Winning Ways: 4 Secrets for Getting Results by Working Well With People [Paperback]

Dick Lyles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2001

In the bestselling tradition of Who Moved My Cheese? and The One Minute Manager, this smart little book, written as a business parable, tells the story of a young man who is sent from the corporate ladder to the football field to learn a lesson in team playing from one person who knows how to win - a college football coach.

"The best guidelines I've seen to help you unleash your power and reach your maximum potential." (Ken Blanchard, bestselling author of The One Minute Manager)

"You can't be a star player on your team if you don't have winning ways. This smart, sensible book shows how to develop them. (Tom Muccio, Vice-President, Proctor & Gamble)

"The best book ever written about how to work well with others. All new employees should receive a copy the first day on the job. (Art Bauer, President and CEO, American Media, Inc.)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dick Lyles, president and COO of the Ken Blanchard Companies, is not the first to suggest that the greatest challenge facing executives today is learning how to work with others. However, in Winning Ways, he condenses four essential strategies for success into a parable that's easy to read and absorb. Lyles's tale stars Albert, a recent computer engineering graduate who isn't getting along well with coworkers. His recent assignment to a key team, in fact, has been an unmitigated disaster, even though it was initiated by a mentor who thought she was offering a career-boosting opportunity. To help Albert build the people skills he lacks, she points him in the direction of a college football coach who has recorded a stunning 239 wins against only three losses by teaching a series of "winning ways" that spurred his teams to extraordinary accomplishments. While slim at just 92 pages, the book successfully conveys the essence of these principles--don't be afraid to give away power, collaboration is better than competition, leave your ego at the door, and solve problems for the future rather than the present or the past--while simultaneously demonstrating how they relate to the Albert in us all. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

From the president and COO of the Ken Blanchard Companies: getting what you want in the business world by polishing your people skills. Blanchard, coauthor of The One-Minute ManagerR, wrote the introduction.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1st edition (December 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425181944
• ISBN-13: 978-0425181942
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #685,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winning Ways is already giving us good results, February 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well With People (Hardcover)

A friend who knew about my "challenging" work situation recently gave me a copy of Winning Ways. This engaging and extremely practical book is already helping my work group. After taking the "short" one hour to read it, I immediately purchased copies for my coworkers. The author, Dick Lyles, explained some complex concepts in a very easy to understand business parable. But, the story hit close to home. Very close to home. I have two "Alberts" in my work group. The 4 secrets in the book were discussion items that helped move us out of "interpersonal" squabbles and refocus our energies toward our work. People who avoided each other before reading the book are now working together collaborately. The book helped us all realize that we needed to solve problems for the future instead of for the past or the present. It also helped us realize we all had different strengths and needed to share what we were doing with each other. The secret about Camels are OK was particularly helpful, because it allowed us to move on without having to have everything perfect all of the time. It's still early but my group's negative performance trend has definitely been reversed. Surprisingly, not everyone at work was taught these four fundamental secrets in school or earlier in their careers. But, with Winning Ways, those who needed to, learned them quickly. And the rest enjoyed the helpful reminders. All will reflect upon what they are doing. And be mindful going forward in the future. Winning Ways will motivate anyone who reads it. It's that good!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Gem !, March 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well With People (Hardcover)

This book truly sparkles from beginning to end. The lessons it teaches (most notably the four secrets for getting great results working well with others), are priceless.

I've created quite a buzz this past week by giving copies of the book to everyone on my team. All of them absolutely rave about how much they enjoyed the story and how useful they feel the lessons are. We've decided to establish the four secrets as norms in our group that we will all try to follow. It's been awhile since we've had something create this much collective energy.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who works with other people, which I guess is everyone. Simple stated, it's a great book with a powerful set of messages that are easy to absorb and retain.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winning Ways, August 6, 2001

By 

Cathie (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well With People (Audio Cassette)

At my work, we read this book to enhance our skills as a company and as individuals. I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to others. What this book said to me, was that in order to work efficiently, one needs to work well with others. Positions do not necessarily matter, as long as everyone feels that he or she is contributing all he or she can into the project. People need to be on the same wavelength as far as the goal for the project, because everyone can have different ideas on what the goal is. Another thing is to work together, not compete. If two people have different ideas in mind, they would both more likely succeed if they combined efforts. Lastly, if you boost each other's self esteem you will feel more comfortable working together.