The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell

This book was published in 1998. Yes, it was a good read. Fast reading yet easy to relate and understand.
For each Laws Mr. Maxwell relates with his own experience - being a pastor in church. Although I am a Muslim, I still understand how difficult it is to lead a group of people especially when amongst volunteers.

The Laws that he spoke of, are logical. You sort of know the basis but did not have the 'ummph' to understand it. Mr. Maxwell put it very easily.

Just to give you all some idea what he discuss about in his book, here's the topics in the book -

1. Law of the Lid
2. Law of Influence
3. Law of Process
4. Law of Navigation
5. Law of EF Hutton
6. Law of Solid Ground
7. Law of Respect
8. Law of Intuition
9. Law of Magnetism
10. Law of Connection
11. Law of Inner Circle
12. Law of Empowerment
13. Law of Reproduction
14. Law of Buy-in
15. Law of Victory
16. Law of Big Mo
17. Law of Priorities
18. Law of Sacrifice
19. Law of Timing
20. Law of Explosive Growth
21. Law of Legacy

I reckon if we master all these laws - a great leader we are. I recommend this book! 5 stars!

I would really like to meet Mr. Maxwell one day.

The Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko

This is the BEST book I've ever read on Personal Development. I recommend this book to everyone I meet.

The way the book was written is fantastic - you can relate to it easily!

I've been practising The Rogue Warrior's Ten Commandments of SpecWar -

1. I am the War Lord and the wrathful God of Combat and I will always lead from the front, not the rear.
2. I will treat you all alike - just like shit.
3. Thou shalt do nothing I will not do first, and thus will you be created Warriors in My deadly image.
4. I shall punish thy bodies because the more thou sweates in training, the less thou bleedest in combat.
5. Indeed, if thou hurteth in thy efforts and thou suffer painful dings, then thou art Doing It Right.
6. Thou hast not to like it - thou hast JUST TO DO IT.
7. Thou shalt Keep it Simple, Stupid.
8. Thou shalt Never Assume.
9. Verily, Thou art not paid for thy methods, but for thy RESULTS, by which thou shalt KILL thine enemy by any MEANS AVAILABLE before he killeth you.
10. Thou shalt, in thy Warrior's Mind and Soul, Always remember my ultimate and final Commandment - THERE ARE NO RULES - THOU SHALT WIN AT ALL COST.

FOLLOW THIS AND YOU WILL SUCCEED!

In their Shallow Graves

I discovered the love of reading books at fairly late age. I was 18 years old and was a second year student in Otago University. Someone of you might laugh at that, but hey, better late than never.

The book I picked up belonged to my housemate - it was called something like 'tick tock' or something by Stephen King. Since then, I love reading books.

After I graduated & made my way home back to KL, Malaysia, I discovered my dad's collection of books. I picked up a book called 'In their Shallow Graves' by Benno Zieser. I tell you, the book was great! In fact I am rereading it right now! The book is about a group of friends in the German Army spearheading the attack to Moscow / Stalingrad. Love the gruesome details described by the author.

Nope, don't get me wrong, I'm not a Nazi supporter and neither are the characters in the book. After reading the book, I understand that through our own eyes we see our enemies as ENEMIES not human beings. We fail to understand that the 'enemies' are someone's father, brother,cousin or a dear friend to someone.

I grew up watching old TV series like COMBAT - anyone remember that? Kirby the machine gun guy is the only guy I can remember a side from the sergeant. Anyway Americans are always the good guys and the Germans are the bad guys. After reading that book - well, it changed my view. No one is the good guy nor the bad one. But both are the losing one.

I love reading about WWII, I've got a couple of dozens of it - courtesy of my dad's collection. I'll write more about it.