by Clarence E. Stowers | Jan 4, 2010 | Book Reviews, Books, Success
As I mentioned in my previous post, I absolutely love reading books! Consequently, I’ve read a lot of books in the last 10 years. There are many books that I consider to have greatly been a part of literally transforming my life. There were many great books that didn’t make my list that are classics and didn’t meet the criteria that I considered.
Additionally, since I have so many recommendations, I’ve decided to break them down into the following categories: Church Growth, Theology, Christian Living, Leadership, Self-Improvement, Business, Sociology, and African-American Studies. I will devote blog space to cover each category in subsequent posts.
Here we go:
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 30, 2009 | Book Reviews, Books, Christian, Christianity, Empowerment
I love reading books, and like many of you, I read a lot of books in the last 10 years. Half of the decade I spent in graduate school (finishing up my Doctor of Ministry degree) so there were a lot of books to be read and I just really enjoy reading anyways. I read about 500 books this last decade and there were a lot of great ones….some good ones….and some not so good ones. But there were definitely some books that stood out and really changed my life.
There are many books that I consider to have greatly been a part of spiritually transforming my life. When I chose my books there were some basic criteria that I considered:
- I didn’t list the bible, because I’m hoping you assume that that is the book that has spiritually transformed me the most.
- They were memorable (some books are just forgettable, and these were not)
- They didn’t have to be written this decade
- They are ones that I recommend to everyone
- They are leading works in their field
- They are ones that I have read multiple times, or are back on the reading rotation to read again
- They needed to have fundamentally shifted some area of my thinking–paradigm shifting influence
- They transformed me spiritually (my theology, my ministry, my prayer life, my leadership, my preaching, my counseling, my pastoring, my understanding of humanity, my relationship with God, etc.)
Additionally, since I have so many recommendations, I’ve decided to break them down into the following categories: Church Growth, Theology, Christian Living, Leadership, Self-Improvement, Business, Sociology, and African-American Studies. I will devote blog space to cover each category in subsequent posts.
Here we go:
(more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 2, 2009 | Accountability, Book Reviews, Decisions, Leadership, Success, Teamwork
In case you’ve wondered what happened to my blog, rest assured because all is well! I had to take time and prepare for my doctoral thesis defense. Consequently, I’ve had to steal away and prepare. I’ve been sort of “micro-blogging” primarily through facebook and Twitter.
I just started reading a book by Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) titled, How the Mighty Fall. Collins unveils several years’ worth of research on why great companies collapse. These are companies like Zenith, Circuit City, Bank of America, Merck, IBM, etc. They were at some point leaders in the industry and seemingly invincible, but they have all suffered horrendous falls. Collins says there are five stages of decline.
Here is an interesting quote:
“I’ve come to see institutional decline like a staged disease: harder to detect but easier to cure in the earlier stages, easier to detect but harder to cure in the later stages. An institution can look strong on the outside but already be sick on the inside, dangerously on the cusp of a precipitous fall.”
Here is what struck me in the first few chapters: stage 1 of decline is “”Hubris Born of Success”, i.e. pride. Collins is not writing from a Christian perspective, but his research states that great companies begin a skid to irrelevancy and death by pride. The insidious cocktail of entitlement and arrogance begins to course through the company’s veins and eventually seduces it into stage 2, and thus, the decline is well under way.
What is true for the organizations we work for and serve is also true about our own lives. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Or perhaps Proverbs 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” Lastly, Mark 7:20-22 says, “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come…pride.”
Dictionary.com defines “pride” as, “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.” The antidote for pride is humility. Humility is the root of any virtue and all graces flow from it. The purest form of humility was displayed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The One who deserves all accolades and praise came to serve. The One who is esteemed above all else emptied himself and died on a cross (Phil. 2:1-11). He laid down his life for the proud, but then, our pride is what keeps us from seeing and savoring this.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 4, 2009 | Book Reviews, Communication, Empowerment, Leadership, Success, Vision
With 2009 destined to be a tough year for a lot of people, I thought now would be the perfect time to review Marcus Buckingham's book , The Truth About You which aims to empower you to enjoy higher satisfaction and performance in life and work.
If you are someone who still is not sure what to do with your life, then this is probably a great book for you to pick up. It includes a DVD, the book and a notepad, all of which make for a very interactive experience. If you are already in tune with your strengths and how you want to spend your life, and you are one of the 2 out of 10 people Marcus mentions that get to play to their strengths at work, then there are still some solid nuggets in the book for you as well.
The book discusses how successful people can build their dream jobs. The philosophy of the book revolves around 3 myths that hold you back from building your own dream job.
"Your strengths aren't what you're good at, and your weaknesses aren't what you're bad at."
“When it comes to the job, the 'what' always trumps the 'why' or the 'who'."
“You'll never turn your weaknesses into strengths.”
It also explains the differences in your strengths versus your weaknesses in a way that you probably have not thought about. Ensuing chapters provide 5 pieces of advice (a chapter for each) to stay on your strength path and succeed in both work and life.
In short, if you're really yearning to discover more about your strengths or weaknesses, give this book a try. Pick the book up and read it. Then give it away to a young person preparing for a new career path. And then treat yourself to a new copy.
To read the first 12 pages click “read” on the widget below:
Disclaimer: I was given this book by the publisher, Thomas Nelson, as part of a program for book reviewers, but given no direction to follow nor compensation for this review.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 4, 2008 | Book Reviews, Communication, Empowerment, Leadership
One of our members asked me for a list of my favorite business books. I thought I'd share my list here.
These are in no particular order. I may think of others, but these are the ones that come to mind first.
What are some of your favorites/recommendations that you'd like to share?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Feb 20, 2008 | Book Reviews, Communication, Preaching
In case you haven’t noticed, I have the book, Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath on my "Books I’m Currently Reading" list. I’ve started and stopped, started and stopped and started and stopped. Hate that!
But now, I’ve started AGAIN and have not stopped. (And don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t stopping because the book was bad or boring. Actually, quite the opposite. I wanted to devote some solid time to reading through the entire book instead of trying to fit it in little by little.)
So with that said, let me say LOUD and CLEAR that this is a book that EVERY preacher/communicator/pastor/teacher/leader/CEO/marketer/and anyone else who has a message that they believe needs to STICK with people, should read!
The book examines why some ideas seem to STICK and SURVIVE and others don’t. The authors expound on these six principles of sticky ideas throughout the book:
Simplicity – Creating ideas that are both simple and profound.
Unexpectedness – We need to violate people’s expectations. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.
Concreteness – Ideas must be explained in terms of human actions and sensory information. We tend to gravitate towards ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. People remember concrete ideas and data. Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it.
Credibility – Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need to find ways to help people test our ideas for themselves.
Emotions – People will care about our ideas when we help them feel something.
Stories – Hearing stories help motivate people to act on our ideas.
