Amazon Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review to be helpful:
A Perfect Gift, June 3, 2001
By D. Kaiser
This is a wonderful little book. I use it regularly in undergraduate and graduate courses I teach in leadership and decision making. It is a book that many students keep when the class is finished; and, it is not unusual for students to purchase additional copies to give to thier friends, colleagues, and managers.
7 of 7 people found the following review to be helpful:
A Good Read!, February 16, 2001
By Rolf Dobelli
Keshavan Nair emphasizes the need for leadership based on a fundamental moral standard, as taught and lived by Mohandus Gandhi. The Indian leader embodied a moral life centered on truth, non-violence and service to others. Nair argues that business leaders today need to follow these basic principles. He stresses that these principles - and the practices based upon them - make good business sense in the long run, as well as being crucial to the survival of society. The text combines Gandhi's experiences with Nair's exhortations on how to apply these principles in the workplace. However, Nair provides few examples of contemporary leaders who practice these principles. Thus, the book occasionally comes across as somewhat preachy, wishful, overly idealistic and out of touch with the everyday realities of business. Yet, we at getAbstract.com recommend it in the face of those realities as a counterbalance, as well as a good quick read that encourages thought.
7 of 7 people found the following review to be helpful:
Learning From Gandhi, September 30, 1999
By Mitchell R. Alegre
This quick reading book focuses on the life of Gandhi as a model for leadership. The author applies lessons from Gandhi's life to the practical tasks of leadershi. Nair provides guidelines for a leader's standard of conduct and for making decisions and taking actions based on moral principles. According to Nair, even when we are in the role of follower, it is our responsibility "to raise our standards so our leaders will have to follow." This is not a book heavy on skill building. The author's purpose is to challenge us to abide by a high moral standard in our roles as leaders and followers. Reading this book is an act of self-reflection from which all of us can benefit.
5 of 5 people found the following review to be helpful:
A good guideline for Upper Management, August 27, 2001
By Antonio Bustillo
You don't have to know a thing about M. Ghandi to appreciate this book. Even so, to get his point across the author gives the reader examples of Ghandi's approach to life, and how we can apply it in today's society. I especially enjoyed the emphasis encouraging anyone in 'supervisory positions' to not be elitist, and to have to be more honest with their employees.Small business owners, and corporate managers would benefit greatly from reading this book because it reinforces values that, for the most part, have been forgotten. Nair's work is a more sophisticated version of the book "Who Moved My Cheese' Employees, as an anonymous gift, give this book to your supervisors.
4 of 4 people found the following review to be helpful:
Captures the essence of leadership in business and home, July 13, 1997
By Antonio Bustillo
This book is simple to read, but is by no means simple in the message and concepts. Once I started, it was nearly impossible to put it down.
Too many books on "leadership" merely use the term in the title since it is now a popular cliche and sure to sell a book that otherwise would have no market. Indeed, many do not even deal with the elementary elements of leadership.
However "A higher standard . . ." deals with the the true elements of leadership, those preached by Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Martin Luther King (who was a disciple of Ghandi's philosphy which may in part account for his extraordinary visions and leadership), and other true leaders over the history of mankind.
"A higher standard ..." does indeed set a higher standard, making it difficult to achieve but if leadership was easy, why do we seem to have no leaders today at the state and national level?
Regardless of your religious or political pursuasion, this book has something for you. If you want to improve "family values," then this book tells each of us how to start as parents, youth leaders, coaches, etc. If you want to be a leader and rather than merely a politician or CEO, this is the place to start. If you are a "liberal," this book tells you what to do to restore "liberalism" as a socially desired philosophy. Finally, if you are a "conservative," this book gives you the path to a smaller government, that tempers caring and provides an ethical basis to social issues (over which most major revolutions have been inspired since at least the birth of Christ).
If after reading it, you don't think that this book gives you the inspiration and the path to leadership, shame on you for not understanding or being too narrow minded. If you don't read it, then even greater shame for missing an opportunity of a lifetime.
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