Pick up a good book

   Now that it is winter I like to do some more reading.  Last night I finished a book on Servant Leadership by James Hunter.  A good book for those people hoping to move up the chain and become a leader.  However the one thing I learned is not to be a leader that just barks orders.  However, holding people accountable is extremely important.  I was taught a lesson a long time ago by a manager at one of my previous jobs.  It's ok to be friends with the people you work with but when you punch the time clock you are not friends anymore.  The theory sounds harsher than it really is in real work life experiences.  But lets face it, nothing bothers coworkers more than watching people get special treatment.  If you want to divide a work place give someone special treatment for a month and see how that works.  See how the morale in the workplace changes and see how the productivity of those people being treated differently changes.  I go by one simple rule...work hard, prove yourself and in the end something good will happen.   But enough on that book.

   I am in the middle of another book titled "The Raising of a President."   It talks about our presidents and their parents.  It gives a lot of insight on how the leaders of our country were shaped at a young age.  I cannot get over the stories of Abraham Lincoln.  He basically raised himself.  While growing up he would do nothing but read books.  He never went to more than one year of school.  His dad would always criticize him for "wasting his time reading those stupid books."  Lincoln had it pretty rough back then.  Kind of crazy to hear the stories of how our 16th President came to be. 

   I have a lot of books sitting on the shelf just waiting to be opened.  I like the current events books and history books the most.  If I can get my hands on a good autobiography on a historical figure, world leader and president I will not hesitate to read them. 

Brad Feldman