Robert L. Dilenschneider

If you were to ask me, "What drew you to this book?" I would say, "The composition."

I often think when it comes to the term success we need to consider our sense of wonder, of self-discovery, a recognition of the gifts or opportunities we each have and can share with others.

This is not a book where you read a few paragraphs and then your eyes glaze over. This well detailed book is centered around human relationships and shows we are more than a title.

The profiles depict times of hardship, challenges to overcome, adjustment, depth of courage, and inspiration to move beyond current circumstances - making one aware that help received from others, encouragement, and determination are crucial elements in life.… (plus d'informations)

I do not work in the field of public relations but rather work with others that do. Thus, I have a vested interest in learning about their work without going through educational certifications. Further, I’m always eyeing ways to spotlight the positives of my work in an open and tactful manner to interested audiences. This compilation of articles by leading figures addresses a variety of core issues in PR and shows where the field has been, is now, and is going tomorrow.

Almost all of the topics contained in this book address important issues in PR. Everyone has to trumpet their work somehow even if we aren’t full-time personnel in the field. Most of the early articles cover fundamentals with an eye towards collecting the good ideas of the past. Then, later articles capture emerging – and sometimes niche – topics.

Is your audience a government? Chapter 6 covers that. Do you manage potential crises? Chapter 11 covers that. Are your clients international? Chapters 13, 14, 15, and 17 cover those areas. Are you into new channels like social media? See chapter 9. Or do you need to sell your organization’s internal hierarchy? Chapter 10. As you can see, this handbook is very comprehensive and needs to sit in any significant organization’s library to pull out in time of need.

To non-practitioners of PR like myself, this book provides access to the field without having to master the details of practice in the discipline. To practitioners, it presents the leading trends of the field and resources for further exploration. In any discipline, it’s hard to arrange 17 different articles by 17 different authors on 17 different topics that are all engaging and not too narrow. Dilenschneider accomplishes this resolutely and teaches us how to communicate better in the process.… (plus d'informations)

Early adulthood – life after schooling ended – is often portrayed as somewhat meaningless. In this book, Dilenschneider says that not only is that impression wrong but that the twenties define many people’s lives. He offers this book as a sort-of devotional book of success stories based on individual talents. Twenty-three chapters about twenty-five people provide biographical vignettes about people who were disproportionately influential. He offers these to provide hope for those who might despair in their youth that they will never have wider impact.

Many programs – especially educational programs – make success seem like it’s easy and that everyone is doing it. Unfortunately, adult life is difficult, and success is only fleeting. Unlike academic courses, truly linear career progression is rare if not impossible. In these short biographies, combining innate passions with determination seems to count as much as formal education.

These stories are about 10 pages a piece. Instead of focusing on the final success, they focus on what the individuals were doing in their twenties that eventually led them to final success. In a distinctly American manner, they describe how individual personality and unique decision-making led ultimately to the big time. For instance, there’s the classic story of Albert Einstein working at a patent office while writing papers in his annus mirabilis. Or Steve Jobs founding Apple in his parents’ garage. Or Mary Shelley overcoming loss after loss to write history’s best piece of science fiction – Frankenstein.

Dilenshneider clearly tries to provide inspiration and hope to those who despair that the end-goal might never arrive. Sometimes, he addresses the reader directly in a self-help manner. This book reminds me of daily religious devotional readings that I read as a youth, only focused on marketplace success instead of personal integrity. In that sense, like the religious readings, these writings can be hokey at times. The underlying message is persevere with your passions because they will eventually bear fruit. I would have liked to have read more about examples of exactly how to decide on which activities are central and defining.

This book obviously targets ambitious twenty-somethings who are trying to find their place in life. By relating to other figures in history, this book’s readers can identify character traits that they can internalize to make a part of themselves. Further, this book can provide launching pads for further discovery in full-length biographies of individuals with strong rapport with a given reader. Ten pages for each story does not provide much room for analysis, but it can provide a start for a detailed review.… (plus d'informations)

This is a very informative and thoughtful book. Mr. Dilenschneider focuses on different prominent figures in history like Harry Truman, Margaret Thatcher, Joan of Arc, Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln, Malala Yousafzai to name a few.

Mr. Dilenschneider breaks down this book into four different sections: War and Peace, Commerce and Invention, Science, and Breaking Boundaries. Mr. Dilenschneider shares what each figure was known for but what you may not have thought about was what made each person so famous. It was the decisions that they made.

There is so much information in this book but it is so easy to understand. It made me think more about the information I was reading in this book. Readers can take this information in this book and apply it to every day life to make more thoughtful decisions.… (plus d'informations)