This book has some stunning photos, and is the perfect gift for a Tennessee Volunteers fan.

Some of these manager books are not just for managers. They could be read and enjoyed by all employees. Of all the books I have read, this one seems to be the most wide ranging and could help everyone in your office.

Let's admit it. Work and life in general can be stressful. How we cope with stress can be a key to our success. This book will show you how to reorganize your work practices. It also explains how thinking positively can reduce stress.

"Make sure your home office is separate from your living space." -pg 25

Well, I fail that one.

"Start each day stress-free by straightening up the night before." -pg. 40

This works!

Learning to say no is something I really have to work on. Some people do find it difficult to say no because they are afraid of causing offense. Sometimes you just have to be assertive, after all, it is your life!

There is a section on making a time to relax. there are exercises and relaxation techniques you can use and this makes the book very practical. Deep breaths, deep breaths....there, see you feel so much better now. If anything helps, breathing will!

Exact figures would no doubt be elusive, but certainly one of the most recognized names is that of Bill Gates. Despite some of the negative circumstances of his success, it is gratifying to realize that he has star power to rival that of any other celebrity. Business and intellectual leaders contribute so much to the world, it is high time that they are treated as the stars they are.
This book is an examination of the Gates/Microsoft phenomenon from the perspective of business strategies. It is a combination of a brief historical record of the development of Microsoft and the reasons for that success. These reasons are then examined as case studies for how to succeed in the area of business management. The examples include the successes as well as the failures of Microsoft over the years. The dramatic changes that took place when Microsoft finally discovered the Internet will no doubt become the model for how a large company can change direction quickly and successfully. For all his faults, Bill Gates has shown a knack, albeit sometimes ruthless, for being one of the best business people of all time. His actions should be studied, both for emulation and avoidance.
Since most of the historical record was known to me, my interest was primarily in how the events were used to describe the introductory principles of management. In that area, the book is well-designed. The case studies are easy to follow and certainly relevant to the modern business climate. The level of the presentation is such that it can be understood by anyone interested in basic management.
It will be years before the historical record concerning Bill Gates is finalized. Until then, it should be studied as a modern success story to be examined for the lessons that can be learned. This book presents those tales in a manner that is neutral concerning the controversial aspects of the richest man in the world who still flies economy as an example to his employees.

Bill Gates originally wanted to create "a tool for the Information Age that could magnify your brainpower instead of just your muscle power." He saw digital tools as the way to enhance the unique powers we all possess. For academics and techies it is pure heaven to share information online. Bill Gates predicted that the Internet would help to bring people together instead of causing "society to fly apart."

Either you love Bill Gates or you loathe him. I'm in the "love" category for many reasons. For one, I just love the software and it makes my life a dream. While he may be controversial, he seems to have a great heart for philanthropy and is well known for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with a focus on scholarships, computers in schools and world health. So while many envy his wealth, you have to look at his generosity and how he is helping to change the lives of children all over the world.

"It's possible to save millions of children's lives just by applying the technology that's here today." ~Bill Gates

In this book, Robert Heller analyzes the key skills behind the genius of Bill Gates and presents the experience of one of the worlds top business gurus in an accessible format.

Discover how Gates:

Siezes Opportunities
Forges Key Collaborations
Hires the Best Brains - Read about what it takes to be considered "super smart!"
Focuses on His Goals - "A PC on every desk and in every home, using Microsoft Software"
Outwits the Opposition

Dominates the Market
Makes Solid Decisions
Recognizes His Mistakes - How Gates go the Internet wrong and then got it right.
Stays Ahead of The Game - Invading the Internet
Excels as a "Practical Intellectual"

This book also shows his Environmentally-Friendly-Computer-Controlled Lake Washington futuristic home that was so difficult to see from the freeway. ;>

Other books you will want to read:

The Road Ahead
Business @ the Speed of Thought
Bill Gates Speaks by Janet C. Lowe

it's very easy to recognize about leadership. i read more books about leadership more than 20 books. you know what? this books has importants keys of leadership on techinical side.

Well, that is what someone in my life always says.

Leading is not always easy. Being aware of problem solving and how to support the endeavors of others is very important.

In this tiny book you will find practical techniques that will show you how to use your initiative to inspire excellence. The clear text and illustrations cover most aspects of supporting, empowering and motivating staff.

Robert Heller has written many books and is the leading authority on management consultancy. He was the founding editor of Management t Today magazine and has supervised the launch of a number of successful business journals.

He seeks to make you a dynamic and inspirational leader. Power tips show you how to handle real-life situations and develop first-class leadership skills. Yellow numbered boxes include phrases such as:

"Take into account the feelings of staff when promoting internally."

"Actively seek the views of your team members."

Fun Do and Don't lists are also included.

Do: Do try to create a positive atmosphere, free from rigidity.
Don't: Don't ask people to do things that you wouldn't do yourself.

Chapters Include:

Learning to Lead: Focusing on quality, learning from others, gaining experience, mastering roles, developing strengths, assessing your leadership potential.

Leading Others: Preparing to lead, forming a team, exercising authority, delegating tasks, communicating clearly, dynamizing groups, collegiate leadership.

Improving Your Effectiveness: Making decisions, setting goals, developing a team, leading discussions, using meetings, analyzing problems, giving support, assessing your leadership skills.

Inspiring Excellence: Motivating others, establishing a vision, generating ideas, managing openly, boosting achievement, being adventurous.

A handy index "leads" you to topics of interest. A few case studies make the topics seem more down-to-earth and helpful. The "Giving Support" chapter was something you could use in any situation. People will bring their personal difficulties to a good leader and they may not even be work related. It is important to show sympathy.

"Trust can be difficult to build, but it is easy to lose."

The aspect of a promise made is a promise kept is very important. Being loyal to your people, praising success and only criticizing in private will show others you are someone they can trust and that you have their best interests at heart.

Compact and essential!

I'd recommend this to anyone who's part of a team and wants a brief, concise, useful summary of key points that help you better manage (and be part of) a team. Sections are well organized, and actual techniques are described that you can use to improve.

One of the better of this series. Best of all, it's small and cheap!

"Managing Teams" by Robert Heller is a very informative book and definitely should be read by new managers. This book contains many different ideas on how to manage your team. Heller brings up important points that many new managers may not be aware of when first starting into the challenging world of team managing. Heller discusses several different topics including 'Understanding How Teams Work,' Setting Up A Team,' 'Improving Team Efficiency,' and 'Working For The Future.' Each of these chapters cover important topics that are broken down into easy to understand summarized sections. This book helps you determine the right people for a team, and how to form a multi- talented, functioning team. You will also learn how to motivate your team to complete the goals that they were brought together to achieve. Learning to manage a team can sometimes be a difficult transition if you are not used to doing so, but Heller's book can really help you to adjust to the position.
One great part about this book is that it is short (74 pages) and to the point. The chapters are informative and do not drag on and on like some of the books out there on the market. However there are enough details to help you understand and try out his suggestions and ideas. There is even an added bonus of 101 tips that offer practical advice. I especially like the examples and charts that are listed in this book. They are great in helping understand the individuals in the team, and how to deal with each person within the group and as a group. I highly recommend "Managing Teams" to anyone interested in learning new techniques for managing a team in the workplace. I also highly recommend several of Robert Heller's other books as well in the 'Essential Managers' set of books, including "Motivating People."

This book presents a good overview of Jack Welch's way of thinking. It must be read as an "overview" as we are talking about a 20 years management history in 90 pages. The summaries (Masterclasses) at the end of some chapters are very good and help to fix Mr. Welch's ideas and how to use then in our daily work. The bibliography presented at the end of the book should be used if one wants to go deeper in some points presented slightly in the book.

Most articles and books about Mr. Welch overly segment his thinking. As a result, you miss the core for the details. Mr. Heller has overcome this problem, and puts the individual elements of what GE has done under Mr. Welch into a useful perspective. The book also contains helpful exercises for applying these concepts to your business.

Mr. Welch is a master of focus. He took GE and turned its attention to the most significant opportunities. This was accomplished both by drawing attention to certain areas, and by eliminating many others.

Mr. Welch's great strength is that he is open to and hungry for new ideas. As a result, his thinking has improved a lot from the beginning of his tenure as CEO. A modest weakness of this book is that it doesn't say enough about how the later ideas sometimes contradict the earlier ideas. For example, the book shows that Mr. Welch was always focused on cost-cutting. In the beginning, he often did this in the most brutal way . . . with massive layoffs. Only very late in the game did he discover the quality processes that produce larger and more valuable cost reductions. Such quality processes flourish when employees have stable employment and the focus is on improving their knowledge and autonomy. Yet, the concepts of Six Sigma were well known early in his tenure as CEO. Perhaps GE needed to been even more eager for new ideas than it has been. On the other hand, GE seems to have been effective in adapting to the Internet in a timely way.

The book is organized around the following principles:

(1) Turning managers into leaders

(2) Using everyone's thinking in the enterprise

(3) Moving ahead faster than competitors in meaningful ways

(4) Expanding stock price more rapidly than earnings

(5) Using new trends the influences to your advantage.

These concepts are then translated into practices for you to use in three master classes:

(1) Exercising leadership

(2) Changing company culture

(3) Breaking boundaries and limitations.

This book will be most useful to companies and leaders that are in many businesses, have a lot of bureaucracy and rigidity, and are not in high growth areas. The examples are almost all drawn in ways that are relevant to those problems. On the other hand, the idea of focusing is useful for any business.

My main disappointment in the book is that it did not address GE Capital, which has been the source of most of GE's success under Mr. Welch.

Mr. Heller draws extensively on the primary books about Mr. Welch that preceded this one. Unless you want a lot more detail, you will not need to read those. There is a bibliography to help you find them in case you decide you do want to read them.

After you examine this situation, I suggest that you take Mr. Welch's observation seriously that he did not move fast enough. If your company is going to be operating as well as it possibly can in five years, what changes have to be made before then? How can you get through these needed changes in the fastest, smoothest way? The future environment will probably not allow you to take as long to change as Mr. Welch had.

Focus on the places where leadership can make the most difference!

Don't let this book lull you into a false sense of security! A friend and I recently took the test after having studied this book and being able to pass its exam with scores of 95-100%. He failed; I passed by a small margin. This book is excellent and you will need it to pass the exam but it is weak in several areas. When you take the test, you get a print out of how well you did in each area. We correlated ours and rated how well the book covers exam areas. This is the result:

1. Language Fundamentals.................good

2. Operations & Assignments..............good

3. Declarations & Access Control.........poor

4. Flow Control & Exception Handling.....fair

5. Overloading, Overriding, Runtime Type, & Object Orientation..................poor

6. Misc. (don't know what this is).......poor

7. Threads...............................good

8. java.lang package.....................poor

9. java.awt: Components & Facilities.....good

10. java.awt: Layout......................good

11. java.awt: Event Handling..............fair

12. java.awt: Painting....................good

13. java.io package.......................poor

The books starts out strong but gets a little spotty later on. You will definately need it to get used to the type of question that the exam asks. It is a very tricky test. You must pay close attention and if you are unsure of yourself, you can easily get suckered into a wrong answer. This is expecially true on the multiple choice questions where you don't necesarily choose one answer, you choose all answers that apply. Get any part of it wrong and you get zero credit for the whole question.

This book provides exceptionally clear descriptions of the fundamental Java concepts covered in the Certification exam. If you treat it as a foundation for your preparatory study and, where necessary, find extra material to answer any other "aside" questions that arise for you, then you can't go wrong.

I took time off work and studied this book, along with "Java In A Nutshell" (to supplement the I/O material and to satisfy my mental meanderings), full time for two weeks. I downloaded the Java 1.1 Exam Curriculum from the JavaSoft Web site and, using these books, made thorough notes for every topic and sub-topic on the list.

I did the exercises and mock exam in the book (without ever looking at the solutions, but instead, re-reading my notes and referring back to the book for details) until I consistently got a score of over 90%.

I then took and passed the exam, first time, with an 88% score.

But, more importantly, this was my first venture into Java programming (and first "serious" step into professional programming) and the book really gave me the knowledge foundation, and confidence, I needed to move forward.

Thanks primarily to this book, I am now a successful, professional Java programmer - and have been for a year and a half.

I passed the java certification 1.1 exam last week for the first time.With no java work experience i could pass and thats only with this book.i had prepared for a month.Firstly i studied a java programming book to get to know about java fundamentals(i was clear about fundamentals) and then started with this book. But,do not just rely on the questions given after every chapter,exam questions are much more than those given at the end but, need to practice them too.Need to practice very much all simulation tests provided in few sites.I dont know about Barry Boone but,one test given on internet was good.So,need to practice on sample tests to know the type of questions and read every detail of this book.so to those planning to take java 1.1 exam you can go for this book.With this book also you can pass but if you take Barry and Boone tests it would be more helpful.About the authors they made up an excellent book.

I used to this book to study for the programmer's exam (I got an 88%), and it was very useful with the fundamental topics. The explanations are clear and concise, without all the fluff. I would recommend anyone interested in studying for the exam use this book.

This book by itself should be sufficient to pass the exam, but you need to do more than just read the book. Here is what I did:

* Wrote "practice" programs to illustrate many of the concepts. I found this very helpful.
* Read through the javadoc in detail for the java.lang, java.util, and java.io packages.
* Read language and jvm specification while reading through the text for more details on how / why things worked as they did.
* Took _extremely_ detailed notes throughout the process that were very organized. I eventually just studied my notes - no more need for the book once I had it in a format I understood well.

I don't believe as others say that you should buy additional study guide(s) to cover the portions of the test that this book is weak on. There is plenty of information on the public domain to fill in the blanks. If you need to be painted a picture to figure it out, then you shouldn't be trying to learn this stuff. A little bit of self exploration once you have a strong foundation will end up making you a much stronger programmer in the end.

I already knew Java pretty well, but I'll be changing jobs soon and I wanted to put certification on my resume to make keyword-grepping HR bots happy. (Sigh.) I figured I could pass the test cold but didn't want to bet money on it, so I bought this book.

I think it's a pretty good book, but I haven't read any other Java certification books so I have no basis for direct comparison. It's seems a bit dated, but the Programmer exam hasn't changed much in a couple of years (still based on JDK 1.2 without Swing) so that's okay -- adding more coverage of newfangled stuff that isn't on the current test would not please the intended audience. The one big change in format versus the sample test in this book is that the current test tells you how many answers to check on the more-than-one-choice multiple-choice questions. (Poke around some Java certification web sites.)

It covers both the Programmer and Developer exams, so it's thicker than books that only cover the former. I haven't taken the latter, so I don't know how on-target that part is, but it was an interesting read. (Certainly more interesting than the half of the book that focuses on the Programmer exam, but that reflects the nature of the two exams. The Developer exam is about writing real code, while the Programmer exam is about being a human compiler and language lawyer.) The Developer section does not give a complete solution, though, just hints. I understand why the Sun-employed author doesn't want to do that, but they could have invented a problem similar to but not identical to a real assignment and then solved it completely.

The Programmer exam is a multiple-choice test based largely on memorizing a bunch of exact rules about how the language works. Some of them are things you really need to know (e.g. what private and final mean), and some are just stupid memorization. (Do you remember the exact nested constructors of all those Writers and Readers and Streams in java.io, or do you just look them up in the handy online API help?)

My one criticism of the book is that, perhaps because the main author works for Sun and is directly involved with the certification exams, the book isn't blunt enough in places. If I wrote it, I would say things like "I know it's idiotic, but memorize every single method signature in Thread and which ones are deprecated" rather than just teaching what really matters about Threads, because the exam unfortunately focuses on both equally rather than on the important parts. People buy this book because they want to pass a test, not because they want to learn the language. They've already done that using other sources. So the book should teach more directly to the test. Maybe the non-Sun-affiliated books are better in this regard.

The book comes with a CD. It has a Java-based program that lets you take the chapter exercises and sample test (only one, unfortunately), which IMO beats taking it on paper. The text of the book is also available on the CD, in encrypted PDF, but unfortunately you have to run a Windows-only setup.exe to install it. Yes, a book about a portable language, stored in a portable document format, with a non-portable installer. Some people just don't get it.

By the way, I passed the Programmer test, but it was harder than expected. I would not have passed it cold. My advice is to buy a certification book (can't say which one since I only read this one), study, and make sure that you can pass a couple of sample exams by a comfortable margin before you drop money on the real thing. If you don't already know Java pretty well, I don't think you'll be able to pass this exam via just studying a couple of books (unless you have a photographic memory) -- write some real code first. Even if you do know Java, write some small test programs dealing with areas you might be weak in (threads, AWT if you've done primarily non-GUI work, collections if you mostly use arrays, inner classes, exceptions) to cement what you've learned.

I bought this book, read it, and didnt have alot of confidence in it, so I went and bought another more indepth book and used that as the main base of my studies. I went back after the exam and realized probably 80-90% of it was spelled out in this book(The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide). The version of this book I had only covered the 1.2 exam, so it had alot of extra [stuff] I didnt need (IO, AWT and a bout half the other book(it covers the developer exam too i think)) and its lacking a few things you need to know for the 1.4 exam, such as assertions, Wrappers, and Collections (which all 3 probalby make up about 15% of the test). This book, with the help the addition of a few java websites, like javaranch.com can get you a good passing score. I scored an 83% but realized that I could have gotten alot higher if I didnt spend so much time concentrating on the other book which had more indepth information than needed.

Bottom line:
This book (with the additional exam material that can easily be found online) will get you atleast a good passing score. Its probably not gonna teach you java or make you a great java programmer, but the goal is to pass the test, and it does that.

I purchased a couple books once I was promoted to manager. I felt as if my world was going to change dramatically and I needed some sources of information to help me through the transition. What I came to realize is there were two types of knowledge that I sought, one was details around project management and the other was overall leadership.

The basics of what it takes to be a manager and how you conduct yourself is what this book is all about. If you are new to having people work for you or new to leading, than this book may be an option for you. For me, it covered very rudimentary topics and didn't offer much guidance in the two areas I was seeking more depth. Another thing to note, there are strategies to project management and there are theories to leadership. This book covers basic aspects to conducting yourself as a "generic manager".

To sum it all up, this book is VERY BASIC and if you have any management/leadership experience at all, it will waste your time.

If you are a manager and you want a desk reference that you can turn to, whenever you have a problem or a tricky situation or if you want to polish and fine tune your managerial skills to become a more effective and efficient person then this book is for you. This book deals with most of the managerial functions and activities from communication, time management, decision making, delegation, motivation, team management, meeting management, presentations, negotiation, interviewing, change management and stress management. The book contains a lot of practical tips and self-assessment test that is quite useful. One gets a feeling of achievement while reading the book and doing the exercises. The figures, boxes, layout of the various items make reading a real luxury.

Written is the an easy to read style and presented in the wonderful way only Dorling Kindersley can do, this book is a treat to the eyes and the mind. It is rich in content and is presented in an exquisite manner. It is a book that every book lover will love to have. It is a book that every manager will love to read. It is a book that should be on every manager's bookshelf.

Copyright © 1999, Pegasus Book Club

This book covers most aspects of management and supervision. Even experienced leaders have weak areas and this book does a good job of helping you improve your overall management skills. For less experienced personnel, it provides a comprehensive look at eleven different management skill areas that are essential to good management.

There may be better treatises on the individual subjects, but I've not found a better manual that covers this broad spectrum of management skills.

The book layout is perfect for either quick scanning or in depth reading.

I'm not ready for the exam yet, but already I've picked out numerous typos, goof-ups and errors. Seriously it seems like they didn't even bother to proof read it before printing. The more I read the angrier I get - there's no excuse for this kind of sloppiness in a text that deals with very complicated material, where subtle differences in meaning make a HUGE difference for the exam. I'm tempted just to not finish reading it, it's very difficult to read, worded poorly and circularly, and often just does more to confuse me than help. The full size study guide is much better. Read that first and then approach these exam notes critically, and DON'T rely on them. If in doubt check your facts with other sources, cause this book can't be trusted.

I typically don't bother writing reviews but the quality of this book is upsetting. In terms of the content this book is alright but don't expect to get away without one of the larger ones. This is only a brief review after all and sometimes not well explained. However, I must say this book is the lousiest quality I have seen for a while now. More errors and typos than all the books together I have read during the last year. Be aware, this book is brief and compact and it gives you a lot of brief and compact misinformation.

I got the book and didn't see any of the typos that other people were mentioning and I am a consultant who uses the language quite a bit... perhaps it was a newer edition, but i found this book useful