$16.95
Customize It
Hardcover
181 pages
ISBN 9780793185689 Published April 2004
Dearborn Trade
See all formats
Tweet
Posted May 19, 2009 5:03 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadership by Steve Farber, Doubleday, 170 pages, $19.95, Hardcover, March 2009, ISBN 9780385522618
Steve Farber is a master storyteller, and he uses this skill to teach us about business through his well-crafted tales. It's not uncommon these days to see business novels, fables or allegories, but what sets Farber's books apart from the rest are the vibrant characters he creates. I gravitated to a character named Edg in Farber's outstanding Radical Leap; you'll be just as drawn to Big Jeff, Plumeria Maple and Sucky Chucky (a high school nickname) in this new book, Greater Than Yourself.
Greater Than Yourself (GTY) is a simple idea, as many of the best ideas are. If we focus on helping people to become greater than ourselves, Farber teaches, we all receive rewards. The three core principles of GTY are: Expand Yourself, Give Yourself, and Replicate Yourself. These three seemingly simple concepts help lead us toward a reexamination of our relationships which, in turn, maximizes our own potential. Since stepping down as president of our company, I have taken on the title of Chief Mentor. This isn't just some title to have on my business cards. Instead, it reflects my philosophy that it is now my job to share what I've learned about the business of business books over the past 25 years. So I was particularly drawn to Give Yourself, which is about "philanthropizing" your life, creating and giving to a GTY project and investing in that relationship.
In Greater Than Yourself, Steve Farber (he is his own main character) buys a used guitar and, finding a charming note in the guitar case, he embarks on a journey to find the original owner of the guitar. Along the way, he learns about GTY through a chorus of interesting characters. For example, the author of the note is a woman named Cat, and she is a brilliant, well-respected leader of a fast-growing company—and also a heck of a guitar player in her spare time. She explains to Steve that:
GTY is really just a form of very personal, one-on-one philanthropy. It comes from the same deep impulse, except that you don't have to be rich to undertake it ... The rest of us can give our talents, time, knowledge, contacts—whatever resources we have—to other worthy people in our lives at work and at home.
As you take this GTY journey with Steve, you too will learn the value of being Greater Than Yourself. Greater Than Yourself is one of my favorite books of this year: it is about a subject I strongly believe in and the presentation is perfect. As you take this GTY journey with Steve, you too will learn the value of being Greater Than Yourself.
Jack Covert Selects--Orbiting the Giant Hairball
Posted June 29, 2005 5:45 a.m. by jack
Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fools Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie, Viking, 223 Pages, $22.00 Hardcover, April 1998, ISBN 0670879835
A couple of months ago, I reviewed a book published in 2004 called The Radical Leap by Steve Farber. I now venture back even further to 1998 to highlight a book the previous century. It was almost ten years ago that I saw the original version of Orbiting the Giant Hairball. It was self published in a time when self-published books carried an odor not unlike two-day old fish. The book was about as creatively designed as could be imagined fold out pages, different paper stocks, multiple colors. It was stunning, but I really didnt give it much credence. Penguin subsequently bought the rights and published it in 1998. As you might expect, they toned back some of the really outlandish design elements, but luckily, the content of the book remained intact.
The following year, a colleague told me the book was a must read, so I finally took the time to give it a good look. I couldnt put it down! In the world of storytelling, nobody is better than Gordon MacKenzie, who worked at Hallmark for thirty years. The book tells the story of his career. Saying that, however, is like saying that Bob Dylan is a folksinger. This book is so much more than just "my days at Hallmark."
For example, the title comes from the fact that, and I'm paraphrasing the author here, a hairball is the strands that make up an organization--procedures, policies, politics, profits and creativity, all based on what worked in the past but now manages to mire an organization in mediocrity.
Orbiting is responsible creativity: vigorously exploring and operating beyond the Hairball of the corporate mindset, beyond accepted models, patterns or standardsall the while remaining connected to the spirit of the corporate mission. To merge Orbiting and corporate Hairballs is to "find a place of balance where you benefit from the physical, intellectual and philosophical resources of the organization without becoming entombed in the bureaucracy of the institution.Orbiting is following your bliss."
This is a book with parables and anecdotes about achieving balance between bureaucracy and creativity, normalcy and originality, formula and invention, selfless loyalty and cooperative individuality within an organizational environment. On a personal note, there are people that no longer walk this earth that I am sad I will never meet: W. Edwards Deming was one that I missed and I now add Gordon MacKenzie to that list; he died in October, 1999. I can just imagine how extraordinary it must have been to listen to this guy, but at least, he left us an amazing book.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MONTHLY BOOK REVIEWS, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO JACK AT 800-CEO-READ.COM.
Jack Covert Selects - The Radical Leap
Posted April 22, 2005 6:40 a.m. by jack
The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership by Steve Farber, Dearborn Trade, 183 pages, $16.95, Hardcover, April 2004, ISBN 0793185688
The Radical Leap by Steve Farber is a book that has been out since April of last year. You may find it a little odd that I would review a twelve month old book. I think it came about in a similar way to how people buy books. I remember the review copy I got and thought it had a great cover. It sat on my desk for a couple of months and then I started to see it show up on our monthly Top 25 list. In December, I met Steve in person at a Tom Peters event. When I got back from the trip, I picked up the copy, started reading, and couldn't put it down.
In this business book fable, Steve plays himself (a leadership coach) and he learns from his new friend Edg about Extreme Leadership. When you think extreme, think skiing or surfing. Part of the experience in extreme sports is taking the risk and wiping out. Steve (or Edg) says the same is the case for leadership. You have to be willing to put yourself out there to learn and get better.
Over the course of a week, Steve learns the four tenets of Extreme Leadership -- Love, Energy, Audacity, and Proof: LEAP, get it? He also has to put them into practice when he finds out his friend Janice is about to get fired from her dream job. There is a great cast of characters, an interesting plot, and a wonderful twist at the end.
Here's my favorite quote from the book:
"Relationships in the world of business...are won by paying nearly obsessive attention to the needs, desires, hopes, and aspirations of everyone who touches your business. By knowing not only when to stand firm--there is such this as tough love--but also when to sacrifice some of your own short-term needs in order for us all to be successful in the long run. And by proving through your own actions that you really love your business, your customers, your colleagues, and your employees."
Pick it up as your next airplane read. You won't be disappointed.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MONTHLY BOOK REVIEWS, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO JACK AT 800-CEO-READ.COM
