This book is a powerful reflection upon the circumstances & events surrounding Christ's birth. Within each of the (6) author's section, there are a multitude of heart provoking directions for the Holy Spirit to take you. It has touched me deeply, and also touched the life of a friend I gave a copy to for Christmas. I highly recommend this for personal reading and gift-giving.

The collection of sermons in this book provided a springboard of ideas for themes to preach this Christmas season. Max Lacado's sermon provided the background for our Christmas program this year.

"The Heart of Christmas" employs the writing talents of six inspirational authors, with the message they would most like people to learn and see at Christmastime. John Maxwell relates the wise men following the star and finding a lowly stable, to our search for greatness and finding instead disappointment, in our lives. He allows us to understand that we can find God even in our lowest moments. Bill Hybels challenges us to really look at the nativity, and God's purpose for choosing the location of the Christ-child, this season. Hybels parallels the nativity to our relationship with God. Max Lucado ponders what Joseph's thoughts were on that wonderful night and how we oft-times questions God ourselves. David Jeremiah writes about the name and significance of Jesus, the reasons God may have chosen to give his only son that common, yet most revered name. Rick Warren encourages us to seek that which we want to find this year. He gives us special insight and tells us what we should really be seeking for. Jack Hayford examines the Mary Miracle, as he calls it. He shows us how God is still "birthing" his holy word in us, today. If you are like me, growing weary with all the hype and stress of Christmas as society defines it, year after un-inspirational year, this is a book that will offer you a new vision and understanding of this wonderful holiday. It will put Christmas back into your heart so that it may shine forth, just like the star that marked Jesus' birth.

This is a very fine book. I'm enjoying the heck out of it. It gives you a real sense of how it was to be a northern bush pilot in the early days of flying. The author, Don Braun, is very personable, and his adventures keep me on the edge of my seat.

Don Braun volunteered to fly for the Canadians during WWII and stayed in Canada after the war as a bush pilot. Don flew the far North with Wardair from the begining and proved himself to be a talented pilot in an unforgiving land. I found the stories to be well written and usually fascinating. Don was a pro in a type of flying that did not tolerate fools or mistakes. He pioneered some of the early routes and bush airstrips.

Although a bit homespun at times the stories themselves overshadow any tendency for skimming. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to readers that enjoy Northern flying and adventure stories. There are not many books on Canadian bush flying, most are about Alaskan pilots. This one is one of the better accounts of post WWII Canadian flying.

Five of Maxwell's books (with five more you can unlock), 23 audio messages, 3 video segments and a slick format make this collection well worth the price.

Not only do you get great leadership lessons, but this CD also contains several Bible versions, inlcuding the Nelson Study Bible (NKJV), which is probably the most in-depth study Bible available.

Excellent set in a good format.

I subscribe to John Maxwell's electronic leadership series and the articles there are FANTASTIC! If you want to learn MORE on being a leader, you need this material and now being published on CDROM format makes it even easier to read and search topics that you need.

I think this is a very well written book. It really encouraged me, and I would recommend it to anyone.

John takes the best thoughts & maxims and gives them to you in a concise and easy to read format. You will come away from this little book thinking big

I was torn in deciding how to grade this book. Clearly, anyone who has already enjoyed most of Dr. Maxwell's outstanding leadership books would find this book to be a valuable, inexpensive and highly portable reminder of those many lessons. For that person, the book is clearly a five star value! Carry it around and draw sustenance from it!! My rating above reflects this perspective, since there are lots of people who do know his work well. When you face a leadership challenge, pull this book out to refocus you and your energies in the right direction!

What about the person who's new to leadership? I would have to grade the book much lower, probably a 2 or 3. Somewhere in the middle of the book (probably between chapters 5-7), most people new to leadership would lose the thread. It's just a little too condensed. In addition, I just didn't think that several of the examples worked for the point they attempted to make. For instance, Dr. Maxwell could have found more meaningful examples for me than Princess Diana and Roberto Goizueta if I were a new leader. I would nominate instead Barbara Bush for her caring and Frances Hesselbein for preparing successors.

Here are the book's structure and key examples for its 108 jam-packed pages:

Part I: The Development of a Leader

1. Why Should I Grow as a Leader? The McDonald brothers versus Ray Kroc in developing McDonalds.

2. How Can I Grow as a Leader? Teddy Roosevelt

Part II: The Traits of a Leader

3. How Can I Become Disciplined? Jerry Rice

4. How Should I Prioritize My Life? Paul Tsongas

5. How Do I Develop Trust? Billy Graham

6. How Can I Effectively Cast Vision? Walt Disney

Part III: The Impact of Leader

7. Why Is Influence Important? Princess Diana

8. How Does Influence Work? Robert Dilenschneider

9. How Can I Extend My Influence? His father

10. How Can I Make My Leadership Last? Roberto Goizueta

Finally, what's the best part of the book? For me, it was the repetition of the Law of the Lid: Your ability to accomplish things is circumscribed until you can energize others in the same purpose. There's a nice set of graphic displays to make this point.

As a technical note, some of the information in the examples seemed dated. I don't believe that Mr. Dilenschneider has been head of Hill & Knowlton for many years . . . yet that's the way he is described. Roberto Goizueta's hand-picked successor at Coca-Cola, Douglas Ivester, did not work out (although he is described as a great success here) and had to be replaced. Paul Tsongas later reentered politics to run for president rather than smelling the roses with his family (even though he had had a recurrence of the cancer that soon killed him). It's almost as though these examples were all written a number of years ago, and not revisited.

Draw inspiration from your vision of serving others . . . and get busy!

Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know by John Maxwell (a gifted public speaker and the founder of "INJOY", an organization helping people maximizing their personal and leadership potential) is a concise and profound guidebook to unlocking one's inner potential to influence, motivate, and unite others toward a common goal. Tips, tricks, techniques, insight, keys to self-confidence and more fill this practical and resourceful pocket resource. Leadership 101 is strongly recommended, highly rewarding reading for anyone with leadership responsibilities or aspirations.

I was given this book by my wife and children for my birthday. What a wonderful gift!! I have never had a daily devotional before this book, but always loved reading books on leadership. This book is a wonderful blend of leadership wisdom and the spiritualness we sometimes lack in our daily dealings with those we interact with. It has given me a wonderful start to my day. I then share the daily lesson with my family, friends and coworkers. A must have on your desk or in your briefcase.

This daily devotional provides the essence of many of Dr. Maxwell's lessons. As the introduction states, the book is designed to connect one with God and provide daily leadership thoughts. It does just that by connecting biblical principles with a short, thought provoking narrative on how those principles can be applied to everyday leadership. This is a faith based book appropriate for all faiths, but it is also very meaningful and relevant outside of the biblical content. If you've owned other devotionals, but sometimes find yourself reading them out of a sense of obligation, this book will be a refreshing change. You will read and re-read its passages. It's also a great book for those wishing to distill Dr. Maxwell's teachings into bite-sized lessons, and is appropriate for all types of leaders (business, family, community, etc.). The lessons presented are simple, but not simplistic.

Here is a book full of wisdom from one who has lived his life to the fullest! One of those wonderful true accounts of a self made man living justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. In addition to buying a copy for my family, I bought this book for my college nephew as I believe this book has all the necessary elements for encouraging a young person to set goals and strive for success without compromising personal integrity and devotion to the Lord. Don't miss the great thought provoking review questions in the back of the book! Mr. Meyer is in the same genre as Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. This is an incredible value...!! You've got to read this book!

Starting my own business has been very difficult. I have tried to find books that not only provide some hope or knowledge but also keep my focus on what matters (ie. family and God). This book explains how to obtain your goals whatever they may be(more time with the kids, increase income, or better life with spouse). For me this book represents one important truth, which is you don't have to be poor to be a Christian. Great Book!!

Aside: Doesn't Maxwell look like the teacher/monitor from the 80's movie, The Breakfast Club? Anyway...

I applaud John Maxwell, who writes books integrating Christian principles into non-spiritual topics, like leadership. In this book, Maxwell brings up three things that we need to understand in order to be a success: 1) To know our purpose in life, 2) To maximize our potential, and 3) To sow seeds that benefits others.

In defining success within these three principles, he defines what success in NOT, namely wealth, power, or a number of other things that we normally equate with making it in this world. He brings up some good examples of the wealthy and powerful industrialists of the early 20th century who died penniless or miserable.

Principle #2 really spoke to me. Maximizing potential is something, by nature, that I constantly strive to do. Maxwell's chapters devoted to this principle were the most beneficial to me. The inevitability of change in our lives brings us to the point of what decision we will make. It's not like we can avoid change, we can't. This becomes an inflection point in our life and can determine what will happen to us over the next one, five, ten years. We can go into the unknown (which is hard to do) or keep the status quo.

Principles #1 and #3 also brought up some good things for me, but I have to say that the chapters relating to maximizing potential were the most interesting. But that is where I am in life. Perhaps the other two chapters are more suited for you.

The pits of the book that I feel compelled to highlight are few, but nonetheless present. While the material is useful, I found it rather simplistic. Some chapters had a bullet point list of "fix-it" solutions. Abstract areas like leadership are rarely solved by concrete methods of A, B, C, etc., although it can be a good start. I wish it would have gone deeper. Also, this may be a pet peeve, but Maxwell uses a lot of insightful examples using references like, "It is said that Abe Lincoln said this..." or "According to a 13th century monk..."

Like I said, the examples are useful in illustrating a point, but these roundabout references lose a little bit of legitimacy to me. I'm sure that he has a good research staff, but I am used to seeing more solid citations when referring to a story or person.

But this is a good overview of success, which is not derived from wealth or power, but of knowing the purpose that God created us for and to actually go out and realize it.

it changed my lifelong, discouraging concept of success. I was encouraged to see my life with hope again. please write more books like this. i have been telling my friends to buy the book. my negative attitudes are changing. best of all, this is so God-inspired. i just chanced upon this book, not realizing how much it was going to help me change . thank you. the bookstore said it's so hard to obtain it and i just didn't let go of it anymore at the store. hope i didn't say too much.

I really enjoyed this book, and learned a lot about my journey towards a successful life. John Maxwell has put together years of research about leadership, and the pursuit of success for this book. He uses a very straight forward approach towards the subject of success, and what it really means. Additionally, he reinforces his ideas with many quotes and stories from people of every walk of life.

Although some of Mr. Maxwell's thoughts and concepts were not new to me this book really challenged me to take an honest look at my life and where I am heading. Since I am currenlty in the middle of a huge career change (and trying to focus my thoughts on what my future should look like), I think that I discovered this book at the perfect time. It has helped me gain focus and motivation for the upcoming changes.

I especially enjoyed the practical exercises that are at the end of each chapter in the book. You can't just read this book and expect your life to change. You have to do some work, and the author constantly reminds you of this fact throughout. When I forced myself to answer some of the tough questions that he throws at you, I gained some real insight into my life's work, and where I am heading.

I also liked the fact that John Maxwell includes an entire chapter about family relationships and the fact that you cannot be successful, unless you are successful at home first. I have seen too many people make this mistake, so I am glad that he included this angle in the book. My wife and I had a great discussion about what we value when we completed the exercises at the end of this chapter together.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for insight into how to fulfill your dreams, how to become successful, or just want to improve their outlook on life. It can help give you a new perspective, and gives you the tools for an honest assessment of where you are, and where you want to go.

Thinking For A Change is any easy, but thought provoking read. Thinking For A Change is broken down into two major sections.

The first section explores the premise that if you change your thinking you change your life. The second section of the book offers up eleven thinking skills and concrete ways to start applying these thinking skills. So the second section of the book contains the tools to change your thinking so you can change your life.

The eleven thinking skills Thinking For A Change offers are as follows:

1.Acquire the wisdom of big-picture thinking - does my thinking extend beyond me and my world
2.Unleash the potential of focused thinking - concentrate to find clarity on the real issues
3.Discover the joy of creative thinking - get out of the box and find break through thinking
4.Recognize the importance of realistic thinking - does my thinking have a solid mental foundation
5.Release the power of strategic thinking - is my thinking leading to plans for today that help me reach my potential tomorrow
6.Feel the energy of possibility thinking - possibility thinking can help you find solutions to even the difficult problems
7.Embrace the lessons of reflective thinking - am I revisiting the past to gain understanding and learn from what happened
8.Question the acceptance of popular thinking - am I rejecting the limitations of common thinking
9.Encourage the participation of shared thinking - am I engaging others to expand and sharpen my thinking
10.Experience the satisfaction of unselfish thinking - am I considering others and their needs
11.Enjoy the return of bottom-line thinking - am I staying focused on results

John Maxwell does a great deal more the talk about the thinking styles. He offers concrete examples of the styles in action and more importantly he shares many thoughts about the process and discipline of thinking. His insights transform a book on thoughts about thinking into a practical manual for the application of world class thinking. At the end of each chapter there are exercises designed to help you find the thinker in you and help you build momentum and experience in being a great thinker.

This is another great book from John Maxwell and has his signature style of examples, stories and great quotes to drive points home. I highly recommend Thinking For A Change.

Loved THINKING FOR A CHANGE
by John C. Maxwell, subtitled "11 Ways Highly
Successful People Approach Life and Work."

I kept taking notes on it and, in fact, my biggest challenge
will be to present my thoughts in just a few paragraphs here . . . the
author presents countless examples, but what makes them
so relevant is that they're all based on real companies and
individuals . . . in addition, he presents many relevant
quotes . . . and perhaps best of all, he concludes each chapter
with several questions that force you to reflect on what you've read.

Even if you've never thought too much about thinking, you'll get
a real feel for such things as:

Big-Picture Thinking--seeing the world beyond your own ideas and
how that leads to great ideas;

Focused Thinking--removing mental clutter and distractions to
realize your full potential;

Creative Thinking--stepping out of the "box" and making
breakthroughs;

Shared Thinking--working with others to compound results; and

Reflective Thinking--looking at the past to gain a better understanding
of the future.

There's much more, too . . . but to give you just a feel for some of the
many memorable passages, consider the following:

* Because of my workload, I also have to skip doing many things that
I would love to do. For example, every week I hand off projects that
I think would be fun to do myself. I practice the 10-80-10 principle
with the people to whom I'm delegating a task. I help with the
first 10 percent by casting vision, laying down parameters, providing
resources, and giving encouragement. Then once they've done the
middle 80 percent, I come alongside them again and help them take
whatever it is the rest of the way, if I can. I call it putting the cherry
on top.

* Creating additional thoughts is like taking a trip in your car. You may
know where you are going, but only as you move toward your
destination can you see and experience things in a way not possible
before you started. Creative thinking works something like this:
Think - Collect - Create - Correct - Connect

Once you begin to think, you are free to collect. You ask yourself,
What material relates to this thought? Once you have the material,
you ask, What ideas can make the thought better? That can start
to take an idea to the next level. After that, you can correct or
refine it by asking, What changes can make these ideas better? Finally,
you connect the ideas by positioning them in the right context to
make the thought complete and powerful. The whole process happens
more readily when you have a framework or picture of where you
want to go. That frees you to add value to your thinking. If you go
to the ideas, soon the ideas will flow to you.

* If possibility thinking is new to you, you're going to have to give yourself
a lot of coaching to eliminate some of the negative self-talk you may hear
in your head. When you automatically start listing all the things that can
go wrong or all the reasons something can't be done, stop yourself and
say, "Don't go there." Then ask, "What's right about this?" That will help
to get you started. And if negativity is a really big problem for you and
pessimistic things come out of your mouth before you've even thought
them through, you may need to enlist the aid of a friend of family member
to alert you every time you utter negative ideas.

John C. Maxwell's "Thinking For A Change" was very helpful in teaching me a few of the basics about leadership. He gives eleven main strategies for success in work and life. I think the book can be useful to everyone. You don't necessarily have to be a corporate leader to find it useful. I think it's one of those books you can read ten times, and always find something useful inside. I'm sure I will re-read it when I am further along in my career. I have not graduated from college yet, but it has already started me on a good thinking path. It is useful for business, but it is also useful in everyday life. Since I am not a "business person" yet, I can apply the theories to my life right now, and try to use and perfect them, so when I do enter the business world, I will hopefully have a good grasp on what it is to be a leader. Maxwell talks about big-picture thinking. Big-picture thinkers are never satisfied with their current knowledge, and they always want to learn more. Focused thinking develops and discovers new ideas. Creative thinking celebrate the off-beat and explore options. Realistic thinking is the difference between what is real in life and what we wish to be real. Strategic thinking is planning to make difficult things more simple. Possibility thinking is believing in all possiblities. Reflective thinking is looking back to analyze and learn from what has already happened. Popular thinking, in a way, is not thinking at all. Shared thinking is receiving feedback from others' thoughts as well as your own. Unselfish thinking is getting outside yourself and contributing to others. Bottom-line thinking is measuring the outcomes. These are all very basic explanations of each kind of thinking, but Maxwell goes into a lot of detail. He describes what each kind of thinking is, why it is helpful, and how to go about doing it. Then at the end of each chapter, he has a workbook section that you fill out. These questions and scenarios help you start thinking like the "thinker" described in that chapter. Maxwell uses these eleven strategies to help us understand how to be a good leader, and the workbook parts help us figure out how to put these types of thinking into action. Overall, I thought this book was very affective in teaching some basics about leadership, and I know it is one that i will be pulling off the shelf in the future time and time again.

Maxwell has done it again. He has put togeher a book that inspires and empowers people to press forward to reach new heights. It's an easy read and can be applied to life immediately.

The text for this book is an expanded version of a talk given by Dr. Maxwell at an NBA All-Star game. As a result, there's a sports context for the book's structure.

The concept is that we each lead our lives with a cloud of witnesses observing as we perform (Heb. 12:1). "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us."

You imagine yourself running 10 laps in a race with the stands full of the great people from the Bible. Ten of them come down in turn to join you in running one lap, and share words of encouragement as they do.

From Noah (". . . for when you wonder if your life really counts"), you learn that "you can make a difference" as you contemplate his single-minded focus on building the ark.

From Esther (". . . for when you are uncertain about your purpose"), you are reminded that "when you realize God's purpose for you, you will feel empowered" as you focus on her developing the courage to make pleas to her husband the king to save the lives of the Jews.

From Joseph (". . . for when life isn't turning out the way you planned"), you focus to not "give up on your dreams" as you think about Joseph's childhood dreams that all of his family would honor him.

From Moses (". . . for when you are fearful or reluctant"), you are exhorted to "live in the faith zone, not in the safe zone" as you think about Moses returning to Egypt to lead the Jews after heeding the call of the burning bush.

From Rebekah (". . . for when others ask for your help"), you are reminded to "give generously to others" as you recall her serving water for hours to Abraham and his camels.

From Abraham (". . . for when you don't understand God's ways"), you remember that "God always does the right thing" as you consider his long wait to become a father and then God's command to slay his beloved son, Isaac.

From the Servant Girl in 2 Kings 5:1-3 who was a slave to Naaman (". . . for when you think your efforts are insignificant"), you see that "one small act can make a big difference" as you reflect on her suggestion to her mistress that Naaman see Elisha to have his leprosy cured.

From David (". . . for when others are trying to keep you down"), you see the example that "you can overcome the limitations others put on you" while contemplating what his father, brothers and King Saul did to slight David before he conquered Goliath.

Finally, from Jonathan (". . . for when you want to make a greater impact"), you realize that when it is possible to "strengthen a leader and save a nation" as you think about how Jonathan helped David with Saul.

These brief stories are supplemented at the end with suggestions for reading relevant sections of the Bible to deepen your understanding of these favorite stories.

At the end of each story and lap, there is a marvelous section that includes a prayer and discussion questions. The questions alternate between imagining what the Biblical figure thought about while following these lessons with asking you what you need to do in your life. In most cases, these questions caused me to think about the stories in new ways . . . even though they are all well known to me since I was a little boy in Sunday School.

I think it's easy for us today to forget to draw on the wisdom and experience represented by the great people in the Old Testament. Running with the Giants will help you overcome that tendency.

For me the only things that could have made this book better would have been to include more Biblical stories (including both the Old and the New Testaments) and nonreligious heroes and heroines who have led lives of exceptional spirituality and goodness. But that would have made the book longer, more expensive and taken longer to read. However, I think the difference would have been good for me. Perhaps we'll have a series of these books over time from Dr. Maxwell. I certainly hope so.

Having read and reviewed most of Maxwell's other books, I am probably somewhat unfair when suggesting that he frequently recycles many of the same leadership principles. Stated another way, had I read only the one Maxwell book each time I was composing a review of it, I would probably rate each of the Maxwell books Five Stars. They are carefully organized, well written, and thought-provoking. The same is true of this volume in which Maxwell focuses on ten heroes and heroines from the Old Testament. He suggests that each manifests an important life and leadership principle: Noah (one person can make a difference), Esther (God has a place for you), Joseph (Don't give up on your dreams), Moses (live in the "faith zone," not the "safe zone"), Rebekah (give generously to others), Abraham (God always does the right thing), Nehemiah (no problem is too big when you have help), The Servant Girl (one small act can make a big difference), David (you can overcome the limitations others put on you), and finally Jonathan (strengthen a leader and save a nation). Maxwell devotes a chapter to each and concludes with a "Discussion Guide" based on the material provided in the given chapter.

It is easy to list the names of the heroines and heroes, and, to list also the life and leadership principle each embodies. Far more difficult, obviously, to correlate their ancient cultures with our own. That is precisely Maxwell's point: However different cultures and individual circumstances may be, there really are some enduring values which are relevant to each. After I read this book, I was prompted to ask questions such as these. Have not contemporaries such as Gandhi made a difference? Was it not Mother Teresa's mission in life to give generously to others? Did Martin Luther King, Jr. ever give up on his dream? Were Gandhi, King, Sadat, and Rabin (to name but four) in a "safe zone" or a "faith zone" when assassinated?

To varying degrees, ancient as well as contemporary heroes and heroines demonstrate in their lives and in their leadership of others the same principles and values which Maxwell affirms all of his many books. This one is different from the others in that it attracts our attention to ten individuals most of whom we seldom think about, much less appreciate, and from whom we can learn much of value if our hearts as well as our minds are both willing and able.