Peter Block read my mind, articulated my dream, and has captured the essence of my new consulting business, Revolution Consulting. I was profoundly moved to read that someone has so clearly articulated the things I struggle with every day in promoting a new order in business. The distinction between traditional or even new-age leadership and the possibilities that stewardship creates was crystal clear and brilliantly articulated. This book was an inspiration to someone that has taken up the cause in the real world. It will be an on-going source of inspiration and support.

Business consultant Peter Block is no stranger to controversy. A number of his previous works explored the reaches of transformational management, including his bestselling book The Empowered Manager. In an even bolder way, Stewardship - Choosing Service over Self-Interest offers a dynamic new organizational structure for our young century. Block defines stewardship as "the means of achieving fundamental change in the way we govern our institutions." He believes that stewardship is a choice "to preside over the orderly distribution of power." This means giving individuals at the bottom of the organizational structure the choice on how to best serve their customers, citizens and community". It also means accepting accountability at all levels. Block continues to define stewardship as being accountable to the larger organization by "operating in service, rather than in control, of those around us." His philosophy is centered on a need and commitment to service rather than self-interest.

Peter Block challenges the modern notion of strong leadership and suggests replacing the term with stewardship. His problem with leadership is that he does not believe it has the capability to create fundamental changes in our organizations. He also believes that leadership "inevitably becomes self-congratulatory and over-controlling. We expect leaders to choose service over self-interest, but it seems the choice is rarely made." Perhaps Block would have better made his point by discussing the various philosophies that pass as leadership rather than neatly collecting them all in one term. Indeed, leadership is often a vague and misunderstood term.

Stewardship - Choosing Service over Self-Interest is a book with three parts. The first part discusses the basic concept of stewardship. It highlights the promises offered by developing a passion toward stewardship in contrast to what we experience in traditionally managed organizations. The second part of the book discusses the redistribution of power in a practical way. This controversial section of the book butchers many managerial "sacred cows" and offers a vision of what stewardship can be like in action! Part three examines the reform process and explores how you and your organization can get from where it is today to an environment of stewardship.

If you are one who is not satisfied with the status quo, you will find this book exciting and refreshing. Sometimes written in almost theological terms, Block inspires the reader to expect more from our institutions and ourselves. This book should find itself on the bookshelf of every person interested in the study of leadership.

Peter Block has taken the principles and Edward Demming and put them into a usable methodology that will not only help any business owner focus on the essentials necessary for success but will also inspire members of the team at all levels. Block, who has written two other books on management, focuses on the prime issue for a success business: that those who are doing are the one's who should be making the decision on how to serve the customer. He writes that the old way of doing business, that of patriarchy, can never succeed in today's world that demands business be able to move with the customer at a moment's notice. The books is insightful about how to go about implementing a pardign change in a business and in your way of thinking about how business is being conducted. Block speaks of bottom up management, where the key to success as a mnanager is not to be in control, yet still be responsible. It is a life-changing typoe of book for any manager who can see that this is a style of management which will set free the entire work force to become successful stewards of your business.

I needed to get my resume straightened out for applying for jobs as a science educator at a college level or as a disability/deaf rights activist, or maybe going back into Neuroscience which my MS from med school is in. I found this book was okay for people with high school, work experience, and a first degree from college, but not for someone like me who has 3 degrees and numerous experience in speaking to groups and writing for a variety of mediums. This resume definitely is not for those who need to write something closer to a curriculum vitae, but is adequate for everyone else. Needless to say I was somewhat disappointed because it came highly recommended. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

I found this book very helpful. I am director of sales, and found a good balance of examples and tips. Most of the resumes are geared toward business professionals, with an emphasis on how to develop your resume with the hiring company in mind. This is important in our industry from a sales perspective, and they teach you the same approach in presenting yourself to the customer, meaning the hiring manager/company.

I found this book to be very helpful, and include more variety than others on the market. The online section was good - brief and to the point. I think this is a book for the future on getting your foot in the door.

I bought this book based on the reivews in this site, and it is a really good one. The resumes have a wide variety of examples and are very high-powered/professional. But to my surpirse, there are 200 quick and lean job search tips in the back, and they're great. They helped out on interviewing, writing resumes and letters, working with headhunters and interviewing. This is a great value if you need a job search book.

I found this book to be very useful in helping me develop my resume. They have a lot of good examples and focus on matching the accomplishments of the job searcher with the needs of the employer. It's really strong. The job search tips were very value-added as well. It's worth the money.

This book is very good for several reasons: It gives the best variety of resumes (the best from the Professional Association of Resume Writers, over 1000 members), just enough how-to without overkill and 200 tips bulleted off in the back that are very information rich (see back cover copy). The resumes focus on positioning the candidate's skills and matching them to the employer needs. The book also includes sample cover letters that are more action-oriented than the typical ones I saw in other books. I found several resumes that I could emulate and use, particularly those on pages 56 and 118.

Coupled with a person that has a life of aviation much like my own, Nelson Demille has pleased me with another book again! Thomas Block, the second author to Mayday, grew up around aviation. He started to fly airplanes when he was fourteen years old. At age seventeen he obtained his pilot's license and later joined the Air Force. The book Mayday is a book that I bought on my way to Dallas. I was waiting in the airport terminal and I wanted something to read. After browsing through magazine rack, this book caught my eye. Knowing that Nelson Demille writes about airplane and army related issues and predicaments and reading books of his before, I had to give this one a try.
The Straton, a large Trans united passenger jumbo jet, is flying just above Hawaii when it is struck by a drone missile. At sixty thousand feet above the earth this is a problem. Afflicting oxygen deprivation to most of the passengers and all of the flight crew, only a few lucky passengers are now faced with landing this airplane. This is a very suspenseful type of situation. Put yourself there, not knowing what any of the hundreds of flashing buttons and switches are meant to do while you are landing and flying this large aluminum bird. Now, the United States Army is wanting to just brush this asinine situation under the rug. How are they going to do that?. Things gone wrong thousands of feet off the ground tend to attracted attention.
If you like this book, or the writing style of Nelson Demille, you will definitely like the book CHARM SCHOOL. It follows a very different plot and has a bit of different pace as well. None the less, it is another master piece by one of my favorite authors.

This was a very good read in the typical "movie for your mind" style of DeMille. It had a solid plot, and didn't stray from it. The crippling of this airliner has major effects on the lives of several characters in this book, and DeMille does a wonderful job of getting into the different mindsets of each of those characters.

The dialogue is flawless and the plot is very solid. I thought the characters could have been a little more detailed. It is still a very good read, and I'd recommend it to anyone that likes a fast paced action/adventure book. It's one that leaves you wondering how the protagonist is going to get out of this situation.

The only reason I gave it a 4 is because, as a huge DeMille fan, I didn't think it was a good (detailed) as his later works. The aviation expertise that Block added to the book are a huge plus though.

Enjoy this one, then read Plum Island, The Lion's Game, and Cathedral.

I was coerced into buying this book because of an interest in flying and action/adventure novels. But once I started reading it I didn't remember why I needed coersion. It simply a terrific read from begginning to end. I thought that it would be similar to books like Arthur Hailey's 'Airport' which I had read years ago and quite enjoyed but I wondered how DeMille was going to do anything new with the genre. Although a big fan of the 'X-Files' and the like I was just about "conspiracied" out. But DeMille makes the missile tragedy and cover-up very believable. The attention to detail (as he acknowledged, Thomas Block's aeronautical knowledge was vital)is excellent but he never lets the technicalities (either the problems experienced at the altitude or the militaria) bog the story down. You find yourself in the cockpit right next to John Berry with your heart pounding.

Interestingly the romantic sub plot was barely touched on and was refreshing in this age of sex/sexual tension influencing everything. Rightly, the protaganists put this to one side to concentrate on the more important issues at hand. This leads to the sexual tension being there, just in the periphery. 'Mayday' is brilliantly written and while originally published in the late 1970s, the version that I bought was updated for the 1990s (in much the same way the Stephen King updated 'The Stand') and I can honestly say it's an excellent book. I bought 'Mayday' about 3 months ago and quickly got my hands on and read 'Spencerville' and 'The General's Daughter' by DeMille (both of which are excellent) and we also now have 'Gold Coast', 'Plum Island' 'Word of Honour', 'The Talbot Odyssey' and 'By the Rivers of Babylon' in our bookcase.

For fans of the action side of the story, I can also recommend Clive Cussler, whose earlier books resemble 'Mayday', including coincidentally one called 'Mayday', although I think its American title was 'The Mediterranean Caper'.

I was very disappointed with this purchase. The only subject the letters cover is for use in getting a job. If I had known that it was strictly targeting getting a job I would have never purchased this. I was looking for a book that had a variety of letters you would find useful in the business world, not getting a job.

This book was a great investment! The cover letters give you examples to use in your own letter and show you the strengths found in each cover. I actually took a highlighter to this book and highlighted my favorite lines and ideas out of certain letters. I then implemented them into my letter. Great for everyone, the professional or the inexperienced. YOU NEED THIS BOOK!

This is the best book of its kind on the market. It's letters were varied and covered more topics than I needed, but will use in the future. Definitely worth the [money]!