Reader Reviews
John Brom
Director Maintenance
Conair Aviation Ltd.
P.O. Box 220
Abbotsford, BC V2S 4N9
Canada
Jim,
It was an absolute pleasure meeting up with you once
again. Your morning lecture May 6th in Vancouver provided me
with the encouragement needed to get on with change at
Conair. I read Pathways to Performance and, as usual,
could not put it down until I was at the end. As with
Firing on All Cylinders, it now has lots of sticky notes
in it. Please know that your spirit and enthusiasm is making
a difference. You mentioned your family several times in
this book, more so than in the past. Please let them know I
appreciate the support they have given you -- it has without
question improved my family's lifestyle.
Keep up the GREAT work!
John Brom
Myrna Scott
County of Bruce Gateway Haven
Box 10, 671 Frank St.
Wiarton, Ontario
Canada
Dear Mr. Clemmer:
I just finished reading your book Pathways to
Performance. I feel excited and overwhelmed at the same
time.
I am the Director of Nursing at Gateway Haven, a long
term care facility in Wiarton, housing a population of
frail, cognitively impaired clients.
Over the years, I have increasingly blamed the system
(political, unionism, administrative) for our organization's
dysfunctional culture.
I've made the mistake of allowing myself to become
disempowered by these factors.
The advice I found most compelling in your book centred
around the self-management/self-leadership concept. I see
that in order to influence my organization, I have to work
harder at changing myself. It's encouraging to hear you say
that leaders are made rather than born.
A number of key elements are already in place. There are
many diamonds related to my job. I can bring ninety-six
sparkling ones to mind very quickly - the clients/residents
that I serve. I've always had a vision in the back of my
mind with respect to the kind of organization I thought
Gateway Haven should aspire to be. I believe that reading
your book was the catalyst that will help me to make that
vision a reality.
Thank you,
Myrna Scott
P.S. I would appreciate it if you would include me on
your mailing list.
Cathy Morton
Insurance Company of British Columbia
625 Agnes St., Suite 200
New Westminister, BC
Canada
Mr. Clemmer:
I am the leader of the legal department of a large
insurance company in British Columbia. Until 1993, I was a
regular staff lawyer in the department. Then, in 1993, a
management position opened and I was asked to take it.
Without much thought (and with absolutely no training or
experience) I agreed. My training consisted of a 3-day
course for new managers. During that course, the instructor
happened to mention your book, Firing on All Cylinders, and
said it was the bible of the corporation's then president.
That was enough to get me to go out and buy it. Thank
goodness I did. Your book got me pointed in the right
direction - and kept me there.
When Pathways to Performance came out, of course I had to
get it. My mother bought it for me for my birthday (actually
she ended up buying two copies - she started reading it
herself and couldn't put it down!) and I just finished
reading it. I was definitely not disappointed! As you
suggest, I spend a lot of time reading, but find many
management books to be overly technical and/or uninspired.
Your books are the only ones that make me stop, reflect, and
write notes about what I am going to do when I next get to
the office. If, by "irritating," you meant "spurring into
action," then you definitely succeeded. (I have to say,
though, that I didn't find anything in the book irritating
in the sense of arousing a negative reaction.)
You asked for feedback on the contents of the book.
Oddly, the part I found most thought-provoking was the
section on purpose in the personal context (Chapter 9).
While I didn't end up deciding to make any radical changes
to my life, I went through some deep personal reflection in
response to that chapter.
I was also impressed by the message that you have to
change yourself before you can change anyone else, and that
your organization will not reflect any attributes that you
don't have personally.
You convinced me of the values of decentralization and
changed my thinking radically on some of my business
processes.
I was also heartened by the Reward and Recognition
section - I had been wrestling for years with the "employee
of the month" concept but had never figured out how to
implement it. Instead I simply used ad hoc appreciation and
thank you notes, cards, etc. What a relief to find out my
instincts were right!
In terms of possible improvements to the book, perhaps
some examples/anecdotes drawn from the staff functions
instead of the line functions, for those of us who operate
service/staff departments as opposed to entire corporations.
Thank you for your books. I look forward to the next one!
Cathy Morton