by Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Richard Leider

“If you are interested in the internal working of the individual and the self then this book is worth reading – if not then you must read it to see how much of psychology you have been missing by ignoring the cognitions of the individual as key drivers and influencers of behaviour (it takes cause and effect to a new (internal) height!”

“Another interesting book; I feel I must first say that I am not a martial arts practitioner and so manmy of the references here left me a little bit out in the cold.

This book is about how the practice of martial arts techniques can improve your leadership. Its main premise, which I fully support and totally agree with, is that to manage others you must first manage yourself. The author then goes on to decribe how to manage your body by adopting the more meditative elements of martial arts, practice, centre and then do.

There’s nothing specifically wrong with this book and as a self help “spiritual guide” it works well and taps into a well mined pool of knowledge and thought. Where it doesn’t work as well for me is where it tries to force fit leadership into this school of thought. Some bold claims are made about performance improvements by using this technique (by the looks of it with some training) which are not underpinned by any real, concrete evidence (maybe this book is most useful once you have been on the actual training?).

There is nothing wrong with the core concept of focus, ground yourself, act and it is something I use and talk about in my courses where appropriate – I just didn’t need this book to tell me that.

Get the book if the esoteric elements of leadership are your bag and you’ll enjoy it; if you want to improve your leadership skills then maybe get from the library.“