The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester (Hardback Edition)

Sure, you've seen all the terrific reviews about The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester, but what you're not reading is how fantastic Dave Riveness is as a facilitator and trainer! After reading his book and sharing it with my team, we enjoyed it so much that we invited Dave to join us for a leadership development event. Dave's dynamic, interactive learning sessions brought to life the entertaining stories, effective exercises, and thought-provoking questions in his book and enabled us to realize the potential of uncovering blind spots. Thank you, Dave, for inspiring new ways of thinking and guiding people to do the right thing.

The author has very successfully taken some timeless stories, parables and anecdotes and artfully "debriefed" each into a relevant message for the modern organisation. The warm conversational tone makes this an easy-to-read book and the layout of the stories inside the wider story make it a worthwhile reference tool also. It could be used to provide inspiration for team meetings, offsites, conferences or any form of internal communication. If you like books like Who Moved my Cheese, The Monk who sold his Ferrari, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, you will like this new piece of work from Dave T. Riveness.

Reviewed by William E. Cooper for Reader Views (5/06) Let me simply state that this book is a totally unique and really outstanding way for the reader to look at organizational culture and leadership. Mr. Riveness provides us with a different but really workable way to get into organizational culture, identify hidden and often troublesome issues, and then resolve them. As the now retired Chief of Police for a municipal department (with extensive graduate education) who has dealt with a myriad of concerns, having this perspective would have made my approach to problem identification and remediation strategies much easier. This is a very effective way to look through the eyes of another to get at making our agencies significantly better. What is even more important is that anyone at any level, in any organization, can use this book to enhance growth and opportunity for themselves and others. As a business manager and practitioner I found this book fascinating and am glad to add it to my library. You should do the same.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that is seeking guidance on how to become a better leader. The book is concise,entertaining and motivating.

After you read a book, a good book, something sticks with you. What sticks with me is the author's idea of blindspots. We all have them. The question is do you have a jester to help you see them? "The Secret Life..." uses analogy and story to highlight an opportunity to be our own jester and seriously reflect on our behavior. Wish I had learned how to do this earlier in my career!!! Keith Lewis President To Point B