As a total package, this work delivers the goods on business leadership.
An executive coach offers a systematic approach to supercharging business growth in this guide.
Shore begins with a relevant reference to his previous book, Your Business Is a Leaky Bucket (2017), suggesting that “leaks continue to recur throughout the life of your business.” The objective of this volume, though, is to move beyond those leaks and drive rapid, profitable growth. The author emphasizes five distinct areas in the work: Stewardship, Human Capital Management, Strategy, Planning, and Accountability. It is no coincidence that these are the elements of Shore’s trademarked “Business Acceleration System,” which his consulting firm employs on behalf of his clients. Periodically throughout the book, the use of a “Business Acceleration Calculator,” which can be downloaded free, is encouraged. This not-so-subtle sales pitch can be forgiven because the author pays off his premise with a no-nonsense, substantive explanation of all five areas. Introductory material addresses leadership mindsets and provides an overview of 19 specific “growth accelerators,” which are divided into the five areas. Each of the accelerators is then discussed in considerable detail. Some of the accelerators, such as “Develop a Strong Culture” and “Commit to an Audacious Goal,” will be very familiar to senior business leaders; on the surface, they could be easily dismissed as informational retreads. But the positive impact of the volume is in the unifying theme of business acceleration. Shore seamlessly weaves together the 19 accelerators and the five key areas, carefully organizing the content into a logical set of discrete but interrelated action items. In addition to his own wisdom, the author references numerous sources and supplies useful examples to illuminate the discussion. One compelling technique employed throughout is the stylistic use of questions as subheads to engage readers, such as “How Do You Measure Manager Performance?” “Do You Have the Right Structure to Succeed?” and “Do You Know What Your Clients Want?” Chapters are short but packed with details. Busy executives will appreciate the liberal use of bullets, numbered lists, and helpful summaries of key points at the end of each chapter.
As a total package, this work delivers the goods on business leadership. (references)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64543-481-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Amplify Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.
Want to get ahead in business? Consult a dictionary.
By Wharton School professor Berger’s account, much of the art of persuasion lies in the art of choosing the right word. Want to jump ahead of others waiting in line to use a photocopy machine, even if they’re grizzled New Yorkers? Throw a because into the equation (“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”), and you’re likely to get your way. Want someone to do your copying for you? Then change your verbs to nouns: not “Can you help me?” but “Can you be a helper?” As Berger notes, there’s a subtle psychological shift at play when a person becomes not a mere instrument in helping but instead acquires an identity as a helper. It’s the little things, one supposes, and the author offers some interesting strategies that eager readers will want to try out. Instead of alienating a listener with the omniscient should, as in “You should do this,” try could instead: “Well, you could…” induces all concerned “to recognize that there might be other possibilities.” Berger’s counsel that one should use abstractions contradicts his admonition to use concrete language, and it doesn’t help matters to say that each is appropriate to a particular situation, while grammarians will wince at his suggestion that a nerve-calming exercise to “try talking to yourself in the third person (‘You can do it!’)” in fact invokes the second person. Still, there are plenty of useful insights, particularly for students of advertising and public speaking. It’s intriguing to note that appeals to God are less effective in securing a loan than a simple affirmative such as “I pay all bills…on time”), and it’s helpful to keep in mind that “the right words used at the right time can have immense power.”
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063204935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper Business
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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