The Power to Persuade - Hardcover

Haass, Richard N.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395675855 ISBN 13: 9780395675854

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1994

Synopsis

The Power to Persuade answers a fundamental question: how can you safely and successfully navigate a world where persuasion, rather than direct command, is the rule? Scores of business books suggest how to boost profits, but this is the only book to tell managers in government and other public sector organizations how to improve performance when there is no clear bottom line.
While teaching at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Richard N. Haass realized that no existing book advised those in political settings how to become more effective. Now he has filled the gap. Using a compass as his operating metaphor - your boss is north of you, your staff is south of you, and so on - he provides guidelines for managing key relationships, setting agendas, and translating goals into results. His interviews with Colin Powell, James Baker, Robert Strauss, and dozens of others yield much practical insight.
For the twenty million Americans now employed in the public sector, and for millions more working in complex or unruly organizations of every sort, here is a lively, useful book about practicing the delicate art of persuasion to gain influence and achieve success.

About this title

From Booklist

The power to persuade and the art of persuasion are vital in all walks of life, but for those in the public sector, persuasion is often the only tool at one's disposal. Haass was special assistant to President Bush and a senior director at the National Security Council and has a long record of government service. He has written extensively on foreign affairs and defense issues but here addresses his concerns with making government more effective. He contrasts his book with the many other books now out aimed at making government more efficient. With observations culled from his own experience and from more than 50 in-depth interviews with the likes of James Baker and Colin Powell, Haass shows how to manage relationships with and get results from one's boss, one's staff, one's colleagues, and those on the "outside." Included is a brief but valuable bibliography of books that show how and why government works--and doesn't work. Sure to be requested at the circulation desk. David Rouse

From Library Journal

In the tradition of Dale Carnegie, Haass presents a reader-friendly guide to making positive progress toward goal accomplishment for managers at all levels. Real-world situations and the experiences of people in the know combined with commonsense personal organization tips make this book essential reading for all managers who feel that they're spinning their wheels. The author, a former special assistant to President Bush and a senior director at the National Security Council, presents an impressive parade of personalities whose caveats and anecdotes demonstrate the power of persuasion and the necessary underlying planning and preparedness that go with it. Using the compass analogy, the author discusses how to persuade successfully those to one's north (bosses), south (subordinates), east (colleagues), and west (important outsiders). Recommended for all public and academic libraries.
Randy Abbott, Univ. of Evansville Libs., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0395675855
• ISBN 13: 9780395675854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 260