How the Best Leaders Lead

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Throughout his latest book, Brian Tracy skillfully discusses the strategies that top executives and business owners use to achieve positive outcomes in challenging markets that have intense competition. He stresses that leadership is the critical factor that determines the success of any business or department, and he explains that selecting, managing, motivating, and guiding employees to achieve positive results is the true measure of a leader's success.

The author is a business speaker and consultant who addresses more than 250,000 people per year worldwide. He has worked with more than 1,000 companies in 52 countries, has written 45 books, and has produced more than 400 audio and video learning programs. In addition, he is the chief learning officer of iLearningGlobal.com and the president of Brian Tracy University, an online education program with a curriculum focused on developing a variety of professional skills and improving on-the-job performance.

This book is well organized, and the topics of each chapter are discussed clearly and concisely. Valuable, thought-provoking analytical questions, both personal and professional, appear throughout the text. Each chapter begins with an inspiring quote from a famous leader, such as Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and others.

The author uses diverse historic and military examples to show that the principles of military strategy can apply to business. These principles include the objective, the offensive, the mass, maneuver, intelligence, concerted action, unity of command, simplicity, security, surprise, economy, and exploitation. For example, success requires that the objective be clearly established, communicated to all team members, and thoroughly understood by the team members. Use of such strategies enables the leader and team members to accomplish their goals in an organized, logical, and consistent manner.

The author also addresses the importance of personal happiness. In one uplifting chapter, he discusses such areas as personal true values, clear goals, purpose, life balance, and simplifying life. Improvement in these areas will result in a happier person and, therefore, increase the likelihood of his or her success as a leader.

This book is fast moving and logical. Readers can easily place themselves in many of the scenarios that the author discusses. The application of military strategies gives a new perspective to business leadership which may be applied to leadership in health care. This excellent book is a valuable resource, both for personal and professional use, for leaders and managers at every level.