I am thankful for the invitation from Career Press to review: “Challenge The Ordinary” by Linda D. Henman PhD.

How do you manage for success? “Challenge The Ordinary” so instructs Linda G. Henman PhD accomplished author, active Fortune 500 management consultant, and C level Career Coach.

The global economy is constantly evolving towards a more competitive and customer oriented market. “The build it and they will come” model for successful business is quickly giving way to specialty suppliers who produce products and provide services almost on an as ordered basis. Only the best and the brightest are capable of navigating the oceans of market and customer data to produce a winning strategy. There is no room for mediocrity at the top. No more can a company rely on a “me too”, commodity based approach to gaining market share, and improving sales.

How to you find the best and the brightest? According to Dr. Henman they will find you, if your company is on the right track. If your company is not on the track to success, the talent you do have will quickly leave for a rising company where their talents will be rewarded with pay and prestige. Pay alone will not keep top performers from leaving your company. Like professional athletes, the pay is only another symbol of their ability, winning is their goal. Have you ever noticed, there are some sports teams who recruit top and promising talent, and still do not win games? I live in the Washington D.C. area, which pro football fans will recognize as Redskins territory. In the 70s the Washington Redskins were the team to reckon with. They seemed invincible. Since then no matter how much is spent on coaches, players, new stadiums and loyal fans the results are dismal. There is a constant turn over in coaching and player talent all the very best, but without positive results. Analyze as we might the core problem keeps coming back to how the team with all its talent is managed. If you do not manage your start performers to produce results, they will soon be looking for another team to help them achieve their greatness.

So it is in industry. There are several example given of top talent in “Challenge the Ordinary” and the one almost all of us can recognize is Steve Jobs of Apple. A genius in his own way, he was able to spot the next big thing in the consumer electronics and recruit the people to make it happen. Management even fired him from his own company, but he came back and restored Apple from failing, to the worlds largest company. Could you handle a Steve Jobs at your company? In “Challenge The Ordinary”, Dr. Henman tells you how.

In the end it is leadership that wins the day. All the talent in the universe will not guarantee success. How many times have you witnessed shooting stars, which have a spectacular rise only to flame out after one success. How about “Dream Teams” in sports or industry that were composed of the very best players or star employees which fizzled at the starting line and some never even finished. Although talent is a prerequisite for success it is not the only element. A good company with strong leadership is required to give those with creativity the support they need to shine. In the end it is the C levels of the organization who must recognize what it takes to be successful and to pull together the talent, support, and mechanisms to make it happen.

Challenge The Ordinary is a guidebook for those who are aiming above mediocrity, and are going for the brass ring.

The PracticaL Mentor Career Coach – www.practicalmentor.com

Title: Challenge The Ordinary
Author: Linda D. Henman PhD
Place Published: Pompton Plains, NJ
Publisher: CAREER PRESS
Pages: 256
Price: $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-60163-316-3

Posted on the PracticaL Mentor’s Website
www.practicalmentor.com

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