Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die Review

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
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With an entertaining blend of case studies and startling research, the Heath brothers lay out the critical elements of a sticky idea. They are--
1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories
As you might expect, the authors use these techniques to drive home their point. For example, in the chapter on stories, they talk about Subway's Jared campaign--quite a dramatic behind-the-scenes story besides being a near perfect example of storytelling in marketing.
Although these six elements seem like common sense, they are woefully underapplied in business communication. The authors state it well--
"Business managers seem to believe that, once they've clicked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their conclusions, they've successfully communicated their ideas. What they've done is share data."
Well researched, easy to read and hard to forget.

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The Aladdin Factor Review

The Aladdin Factor
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Somebody stop me! I am in the midst of further changing my life for the better and found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in the book The Aladdin Factor by the New York Times bestselling authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Life is great people and we each have a specific task to fulfill during our lifetime! If you need a jump-start in awaking, finding or rededicating yourself to your purpose in life then this is the book and a great tool to utilize!
Be forewarned, you will need to read this book several times in order to absorb all the wonderful, practical, and life altering information presented within it's pages! Who knows, maybe you'll follow suit and find a partner to work with you through the book the second time you read it. A friend of mine and I have each read the book and plan on starting our New Year off right by doing the exercises and sharing our self-discoveries with each other - chapter by chapter week by week. If you are serious about applying the information in this book, YOU will not be sorry! However, this book is so rich and so informative that if you read it at least once, you will see changes in your life if you apply the material AND you will learn how to ask for and receive the things that life holds for you!
Now on to the content of the book, throughout the first two sections of the book the authors creatively include their wisdom and the lessons they wish to bestow upon the reader hidden in the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp with the genie. This approach is both entertaining and enlightening, and keeps the reader's attention focused on the overall theme of the story, but also leaves the reader subconsciously taking mental notes of the information presented for personal use once the book has been completed.
The most unique and fundamental information is presented prior to the start of the story. Chapter One is entitled "The Five Barriers To Asking: The Main Reasons We Don't Ask for What We Want". How about that? They are going to dispel any preconceived notions that you and I have AND they are going to lay it on the line by telling us why we don't ask and therefore don't receive. By this point in the book the reader can sense serious life changing information is being presented, which is a great sign since it is only the beginning of the book!
According to the authors, the five reasons why we don't ask for what we want are:
(1)Ignorance - we don't know what to ask for, we don't know what is available and possible, we don't know what we really need/want, and we don't know how to ask.
(2)Limiting and Inaccurate Beliefs - we are programmed by our parents, schools, major media, religious training, etc. One of the greatest examples used that has stuck in my mind ever since I read the book was the following - Many people who are in relationships fall into this trap - "If you really loved me, I wouldn't have to ask". If you think about it, that statement is just plain silly! We are all human and we cannot read minds. I've used this one myself on many occasions and Canfield and Hansen made me stop and really think about what I was expecting from others in my life. If I cannot read their minds, how can I realistically expect them to read mine? Do you know how much heartache and hurt feelings we could completely avoid if we would learn that this notion is not true? We all need to learn how to develop our communication skills more and this book is a great place to start!
(3)Fear - fear of rejection, fear of looking stupid, fear of being powerless, fear of humiliation, and fear of abandonment.
(4)Low Self-Esteem - feeling of unworthiness and the feeling of "my needs" are not important.
(5)Pride - afraid to appear weak and needy, fear of other's judgment, and the notion that we are supposed to be able to figure things out for ourselves.
After the authors lead the reader through Aladdin's journey and lessons learned, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen tie up the book nicely with the third part entitled "How to Ask, Who to Ask and What to Ask for". Not only do they tell you how to ask, they tell you how to ask at home, how to ask at school, how to ask at work, how to ask the world, how to ask yourself and how to ask a Higher Power.
The authors also skillfully teach you how to give of yourself, how to strengthen your relationships (in all areas of your life), how to turn rejection into acceptance, how to be diplomatic, how to be a person of excellent character, how to persevere - and that is only naming a few! I couldn't possibly list all the things you will learn from these fine authors, or else I would end up rewriting their book word for word!
If you have read any of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which I am guessing about 99.9% of you have, you will find the same content and style that has made Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen both famous and bestsellers. They include stories of the lives, trials, successes, and lessons learned by many different people. They also include their well-known and awe-inspiring quotes as found in their Chicken Soup series, which drive the lessons home effectively! I just love their use of quotes.
The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen is a "must have" in the personal home library of any individual who seeks to become a well rounded and a successful person in all areas of their life. Happy Reading!

Lisa Vaden

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How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Review

How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
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"How Successful People Think" by John Maxwell is a great little book and a timely read, particularly in a day where media and others encourage us to follow our feelings almost to the exclusion of thinking.
The book covers thinking in several areas:
1. Focused thinking.
2. Creative thinking.
3. Realistic thinking.
4. Strategic thinking.
5. Possibility thinking.
6. Reflective thinking.
7. Question Popular Thinking.
8. Shared thinking.
9. Unselfish thinking (get outside yourself!).
10. Bottom-Line thinking.
Each chapter is around 10 pages and usually contains the following that applies to the area of thinking being discussed:
1. Sayings by famous people.
2. Benefits of the particular type of thinking.
3. Principles to apply to improve your thinking in that area.
This is not one of those "touchy-feely" books designed to make you feel good about yourself. If that is what you are looking for, then do not bother to read.
Instead, if you want to improve your thinking in any of several areas, then this book is for you. The narrative flows freely and contains great information to inspire and challenge you.
Read, enjoy, and be challenged. Highly recommended!

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Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time Review

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time
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Susan Scott has written an outstanding book on how to use everyday conversation to cut through the politics of work relationships and start talking about what we are all "pretending not to know". I was consistently impacted while reading it, not so much that the material is brand new, but that it is presented in such a way that the opportunities and misses of my own interactions were obvious.
One of the topics discussed is called "Mineral Rights", a type of conversation designed to get deep, past the surface and into the truth of what is going on. The approach accomplishes four purposes: Interrogate reality, provoke learning, tackle tough challenges, and enrich relationships. It has been my experience that this rarely happens in corporate America, and is rarer still where I work now. The book uses examples from various companies that have identified their core values and been honest enough with themselves and others to start acting on them. The many questions posed throughout the book, and the sections at the end of each chapter are a great way to start interrogating reality in your workplace. The answers usually are "in the room" if we can really get honest and start looking for them.
In addition to some great business council, much of the book focuses on how we get honest with ourselves. Often we are the problem, and our own inability to truly understand where our own issues lie, is an essential journey to better facilitate the kind of change we want in our business or relationships. Another great approach used is the "Decision Tree" to help build empowerment in others. Communicate clearly what decisions can be made and what must be communicated to others. (Page 252). Her insights into how silence is an effective communication tool, both internally and in interactions with others, were right on.
While this was all excellent, and perhaps the most well written summary of engaging communication approaches, what was the most powerful for me were the sections on our "emotional wake". We all leave an emotional wake behind us as we engage in conversations with people. The question is, what kind of wake do we want to leave? How do we want people to feel? This served as a great wake up call for me while reading.
Overall, this book is so full of great wisdom and insights I couldn't begin to do it justice here. From the opening examples to the very useful questions in the back and the study guides throughout, I believe this to be one of the best books on business and personal communication I have read. It is both deep and practical, both academically sound and real world tested, and is written in such a way that it felt like a conversation itself. Highly recommended!



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What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most Review

What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most
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This is the first review I've ever written on Amazon, and I'm moved to write it because I am so astounded at the lack of truth in a couple of reviews for this book. I'm not sure what happened in some of the negative reviewers' lives that led them to write such bitter and inaccurate reviews, but I want to assure everyone thinking about Whitakers' books that they are worth reading, and What Great Teachers Do Differently is one of his best.
On almost every page, there are practical ideas, different ways of perceiving issues and their solutions, and fodder for continued discussion. For example, Whitaker reminds principals that the key to successful schools is not so much its newly added programs as it is the people running the school itself -- faculty and staff. For a lot of school leaders who are so mired in finding the next big fix for their problems and keep looking at new programs and configurations, this section of his book is the catalyst they need to start focusing on the development and experiences of teachers and staff -- if they truly want to affect positive change. Sure, it's common sense and, if we've been in education long enough we've seen some of the ideas before (which we can say about every single education book out there!), but many of us in education are overloaded with burdens and anxiety and sometimes we can't see as clearly as Whitaker enables us to see. Heck, if books only contained ideas outside of common sense, there wouldn't be many books. That's often what speaks to readers. We need a reminder of common sense seen through fresh and insightful eyes, which is exactly what Whitaker provides throughout this book.
Not everything in Whitaker's book is based on just common sense. He provides uncommon wisdom born of many years as a building administrator, a teacher, and as a teacher coach. Whitaker helps teachers take a candid look at what they do. Anyone who has gone through National Board Certification will find many similar themes in this book -- particuarly about being a reflective practitioner and analyzing our own performance when our students fail. He writes very accessibly for teachers at all points of career development; neophytes and seasoned veterans will find something significant in this book.
Whitaker is a serious danger to complacency. In several sections of this book he helps us generate a powerful commitment to students' well being, not just getting through the curriculum, and he makes useful connections between students' overlapping worlds of the affect and the academic. Todd is the embodiment of the great teachers he describes: he makes it cool to care.
I've been in education for 28 years and I'm an education book "junkie," reading and applying everything I can get my hands on, and What Great Teachers Do Differently ranks among the most useful. I'm a teacher coach as well, working with schools around the nation, and I see this book on almost all professional library and principal's shelves. I've been in over 500 schools in the past few years alone and not one of them in which Whitaker's books are used has ever mentioned what a waste of time they were. On the contrary, they found his books very helpful. These are thoughtful, dedicated educators reading Whitakers books; there must be something to them.
What a loss to education to think that someone reading the negative reviews would pass up a chance to really explore great teaching and potentially make changes in themselves and classrooms that will ultimately improve student learning. Without hesitation, I recommend What Great Teachers Do Differently for highly accomplished and on-the-way-to-becoming highly accomplished teachers.
-- Rick Wormeli, Herndon, VA, USA


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This book describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that form the fabric of life in our best classrooms and schools. It focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. Readers of author Todd Whitaker's best-selling WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY asked him for a companion volume focusing on great teachers and their classrooms. This book is his response to those requests.This book focuses on the specific things that great teachers do ... that others do not. It answers these essential questions: - Is it high expectations for students that matter?- How do great teachers respond when students misbehave?- Do great teachers filter differently than their peers?- How do the best teachers approach standardized testing? - How can your teachers gain the same advantages?

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