Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina not only challenge but indeed obliterate much conventional wisdom about organizational growth and individual development. Those inclined to challenge them would be well-advised to consider the basis of their assertions: "Ten million customers and over two hundred thousand managers were surveyed. More than three million employees were interviewed from 1995 through 2001. Additionally, more than two million talent-fit/role-success reviews were tallied. More than 300, 000 business units, in hundreds of organizations worldwide, took part in the study....All major industries, from fast-food chains to physicians' groups, were represented. A wide variety of job types was included, as were all kinds of customers. Industry and organizations of all sizes were integrated....Employees from different types of organizations were measured in terms of their talent, engagement, and outcomes."

What about customers? "Similarly, customer data included purchase information: Volume, dollar amounts spent, repurchase intentions and behavior, brand ratings, product evaluations, opinions, and other complementary patterns of attitudes and behavior were all covered in detail." Who wants to step forward to challenge the validity of Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina's assertions? Not I.

The subtitle of this book, "How the World's Greatest Organizations Drive Growth by Unleashing Human Potential," is somewhat misleading. In fact, according to Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina, cultures -- not organizations -- unleash human potential which, in turn, drives organizations. More specifically, emotion-driven, highly engaged employees ("associates" at Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney) continuously nourish and thereby sustain profitable relationships with (yes) emotion-driven, highly-engaged customers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, "Superior performance is not the exclusive product of the rational mind. no matter how appealing it is to business to believe this is so. Talent does intelligence one better, because it combines and utilizes the full circuitry (rational and emotional) of the brain's neural connections in the endless pursuit of productive outcome."

What about knowledge and skills? Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina duly acknowledge that they are required by quality performance. However, "In essence, talent and engagement are emotionally driven. In tough economic times, talent and emotional engagement are the only natural competitive advantages." Emotional engagement is thus the "fuel" that drives the most productive employees (approximately 20% of any workforce) and the most profitable customers. Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina seem almost surprised by the fact that there is an unlimited supply. "The most amazing thing about it is that it never runs out."

The word "path" in this book's title refers to a sequence of "steps" to be taken:

1. Acknowledge the role that emotion plays in driving business outcomes.

Comment: Keep in mind that emotions can be either positive (e.g. appreciation) or negative (e.g. resentment).

2. Acknowledge that all employees possess innate talents that can be emotionally engaged.

Comment: Workers generally do best what they enjoy doing most.

3. Understand that unique talent combinations lead to increased profits and growth.

Comment: Because needs change, different talents may be needed and in different combinations.

4. Understand and appreciate the power of the Q12 and accept what it can do for an organization.

Comment: Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina focus on the Q12 in Chapter 4 and explain how to manage the Q12 in Chapter 5.

5. Understand what it means to manage to develop and sustain engaged employees.

6. Understand the economic implications of engaged, not-engaged, and actively disengaged employees.

7. Acknowledge the role which emotions play in customer engagement.

8. Understand the eleven indicators of customer engagement and how they will impact on your brand, product, or organization.

9. Accept what managing to enhance and sustain customer engagement means.

10. Understand the economic implications of fully engaged, engaged, not-engaged, and actively disengaged customers.

NOTE: The chapter in which this step is examined, Chapter 10 ("Emotional Economics, Part 2") develops in much greater depth the material provided in Chapter 6, "Emotional Economics, Part 1."

Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina devote a separate chapter to each of the ten steps of The Gallup Path, explaining precisely how it can enable any organization (regardless of size or nature) to "drive growth by unleashing human potential." Taking each of these steps will fail, however, unless and until when doing so supervisors REALLY DO understand (a) that talent drives performance and supervisors are totally committed to engaging the talent of every employee, (b) that emotionally engaged employees are invariably the most productive employees, and finally (c) that emotionally engaged customers "always come back for more" and thus are the bedrock of any organization's sustainable profitably.

In their concluding remarks, Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina observe that "It's time to see your world in a different way." In fact, by the end of this book, they have urged their reader to see the world in dozens of different ways. It is important to supervisors to know that, once embarked on The Gallup Path, they will be guided and informed by Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina every step of the way.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out First, Break All the Rules which Coffman co-authored with Marcus Buckingham. Also, Hammer's The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade; Bossidy and Charan's Execution: the Discipline of Getting Things Done; O'Toole's Leading Change: The Argument for Value-Based Leadership; Collins' Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't; and Connors and Smith's The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual & Organizational Accountability.

This book puts it all together in a manner that you can actually put to practice. Many books are very theoretical but difficult to put into practice in your area of business. This book empowers individual managers to drive improved performance of their own unit. While some of it sounds like common sense (& isn't that usually the best!) I found myself anxious to apply the path outlined in the book. I absolutely believe that my business will perform better after reading this!
The authors are the most insightful business people I have ever read.! A must read!

I'm not easily impressed. As a management consultant, I must read more than 50 business books a year. After a while, they all seem to blur together into one large mass. Imagine how shocked I was to come across this fantastic book while in Japan (of all places). The information on employee-strategy alignment and employee satisfaction is dead on. There's something in here for almost every manager. However, equally impressive was the way in which it was written. If you like straight forward no B.S. facts and "how-to"s, its here. If you prefer to learn through brief case studies, they're here too. Regardless, the writting style is easy to digest. No academic or overly-technical pretense. Just common every day American English. I read through it like a novel -- practically cover-to-cover without putting it down. If you're interested in increasing the satisfaction of employees and/or improving the alignment of your employees and strategy, definately run out to the nearest book store (or Amazon) and pick up a copy. You may also want to consider a copy of Smallwood, Ulrich and Zenger's "Results-Based Leadership" or Gubman's "The Talent Solution." Overall Grade: A/A+

Kenneth W. Thomas presents a model for using intrinsic motivation in the workplace to assure a more committed, self-managed workforce. He advocates leading for meaningfulness, choice, competence, and progress. He emphasizes the need to use this approach to give employees the greater independence and decision-making authority they need as bureaucratic management models break down. While many of these themes are presented in other books on leadership, motivation, training and worker empowerment, Thomas pulls them together in a well-organized, clearly written presentation that gives readers clear directions. The succinct style of writing is easy to understand, even though it is directed toward the serious reader. We [...] recommend this book to executives, managers, trainers and management consultants, as well as to employees, who will find helpful ideas for exercising greater self-management.

As a consultant, I often have to help my clients understand why their people aren't doing what management would like them to do. This new book is going to be a valuable resource to me and to my clients. Motivation is not about throwing more money at employees, or about giving them more meaningless trinkets and T-shirts. If you want to really understand employee motivation, read this book! It's terrific!

As a teacher of leadership, organizational theory and psychological issues at work, at the undergraduate and graduate level, I can say that Ken's approach to intrinsic motivation is simply the best material available on the subject. The depth and clarity of his presentation is remarkable. Whenever I present his model to a class or in a workshop the model Ken has developed clicks immediately with people and they are instantly engaged. His model captures what so many other authors and approaches have tried to present, but have fallen short. "Intrinsic Motivation at Work" will immediately become a required text in my courses and at the top of my most highly recommended books to anyone interested in motivation at work. His approach is well researched and documented but still immediately accessible to non-academics. This book will find broad readership because of it's usefullness to those in supervisory and leadership roles, as well as those who are simply trying to create a more motivating work environment for themselves. Please buy and read this book! There is nothing better available. This is the best there is on motivation.

I have just recently decided to change my life and let God run it for me. This book was the major instrument in that decision. It is so easy to read that I was engulfed in it and look forward to the next time I get to open it up again. Each book has a description of the person that wrote it and what it is about, the time it was written and what you are supposed to get from it. It is written in "today's" language so that everyone can understand it. The Bible is of course the Bible and will always be the best book ever written but "The Book" puts it into simple English. The beginning gives a short book by book order to read if you are new to the bible and also an index of proverbs and so forth for every aspect of life, Greed, sorrow, gilt, etc.

There are a couple of the things I love about this Bible and the first thing is how easy the New Living Translation is to understand. It brings me closer to the Lord every time I read it. The other thing I love is the format - it's not two columns of text like most Bibles, but it's like a regular book. It's much easier to read and not as distracting as two columns. This is my favorite Bible!

I have found myself craving for some time to be able to sit and read this book. I have a much better understanding of the Bible since I am now using "The Book" as a learning tool.

After 20 years leading sales organizations, both large and small, I thought there was very little new that I could learn about selling. And I was right! What I had been missing until I came across "Getting Into Your Customer's Head" was understanding how customers buy. "Getting Into Your Customer's Head" provides sales representatives with the ability to act like a consultant who is working in the best interest of his/her customers. A tremendous book which can help the entry level sales rep all the way up to the President of the company.

Getting Into Your Customer's Head is an excellent compliment to SPIN Selling and Xerox' Buyer Focused Selling. Understanding the buying process from the customer's point of view is critical to a sales rep's pocketbook as we approach the Millennium. The old sales processes are not working in the information age. Kevin Davis does an excellent job identifying the new criteria and psychology of today's customer. This book is a must for serious sales professionals who are committed to excellence

Everybody TALKS about "Putting the customer FIRST", but Getting into Your Customers Head is a blueprint to do it best.

Kevin Davis' work is strictly for those who truly strive to attain the level of "Solution Provider" and Business confidant; the highly regarded "Go To" person to whom customers are comfortable in divulging all the intimate details.

"Getting into your Customers Head" eliminates the "Commission Breathe" that all prospects and customers smell a mile away, and turns them off from the moment you open your mouth.

Forget the rest. "Gettting into your customers head" is SPIN Selling, Strategic Selling, Consultive Selling, Visionary Selling and Solution Selling all rolled into one.

It's a methodology to operate at the highest level of sales productivity. Better yet, it's easy to read, easy to learn, and easy to use.

BUY IT, absorb it, "walk it", "talk it" and "OWN IT", and you'll generate more business than your company can handle.

This is a book of great patience and love. The core consists of photos taken of buildings in various urban ghettos over the course of ten years. Vargas lays three and four photos out (of the same building or area) across two pages to document decline, or sometimes, development. There are also chapters that focus on the way in which households, stores, and churches have fortified like prisons to protect the people and things inside. Other sections concentrate on self-expression, mostly in the form of elaborate murals that speak of fear, poverty, violence, descent into drugs, friends and family lost to gunplay, or defiant spirituality. The book is beautiful. The reader is shown all aspects of ghetto life, from the gray sad sprawl of death and danger to the color and vitality of the people who live there and struggle to achieve positivity. One beef: Vargas' text observations to accompany the photos are superflous and simple to a fault. It is better to read books like The Corner or Third and Indiana, among others, as a companion to this. But that is small criticism about the text. Vargas is a photo essayist, and his photos are ten-year labors of love that document the erosion (and occasional refurbishing) of these parts of our biggest cities that remind one more of third-world countries than our own. This book should be handed out to those in power who turn their backs on this country's ghettos, which will crawl everywhere like glaciers if folks don't turn their attention to them. This is an amazing book.

Slums and ghettos are places that most Americans would care to ignore, but Vergara documents these marginalized "communities" with a personal sincerity and social awareness not often found in this field of study. Those who are involved in bringing back to life the urban cores of American cities would be well-advised to study this book and ponder deeply the author's conclusions. I bought this book today, on a whim, and read it in one sitting. I could not put it down. I'd like to see more works by Mr. Vergara.

Anyone interested in the health of our older industrial cities must read this book. The photographs are truly riveting, and the text really sounds like an account of an extinct civilization. The repeat photographs of the same cityscapes over several years' time are particularly captivating, and usually saddening. Mr. Vergara's focus on Detroit is also fascinating, although I can't say that I agree with his proposed solution for downtown Detroit's woes. I'm looking forward to buying Mr. Vergara's "American Ruins," a more recent work.

If you are searching for a new genre of literature that is informative, descriptive, witty, in-depth and factual, then "Doctor on Everest" should finally end your quest. This story is for both men and women who would be intriqued by reading about a doctor's journey on Mt. Everest and all of his interludes along the way. The author is often humorous within his style of writing and leaves no room for the reader to feel superfluous. You will be captivated with curiosity and excitement within the first few pages of his adenture and also feel compelled to continue reading onward.

Dr. Kamler describes his journey so vividly in his book, that the reader is made to feel that he/she is right along the journey with him, cheering him on. His compassion towards his numerous patients on the mountain, has the reader feeling a certain amount of empathy for the doctor when he is unable to assist everyone. This is a fast reading story and Dr. Kamler does not confuse the average reader with just quoting medical terminology. It is suited for all to read and will keep the reader on his/her toes.

When you finally read up to the last page of the story, you feel almost let down because it has come to and end. After reading Dr. Kamler's story, I believe that the author is an altruistic man who risked his own life to save many others. That to me, is what a true human being was put on the earth to do. There is an oath that Dr. Kamler had taken to become a physician, but it did not state anywhere that you had to risk your own life. This is the type of oath that comes from the heart.

I am not a mountain climber, but after hearing a review of this book on NPR I felt it was a book I wanted to read. I found this well written non-fiction book read like a novel, and was a real page turner. Written from the perspective of a medical doctor as well as a climber, Kamler discusses high altitude medicine as well as climbing. This is an intimate account of a variety of attempts by Kamler to climb Mt. Everest, as well as the medical treatments that he administered as the team doctor. This book also deals with the tragedy of the 1996 disaster in which he was valuable in helping some of the survivors. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in mountain climbing or medcine.

After reading many books about Mt. Everest, I have finally found one that gets personal. Dr. Kamler does a wonderful job of describing his adventures on Mt Everest. What makes this book stand out is Dr. Kamler himself. He lets us know what he is feeling every step of the way. Many of us cannot imagine climbing Mt. Everest, but Dr. Kamler allows us to climb along side of him. Dr. Kamler gives us a very "human" account of his expeditions to the tallest mountain in the world.

I first received a DK Board book when I was expecting my now 20 month old twin boys. Since birth my husband and I have tried to read to them as much as possible an assortment of books. Always going back to their favorites-DK Board Books. Naming them all favorities but the number 1 is the Animals. They love to look at the great pictures and have learned all the sounds. This book and its adjoining set have wonderful pictures that show exactly what an object looks like and ALL children seem to just love them. I am finishing buying the set for Christmas and am waiting for more to come. GREAT GIFT FOR LITTLE ONES!!!

My twin 1 year olds can't keep their hands off this book. I imagine I read it to them at least 5 times a day...and in between they 'read' it by themsleves many times. They love the bright colors and want to know what every animal is called. Their favorite page is the 'noisy' animals page, because there we get to make all sorts of fun sounds! I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to get a good book for their baby to learn about animals and what they look like. Lots and lots of fun! And as other readers have said, it's a REALLY durable book. Our "Goodnight Moon" board book has long had it's cover ripped off and pages chewed to mush. But our "My First Animals" board book still looks practically new despite the 'mileage' the twins have put on it. My only regret is that I didn't get the entire series when I bought this one. I plan on correcting that mistake soon!

Another "First" book that my son adores!! Many different animals are represented & he loves to go through each page & each animal... GREAT book- highly recommend all "first" books!!

Do you love bats? Even if you don't, you'll love Kenneth Oppel's thrilling series about a bat named Shade Silverwing. Firewing, (the third book in the series,) is a suspense packed adventure, where Shade goes on an amazing journey to save his son, Griffin, who fell through a crevice in the Earth and into the Underworld. On their journey they meet new friends, collide with some enemies, and fall into some deadly traps. Will they survive? Read the book to find out.

For The Big Read,most people probably voted for Harry Potter as the best book.But I voted for Firewing,cause its the best book in the history of the world!It is about a Silverwing bat called Griffin who is sucked into the Underworld and,and...its so terribly exciting that I can't tell you how good it is,it would give the game away!Kenneth Oppel,please write another one,please!I used to not like bats,but ever since I read that book,I've been absalutly batty about them!Everyone should read it!Now,enough talking,I'm going to potter off right now and read it!

Firewing is 1 of the best books EVER! (^_^) And will be 4 EVER! (^_^) It follows the same great story that Kenneth Oppal has made for the other 2 books in this great series (you're probably very mad at me for saying "IT IS THE BEST AND ALWAYS WILL BE", but that's what it is, so HA!), and both Goth (Don don daaa!) andShade comes back, but has a son and for the 2nd time, he doesn't like the whole 'Migrating thing', but his son falls into the underworld before the 'Migating thing' and his life gets out and saves his friend too. Over all, it is a book you can not put down.

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Do get this book if you are a big Frida Kahlo fan. Her step-daughter's memories are somewhat interesting; it's a good read that sits with dignity on either a bedroom night stand or the coffee table or the cookbook shelf.

Don't get this book if you want to start to learn Mexican cooking. It's not a beginner's cookbook!

Do get this book if you have kitchen help and/or if you have some experience with Mexican ingredients (and access to them) and Mexican recipes/dishes. In Asia I have succeeded in making the smothered pork sandwiches (associated with a baptism Frida attended) and some of the other simpler recipes.

If you like the format of Like Water For Chocolate, you'll like this special book. Nicely illustrated with photos of all the food in beautifully styled presentation.

Bonus for art lovers: the cover and some of the illustrations are re-creations of paintings by Frida... tour de force still-life photography!

If you are looking for a great Mexican traditional cookbook, look no further. These mouth-watering recipes are grouped by occasions for which they are served, so the reader will also learn about the traditional Mexican fiestas celebrated all year round. What gives the book another dimension, is that these are the recipes that were prepared in Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera' "Casa Azul" in Coyoacán! The numerous anecdotes and the extensive selection of pictures also featured in the book make it an excellent choice, whether you are solely interested in Mexican cooking, or looking to read about the fascinating couple Rivera and Kahlo were and continue to be. If you are considering this book for a gift, beware! You will end up keeping it for yourself...

In this beautiful, lavishly photographed book, the celebratory life of Frida Kahlo is recreated month by month. Each chapter covers a joyous cause for festivity beginning with the month in which Frida and Diego Rivera were wed in August. Prior to the chronoligical following of a month in the life of Frida, the daughter of Diego invites you and entices you to join her in her recollections of the joyous side of Frida's life. Guadalupe Rivera, professor of law and also a writer under the name Guadalupe Martin recounts her life experiences and memories based on her early years as a witness to life in the Kahlo/Rivera household. The unabashed sunny account sets the table, so to speak, for the culinary delights. The reading is insightful and for the most part not a rehash of other accounts available , most notably the definitive(now with Selma Hayek on the cover) Hayden Herrera biography or the nearly as compelling book by Martha Zamora entitled The Brush of Anguish. The writing is concise and gives a glimpse into the life of Frida based on short vignettes providing you with an intimate portrait. You will find the stories delightful and complimentary to the fabulous photographs. The full color pictures are works of art. It is not just the colorful plates and settings but the entirety of the photographs. Each is magnificent, the design and layout of each picture is a testament to Mexican photographer Ignacio Urquiza, whose works have illustrated several cookbooks. The sumptous and exotic dishes are only part of the beauty. The settings and location of the photographs are visually stunning. You are allowed to take a peak into the house in Coyoacan, complete with antiques and recreated table settings. You can also see some of the places Frida enjoyed visiting such as the floating gardens of Xochimilco. All in all this is super book with fantastic recipes and easy to follow directions to create your own festive occasion. It is an excellent cookbook . Highly recommended for your culinary delights. This book will help you celebrate with cuisine from Mexico and give joy as Frida entitled her last painting, "Viva La Vida."

The whole presence of Jamaica and everything on the around the island was great. Fleming knew the place well. There are some great aspects to this book, but no matter what the handling of the villain--the fascinating Dr. No--was shoddy. His discription of Dr. No is fantastic and the character, or the little we learn of him, is one of the more intriguing villains in all of the Fleming canon. However, his early and rather laughable demise just stinks of having nothing to do with the whole setup. There was a big blank after the death of Dr. No and I was like, huh? The whole point was to dump bird crap on him and wrap up this whole complicated mission. Oh well. It's still a Fleming Bond, and I have yet to read a "bad" one. They are ALL good, but some are certainly stronger than others. This is on the weaker end but still very enjoyable.

As an avid Ian Fleming fan, I always recommend this one to newcomers who enjoy the films and want to check out the author who inspired them. Bond doesn't just waltz through this one unscathed... he goes through hell to accomplish his mission! The scene in which a poisonous centipede crawls all over Bond's naked body while he's in bed will make your skin crawl. The torture-tunnel sequence, in which he must worm his way through yards of heated metal, tarantulas and more, is also incredibly gripping. And Dr. No's demise in the book is even more unusual than the way he bought it in the film! Read this one, and see Bond the way Fleming intended him to be seen. Roger Moore never endured trials like these!

This book is supposed to be the sequel to "From Russia with love", in fact it begins with Bond in hospital due to a life-threatening injury obtained in "From Russia with love" but recovers, M(Bond's boss) decides that there is no better way to get Bond back in shape than give him a "simple" mission in the island of Jamaica where the representative of the British Secret Service(John Strangways, who also appeared in Fleming's Bond novel "Live and let die") has disappeared, Bond's mission is to find out what happened. This "soft option" leads Bond to his most dangerous and thrilling mission yet and leads to him to do an "obstacle course", to a fight with a squid and a fight with a "dragon"! I thought this Fleming's most suspenseful book as I never could tell what would happen next and this kept me hooked, so much so that I read it all in one day! Unfortunately, this is also Mr. Fleming's most far-fetched. It was far-fetched in the sense that I don't think even Bond(who at that point was supposedly half-dead) could have defeated a 60-foot squid with just a dagger. That apart it's a great, great thriller. Read it, wonder in awe at it's elements, then read it again just to savour Fleming's writing. Unfortunately, the movie never did the book justice. I heard that in "From Russia with love" Fleming planned to simply kill off James Bond, thankfully he didn't and produced a marvellous book in Dr. No.