OK, So 237 Yaks Walk Into a Room...

It sort of feels like "Oscar Night" around here... OK without the red carpet, gawdy fashions, little statues, and over plasticized celebrities... but the excitement and anticipation are definitely there.  We're getting closer and closer to launching "Age of Conversation 2 - Why Don't People Get It?" and I know Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are working their tails off to make sure all 237 authors have their voices herd... er... um... heard.

Besides "yours truly" I'm surrounded by a crowd of amazing conversationalists, each putting in their 400 word essays to spur readers to excellence and to action... and all in the name of charity (no author makes a dime off of this project).  I had the honor of using the first Age of Conversation book as part of the required reading list for my students, and it served as a superb springboard for discussing issues like communication, social media, and personal branding.  I can only imagine how many ways the second book can be used.  I talked to Drew last week, and they are still targeting a late August release.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the other authors:

Here they are:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

A Friendly Chat In Pamplona

I'm just coming out of an 8-month-long coma known as teaching-full-time-while-maintaining-a-consulting-practice-and-writing-a-third-book-while-maintaining-a-relationship-with-my-family-and-friends-and-attempting-to-keep-up-my-personal-health.  Nothing serious, but now that equilibrium is being restored to the universe, I rewarded myself by reading a book.

Not just any book, but a book that has been sitting on my desk for about a year, taunting me, teasing me, just DARING me to read it.  "I don't have time" was my excuse.  Well, I owe Tim Irwin an apology.  His book, Run With The Bulls Without Getting Trampled, should have reached the top of my list sooner.  It was a refreshingly frank read with common sense values presented in a new light.  As a matter of fact, it didn't even feel like I was reading a book as much as it felt like I was chatting with a colleague at a sidewalk cafe.  Dr. Irwin is just that conversational with his approach

Dr. Irwin takes his lessons learned from running with the bulls in Pamplona to basic life events.  With great anecdotal synthesis, he weaves together some very proactive thoughts that should get any professional examining what makes him or her tick.  What struck me with this book is that he ties everything back to core values, something I wish more people would address.  Dr. Irwin doesn't preach; he challenges.  I've had many of these same discussions with my friends and clients, so reading his book was more affirming for me.  Even in the midst of my previously mentioned insanity, I recognized the lack of equilibrium in my life and knew that there was an end in sight.  Unfortunately, I know too many professionals who don't allow an end in sight.  They chase after the wrong things and don't do a course correction.

So... are you one of these people who is perpetually too busy to read "that values stuff"?  Make a date with yourself, carve out 2-3 hours at a coffee shop, and run with the bulls and with Dr. Irwin.  He'll give you a thing or two to think about (and many practical tools to help you take action on those thoughts) as you avoid being gored by the stampede of life events that can trample you the second you re-engage with the rest of the world.

Age of Conversation (x 275)

Why don't people get it?

That's a loaded question.  It's also the question that 275 bloggers will be attempting to answer in the upcoming book, Age of Conversation 2.  Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are at it again.  Their first book, Age of Conversation, pulled together 103 bloggers to talk about talking... with each other.  This book takes the conversation to a new level... with all of this talking going on, why isn't more of it sinking in?

So here's a nod to my fellow authors in the Age of Conversation 2:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Quite the list, isn't it?  I can only imagine what these minds will create.  Should be an awesome book.

SWAT This!!!

I've been playing with the concept for the better part of three years.  I've been living the concept throughout most of my consulting career, with successful engagements at multiple clients.  I've been researching the plot and characters for about the last 18 months.  The active writing started around eight months ago.  As my new year's resolution, I set February 6 at my target date for completing the first manuscript.

Last night (February 6) at 11:02 PM, I typed the last word of the Epilogue of SWAT (Systems Working All Together) into my laptop.  Of course, that was just the first draft.  Now I have months of editing, reviewing, revising, critiquing, second-guessing, buzz-building, marketing, speaking, and blogging about my next book before its release early next year.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy this one milestone.  Because it's a big one.  I remember when I reached it with Race Through The Forest, and I recall the feeling when GUST's final word was typed.

I really have to thank the Suburban Emergency Response Team (SERT), especially the guys from Urbandale and West Des Moines.  Their input into the world of SWAT operations and their encouragement have meant the world to me.

It feels great to be this far.  It feels better to know I've had wonderful people behind me the whole way.

Carpe Factum!

Jibber Jobber Likes GUST

Special thanks to Jason Alba over at Jibber-Jobber for his great review of GUST the other day.  While the "uneasiness" Jason felt while reading the book was not an intended side effect, I am glad he felt the pain of the characters in the book so vividly.  (Jason, I took the worst of my cubicle-dwelling years to create those people... they really do exist.)  In his words, here's how he described his initial impressions:

My first impression as I’m reading this book is “man, this office setting is so draining that there is no way I would work here!” But then I remembered how long I stayed at my draining job. No matter how bad things got (and they got bad), I always thought they would get better.  I think a lot of people put up with bad jobs for a variety of reasons - fear of the job search, is the grass really greener on the other side (pretty sad thought, if all jobs suck as bad as “this one”), worried about tarnishing resume, worried about not returning any loyalty that you felt from your company (training, transfer, etc.), worried about letting your boss or coworkers down (either because you respect them or because of peer pressure), concern about a bad employment market (will I be able to land again), etc.

But he doesn't leave his readers hanging for long as he wraps up the review with some very complimentary accolades:

Timothy L. Johnson does a great job of making my stomach churn, while giving me tool after tool, technique after technique, and arming me to prepare with office politics.

Thanks, Jason, for the awesome review.  While Andy Sernovitz didn't write a review, he was kind enough to send me an email the other day with a "well done" on the book... always appreciated from a talented guy like him.

Check out both Jason's and Andy's blogs.  These are two guys who can help you further your career and seize your accomplishments.

A Lawyer In My Pocket

Brett Trout has done it again.  Less than a year ago, I reviewed his prior book and now he has cranked out another useful reference... this time it is Cyber Law:  A Legal Arsenal For Online Business.

Why should you care about a resource on Cyber Law?  Well, let's put it this way... how many of your projects have some on-line component... a web-page, a blog, email interfaces?  Oh... say... ALL of them?  (Unless you're living back in the 20th Century and doing everything paper-based.)

This is not a sit-down and read cover-to-cover book, although you could if you wanted to.  This is intended as a reference guide.  As I mentioned before, Brett is a "real person's attorney" - gone is the legal jargon that baffles the rest of us; in its place is easy-to-understand terminology and examples.  His book is logically organized with useful appendices and an easy-to-find index at the back.

In the first chapter, Brett makes the compelling case for why you should care about the internet's impact:

Change is, of course, the most important factor to consider when analyzing the Internet.  The resources you accessed last week may not be available today.  New resources will develop tomorrow, supplanting resources you considered earlier.

Brett seamlessly covers things like blogs, social media, and intellectual property laws (darn those copyrights!).  He also covers that pesky topic that no blogger likes to think about:  balancing freedom of speech with responsibility and accountability for one's actions and words.  With nods to topics like email privacy in the workplace and online scams, this book serves as a complete 360 for the novice to today's legal internet environment.

So before the words "legal action" come out of your mouth or somebody else's, be proactive and buy Brett's book.  It may save your tail.

I've Been Booked

When a former professor and a current student both tag me with the same meme, then I know that it's time I answer their questions or risk wrath.

The Protocol: Answer 5 questions. Tag 5 booklovers.
The Questions:
1) How many books do you own?
2) What was the last book you read?
3) What was the last book you purchased?
4) What five books are most meaningful to you?
5) What is your most obscure favorite book? Or, favorite most obscure book?

So, here are my answers:

1) Around 300-400... I've seriously lost count and they are spread over a wide variety of locations.

2) Outside of re-reading what was required for class this semester, Remarkable Leadership by Kevin Eikenberry

3) The Joy of Digital Photography by Jeff Wignall (I think I want to be a photographer when I grow up)

4) The Bible; The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey; Radical Leap by Steve Farber; The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp; My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (note, these were the most influential and meaningful to me to read... obviously writing two books of my own has had significant meaning to me personally).

5) Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

And whom am I tagging?  Bob McIlree, Erika Andersen, Franke James, Derrick Sorles, and Claire Celsi.

Poetry and Prosen

I remember the goosebumps I got when I heard JK Rowling read the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the night of its release.  It was similar to the feeling I got when I watched a live performance of Movin' Out after reading Twyla Tharp's Book, The Creative Habit.  There's just something magical when you can connect the author to their creation.  It becomes real.  They become real.  Sometimes the event becomes a little surreal, and you have to pinch yourself to make sure you didn't dream it all.

Such was the case yesterday.  Bob Prosen, author of the highly acclaimed book, Kiss Theory Good Bye, was in town yesterday.  His publicist had sent me his book this past spring with a request that I write a book review on it.  I read the book months ago, and actually did one better than wrote a review... I made it required reading for my students in my Drake MBA leadership class.  Then something truly amazing happened:  Phil Gerbyshak (who, of course, knows everybody) introduced me to Bob.  During one of our conversations, it was revealed that Bob would be in Des Moines... on the very day I had scheduled in the syllabus for my leadership classes to be discussing his book.  The "university gods" don't smile on a professor that often, so we made arrangements for Bob to be present in my class last night to share his insights with my students.  Even better than that, I was able to watch Bob in action Wednesday morning, as he single-handedly "tackled" about a dozen CEOs, providing them with tools to achieve results-based performance.  Later after class, Bob and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner at the Drake Diner (a Des Moines institution), where our waitress, Molly, matched her sales prowess against Bob's abilities (I'm still not sure who came out on top).  All in all, it was a great day.

Now, about Bob's book.  It really wouldn't be fair for me to review it, because you already know enough that I would not assign it to my students if I were not wowed by it.  Hence, I'll let some of their comments speak for the value of the book.  (Disclaimer:  my students know that they have license to disagree with me and that they do not have to speak favorably about the book.  There were a few dissenters, but they were very rare.  Most of the criticism actually centered around the core value of Bob's book:  He has packaged "common sense" very well... what makes this book valuable is that he demonstrates that the sense isn't all that common.)  So, here are my students' comments about Kiss Theory Good Bye:

• "Packs quite a lot of advice into the last five chapters... I like the fact that he repeatedly makes reference to the ideas he poses in the book being common sense but asks if they are common practice."
• "I really identified with the accountability aspect of this book."
• "Kiss Theory Good Bye is one of those books that I kept getting the sense I had already read.  It must have been Prosen's consistent flow throughout the book.... This stuff makes perfect sense.... The daily check list went up in my work cube one day after reading the book."
• "I can picture myself looking back at this book many years from now and using it as a leadership guide."
• "Kiss Theory Good Bye was a great read full of insight on how to get extraordinary results.  The characteristics of ... superior leadership, sales effectiveness, operational excellence, financial managment, and customer loyalty... I will definitely use now at my current position and when I run my own business."

My students have very strong "crap filters" and they bombarded Bob with tough, honest, pressing questions for the better part of an hour last night.  As they left, many genuinely expressed their gratitude to Bob for coming to class.  If your organization is seeing more excuses than execution, more whining than winning, more "get over it" than "git'r done" then you should invest in Prosen's book.  If nothing else, you'll know that the man behind the book is also the real thing.

Kevin Eikenberry Has Some Problems

Kevin Eikenberry has poor timing.

And he cuts in line.

And, oh yeah, he makes you think.

This may sound like a really odd way to start a book review, especially a very positive one.  I received Kevin's book, Remarkable Leadership - Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill At a Time, late last week.  I wish he'd been a little earlier.  I would have changed my reading list for the new leadership class I'm teaching this fall (hence, the poor timing).

He's also going to annoy some other authors and publicists whose books have been waiting in my queue for a review... some for weeks or months... because somehow his book floated to the very top of the list.  It's all his fault for writing something so darn useful and interesting.  I picked it up just to thumb through it and couldn't put it back down (ergo, the cutting in line comment).

Writing about leadership... and doing it really, really well... is truly where art collides with science.  We talk a lot in my MBA classes about what it takes to make a great leader.  Kevin does more than talk about it.  He demonstrates it.  The pages of his book just leap with relevant anecdotes (both personal and third person).  Rather than simply recapping some key points at the end of each chapter, Kevin wedges in application throughout the book by giving his readers "Now Steps" (i.e. "Here's what you can do right now to...") and "Remarkable Principles."  He sends his readers elsewhere for even more resources that wouldn't fit into the book with his "Bonus Bytes" and "Remarkable Resources."

But where I was truly impressed is that Kevin created a succinct yet complete 360 degree review of the topic.  He meets readers where they are on the concept of leadership... fears... myths... concerns... misconceptions (including the "I don't have time for this stuff - I have a job to do" complaint) and he guides them through almost every topic imaginable:

• Continual learning
• Championing change
• Devloping others
• Innovative thinking and acting
• Problem solving
• Project management (wow... does he win my heart on this chapter)

...among other issues like communication, adding value, customer focus, accountability and responsibility.  Kevin and I exchanged a few emails prior to his book arriving, and he struck me as very genuine, humble, and passionate just through the tone of those few brief communications.  Reading his book reinforced that.  He's not preachy; he's conversational.  You can read with a certainty that the same words, the same ideas, and the same stories would be coming out of his mouth if he were sitting across from you.  He's very clearly a systems thinker, with a strong sense of cause-and-effect.

The emphasis of his book really is about setting the reader apart as a remarkable leader.  If you don't want to reach for being the best leader (or the best human) possible, don't bother with this book.  Kevin has woven a masterful synthesis within these covers that will leave you with a burning challenge at the pit of your gut.  Yeah, he's too late to make it into my fall reading list for my students, but you can bet I'll be referencing his book a lot throughout the semester.

Speaking of being remarkable, Kevin wants his book to unseat Harry Potter's domination of the literary genre.  Now that's what I call a great goal (and I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan, too).

P.S.  You know that I like to read multiple books simultaneously or in close proximity.  I'd recommend completing the self assessment in Tom Rath's Strengths Finder 2.0 prior to diving into Kevin's book.  I think you'll find it a very enriching experience to do so, as having a strong sense of your existing strengths will heighten the context of leadership tremendously.

Shelf Esteem

Because a lot of you have emailed and asked, I thought I'd share just a few notes today about how GUST - The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics has been doing.

There have been some wonderful and very flattering blog reviews in the past few days by some highly esteemed professionals:

• Tom Haskins at Growing Changing Learning Creating
• Liz Strauss writing for the Blog Herald
• Scot Herrick over at Cube Rules

All three gave their own personal takes on the book and all three gave it a rousing thumbs up, for which I am grateful and honored.  Thanks to each of you!

I have been invited to my next book signing on Friday, July 6, at Beaverdale Books from 6-8 PM as they celebrate their first anniversary in business with a wine and cheese event.  Even if you don't come out to buy a copy of GUST, come out to tell Alice "Congratulations!" on her first year of business.  Starting a bookstore isn't easy, and she has found a wonderful market in the Beaverdale area and is flourishing.

As if all of this isn't exciting enough, Borders in Des Moines has sold out of GUST not once, but twice.  We are starting talks about taking it to other Borders stores outside of the Des Moines area.  Stay tuned for more news about that.

I've been overwhelmed by all of the wonderful feedback I've received from people who have read the book and found it a valuable resource in helping them deal with their office politics situations or have purchased it for or recommended it to a friend who is experiencing office politics challenges.

Thanks for helping to make it a success.

Turn The Page!

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."  -Groucho Marx.

That's one of my favorite quotes of all time.  I have a dog, and I have books.  If my dog is curled up napping on my stomach while I'm reading a book, I'm in heaven.  Summer is my favorite time to get caught up on reading.  The pace slows down, and the stack of books that beckons throughout the frantic pace of fall-winter-spring is finally given the attention it so rightly deserves.  Besides a couple of enjoyable novels, I tend to pick a "theme" for my professional reading list each summer.  Last summer, I indulged in books about story-telling because I wanted to become a better story-teller.  We all tell stories, whether we know it or not.  Every time we lead a PowerPoint presentation (if we're doing it right), we're telling a story.

This year, the chosen theme is workplace civility and organizational culture.  Having just released a book on office politics, it seemed only fitting.  Another thing about me that you should know is that I never just read one book at a time.  I like to read concurrently two or three books which complement each other.  Then I play off the authors' words in my mind, as if they were in the room with me having a conversation.  My first two books for this summer's list are two sides of the same coin:

The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton, PhD

The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

Wow!  If the three of them ever went on a speaking circuit together, I could only imagine the number of workplaces and lives they could transform.  The basic premise of both of their books is the same:  "Mean people suck, so why not be genuinely nice?"  (Notice the adverb I added; I've not forgotten my earlier post on the subject.)  Both books do a wonderful job of mixing personal anecdotal evidence with scientific studies, with a healthy side of stories of media stars to support their approaches.

There were some recurring themes that permeated both books that deserve highlighting:

• Power is not a dictator of treatment.  Dr. Sutton uses power in his definition of assholes, stating that to qualify as one, the "alleged asshole aims his or her venom at people who are less powerful."  Ms. Kaplan Thaler and Ms. Koval share, among six principles of being nice, that #2 is "you never know."  Those who are less powerful today may be more powerful tomorrow.  Given the flattening of power and rank by social media, that holds especially true in this day and age.  I like Liz Strauss's only rule on her Tuesday open mic nights:  Be nice.  It doesn't matter how popular your blog is; in her eyes, we're all equals.
• Cooperation beats competition any day.  Both books mention the prisoners' dilemma, which states that over the long haul, it always pays to cooperate with your fellow prisoners than to cheat on them and rat them out.  It's certainly been true of the blogosphere.  Where Technorati makes it very hard not to pay attention to your "authority" and your "rank" among the tens of millions of blogs out there, almost all of the bloggers I've met have been warm, caring, and helpful people.  It's almost overwhelming how much bloggers help each other.  I feel like I've been blessed by dozens of "fairy god-bloggers" looking over my shoulder to grant my wish, and I feel privileged to return the favor to them whenever they ask and however I'm able.
• "Asshole" and "Nice" are both contageous.  Acts of kindness and acts of cruelty both seem to perpetuate throughout an organization.  A smile or nice note or hug can make somebody's day, giving them to energy to share that kindness with others.  An insult, being flipped off in traffic, or a flaming email drains energy and makes people more prone to treat others poorly.
• We're all still human.  All three of them do a wonderful job of sharing their personal triumphs and pitfalls on their continuum journey.  It's something I work on as well, as I'm sure you do.

There are many other gems and nuggets resting in the pages of both books, and I'll let you discover them for yourself.  Each book stands alone in its merits and either one is a good investment of your time; however, reading these two books TOGETHER is a great experience I would recommend to anyone.  And to be genuinely nice by sharing some link love, I need to thank Bob McIlree for recommending Sutton's book to me, and I give a nod to Franke James for indirectly introducing me to Linda Kaplan Thaler.

Last Call

Just a quick reminder... the Brit Lit Wit contest ends in about an hour.  If any of you night owls want to compete against the creatively talented EM Sky, Mike Sansone, or Tom Haskins... here's your chance.

Brit Lit Wit

Before my first book, Race Through The Forest, was published last year, a colleague gave me a good-natured ribbing by telling me that I would not be considered a real author until I had been panned by some snooty British critic.  Well, I guess I've become a real author.

John Naish of the UK-based "newspaper" The Times wrote a rather scathing (albeit highly amusing) review of GUST - The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics.  What makes it amusing is that his only premise of criticism is the animal comparisons that I make (snake, ostrich, bear), which altogether comprise less than 5% of the content of the book.  While I would never come right out and accuse Mr. Naish or The Times of lacking the journalistic integrity it takes to read a book before reviewing it (my wife's high school students know better than that, so I'm assuming a so-called journalist would as well), he certainly leaves open the perception that he merely Googled the Register article and thought he could turn around a quick writing assignment without much effort.

But enough of his writing and researching skills, I really enjoyed his snarky ramblings about using animals to prove a point.  I'm sure he'll be picking on George Orwell or Beatrix Potter next.  Imagine their nerve, using whole entire animal farms and cute little bunny rabbits to drive home the moral of the story.  As Mr. Naish deftly points out:

It’s a shame he stops at three. How about the corporate flatfish? They’re usually beige, floundering, with eyes extremely close together. It’s easy to walk on them without even knowing. Or the workplace llama. Cute-looking, apparently harmless and very woolly, they are equipped with three sets of fighting teeth designed to rip off rivals’ genitals when things get rough.

And what of the office gazebo? Oh. Sorry, that’s a different management-book concept entirely: is your boss a well-known garden structure archetype?

Besides the animal critique, there was one other sentence in his short review which I found most entertaining of all:

Rivalry is always intense for the accolade of worst-named business book of the year, but I know which one my money’s on.

So here is where I want your input, my fun-loving readers.  I have two contests in which I would like your participation:

1. Besides animals and garden structure archetypes, what analogy would you have used to help people understand office politics?
2. What would you have named a business fable about office politics?

The person who can come up with the most ludicrous, most outlandish alternative idea that I could have used for my book that would have really set Mr. Naish on edge wins a free autographed copy.  One winner for each category.  Entries are due next Monday, June 4 at 11:59 PM CDT.  Mr. Naish can even play, too, if he wants.  But he's already done enough; thanks to him, I'm now a "real author."

P.S.  I did leave him a comment on the article already, thanking him for the publicity and inviting him to call me for an interview once he's had a chance to read the book.

Full Court Press

Bonnie Harris of The Des Moines Register wrote a great article about GUST - The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics.  Thanks for the kind words, Bonnnie.  You can read it here, or (if you're local) pick up a copy.

Favor for Farber

As many of you know, Steve Farber is one of my all time favorite business authors.  If you've read either of his first two books, Radical Leap or Radical Edge, it is not hard to see why.

Steve is working on his third book, and he has asked for input on the outline he has posted on his blog.  Follow the link to read what he has out there.  While it is not necessary to have read his first two books to understand the goals and premise of the third, it is helpful.

For those of you who are fans of Steve's writing and his leadership philosophy, this is an awesome investment of your time, and it's an opportunity to become "greater than yourself."

GUST Has Guts

A couple of updates:

• FINALLY, Amazon has GUST in stock.  For those waiting for the 4-6 week back order to go away, Amazon is finally deciding to "play nice."  Now go order your copy.
• The book signing today was a blast.  It was great to see so many friends and acquaintances show up.  Selling a few books didn't hurt either.  Thanks to those of you who dropped by or emailed your encouragement.  And John at the The Book Store is a great guy!

Have a great weekend - some really exciting stuff happening next week (but I can't tell you what just yet)!!

The Insanity Which Is Amazon

For those who have emailed and asked about Amazon's constant message about GUST's being backlogged 4-6 weeks, do not fear.  There is a huge shipment headed their way, which should arrive today or tomorrow.  So feel free to order books... they will be getting there quickly.

To put things in context, Amazon will not accept shipments of books unless they have requested them (i.e., there is a packing slip requesting the exact amount of books).  And... for whatever reason, they were not sending those messages requesting books to my publisher.  So finally... after a lot of back-and-forth... we were able to get them to put in an order for enough books to cover those people who were obviously ordering books and being forced to wait on them.

For those of you out there in my readership who have suppliers, keep this in mind.  Your suppliers are also your customers.  They have products that they want you to buy and, in turn, sell to your customers.  Are your systems and infrastructure in place to help them?

NOTE:  I realize that in Amazon's eyes, my books are "small potatoes."  However, in talking to other authors, it sounds like Amazon has the same customer service mindset as Henry Ford did when he told customers that "They can have any color of Model T they want as long as it's black."  In this day and age where the market players can change quickly, I hope Amazon takes note that when the competition does arise... well, you can figure out the rest.

Do You Feel Lucky?

It's Friday the 13th...  Do you feel lucky?  If you are the "victim" of office politics, I would guess that your answer is "no, not really."  Do you want to make this your lucky day?  GUST - The "Tale" Wind of Office Politics is now available for sale.  In it, you will learn:

• Three key things people manipulate and fight over in organizations
• Three kinds of politicians, and how to handle each
• Six core motivations of political behavior
• Uses (and misuses) of influence in an organization
• Importance of strategizing an appropriate response to YOUR political situation
• Considerations of timing, passion, and support into your political actions
• Executives' roles in influencing (and correcting) office politics
• Assessments for determining how political your organization really is

Invest one hour in an entertaining story and you could be the luckiest person in your office by Monday.  Have a great weekend.

NOTE:  In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the image of "Dirty Harry" sporting his gun seemed in poor taste for this post, so I opted for a black cat.  If I've offended cat lovers, well... you'll just have to deal with it.

Oh What A Tangled Web

On the eve of my own book's release, it seems only fitting to "share the love" and review another book.  It's long overdue, and I thank the author for his patience.  Normally, I shy away from technical books, but this one actually held my interest from cover to cover.  It's called Internet Laws Affecting Your Company by Brett Trout, a Des Moines patent attorney.

With so many of our projects dealing with the internet or having some kind of web interface or impact, it's great that somebody took the time to distill the LEGAL aspects of e-commerce into a USABLE guide.  I highly recommend this book for any project team that has any web component to their project.  From email usage to copyright laws, from freedom of speech to ADA impacts, Brett covers it all.  And he masterfully does it without coming down heavily on the side of legal speak or techie-talk.

The best part about this book is it's structure.  Every topic is easy to locate.  The reader can handle it all in one sitting (budget a couple of hours) or can dice it up into whatever is relevant.  There is a comprehensive glossary and index in the back, as well as many other useful appendices.

This is relevant stuff, if your project entails any kind of web activity (and let's face it, what project doesn't have something to do with the internet these days?) then you should have your technical and legal subject matter experts reading this book.

Plus, I've met Brett... he's a no-nonsense kind of guy... an attorney who has some heart and passion about him.  He knows his stuff... and he's willing to share it with you.