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Summary: Random Thoughts From a Wandering Mind
Review: For an insight into the CEO world and building a team concept no one has come close to producing a work like this. It is humorous, insightful and practicle. With humor, personal narratives and thought provking questions Mr. Gill has made this book a must read for all levels of management.
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Summary: Home Run!
Review: Gill has hit it out of the park when it comes to business lessons in a readible format. This book is great!
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Summary: A Great Gift
Review: I am always looking for ways to stay in touch with my key clients. After reading this book I ordered 100 copies and sent them with a personal note to my top 100 clients. I did that because Gill has captured in 300 pages the essence of what business "should" be in America today. It should be fun, profitable, carried out with integrity and growing. I wanted my clients to know that I believed in the concepts set forth in this book.By the way - after I ordered them I found that if I would send them to Ben he would autograph them for my clients. All it took was mailing them to him and providing for shipping back. I see why the guy is a success. He understands true customer service.
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Summary: I've Heard Ben Speak
Review: I came across Ben Gill as a TEC speaker a number of years ago. He started speaking to TEC groups to share his experience as a founding owner of a Company: how he did it, lessons learned along the way, mistakes made, etc. Gill is a compelling speaker with down-home charm coupled with pragmatic advice and practical insights. I don't even hold it against him that he is from Dallas. His Company, RSI, became one of the most successful and largest religious fund raising firms in the country. Gill, I believe, literally founded the fund raising industry. The book is a compilation of anecdotal stories. Each chapter is a story, followed by his insights, followed by questions for the reader to consider. The book is engaging, funny, poignant, touching, gritty, visceral, and philosophical. While it is almost 300 pages, it is any easy read. I found once I started it, I could not put it down. The Message While the book offers no theoretical premise, each chapter builds on an experience to build a "plank" into Gill's platform of how to run and grow a successful Company. Each chapter "story" can be a "stand alone module." In fact, it struck me that you could read the book of 30+ chapters in random order, without missing any of the message. The book is waiting for the business gurus to distill Gill's wisdom into a theoretical premise on the principles of building a great enterprise. Many of the themes are common to what we have heard in our Group and from our speakers. A few of these include: 1. Absolute integrity of the leadership: sharing the good and the bad news, admitting your mistakes, walking your talk. 2. Attracting the best and the brightest: smart, highly motivated, decisive. Talent is the ultimate differentiation of company performance, in Gill's assessment. But, the best and brightest have to be able to work in a cooperative team environment. 3. The critical role that coaching and mentoring make early in the career of a person. 4. People who are very successful have a higher calling: it's more than about money, it's about making a difference. 5. If you are not a life long learner, then you are dead(and may not know it.) All in all, this book is well worth reading. In order to get the most from it, it does require you to spend some time with his questions at the end of each chapter. Therefore, I recommend that you read it twice: once straight through as an easy read, and note the chapters of particular significance for yourself. Then, go back and re-read the short list of highest relevance chapters for yourself, working the questions posed at the end of each. For me, personally, the most compelling chapter is Chapter 16, called "Having Enough." The question posed is "what do you stand for?"(what do you represent). I struggled with that question for a long time. About a decade I evolved to my answer: making a difference every day in people's lives. How? By teaching people to fish. John Gallagher Certified Management Counsultant Paoli, PA
Rating: 
Summary: Random thoughts.....wandering minds...
Review: I have just finished this book and I learned so much! It is definitely one I will review time and again. Gill makes learning life's lessons fun! His insight is invaluable and thought-provoking. I whole-heartedly recommend this book!
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Summary: America's Story Teller
Review: I heard Ben Gill speak recently at a convention in Boston. If there was ever a master story teller it is Gill. Fortunately for everyone he has now put some of those stories in print. This is one book I will give to everyone on my Christmas list.
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Summary: Bad golf - Great book!
Review: I play golf with Ben from time to time. You had better believe he is a beter storyteller than he is a golfer. I couldn't stop laughing. Gary Motley Marketing Director First Mercantile Bank Dallas, TX
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Summary: Client Gifts
Review: I read the review written by the CEO who gave this book to his top clients. Then I ordered the book and understood why. Any business person will receive great "take home" value from Gill's book. I have ordered copies for my top clients (about 100) and asked that Gill personalize them. To my surprise he agreeded. Now I see why he was able to grow a great company and I look forward to putting his lessons in practice in my company as well. This one is so filled with great, yet simple to implement, business ideas that it is hard to believe. My word to Gill - write another one fast!
Rating:
Summary: Client Gifts
Review: I read the review written by the CEO who gave this book to his top clients. Then I ordered the book and understood why. Any business person will receive great "take home" value from Gill's book. I have ordered copies for my top clients (about 100) and asked that Gill personalize them. To my surprise he agreeded. Now I see why he was able to grow a great company and I look forward to putting his lessons in practice in my company as well. This one is so filled with great, yet simple to implement, business ideas that it is hard to believe. My word to Gill - write another one fast!
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Summary: Humor and Management
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Ben's book, "Random Thoughts..." Anyone in management would do well to read this book. Through humor, he makes excellent points for anyone in the role of leadership. Good reading for leaders.
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