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Customer Reviews
Not-So-Common Common Sense ,21/03/2007
Like all John Maxwell books, this book is full of some not-so-common common sense that will improve your relationships and leadership skills if you take the author's advice to heart. This book is simple and straightforward, making it easy to read and understand. The principles described in this book focus specifically on communicating, working with, learning from, and investing in others. What may be the most helpful aspect of the book is the series of questions Maxwell poses to at the end of each chapter to help the reader ponder and reflect where they stand on a particular attribute or skill. The ideas are not necessarily new, but they are wise. Stories and quotes from other people's lives are sprinkled throughout Maxwell's own thoughts and experiences, creating a well-rounded narrative as to how to improve yourself. The bottom line is this: No matter what we do or why we do it, life is about people, and this book will help you do whatever you do better.
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Maxwell rephrases the rules for treating people right ,24/07/2006
Author John C. Maxwell follows his solid 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork with this book, which provides 25 essential "principles" for fostering interpersonal relationships. Maxwell uses poems, quotations and stories about such varied individuals as Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Dale Carnegie, Barbara Walters, Pete Rose and Billy Martin to enliven his short chapters about the small, important steps that build better relationships. Unfortunately, the book seems slightly forced, stretching its theme to cover overlapping and somewhat arbitrary principles. Still, its broadly based, motivational stories make it spiritually uplifting. While this entry is not as compelling as Maxwell's work on leadership, we believe it will be very useful to those who want to build stronger friendships and aren't sure how to start.
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If Bob is being ganged up on the problem is with Bob? No. Not nice. ,08/08/2007
There were some wonderful passages in this book. I took special note of his passage on how to forgive. But the first chapter has been soundly disproved by loads of research in criminology. Immature people gang up on people, for no good reason except for that they can get away with it, studies have proved. If everyone has a problem with Bob, we don't blame Bob. That's called victim victimization.
Immature people will try to win over even the enemies of their spouses and children - just to power over them and say, "Look at me! I get along with people better than you." It is a well known characteristic of immaturity that has made its way into all the literature on emotional abuse. Mature people don't betray their friends and family in this way.
This might work in the military where hearts are secondary to mission, but it won't work in the real world. It will, in fact, lead us to a digression in civilization.
Mature people understand boundaries violations and powering over and don't allow it to go on in their midst. Good managers know that. Any mother or teacher can tell you that when it's a bunch of people against one, nine times out of ten we have a ganging up situtaion. Only RARELY is it Bob.
This faulty premise, put in the very front of the book, hurt to read and made me distrust the rest of the book. After all, winning with people at the expense of Bob is really awful. Let's try to win with Bob.
When it comes to writing about matters of the heart, I suggest all male writers get consultation from a mature woman who has raised children, nice children.
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Deja Vu ,19/01/2008
In "Winning with People" by John C. Maxwell, the author intends to provide a reference for building and improving relationships. Doing so, according to Maxwell, requires that we first look at ourselves in order to determine if we are really ready to develop relationships. In essence, the first step to improving relationships is to realize that often our relationship problems originate within ourselves. Once we have moved beyond what is holding us back from succeeding in relationships, we can move on to developing them by investing in people with interest and trust.
There are many good ideas in this book for developing relationships. However, the ideas will seem somewhat recycled. If you have read Dale Carnegie's book on influencing people, there won't be much new for you in this book. In fact, I got a sense of deja vu from reading this book. About the only thing new is Maxwell's stories of how he dealt with relationships as a pastor, which if you are thinking of reading this book for business purposes, will not add much to what Carnegie has already said.
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A Must Read ,10/12/2007
After reading only 60 pages I felt compelled to write a glowing review of this book. I had thought How to Win Frinds and Influence People would be a book that always stood out head and shoulders from any other self help book. This book is right up there with the best. John has much information packed in the first 60 pages and I am going to stop writing and go back to this fine work.
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Should have owned this book a couple of years ago! ,13/03/2007
I just finished reading this book and I can't be thankful enough to JCM for inspiring me to change my approach on people and to myself. Even if most of them are plain common sense, JCM makes it inspiring and absorbing to the reader like me. He aims to keep reminding people to be always nice to others without expecting anything much in return. If only I read this book 2 or 3 years ago, who knows how much I've improved socially today! But just like what he said here, don't dig the past and regret them. We just need to focus on the present and start changing! Kudos to John Maxwell!
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Excellent Life Applications for All Ages ,07/09/2008
This book was given to me as a gift on audio. I also bought the hard cover in that the material was exceptional. The content is easy to read and intuitive to apply to all life circumstances. I intend to have my Middle School child also read the book. Great work.
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Great reading ,24/12/2007
Great read, simplystic and profound, I highly reccomend it!!!
I am a pastor of a church and yet even with years of experience in working with people, this book still challanged me in it's profound and simple principles, and improved my leadership ability by exposing some areas I could improve on. Since I bought this book for all my leaders to read, our church has even a healthier, happier environment than it had before, and I use to thnk it had a great environment before. I highly recommend it and plan on purchasing the rest of this author's books on leadership skill development.
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This book makes so much sense! ,24/08/2007
I always thought the "Golden Rule" was to treat others how you want to be treated, but Maxwell's interesting take was that we should treat others how "they" want to be treated. It makes sense! Awesome read and practical application.
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Simple, Practical Advice About Relationships ,22/12/2006
This is one of those simple, yet practical books about how to succeed in life by simply taking care of your relationships. The author proposes, and I agree, that when it comes down to it, relationships are what really matter. If your relationships suffer, you suffer. If your relationships are great, you won't despair life.
The book is broken down into five major sections; 1) preparing for relationships, 2) obtaining the correct focus, 3) building trust, 4) maintaining the relationship, and 5) growing together with those you have solid relationships with.
This book is very easy to read and understand (about 6 hours). Of course, as any book of this genre, the application is the tough part, but this author makes each of the lessons simple enough that it doesn't take an extraordinary amount of effort to actually apply. Even if you just follow half, or a third, you'll be much better off than where you are today.
This book is applicable for a spouse (male or female), a budding young business person, or an old codgy badger. The content here will help you more than intelligence ever will.
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A Behavior-Changing Read ,12/07/2006
This is a thought-provoking read. I must admit I had some difficulty accepting that the problem is my fault--:)--but after I got over that hump, I was wide open to receive the teachings in this book. Very practical yet eye opening--you will learn some things about yourself, and you will grow and be better for it.
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