"I love this book! It is cheerful and has a great message. The advice the author shares is common-sense advice that we all know we should be following, but often we get off-track and too negative. Each chapter is short and to-the-point, with lots of cartoon illustrations. I have underlined almost the entire book, because each page offers more great advice."

-Ellen

"I have just finished reading a copy of this book, and to sum everything up I can simply say that it gives me new insights and wisdom into various aspects of my life. In a few simple and effective sentences, Mr. Mathews sums up the various lessons we need to know in life. He brings in case studies that are easily understood, and the book is generously illustrated with cartoons. Overall, I can simply and safely say that this book is of the highest caliber, with important life-lessons all should learn. Its concepts are effective without making it boring and monotonous. An asset to the existing treasure trove of self-improvement books."
 

-Yi-Peng

"Wildly successful hoops coach Rick Pitino takes a time-out from the rigors of the NBA to outline his approach and techniques for motivating individuals. The paperback edition contains an all-new foreword written since Pitino's departure from the Kentucky Wildcats and the 1997 national championship season. His plan for excellence in all aspects of life, including sports and business, is more than goal achievement; this is the guidebook for goal overachievement! Pitino presents 10 crucial steps for success, drawing examples from his 20-plus years in the basketball trenches to inspire readers."

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges."

"Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. The message of Who Moved My Cheese? is that all can come to see it as a blessing, if they understand the nature of cheese and the role it plays in their lives. Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable that takes place in a maze. Four beings live in that maze: Sniff and Scurry are mice--nonanalytical and nonjudgmental, they just want cheese and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Hem and Haw are "littlepeople," mouse-size humans who have an entirely different relationship with cheese. It's not just sustenance to them; it's their self-image. Their lives and belief systems are built around the cheese they've found. Most of us reading the story will see the cheese as something related to our livelihoods--our jobs, our career paths, the industries we work in--although it can stand for anything, from health to relationships. The point of the story is that we have to be alert to changes in the cheese, and be prepared to go running off in search of new sources of cheese when the cheese we have runs out."

"This book contains some of the best advice I have come across. It is very down to earth, has a simple style - but that's Dave's way! As straightforward as the writing, the homespun wisdom and advice is not trendy, it is the type that will hold true in 50 years or 50 years in the past. However, it is NOT common knowledge and I learned many valuable lessons.

Read it if you are a CEO or a kitchen manager in a fast food restaraunt - either way you will have more insight into life in general."

-M. Graham

It's a story about entrepreneur, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns. Sam Walton. Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who turned a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, Sam Walton tells his extraordinary story in his won inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure of his ambitious and achievements, Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style. In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream."

To longtime sales and customer-service pro Jeffrey Gitomer, boasting about a near-perfect customer-satisfaction rating of 97.5 percent is a major mistake. "That means 2.5 percent of your customers are mad and they're telling everyone. And 97.5 percent of your customers will shop anyplace the next time they go to market for your product or service." Based on a philosophy that's been developed through his syndicated business columns and the more than 150 seminars that he gives each year to companies such as Radisson, Sony, NationsBank, and Time Warner Cable, the book outlines his formula for making customers so faithful they "will fight before they switch--and they will proactively refer people to buy from you." Regularly employing oversized type in screaming bold fonts to grab the reader's attention, Gitomer breathlessly recounts his start-to-finish approach to becoming "memorable" to consumers along with illustrative tales of his own encounters with particularly egregious examples of poor service. All of this is bolstered by an ongoing sampling of his inspirational quips and a variety of self-evaluating quizzes designed to pinpoint individual strengths and weaknesses. Take a deep breath, read it straight through, and prepare to delight thy customer!

Finally, managers are catching on to something employees already know: What really motivates a person to perform are those thoughtful, unexpected gestures that signify real appreciation. This chock-full guide to rewards of every conceivable type for every conceivable situation, written by management specialist Bob Nelson, offers over a thousand innovative ideas beyond the expected raise and/or promotion. Illustrations throughout.