Building Personal Leadership

Building Personal Leadership
Joe Farcht
Morgan James
ISBN: 1-60037-165-5
Non-Fiction, Business, Self Help
Reviewed by Frederick Noronha

Self-development. This term is written large on a book that promises "a treasury of tools and techniques to help the individual seeking greater success in their work and lives to realize their wants and dreams."
Joe Farcht of Leadership Advantage Inc is the author of this book. The idea for it came after six years of "writing monthly newsletters and weekly e-mails to serve ... those I have worked with, met, or have encountered."
It comes across in four parts -- personal productivity, personal leadership, business leadership, and barriers to success. In 30 chapters of manageable size, the book touches on themes that range from goals, to time management, prioritization, communication,
self-development, attitudes, personal growth, getting results, coaching, fear, and never giving up.
At the very start, Farcht gives the message that "re-mastering the basics" is what being effective and productive is all about.
And what are the basics? Goal setting and planning, organizing for productivity, managing your time and activities, keeping every commitment, delegating and follow-up, communicating effectively, task focus and self-discipline, handling interruptions, managing e-mail and the telephone, developing yourself, and maintaining a positive mental attitude.
Farcht has a simple way of explaining things, and is optimistic that you can get it if you really want to. And he quotes Paul J Meyer (author of 'Attitude is Everything' and 'I Inherited a Fortune') saying it thus: "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass."
A useful book. Reading it reminded me of so many things we take for granted. To quote Farcht's quote of the sage from five centuries before Christ, Buddha: "The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly."