Books about Remarkable from Amazon.com

A Remarkable Motheris President Carter's loving, admiring, wry homage to Miss Lillian Carter, who championed the underdog always, even when her son was president

A registered nurse, pecan grower, university housemother, Peace Corps volunteer, public speaker, and renowned raconteur, Miss Lillian ignored the mores and prejudices of the racially segregated South of the Great Depression years. She was an avid supporter of the Brooklyn Dodgers (because she happened to attend the first major league baseball game in which Jackie Robinson, from Cairo, Georgia, played), was a favored guest on television talk shows (usually able to "steal the microphone" from hosts such as Johnny Carson and Walter Cronkite), and an important role model for the nation. Jimmy Carter's mother emerges from this portrait as redoubtable, generous, and forward-looking. He ascribes to her the inspiration for his own life's work of commitment and faith..
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Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to sort out this mess with the help of head fishmonger Lonnie. Based on a bestselling corporate education video, Fish! aims to help employees find their way to a fun and happy workplace. While some may find the story line and prescriptions--such as "Choose Your Attitude," "Make Their Day," and "Be Present"--downright corny, others will find a good dose of worthwhile motivational management techniques. If you loved Who Moved My Cheese? then you'll find much to like here. And don't worry about Mary Jane and kids. Fish! has a happy ending for everyone. --Harry C. Edwards.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth century. While FDR’s official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women–particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd–that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman. It is no coincidence that Rutherfurd was with Roosevelt the day he died in Warm Springs, Georgia, along with two other close women companions. In Franklin and Lucy, acclaimed author and historian Joseph E. Persico explores FDR’s romance with Lucy Rutherfurd, which was far deeper and lasted much longer than was previously acknowledged. Persico’s provocative conclusions about their relationship are informed by a revealing range of sources, including never-before-published letters and documents from Lucy Rutherfurd’s estate that attest to the intensity and scope of the affair.

FDR’s connection with Lucy also creates an opportunity for Persico to take a more penetrating look at the other women in FDR’s life. We come to see more clearly how FDR’s infidelity as a husband contributed to Eleanor’s eventual transformation from a repressed Victorian to perhaps the greatest American woman of her century; how the shaping hand of FDR’s strong-willed mother helped to imbue him with the resolve to overcome personal and public adversity throughout his life; and how other women around FDR, including his “surrogate spouse,” Missy LeHand, and his close confidante, the obscure Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, completed the world that he inhabited.

Franklin and Lucy is an extraordinary look at the private life of a leader who continues to fascinate scholars and the general public alike. In focusing on Lucy Rutherfurd and the myriad women who mattered to Roosevelt, Persico paints a more intimate portrait than we have heretofore had of this enigmatic giant of American history..
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With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. .
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A dramatic autobiography of one of China's dedicated, courageous, and intensely persecuted house church leaders (20040603).
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From Publishers Weekly
Reading a book with the word "hug" in the title that basically advises on how to be nice to other people makes one realize that there ought to be more books like this on the shelves Mitchell, CEO of the clothing stores Mitchells/Richards/Marshs has already outlined how to keep customers happy in Hug Your Customers. With his newest, Mitchell repeats this mandate, now turning inward to focus on how to hire and maintain a happy staff. Divided into five parts that outline how to treat people, build trust, develop pride in your organization and be inclusive and recognize people, the book looks at how creating a niceness culture can help to create employees that stick around the company and take a personal interest in the organization. Mitchell ends each chapter with a helpful checklist that repeats the important points. In one chapter, he advises redefining "rules and regulations" as "expectations and standards" (rules, for example, are "unbending... cold and impersonal"; expectations are "flexible and freeing when they need to be"). While such changes may seem subtle, the spirit behind them is surely a worthwhile reminder of how to make work more enjoyable for everyone. (Mar. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Howard Behar, Director, Starbucks Coffee
"Hug Your People is totally inspiring. Jack Mitchell takes you on a journey that is as much about life as it is about business. This book will not only help you become a better leader but also make you a better person. At Starbucks we experienced firsthand what the lessons that Jack imparts can do to help an organization. If you want a more rewarding relationship with another human being, read this book."

Richard J. Harrington, President and CEO, The Thomson Corporation
"If you look behind the scenes at any business that succeeds over the long term, you will find motivated, committed, energized employees. Jack Mitchell is the grand master at motivating and inspiring employees to perform brilliantly--and exceed their customers' expectations every time."

Sy Sternberg, Chairman and CEO, New York Life
"Hug Your People is the perfect sequel to Hug Your Customers. Good customer service starts with happy employees, and Jack Mitchell knows it!"

Arthur Levitt, Jr., author of Take on the Street, former chairman, SEC, present friend and customer of Mitchells
"Hug Your People must be a `must read' if Jack Mitchell authored it. He knows more about motivating people--customers, employees, and all with whom he comes in contact--than any other person I know."

Paul Newman
"If you want to run a business, but hate American corporate culture, this book is the one to read. Here's somebody whose advice you can use."

Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager(R) and Raving Fans(R)
"... Jack Mitchell explains how simple ideas, put into practice, will let your employees know how much you value them."

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pepsico
"... spot-on ... Your book taught me a lot, Jack. For providing me with some great ideas, many thanks."

Cathie Black, President, Hearst Magazines
"... extraordinary customer service and satisfaction is the result of treating your associates like they, too, were family members."

About the Book
In Hug Your Customers, Jack Mitchell showed business readers how to keep their customers happy--and their profits booming. In Hug Your People, he elaborates on his big secret: hiring, motivating and keeping your biggest asset, great employees!

"Giving great personalized customer service has always been the foremost goal in my family, but one thing we never lose sight of is that you can't possibly deliver great service if you don't treat your own associates right." So says Jack Mitchell, CEO of his family's astoundingly successful chain of clothing stores. In Hug Your People, he shares his secrets for creating happy employees, secrets as simple as they are revolutionary:

Be NICE to them (and hire nice people to begin with)

TRUST them (they deserve it and will work even harder and smarter to continue to earn that trust)

Instill PRIDE in them (they are more productive when they are proud of their work)

INCLUDE them (since you can't do it alone)

Generously RECOGNIZE them (and not only with money--but don't be chintzy, either)

Hug Your People is filled with real stories about real people. Jack offers his principles on "hugging" your associates--whether they are the sales team, the cleaning staff, the delivery people, the backroom financial wizards, the marketing and advertising departments, or outsourced staff. Hug Your People is just what today's employees and managers need.

"Positive people power is fundamental to the overall success of any business." --Jack Mitchell

About the Author
JACK MITCHELL is the CEO of Mitchells/Richards/Marshs, three of the most successful clothing stores in the business. He and his wife, Linda, live in Wilton, Connecticut, where they raised four sons..
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An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift-an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brillance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.

Translated from the German by John E. Woods..
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33 of the world's best business minds tackle one urgent question: What does it really take to make your organization remarkable?

Most organizations are stuck in a rut. On one hand, they understand all the good things that will come with growth. On the other, they’re petrified that growth means change, and change means risk, and risk means death. Nobody wants to screw up and ruin a good thing, so most companies (and individuals) just keep trying to be perfect at the things they’ve always done.

In 2003, Seth Godin’s Purple Cow challenged organizations to become remarkable—to drive growth by standing out in a world full of brown cows. It struck a huge chord and stayed on the Business-Week bestseller list for nearly two years. You can hear countless brainstorming meetings where people refer to purple cows and say things like, “That’s not good enough. We need to create a big moo!”

But how do you create a big moo—an insight so astounding that people can’t help but remark on it, like digital TV recording (TiVo) or overnight shipping (FedEx), or the world’s best vacuum cleaner (Dyson)? Godin worked with thirty-two of the world’s smartest thinkers to answer this critical question. And the team—with the likes of Tom Peters, Malcolm Gladwell, Guy Kawasaki, Mark Cuban, Robyn Waters, Dave Balter, Red Maxwell, and Randall Rothenberg on board— created an incredibly useful book that’s fun to read and perfect for groups to share, discuss, and apply.

The Big Moo is a simple book in the tradition of Fish and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. Instead of lecturing you, it tells stories that stick to your ribs and light your fire. It will help you to create a culture that consistently delivers remarkable innovations..
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