number of subjects around motivation (psychology, NLP, Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, body-language etc.) are briefly mentioned in the book. A reference list encourages you to further exploring.

I must say the book had an influence on me because I learned some new things about motivation. Because you want to read the life story of Alex you easily pick up the theory in between (don't skip it!). These kind of business novels are a nice way of learning new things.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful short guide, August 6, 2003

By 

Bill Godfrey (Mt Stuart, TAS Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tao of Motivation Hb (Hardcover)

One of three short books by Landsberg on key skills for leaders and managers. The others are The Tao of Coaching and The Tools of Leadership. All three are notable for their directness and brevity and all provide an extremely useful guide to important skills. Each is written around a brief story about 'Alex', on his journey from manager to CEO, with each episode designed to illustrate some aspect of the coaching/motivation/leadership challenge. Each episode is followed by a two page summary of the particular skill needed to meet the challenge. Each book has a useful bibliography to guide the reader to more detail where desired and a suite of Appendices covering further details on key aspects of skill.
There is naturally some overlap between the books, but each is valuable in its own right and the set combine to provide a thoughtful, practical and readily referenced guide to the key elements in the human side of management and leadership.
The Tao of Motivation is structured around the memnonic VICTORY, standing for Vision, Impetus, Confidence, Taking the Plunge, Outcomes, responding to feedback, and the particular 'You' with whom motivation is concerned. It also introduces aspects of basic psychology and tools such as MBTI and NLP in summary form ,

2.0 out of 5 stars Now i have a vague idea of how to motivate someone ....., January 22, 2011

By 

Gijs - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tao of Motivation: Inspire Yourself and Others (Paperback)

I really enjoyed the TAO of Coaching but this book is not in the same league, by far. I kind of have an idea what this book is about, but I'm not sure, sorry, just didn't get out of it what i expected.....