A Time for Heroes: Business Leaders, Politicians, and Other Notables Explore the Nature of Heroism [Hardcover]

Robert L Dilenschneider (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

Crisis can bring out the best in people. In times of trouble and uncertainty, when lesser mortals may feel hobbled by anxiety, a few extraordinary people always rise to the occasion. Whether they are public personalities or private citizens, these heroic individuals light the way for the rest of us. Robert L. Dilenschneider is concerned that we have too few heroes in life today. In

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Public Relations executive Dilenschneider explores various notions of heroism by talking with heavy hitters in the worlds of business, politics and religion. The staples of heroism appear here (JFK, MLK, Churchill, Einstein, fathers and mothers), but a few are sure to surprise: Republican Senator Orrin Hatch fingers for praise a pediatric AIDS activist and a communist labor leader; Steve Forbes sings the praises of Ernie Pyle. Save the few unexpected turns, the book is fairly humdrum: powerful or wealthy people talking about the (generally) powerful or wealthy people they admire, and some mentions will have readers scratching their heads. (Was Tylenol's then-CEO really heroic for his handling of the 1982 cyanide killings?) Concluding this compendium is a chapter in which Dilenschneider provides a list of things individuals can do to "encourage heroic actions in ourselves." He also lists "big fixes" that will "create a public environment that's hospitable to heroes," among them, giving raises to public officials and reducing the number of frivolous lawsuits filed. Anyone curious about the audience to which this book is geared will find the answer early on in Dilenschneider's recounting of the doomed Flight 93 (just one of the many 9/11 invocations): "Which of us, hearing that inspiring story, did not wonder: Would I have cowered in the back of business class?"
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Robert L. Dilenschneider, founder and CEO of The Dilenschneider Group, is one of the world's foremost communication gurus and leadership coaches. He is the former president and chief executive officer of Hill and Knowlton, Inc., where he tripled revenues to nearly $200 million and delivered more than $30 million in profit. Dilenschneider is widely published, having authored eight seminal books on business theory, including the bestsellers "Power and Influence" and "On Power". He has counseled major corporations and professional groups around the globe, and is frequently called upon by the media to provide commentary and strategic public relations insights on major news stories.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Books (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597770000
• ISBN-13: 978-1597770002
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,727,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heroism Restored, August 10, 2005

By 

A Concerned American (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time for Heroes: Business Leaders, Politicians, and Other Notables Explore the Nature of Heroism (Hardcover)

If ever there was a time when we needed heroes in our lives, it is now. With terrorism ever present, and with challenges throughout the world and in our daily lives, we truly need heroes to look up to and reaffirm our resolve to do the best we can no matter what the circumstances.

Robert Dilenschneider has taken the time to talk to people we can look up to and learn of their definition of heroes and who their heroes are.

A Time for Heroes will make you cry, laugh, and at the end will give you hope for the future. If everyone in our own lives lived up to the standards of the heroes cited, the world would be a much better place.

This is a must read in a time with such crisis and tension in the world.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where Have the Heroes Gone?, September 30, 2005

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time for Heroes: Business Leaders, Politicians, and Other Notables Explore the Nature of Heroism (Hardcover)

The song WHERE HAVE ALL THE HEROES GONE came to mind. James Russell Lowell wrote in "The Present Crisis": "Count me o'er the earth's chosen heroes -- they were souls that stood alone."

When I was growing up, I had a small, lifelike plaster statuette of General Douglas MacArthur; consequently, he's always been my hero. Recently, when I was loaded down with packages, I found one, a good samaritan named Ehren Manrod, who gave me a helping hand; he was truly a gentleman any mother would be proud to have as a son.

It was a slower time then, but our children need heroes now -- someone to look up to and imitate. A person who enjoys conflict told me several weeks ago I'd never be a general since I retreat at the first sign of danger. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not a coward; I just don't believe in indiscriminate or unneeded violent reactions toward others. When my youngest son was in the 8th grade, his male teacher who washis soccer coach who taught them to play rough and tough was surprised when he related who my childhood hero was. MacArthur never backed down and was a man of his word. Sure, he bucked the system and was removed from his position for a time; but, he said, "I shall return" and he did! I admire a man who keeps his promises -- not many do in this age and time.

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news that our president, John Fitgerald Kennedy had been shot and taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas? That was a fateful day I'll never forget. As a young mother staying home with her boys, I was doing some freelance secretarial work for an insurance adjuster, an old man we looked on as being part of the family since we'd lived in the same apartment house where he had his office and shared a small apartment with his eccentric wife. Once he asked me if I knew who Betty Boop was -- I didn't at the time! I'd taken dictation that morning to type at home and was scheduled to return after preparing lunch for my family. Listening to the local news, a daily practice as we ate, to hear the happenings in this small town and who had died. This was a college town, though the radio station had very little news of our school; when I was a student there a few years earlier, however, I had my own "News from the Martin campus" every Friday afternoon. The mundane news was interrrupted by an announcementconcerning the situation in Dallas, followed by continuing network reporting. The unspeakable had happened, and I could not believe my ears!

Immediately I called to see if we would resume work as scheduled. He'd seen the television coverage and told me to come on back and "we'd see." The next two or three days, Mr. & Mrs. Davis and I stayed glued to the t.v.set and consequently saw first hand when Lee Harvey Oswald was fatally shot by Jack Ruby in jail exposed in handcuffs behind his back and unable to defend himself. It was just like a movie you might see today, but these were real people. The names are burned into my mind along with these vivid images from the television coverage. Thank goodness, it wasn't in color! We sat mesmerized through all the funeral proceedings; I thought I'd never be able to listen to "Hail to the Chief" again.

Recently, while waiting to see an optomologist, I noticed that he had a diploma from Parkland Hospital, so I asked if that had been the same one where President Kennedy had died. He told me that one of the patients he had there was working in the Emergency Room at the time this event took place. He had talked with an actual eyewitness to this tragedy and its aftermath. Later, I had another specialist at a regional hospital, a gastroenterologist. He, too, had interned at this famous hospital in Dallas. Thus, I had decided he was from Texas. A sensitive, shy personality but extremely competent in his field, I had much admiration for his skill. He had performed some minor surgery and tests on me which kept me from needing radical procedures later on. At one of these procedures, however, I had waited past my endurance(the whole time attached to an IV); thus, I asked a nurse to unhook me as I was ready to go home. When she told the doctor that I was wanting to leave, I was immediately wheeled back to the operating room. He said, "So you were going to skip out on me," and I replied, "Doctor, I was sure you had gotten on your horse and ridden off into the sunset." He was surprised and amused by this vision and asked, "Now, why would I do that?" I emphatically stated, "Well, you're from Texas and that's what cowboys do, isn't it?" He said (before he promptly put me to sleep so he could perform his task), "We have horses in Tennessee, too."

Later, I learned from one of his nursing assistants there at the hospital that he's a native Tennessean and proud of it. The problem was he hadn't let me tell him that cowboys had always been my heroes. From that day on, this doctor who looked nothing like a cowboy, was one of my heroes.

We all need people to admire. As we go hither and thither in our daily routines, it is good to slow down to a "snail's pace" to see the beauty of taking time just to be free as a breeze in the most wonderful country in the world. Let's show our pride as Americans in our past and present heroes.

In the song WINNERS recorded by Frank Sinatra, which reminds me a lot of his version of THE HOUSE I LIVE IN (which won an Academy Award), are these important things to consider:
"Here's to the Heroes, Those who move mountains;
Here's to the Miracles; they make us see --
Here's to the Winners All Of Us Can Be!"

Heroes come in many shapes and professions. Cowboys, soldiers, presidents, doctors, singers, rodeo performers, even ordinary people who do good toward others. We need heroes, not just in the military.