BEFORE READING THE BOOK: I have been conducting employee reviews for seven years, but I never felt I was doing a good job. I always became uncomfortable with writing and holding the review with my employees. I felt confused and inadequate (as a leader) trying to grow and develop my employees.

AFTER READING THE BOOK: I learned so many of the things I was doing wrong (which are the same things almost all leaders do wrong in writing and giving employee evaluations). I took Swan's eight steps of the performance appraisal to heart, and incorporated them into my own management style. Swan explains how the performance appraisal is a yearlong process of coaching and giving feed back to your employees. I learned how to write more effective, specific, and measurable performance objectives (in order to grow and improve my emloyee's performance). I learned how to observe and journal the good and poor behavior of my employees, so that I could give specific examples during the appraisal of what they were doing well, and what areas they need to work on. I learned how to write a more objective narrative on my employee's ability to meet the company's performance factors. Everything I learned was applicable and easy to implement!

In short, I learned everything I needed to know to provide my employees with a more effective review...which includes yearlong feedback and coaching, so that they can grow and develop in their positions.

The result? I have gained more confidence as a leader; I have formed better relationships and a closer bond with my employees; I have learned to write better reviews; and the most important result is that my employees have come to me and have thanked me for my interest to improve their performance. They are grateful for my help in growing their careers, as well as their growth as individuals. I couldn't be more pleased! I feel that I am truly beginning to function as a leader!

Oh, and more good news...the book is easy to read and understand!

I hope that all managers will read this book and implement the 8 steps. :)

I have used this book as a text for a university Toxicology course for Safety Engineering Technology. It is a wonderful guide to the scientific basis of toxicology in the workplace. It is a level above the basic information and would be a wonderful reference for the safety professional who needs to solve problems and needs to determine when to bring a specialist into the worksite. It covers the applied (rather than theoretical) science, toxic agents and their manifestations, and evaluation and control of hazards in industrial workplaces.

Driving in Jefferson City, Missouri a few years ago, I saw a man selling Confederate flags by the side of the road. In the St. Louis area, where I live, this man would probably have been beaten to within an inch of his life, but to most Missourians, St. Louis might as well be New York City. In out-state Missouri, publicly displaying a Confederate flag does not seem to be an unofficial felony.

Why? Why did a state which began life and perceived itself as Western become the most Confederate state in America(as some of us like to point out, WE didn't surrender until 1882, when Frank James turned himself in after Jesse's murder)? In this biography of Claiborne Jackson, the Missouri governor who tried to take his state out of the Union, Christopher Phillips argues that Missouri's transformation from Western to Southern basically boiled down to the protection of slavery. Central Missourians, the people around whom this book mostly revolves, did not see owning slaves as contrary to democracy but central to it. Their families had owned slaves since emigrating to the West from Kentucky or Virginia. Threats, or perceived threats, to slavery finally drove segments of Missouri's leadership to a full-fledged Southern identity and led to Missouri's exceptionally violent civil war, which in turn fueled Missouri's fierce postwar attachment to the Confederate States.

This is both a good biography of Jackson and a good study of antebellum Missouri. But I do have a few problems with it. Phillips spends the bulk of his time in the Boon's Lick(now called Little Dixie another result of the war)among the slaveholding aristocracy there. Natural, one assumes, because that's where Jackson was from, but the rest of the state is neglected. St. Louis is paid attention to, but other areas of the state, like the fiercely Unionist regions of the Ozarks, are barely mentioned. And once the war starts, Phillips seems in a hurry to wrap things up; I wish he'd spent more time on the war itself.

Nonetheless, if you're interested in antebellum American history, this book is well worth your time.

A very good text book to learn about Earth Science

After recieving this book as a gift, the Summer Berry Tart recipie has become one of my specialties. Give it as a gift with a tart pan, and any cook is sure to appreciate it. I have given it as gifts, and have loved every recipie I've tried. It is a great addition to the Williams-Sonoma cookbook library, which is a must for cooks!

Although this is an outstanding series, I thought I was ordering the teachers version of this book. This is the student workbook. It is still a great series though.

This book provides access to many of the great works on Russian Organized Crime. The book helped to give me a broader and more complete look of Russian Criminal organizations. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about ROC.

Very good for in-class work, it is perfect for an introduction to the world of statistics and data. Good for grades 4-8.

This was my first book that I purchased for learning 3d studio max.. I also bought the fundamental book too.. I've only flip through couples of pages then I put it away to collect dust. The exercise are hard to follow, they gave complete instruction for teaching you a certain command. But you wouldn't find motivation to delve in to the 3d world by building something that's meaningless. The book is only good for advance user as it'll teaches you how to press certain short cut keys and stuff..

I found this book hard to comprehend.. even if I'm a immediate user, I wouldn't picked this book, as this is so boring.. It teaches you how to do certain things, but don't tell you much why you are doing it, or why is it necessary to take the steps..

there are few other good ones out there if you are a intermediate user...

This was my second 3D Studio max book. Buying it then was a mistake. There are many introductory books out there and this is one of the best but the problem is that the followup to this book; Inside 3DSMax vol 2, has everything vol 1 does and more. Get it if you are just starting out, and then I hope you are not scared of big books because this is where you start off, and start off well. If you already know your way around Max and just want to know advanced stuff like material manipulation and smoother models, get volume 2.

Many books on the market will give you step by step instructions how how to create a scene, or create certain effects. Although this is sometimes handy, it doesn't easially allow the user to incorperate the skills they learned into their own work.

Inside 3D Studio Max shows you the concepts behind how the program works, and allows you to apply these concepts, and skills to your own work, rather than a preformatted tutorial. It is this fact, however, that makes the book not extremely useful for modelers who are new to the program. This book often speaks of the manual which ships with 3DS Max, and the writer made it clear that this was not yet ANOTHER MANUAL. Inside 3D Studio Max explores how to expand your ability.

If you have no prior modeling practice, read the manual which ships with Max, then buy this book. If you do that, you will appreciate what is taught in this massive book.

This is an overall GREAT book, and it has really helped me to become a much better 3D artist.

I've had this cookbook for ten months now, and for the most part it now sits on the shelf, gathering dust. Why? Although the recipes are unique and creative and the pictures look great, the results for almost all of the recipes I've tried are a great disappointment. I believe that healthy, fat free, low sodium cooking doesn't have to be bland, but that's what the majority of these recipes are. And while other readers have found the recipes to be quick, I found them to be quite time-consuming. There are a few recipes in the book that I like and frequently return to, but too few to justify owning the book.

There are lots of wonderful recipes in this beautifully edited book, my only concern is the use of non-stick sprays instead of real and HEALTHY fats. I just wonder when this whole fat scare will end - are we to believe that using artificial but low - fat products is going to make us healthy? Otherwise, a very enjoyable cookbook....

When it comes to being inspired to create a culinary masterpiece, there is really something to be said for seeing beautiful photographs of the food you are soon to be preparing. This book draws you into the sensuous side of these dishes before you even hit the grocery store.