And The Winners Are . . .

And the winners are . . .

Pamela Mattox & Debbie Hyde!

Congratulations, and Cinco de Mayo! Email me your address, or your email address, and we will get your cards to you soon. You can email me at brad@lucidbooks.net. Thanks to all who participated.

We had a lot of fun with this and plan to do more giveaways soon. Stay tuned.


Note: If anyone is interested in how we selected the winner, we assigned each contestant a number based on the order of entry, then used www.random.org to generate the two winning numbers.


P.S. - Posted this a few days ago under the comments section on the original post, but some people missed it. My apologies. 

Drucker's Lost Art of Management - Review

The authors, both long-time followers of Peter Drucker, have written a book that does Drucker's work justice. The care and scholarship that went into this work are evident from the introduction on, and the vision the author's present is, as they say, timeless. While I don't agree with all of Drucker's conclusions, one has to admire how he sought to elevate management to a liberal art. 

Chapter One starts off with a great quote from Drucker that explains the book's purpose:

"Management is thus what tradition used to call a liberal art-"liberal" because it deals with the fundamentals of knowledge, self-knowledge, wisdom, and leadership; "art" because it is practice and application. Managers draw on all the knowledges and insights of the humanities and the social sciences-on psychology and philosophy, on economics and history, on the physical sciences and ethics. But they have to focus this knowledge on effectiveness and results-on healing a sick patient, teaching a student, building a bridge, designing and selling a "user-friendly" software program"

According to Drucker, management goes way beyond the business world. Everyone practices management skills daily, and Drucker tried to elevate the moral, spiritual, and philosophical elements of management in every day life. His work is heavily influenced by his Christian background and his worldview is reflected in all of his works.

One of the most helpful part of this book was the discussion on leadership. "Effective leadership is assuming responsibility for getting the right things done" (246). This is the best chapter in the book and has some great advice for leaders.

This is a heavily researched, well-organized, well written work. I can't see many people reading it who aren't familiar with Drucker already, unless they have a specific interest in management as a liberal art. It's written for business people, but the lessons contained in the book are useful for many. Management of people as a force for good is an idea that is hard to reconcile in the modern business world, but this book points us towards principles and a leader who shows us the way. Recommended.

The Exceptional Presenter - Review

Great book for authors. Will immediately improve your presentations and book signings.


The Exceptional Presenter is a complete book that offers a lot of helpful tips for just about every facet of public speaking. It is written for business presenters primarily, but is equally valuable for teachers, preachers, or first time public speakers. The chapters are laid out well, the formulas are simple enough to implement immediately, and you will find at least one tip that will improve your speaking abilities.

Chapter 4 has some great tips on organizing your speech. The author will show you how to craft a 60 second introduction that helps you focus the entire presentation. This chapter includes a worksheet to guide the speaker and help them create a great presentation. Be sure and check out the 60/20 Rule here as well.

Chapter 5 is entitled Passionate, and it is one of my favorites. I have been guilty of speaking with the "T-Rex Posture" that the author warns against, and there are plenty of practical tips to improve your posture, inflection, and pacing in this chapter. Just following the advice in this chapter would help speakers that I hear each week improve 100%.

The following chapter discusses engagement, and the author gives 11 helpful tips on engaging the audience. Again, rather than just tell you what to do, the author instructs readers on easy ways to practice these skills throughout their day.

There really isn't much not to like about this book. It's easy to read and gets right to the point. The only thing I wish had been fleshed out more was the organization of content, but that is small complaint. Once you factor in the helpful advice on how to practice multiple times a day and the presentation sheets provided at the end of the book, this is an outstanding work that will improve your speaking abilities. Highly recommended for anyone who speaks publicly, especially those who are just starting out.