Review: Valuable book for leaders to lead better
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 5, 2013
I think that Michael Nir's book, "Silent Influencing - Employing Powerful Techniques for Influencing Leadership" is a well-written book with excellent editing. (I review a lot of books and it's all too seldom that I can say that!) The chapters are clearly divided and the exercises are simple and easy to follow. There are many people who could benefit from the information in this book.I would suggest one change which would improve the book's usability as a reference tool. The Table of Contents should be linked to the chapter headings. I was discussing the book with a friend of mine and I mentioned the various meanings of hand positions and wanted to use specific examples but couldn't remember precisely where in the book that information could be found. An activated Table of Contents would have greatly helped the situation; as it was, I just changed the subject.Although Michael states that anyone could benefit from this book, I don't agree. For one thing, the book is written on a college reading level with an advanced, and sometimes technical, vocabulary. I don't believe that someone with a high school level (or lower) education could follow the Gestalt concepts, for example. These people are seldom in a leadership position and being more assertive, even silently, from a subordinate position is not likely to have a favorable outcome, especially if you are a woman.I was watching The Colbert Report last night after I had just finished the book and I noticed that he constantly points his fingers (he uses both hands) to emphasize his points. I never noticed that before and got a kick out of noting it because he is most definitely a leader and is always in control of his environment.I can see this book being very useful for someone in a position of management trainee all the way to the top position in a company. I can also see how these techniques would help a graduate student to a full professor in an academic environment. In other words, I believe you need to have a sphere of influence in order to influence it silently. For those people who want to be better leaders, I definitely recommend this book.I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review which I have tried to give. I received no other compensation and all opinions expressed are my own.