Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success

by Charles C. Manz

Book Overview

""Failure"" is one of the most dreaded words in the English language. The very idea of failing is enough to stop most people in their tracks. It can cause the majority to simply pack up, turn around... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576751325
• ISBN13: 9781576751329
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A great addition to Charles C. Manz's other leadership books

Dr. Manz has provided academics and practitioners over the years with great books on leadership. In fact, for the last five years I have used his "Mastering Self Leadership" (co-authored with Christopher Neck) in my classes with great success. Students enjoy the straightforward writing style and messages in the book, and I appreciate the content because I know it is based on solid research that Dr. Manz has done over the years. Self-leadership is about influencing yourself to become the best you can be by utilizing your talents, handling obstacles, and completing hard-to-do tasks that others tend to avoid. However, in "The Power of Failure," Dr. Manz provides a much needed element missing from his previous books, and that is that sometimes as we take on challenges we will fail. Hard work and focus do not guarantee success in every endeavor. Yet, as Dr. Manz illustrates, the failure can actually be a learning experience and a step toward a future success. He provides both personal stories and examples from historic figures to show us how failure has happened to everyone who has become a success. Much like self leadership, the difference between achievers and non-achievers is how they view and handle the dilemma. Many who believe that successful people have had advantages over others are unaware that high achievers may have failed spectacularly too in their life at different times. However, history reports the achievements, not the failures. Dr. Manz teaches us that everyone has low points in their life at some time. It is how we handle that that determines our future.I am strongly considering adopting this book for my entrepreneurship course next year. Many entrepreneurs experience business failure before they get it right, but the hard times toughen their business acumen and they learn from it. Since many of my students have taken my other courses, I am sure they will be happy to see another one of Dr. Manz's books on my syllabus. Additionally, the book will provide them with wisdom as they enter the stressful years of their early career lives. "The Power of Failure" would be a great book for business students, soon-to-be graduates, and friends or family members who are undergoing a trying time in their lives. On another note, I read the book during a cross country flight. It reads fairly quickly because it is written with Dr. Manz's straightforward style and interesting storytelling. I highly recommend this book.

Failure as normal part of path to success

Our society teaches us to fear failure. It teaches us that if a project or activity fails then we are a failure. This is a real problem because the only way we don't fail is if we don't try. Moving forward means that failure will happen at times. Instead of teaching that failure is personal in nature we need to redefine failure as part of the learning process. Failure has a purpose. Failure can be used to grow as a person or to redefine and improve a project or plan. "The Power of Failure: 27 Ways to Turn Life's Setbacks into Success" provides a framework for redefining failure and using it to get ahead and improve your life. Failure can be a devastating factor that completely stops a person in their tracks or it can be the tool that they use to become successful. The choice is yours. A highly recommended read.

Directly applicable to both business and private life

The Power Of Failure: 27 Ways To Turn Life's Setbacks Into Success by Charles C. Manz (Charles and Janet Nirenberg Professor of Business Leadership, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts) is a highly practical, "user friendly" guide to learning from one's mistakes and using what one has learned to earn success. Means of coping with disappointments, the importance of investing for success, anecdotes, advice, and a great deal more make The Power Of Failure an accessible, effective, highly recommended self-help guide which is directly applicable to both business and private life.

An important book at the right time!

"The Power of Failure" is the right book at the right time. The book is broken down into four sections all of which are needed by people at some point in their life.The first section, "Redefining Failure and Success", helps you reshape your thinking about failure by presenting the real life failures of some of the most influential people in industry today. This section was an "eye opener" for me, and had I read nothing else in the book, I would have been satisfied with section alone.The second section, "Winning Through Losing", presents very effective strategies that can be put to use on a daily basis to build winning personal relationships.The third section, "Coping with Failure", is probably the most important. Failure can be devastating and I have personally seen people that have never recovered from past failures. The emotional strength this chapter provides could be a great comfort to someone who is trying to cope with significant failure in their life.The final section, "Collaborating With Failure", gives strategies for effectively investing in your future.I feel that this is an important book, especially with the recent down turn in the economy and the significant number of businesses that are experiencing failure. However, this book is not just about business, but about your personal health and well being.You should definitely buy this book.