A cogent presentation of a somewhat narrow aspect of business.
This debut guide details how a simple business technique can improve employee communication.
At first glance, business leaders might dismiss the idea of a “daily huddle” as trivial or even inconsequential. But business owner/consultant Hemmer makes a compelling case for how a 12- minute-a-day employee meeting can substantively impact a company’s bottom line. The author learned the daily huddle technique at a workshop for new beauty salon owners, later recognizing it could apply more broadly to most any business. Her book is a justification for using daily huddles as well as a step-by-step action plan. The volume also supercharges the idea by turning the daily huddle into an “Intelligent Huddle,” a term trademarked by Hemmer. The author first presents the problems businesses face, such as employee turnover, a weak company culture, and poor communication. Then Hemmer diligently provides a detailed overview of neuroscience basics and how to apply them, supporting the argument that there is real depth behind an Intelligent Huddle. For some readers, it may seem unrealistic that something as simple as a daily huddle can offer such key benefits as saving time, reducing stress, creating a problem-solving team, and increasing productivity. Hemmer makes a valiant effort to plead her case with well-written, convincing prose. But except for the author’s personal experiences, case studies and specific examples depicting the daily huddle in use are lacking; they would have been helpful in swaying skeptics. Still, Hemmer does lay out a very thorough implementation plan, right down to the number of minutes that should be spent on specific huddle elements. She also covers how to introduce the idea of daily huddles, enumerates “rules of engagement,” and suggests ways to deal with push back from employees. Perhaps the most critical part of the book is a chapter on measuring the effectiveness of daily huddles. Here, the author discusses common mistakes and suggests ways to track success. Hemmer’s acronym CONNECT (“Conversational Flow,” “Opportunity,” “Neuroscience,” “Needs,” “Engagement,” “Commitment,” “Trust”), referenced in the final chapter, is a handy way to “remember the key principles of the Intelligent Huddle.” The real question is whether business leaders will embrace the idea.
A cogent presentation of a somewhat narrow aspect of business.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 979-8985190205
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Innovator Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.
An exploration of the importance of clarity through calmness in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Austin-based speaker and strategist Holiday (Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, 2018, etc.) believes in downshifting one’s life and activities in order to fully grasp the wonder of stillness. He bolsters this theory with a wide array of perspectives—some based on ancient wisdom (one of the author’s specialties), others more modern—all with the intent to direct readers toward the essential importance of stillness and its “attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence.” Readers will be encouraged by Holiday’s insistence that his methods are within anyone’s grasp. He acknowledges that this rare and coveted calm is already inside each of us, but it’s been worn down by the hustle of busy lives and distractions. Recognizing that this goal requires immense personal discipline, the author draws on the representational histories of John F. Kennedy, Buddha, Tiger Woods, Fred Rogers, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other creative thinkers and scholarly, scientific texts. These examples demonstrate how others have evolved past the noise of modern life and into the solitude of productive thought and cleansing tranquility. Holiday splits his accessible, empowering, and sporadically meandering narrative into a three-part “timeless trinity of mind, body, soul—the head, the heart, the human body.” He juxtaposes Stoic philosopher Seneca’s internal reflection and wisdom against Donald Trump’s egocentric existence, with much of his time spent “in his bathrobe, ranting about the news.” Holiday stresses that while contemporary life is filled with a dizzying variety of “competing priorities and beliefs,” the frenzy can be quelled and serenity maintained through a deliberative calming of the mind and body. The author shows how “stillness is what aims the arrow,” fostering focus, internal harmony, and the kind of holistic self-examination necessary for optimal contentment and mind-body centeredness. Throughout the narrative, he promotes that concept mindfully and convincingly.
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-53858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Even if they're pie-in-the-sky exercises, Sanders’ pitched arguments bear consideration by nonbillionaires.
Everyone’s favorite avuncular socialist sends up a rousing call to remake the American way of doing business.
“In the twenty-first century we can end the vicious dog-eat-dog economy in which the vast majority struggle to survive,” writes Sanders, “while a handful of billionaires have more wealth than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes.” With that statement, the author updates an argument as old as Marx and Proudhon. In a nice play on words, he condemns “the uber-capitalist system under which we live,” showing how it benefits only the slimmest slice of the few while imposing undue burdens on everyone else. Along the way, Sanders notes that resentment over this inequality was powerful fuel for the disastrous Trump administration, since the Democratic Party thoughtlessly largely abandoned underprivileged voters in favor of “wealthy campaign contributors and the ‘beautiful people.’ ” The author looks squarely at Jeff Bezos, whose company “paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018.” Indeed, writes Sanders, “Bezos is the embodiment of the extreme corporate greed that shapes our times.” Aside from a few passages putting a face to avarice, Sanders lays forth a well-reasoned platform of programs to retool the American economy for greater equity, including investment in education and taking seriously a progressive (in all senses) corporate and personal taxation system to make the rich pay their fair share. In the end, he urges, “We must stop being afraid to call out capitalism and demand fundamental change to a corrupt and rigged system.” One wonders if this firebrand of a manifesto is the opening gambit in still another Sanders run for the presidency. If it is, well, the plutocrats might want to take cover for the duration.
Even if they're pie-in-the-sky exercises, Sanders’ pitched arguments bear consideration by nonbillionaires.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9780593238714
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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