The Power to Persuade: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization

I found a reference to this 1994 book in Tom Peters's book The Circle of Innovation, and in a real life "click" on the "link", looked it up in the library catalogue, found it and checked it out.

The inside of the dust jacket of the edition I borrowed from the library opened with: "The Power to Persuade answers a fundamental question: how can you successfully navigate a world where persuasion, rather than direct command, is the rule?" For a retired military officer (who had to adjust his paradigms to a civilian, municipal organization), that line spoke volumes.

As it turned out, while I think Haass (current president of the Council on Foreign Relations) wrote a good book, most of what he had to say I already do or knew, but it still had show more value and I made copious notes.

Haass is free with his admiration of many with whom he worked, candid with his own shortcomings as he learned the ways of our bureaucracy, and full of anecdotes to illustrate his thesis on effectiveness in governance. He frames his case with a compass metaphor, advising his readers on the relationships with
- the people for whom we work (North)
- the people who work for us (South),
- those with whom we work; colleagues (East) and
- those with whom we should work, outside interests such as media (West)
And focusing on Five Principles [to effectiveness]
1. Develop and focus on a narrow agenda.
2. Look for opportunities to act.
3. Bring honesty and integrity to all that you do.
4. Be careful.
5. Pay attention to people.

Smart stuff that I haven't seen gathered in one book before. Recommended. show less

Excellent book on succeeding in a on-profit environment