This book is a short version of The Cure For the Common Life also written by Max Lucado.  He includes some other material as well.  I read it simply because I always get some inspiration from Lucado’s books and I always get some good illustrations which is important since I speak often.

In this book, Lucado does a God job reminding us that we are uniquely designed by God for a purpose here on earth.  My favorite quotes :

“Heed that inner music.  No one else hears it the way you do.”

“Look back over your life.  What have you done consistently well?  What have you loved to do?  Stand at the intersection of you affections and successes and find your uniqueness.”

“God packed you on purpose for a purpose.”

As with most of Lucado’s book this is not for the person looking for something deep and intellectually stimulating.  It is for the person who needs a bit of inspiration.  If that is you, you will enjoy this book and it will not take you long to do it.

I enjoyed reading Ideas That Stick by these authors so when my son told me he had read this book, I decided to give it a shot.  It turned out to be as enjoyable and informative as Ideas That Stick. 

The writers help you get a handle on both the logical and emotional side of making changes by using an elephant as a picture of our emotional side and a rider to picture the logical side.  The elephant is big and strong but can be guided by the analytical rider. 

When leading people to make a change it is important to appeal to both the elephant and the rider.  In fact, the authors give three key steps to leading people to change:  Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant,  and Shape the Path.

This book is filled with fascinating stories and studies on human behavior.  It also has practical advice on things such as how to overcome the dread of housekeeping. 

I really enjoyed Switch although some of the concepts and stories began to run together by the time I had finished the book.  I think as I go back and review some of the things I have highlighted I will retain even more of the helpful information I learned. 

I actually found this book on my son’s desk and just decided to read it.  It is a short book  that as it turns out is a very good book on leadership.  I don’t know what I expected but it was different from what I really read.

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another a leader, and an idea.  Tribes are about faith – about belief in an idea and grounded in respect for the leader.  In today’s world, each individual has tremendous leverage because we are connected to people around the world in a matter of seconds. 

Overall this book simply reminded me of the influence I can have on others.  This type of influence was just not available to leaders of the past.  In reading Tribes, I was inspired to do a better job of taking advantage of this great opportunity.

My favorite quote: “Generous and authentic leadership will always defeat the selfish efforts of someone doing it just because he can.”