The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Pro-Achievement Principle: Cultivate Personal Skills for Effective Teams

Because The Pro-Achievement Principle was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.

Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.

IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.

This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.

Ekta Kumari

The book is centred around improving job performance and fostering a more productive environment for employees, team leaders, and bosses. I wouldn't have read the book as I wasn't into the genre and the themes. However, I did enjoy sampling the book. The thing I liked the most while sampling is how well the author articulates the purpose of this book and how it can benefit everyone in an organisation. I also like that the author refers to the common belief of positive attitude as redundant and instead offers more timely and dynamic goals to encourage better performance. I didn't find any editing errors so far and would rate the book as professionally edited. I saw an official OBC review. While this is a useful read, I won't be reading the whole book as the main subject is not interesting for me. I do not have any other recommendations for improvements.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 5:24 am by Ekta Kumari.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Manang Muyang

The book is a business book; the title, cover, and blurb are clear about that. Since I am no longer a member of the corporate world, I don't feel the need for the lessons in the book. I wouldn't have sampled the book outside of the program. I did like the author's discussion about personal responsibleness which makes a person "go the extra mile." The official OBC reviewer mentioned that the book had repetitive parts and irrelevant details that made it boring. I suppose those parts need rethinking for better appreciation by the intended audience. That audience does not include me, though, so I am passing on the book. I noticed errors while reading. Some of them follow: In the foreword, "In an interview. Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson" should have used a comma vice the period. Still in the foreword, "how to look inside yourself to not only perform at a high levels" needed "level." At 12% of the book, "asking if everything was satisfactory and if there was anything, they might have done differently" did not need the comma.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 4:58 am by Manang Muyang.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jeremie Mondejar

I sampled this book based on the program. I love reading business books, however, mostly non-Asian books don't work accordingly in our place. I prefer reading Asian Business books. The principles in this book is quite helpful, though. In the sample, I understand that the business managers must educate or motivate their subordinates to achieve teamwork. I like the idea. Since the author offered a free copy, I will read this book. The OBC review influences my decision, too. Fortunately, the book flows well, and I assume it's professionally edited. Lastly, there's nothing I can recommend for improvement.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 4:55 am by Jeremie Mondejar.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

xsquare

I don’t usually read self-help books, so I wouldn’t have sampled the book if it hadn’t been part of the First Ten program. The official OBC review did not convince me. I found the Kindle sample on Amazon rather difficult to read – the formatting seemed to have several issues. That said, I don’t think I spotted any obvious typos that weren’t the result of transcription errors. I found it difficult to pick out what I particularly liked about the book. There seemed to be broad sweeping generalisations such as, “What motivates working people today is the feeling of belonging,” which I would’ve liked to see backed by citations instead of merely asking the reader to “think about it.” I am not interested in reading the rest of the book.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 4:52 am by xsquare.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

va2016

The title "The Pro-Achievement Principle" and the cover indicate that this is a book related to self-help about achievement. There are 28 Amazon customer ratings with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, which is good. The Amazon summary indicates that the book is about two important traits that will lead us towards achievement. As I am interested in this topic, I would have sampled the book even if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing tips on what the organisations need to do for achievement. As I was not convinced with the way the topic is articulated and presented, I am not going to read this book in full. I didn't find the sample professionally edited. There were several formatting errors. One example is that the title "Foreword" has the letter "w" in small case while the other words are in capitals. I don't have anything that I specifically liked about the book. As a recommendation, I would suggest thorough proofreading of the book. Although I found 21 Amazon customer ratings of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 4:11 am by va2016.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Dzejn_Crvena

Based on the title, I wouldn't have sampled this book outside this program because it's no longer relevant to my work experience. The OBC review and the sample didn't convince me to read or buy it. The book talks about how to make the workers perform better by creating an "achieving atmosphere." The strategies mentioned in the book may help them attain their collective goals in the organization. I like the author's passion in explaining how to have a positive work dynamic between employers and their employees. However, the writing style is monotonous and dense for me. I didn't learn something new from the book, so I'll skip it. Also, I believe the book needs another round of editing because I found an error on the first page: "The lessons you will read in this BIZLET are specifically dedicated to showing you the pathway to precisely that objective." There seems to be a missing word after "precisely", so I suggest inserting "achieve" or a similar word for it.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 3:57 am by Dzejn_Crvena.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Asma Aisha Ansari

Based on the genre, the cover and the title, I wouldn't have picked this book up because I'm not looking for a book on leadership or achievement right now. However, to sample it as part of the First Ten Program, I read the first 2 chapters and found the writing style undemanding and pleasant. I liked how the author gave many different examples to explain the concept of responsibleness. I learnt something important as I read about the distinction between responsibleness and selflessness.

I found some errors in the foreword and acknowledgements sections of the book. Here's an example: We are also grateful for the contributions and advice our early reviewers. In this sentence, the word 'of' is missing before the word 'our'. I suggest that the book be edited once for such errors. I'm not going to read the rest of the book only because I'm not interested in reading any self-help book at the moment. Otherwise, there's nothing that will stop a reader from appreciating this insightful book. The blurb, the Amazon reviews and the OBC review described the book well. However, they didn't influence my decision in any way.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 3:47 am by Asma Aisha Ansari.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sou Hi

The cover, the ratings on Amazon, and the official review from OBC are alright. Since the blurb's promising, I decided to give the sample a try. The sample talks about attitude, one of the key factors of success.

I like the author's intention to help people cultivate their personal skills. However, the Kindle version has too many errors, so I would suggest another round of proofreading. The narrative is kind of bland, too. Since the book can't pique my interest, I won't buy it.

Error example: Additional y, only 40% agree that their companies are building robust leadership pipelines to tackle the demands of the digital economy. -> It should be "Additionally" instead of "Additional y"

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:58 am by Sou Hi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mutai Marshal

The title of this book piqued my interest. Therefore, I would have read this book outside the First Ten program because I love inspirational books. From the sample, I liked the use of simple and straightforward language. The author used common phrases that make this nonfiction book fathomable. The OBC review further invigorated my desire for this book. Consequently, I will complete reading this book to become a better team player. It seems exceptionally edited, and there are no suggestions for improvement that I can offer.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:45 am by Mutai Marshal.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Hazel Arnaiz

The cover and title look appropriate for the genre. However, I seldom read self-help. I will skip this book outside the program. Also, I find it odd to break the word “achievement” into two lines. I suggest reconsidering the layout so the word fits on one line. The blurb gives a clear description of what to expect from the book. Customer reviews are positive. After sampling, I appreciate that the book is a quick read. It is also a reminder to walk the extra mile and focus on adding value to everything you do. However, it sounds like familiar advice. I prefer a different spin on this topic to reconsider reading a self-help book. As for editing, here are some examples of issues that I noticed.

Page 5. Spacing. Consider adding a space after punctuation.

1. Business Teams 2. Organizational Learning 3.Management Skills 4.Management Skills 5.Mentoring & Coaching

1. Business Teams 2. Organizational Learning 3.[]Management Skills 4.[]Management Skills 5.[]Mentoring & Coaching

Page 8. Punctuation. Missing punctuation with direct speech. Consider adding a comma.

Her concept of “Pro-Achievement” is in complete harmony with the findings of the recent MIT/Cognizant Study’s co-author and head of talent management and leadership at Cognizant, Carol Cohen, who said “A key to success is artfully introducing new leadership approaches that particularly appeal to a new generation of employees while at the same time honoring the time-tested behaviors and attributes that inspire trust, build a sense of community and motivate employees to improve performance.”

Her concept of “Pro-Achievement” is in complete harmony with the findings of the recent MIT/Cognizant Study’s co-author and head of talent management and leadership at Cognizant, Carol Cohen, who said[,] “A key to success is artfully introducing new leadership approaches that particularly appeal to a new generation of employees while at the same time honoring the time-tested behaviors and attributes that inspire trust, build a sense of community and motivate employees to improve performance.”

The official OnlineBookClub review is insightful. However, I will still skip this one because of preference.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:25 am by Hazel Arnaiz.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Shrabastee Chakraborty

I am not at all interested in this genre. Hence, despite the high ratings of the official OBC review, I was not inclined to read this one. I found a single error in the first ten pages (Foreword: "additionall y" should be "additionally"). Besides, the letters in the headings were randomly upper- or lowercased. I could not determine if this was intentional. The initial pages talked about the leaders' frustration when their teams' progress is not up to the mark. They also emphasize that the team's progress depends on encouraging individual talents. I did not particularly like anything in the book, nor am I competent enough to suggest any improvements. Based on my reading preferences, I would not read this book.

First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:16 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mercy Bolo

This book's cover didn't entice me to read it. The OBC review dissuaded me when it mentioned that the author narrates how workers can become higher achievers at their workplaces. That topic doesn't appeal to me, so I won't read the rest of the book. When I read the first ten pages, I liked that in the first paragraph, the author stated that this book is meant to be used as both a learning and coaching guide for cultivating leadership skills. I spotted no errors in the text, so I will conclude that it underwent professional editing. There's nothing I disliked about the bit I read, so I wouldn't change anything about it.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 11:26 pm by Mercy Bolo.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Annelore Trujillo

I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. I don’t usually read non-fiction books, and this one didn’t seem to be for me. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. There was one line that completely deterred me. It talked about how to get people to work harder without having to pay them more. While I understand what the author was going for, this left a bad taste in my mouth and told me I probably don’t believe the same things as the author does. Even without that line, this just didn’t seem to be for me. It talked a lot about how to get workers to live up to their potential. This has not been an issue for me when I’ve been the leader of a team or group. There wasn’t anything specific I liked so far, and nothing specific needs improvement. The book did seem to be professionally edited.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 11:03 pm by Annelore Trujillo.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

brooke oakes

I would have sampled or read this book outside this program. It’s cover and title are interesting. I enjoy personal development books. It’s OBC and Amazon review appealed to me with the mention of focusing on taking control of your actions and reactions in order to create better outcomes. I liked the comparison of perfectionists and overachievers. This book focuses in on why attitude is so important. I don't notice any errors, while I read. I don't think this book needs any improvement.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 10:27 pm by brooke oakes.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Jorge Leon Salazar

The cover and title go straight to the point with the subject. I think the cover is a bit overloaded with small prints that are uneasy to make out. However, I think the book should attract most of the target audience. In general, I like the readings that can help us to improve our job performance. The blurb expresses the "Pro-Achievement Principle" is not a scientific theory but a method that uses two skills that can be adopted to obtain excellent results on the job. The customer reviews are mostly favorable and highlight the usefulness of the proposed method. Based on these aspects, I could give this book a try. I consider it appropriate the “How To Use This Book” section since it clarifies the focus, purpose, and format of the book. I find the study mentioned in the "Foreword" interesting, which emphasizes the importance of the mindset in leadership positions. I agree with the author's suggestion that the objective of leaders should be to get people to voluntarily commit to raising their own level of performance. In addition, I support the claim that employees like to be part of a winning team and contribute to something of value. I believe the proposal of this book has a differentiating factor, which is to teach people to understand and adopt an "attitude of achievement" for themselves. I found the explanation of the concept of responsibleness and the difference with responsibility pedagogical. The official OnlineBookClub review indicates the book is a practical guide to help workers become better achievers by focusing on attitude change. The editing looks outstanding as I didn't see any details to comment on. The only aspect that I believe can be improved is the cover as it seemed overloaded to me. What I read was interesting, but at the moment I am not in a position where I can apply this proposal. Therefore, I won't read the rest of the book in the near future.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 7:09 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sarah_Khan

The cover and title of this book are average. I would not have sampled this without the First Ten program because I do not read non-fiction. I do not think this book was professionally edited. There was a random mix of uppercase and lowercase letters and extra spacing between letters (e.g. C an you name even one manager, team leader...) While I do think it is a nice feeling to belong in a work environment, I am not sure if I agree with the idea that this feeling is what motivates working people. The OBC review was mostly positive, but the reviewer did call this book monotonous. For this reason, I will not be reading the rest. My one suggestion for the author is another round of proofreading.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 5:34 pm by Sarah_Khan.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Catherine Hsu

If I hadn't read the sample, I wouldn't read the book; I'm not one for self-help books, especially one about the workplace. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. However, my opinion had nothing to do with the contents, but rather more to do with the lack of editing and many formatting errors. "Additionally" was written as "Additional y," the title was written as "LEssON 1 PRO-ACHIEVEMENT: THE INDIVIDuAL's TOOL FOR ORgANIzATIONAL suCCEss," and there were random page numbers inserted in the middle of sentences. I think another round of editing is extremely necessary because these things I mentioned really interrupted my reading of the book. Because of that, there was not really anything I did enjoy. The official review didn't affect my decision, as the monotony mentioned also turned me off.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 5:21 pm by Catherine Hsu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mariana Figueira

Before reading the book's first pages, I wasn't interested in it because nothing on the cover or the title got my attention. After sampling the book, I don't want to continue reading it because I don't have use for it in my life since it seems directed towards managers and team leaders and I'm neither of those things. I didn't like that this book starts by saying it's a way to get more and better work from employees without any compensation...that sounds kind of terrible; however, I don't think that could be improved. There was nothing I saw that I particularly enjoyed. This book seems professionally edited and has an official Online BookClub review. Neither the blurb, customer reviews, nor editorial reviews affect my decision not to read the book.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 3:52 pm by Mariana Figueira.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kirsi Cultrera

This book looked and sounded like a leadership book. The blurb and other available information confirmed that. I do not have much interest in these types of books in my current life situation. Therefore, I would not have sampled this one without this program. I have read dozens of leadership books and other business-related material before, and the sample pages implied that this book would not offer anything new or revolutionary. Unfortunately, it seems that everything has already been written before, in some form. There was one thing I cherished in this book, though. Often leadership books are thick as a brick, but this one was relatively short. Even a very busy business person would find time to read this book. Maybe this will result in more and more leaders finding ways to motivate and guide people around them to achieve better results. The Official OnlineBookClub review mentioned that this book was monotonous at times. This review did not affect my decision about the book, as I had already decided not to read it further. My decision was based on my current life situation, which doesn’t require reading leadership books, and the fact that this book did not offer anything new to me. The editing of this book seemed appropriate to me, even though I caught one odd sentence. The first paragraph on page 8 had one short sentence that did not make sense to me: In an interview. I suggest that there was supposed to be a comma instead, and this sentence was actually a part of the next one: In an interview, Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed today’s demands of leadership well when he said “Organizations need to completely rethink what they are about and what it means to lead.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 3:03 pm by Kirsi Cultrera.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sanju Lali

I got a hint from the cover and title that this self-help book is about achieving success. In light of it, I read the OBC official review of this book because I was curious to know more about the takeaways from this book. The OBC official review helped me understand that this book tells us how workers can become better performers in their jobs. This information encouraged me to read the sample of the book before purchasing it. After reading the first ten pages, I realized that this book was not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, "The attitude a person has when going about what they do, doesn’t come about naturally; it’s heavily influenced by the work environment itself.” The sentence could have been as follows. "The attitude a person has when going about what they do doesn’t come about naturally; it’s heavily influenced by the work environment itself." The thing that I liked most in the sample is the sentence, "leaders become leaders from inside out and not outside in." I found that the above sentence hints at the core of leadership. Unfortunately, apart from the above sentence, I did not find anything new on the subject from the sample because the same thing is freely available on the internet. The dialogue between the Boss and the Direct Report was unclear to me. All these factors pushed me away from this book. I suggest the author go through a professional editing process and consider the difficulties described above. Looking at all these facts, I decided not to purchase and read this book today but wait until the author could help by addressing my suggestion so that by reading the book, I can have some takeaways from it.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 1:07 pm by Sanju Lali.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

gen_g

Looking at the title alone, it is obvious that the title belongs to the non-fiction genre; I am not looking for books in this genre, so I would not have sampled it. I did come across a positive OBC review, but this would not have changed my mind regarding sampling because of the genre mismatch. However, there were numerous errors present, which is sort of embarrassing for a non-fiction book. For example, at 3%, there is a missing comma to mark the introductory phrase: "In the spring of 2019(,) MIT Sloan...". I suggest more rigorous editing to improve the book quality. Still, what I appreciate is the usage of little examples here and there to help readers better understand the points discussed. To illustrate, the author used the Marines as an example of the importance of the presence of the feeling of belonging in an employee. Dr. Bright uses rhetoric, and she asks if the reader has ever met a young Marine that wouldn't be proud of being a Marine. Other than the obvious need for editing, I do not have further suggestions for improvement. I will not be reading the rest of the book, as I am not in the market for non-fiction.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 10:45 am by gen_g.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Diana Lowery

I like the way that the words of the title were arranged on the cover. I liked the graphic of the red and blue arms getting ready to shake. I would not have chosen to read this book because I have no use for the content. I liked the term "not highfalutin'" in the Amazon blurb. The OBC review was positive, but neither the blurb nor the review changed my mind about wanting to read the book. I did not see any errors in the pages that I read. I was not a fan of the stylistic random capitalization of some of the words in the pages that I read. I suggest that the author eliminate those as they were distracting. I am not going to finish reading the book because I do not have a need for team building.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 10:14 am by Diana Lowery.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

asteel18

The OBC reviewer called this book boring and monotonous, but the majority of the Amazon reviews were overwhelmingly positive. My opinion is that the writing is engaging and did not seem boring. I didn't think it was necessary for so many words and phrases to be in quotes. That was distracting.

There were a few grammatical errors in the Foreword.
Two of the noted errors:
Page 7 - In an interview(.) Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson... (should be a comma, not a period.)
Page 8 - It's who we are.() (Missing quotation marks)

I will not be finishing this book because I'm not interested in the subject matter at this time. I would recommend it to others who are though.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 9:25 am by asteel18.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Theresa Moffitt

I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone. It appears to be a self-help book for individuals focused on improving leadership skills in the workplace. The bold font and bright colors on the cover caught my attention. The title tells me exactly what the book is about. The Online Book Club review recommended the book with a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. This increased my interest in the book. I didn’t read any additional customer reviews. The first ten pages begin with a discussion of a 2019 MIT survey about the qualities of leaders. The survey concluded that most leaders did not possess the necessary qualities to lead their companies. Employees were generally dissatisfied with their leaders. The survey also noted that great leaders worked to cultivate the talent of their employees. This is an attribute that leaders should aspire to achieve in the workplace. There were some errors in the first ten pages, so I don’t believe the book was professionally edited. For example, on the third page of the foreword, the author uses a period where there should be a comma. Specifically, the sentence states, “In an interview.” This is not a complete sentence. It should state, “ In an interview, Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed the demands of today’s leadership well…”. The author could improve the book by having it professionally edited. I was not drawn into the subject matter enough to want to finish reading this book. Also, I think the errors may be distracting for me. For these reasons, I will not finish reading this book.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 8:33 am by Theresa Moffitt.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rosemary Owolabi

The front page of this book advertises what the book is about. It is a smart idea.
I am going to read the entire book because it focuses on self-growth and development. I don't entirely support the notion of making staff feel worthy only through self-advancement without extra bonuses, payment, salary increments, or promotion from the employer, but it forces the worker to believe in himself/herself and make the decision to love what he/she is doing rather than placing their entire focus on monetary gains. So I feel it should be balanced. Employers shouldn't ignore a worker that is worthy of getting extra cash or a bonus after reading this. In my opinion, just use wisdom when dealing with your workers. However, the employer requires the worker's cooperation and understanding in order to make them work more hours for less pay.
I didn't notice any typos/errors in the first ten pages.
I also like the fact that it focuses on the workers that try to be leaders or be better team players to know it is possible. Just like the title suggests, it trains and helps employers, leaders, and bosses maximize the workers' potential without breaking the bank doing so. Also, help workers or employees elevate their status to that of leaders, bosses, etc. Or just be better at what they do. I feel the book shouldn't have been written like a novel. It should have had numbers, subtopics, or keynotes that the reader could easily jot down the important points from. But the reader will definitely learn a thing or two from this book. The online reviews of this book on Kindle Unlimited are encouraging. It was brilliantly written.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 6:11 am by Rosemary Owolabi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Eunice Geres

Even if it was not on BOTD, I still might've read the sample. The book cover is beautiful, and the topic is what I am interested in. However, according to the official review, the book is actually repetitive and boring at times. So I will not continue reading the book. From what I've read on the sample, I noticed two typos. I can't see what page it is on, but it's after the table of contents. The first typo was 'FOREwORD,' the letter 'w' was not capitalized. And the second one is after the foreword. The typo was 'ACkNOwLEDgEMENTs.' There are actually so many; now this got me thinking if it's there for a reason. However, even if it is there for a reason, it's not doing good. I wouldn't say I liked anything. The target audience is for working people. I'm just a college student. I thought I would learn something since it's still like a guide to becoming a pro-achiever, but the scenarios are different for my settings. I will not continue reading this. For my recommendation, I would recommend looking at the headings because that's where the typos are.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 3:24 am by Eunice Geres.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Gabriella H

The book cover looks professional. However, the genre isn't attractive to me. The title is wordy and was a turn-off for me. If I weren’t a part of this program, I wouldn’t have read this book, especially after reading the official OnlineBookClub book of the day review, in which it seemed boring and more like a book for high-up professionals. However, as a member of the first-ten program, while reading the first ten pages(I actually read more than ten pages), I struggled with whether I would want to continue reading it or not. It is a bit boring to be honest, although I like the examples you provided about the maître d', the manager, and the stock person. I eventually concluded that this would be a good book to learn about how to become a pro-achiever, and I like how you differentiated between being responsible and having personal responsibleness. Therefore, I will be completing this book, although I’m not in a hurry to do so. As per errors, I saw only one error while reading. Levels should be singular, or the article 'a' shouldn't be in this sentence, “how to look inside yourself to not only perform at a high levels…”(Page 9).

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 2:04 am by Gabriella H.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Ari Martinez

If it wasn't for this program, I wouldn't sample this book based on its title, cover, or Official OnlineBookClub review because I am not a fan of self-help books. After reading the first ten pages, I will not continue reading because the topic of the book does not interest me. From what I read, my favorite part was when the author described the difference between responsibility and responsibleness. I don't think the book needs improvement. On page 7, the period mark after "interview" should be a comma ("In an interview. Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed today’s demands..."). There are also other mistakes in that same sentence. These mistakes give a negative first impression of the book since they are right in the beginning.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 1:27 am by Ari Martinez.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Stephanie Runyon

The title of the book automatically made me not want to read it. The subject isn't something I am interested in. I disagree with the author concerning responsibleness, as I doubt that most people take ownership of many things they do. Accountability would be a better defined word. I am accountable for doing my job and honestly, I think acknowledging when I do well is more motivating. I found several errors in punctuation throughout the book. Improvement in tone and not being repetitive would promote interest better, as this is a very dry book. The OBC review promoted my same thoughts about the monotony as well. I will not finish the book, since I didn't find anything that convinced me that it would hold my interest. (Note that I didn't really like anything about the entire book.)

Error: Creating what's known as “an achieving atmosphere” involves making sure employees are properly equipped with essential attributes that are well within their control.

A comma after atmosphere is needed. This is also a passive sentence.

First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 12:41 am by Stephanie Runyon.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jennifer Garcia 555

I would not normally read this book. I am not a big fan of non-fiction. I was impressed by how many four-star official Online Book Club reviews that I saw. After reading the sample pages I like the way the author set up the book. The addition of examples helps the reader to be able to use the information they read. This book could be improved by being less repetitive. This book would be good for team leaders in a professional setting. I did not find the book particularly interesting so I will not buy or finish this book. I did not see a single editing error, so this book seems professionally edited.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 11:34 pm by Jennifer Garcia 555.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rodel Barnachea

Upon poring over the book’s Amazon page and official OBC review, I opted to purchase the self-help title. This book is perfect for me since I am in the stage of my life where I have to be an employee to earn a living. I believe that whatever insights I will gain by reading the title would be beneficial in developing my skills and attitude. Perusing its sample did not make me want to change my mind. I would purchase it for the same reasons I stated above. I want to read more so I can learn how I can improve my abilities in being an employee. The first ten pages include Lesson 1: (Pro-Achievement: The Individual's Tool for Organizational Success) and some pages of Lesson 2 (Responsibleness: A Core Component of Personal Achievement). My favorite part is when Marshall Goldsmith stated in the foreword that this book can be read even without help from a therapist or other people.
While reading, I noted these errors:

1 — In the sentence “In the spring of 2019 MIT SLOAN Management Review...” a comma must come after the word “spring”.

2 — In the sentence “Additional y, only 40% agree...” the first word is misspelled.

The errors I identified are minor, so I still believe the book is professionally edited. I have nothing to suggest to the author.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 10:50 pm by Rodel Barnachea.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Kaitlyn Canedy

If The Pro-Achievement Principle hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would have read the sample of it anyway. I am a business student, and I am always looking for books about this subject. The customer reviews and the description did not affect my decision to want to read the sample. I like that the author provides studies and facts to back her opinions up; she does not speak about this subject without either of these aspects. The focus is not directly on positive thinking, which is a concept I found refreshing. Because of my interest in business, I will be finishing this book. Although I do not think this title needs any improvements, I did see a grammatical error on page 15. There is a comma separating the subject from the verb- "The attitude a person has when going about what they do[,] doesn't come about naturally; it's heavily influenced by the environment itself." An official OnlineBookClub review exists for this title, but I did not need to read it because I made my decision before I read this review. Readers who are business students or managers may like this title.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 9:53 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Gabrielle Sigaki

The Pro-Achievement Principle by Dr. Deborah Bright is a non-fiction book that is also inspirational. It brings the theme of becoming pro-achievers by some actions. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review and its genre since I'm not interested in self-help books and because it seemed to be repetitive and monotonous. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book because its premise didn't interest me. However, the book seems professionally edited and I liked the fact that the author started the book introducing some concepts, such as Pro-Achievement, because it made the beginning of the book easier to understand.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 8:17 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

MsH2k

Based on the title, cover, and blurb, I would not have sampled this book if I were not part of this program. I read nonfiction books often, and the topic sounds useful, but I am currently not in the market for this type of book. I have led teams, and I may possibly lead teams again in the future, but this is not my focus at this time. The sample pages took a while to get going; there was extra time devoted to selling the value of the booklet, which I did not need but may be helpful for others. I appreciate the concept of fostering “a desire to make a valuable difference,” and it sounds like there will be helpful tips in this book. I will not read it now, but I thank the author for the complimentary copy, and I will read it eventually, when the time is more suitable. It’s great that it is such a quick read. The book may have been professionally edited, but I noticed a few grammatical errors in the first ten pages. In this excerpt from page 8, the first period should be inside the end quotation mark, and the second period should be a comma: “… of leaders”. In an interview. Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed today’s demands of leadership well.
On page 15, in these two sentences, there should not be a comma between the subject and verb: “The attitude a person has when going about what they do, doesn’t come about naturally.” “Teaching people to understand and adopt for themselves an ‘achieving attitude’ and having it catch on like wildfire in your team, is the core mission behind this enjoyable and easily applied read.” Neither the featured OnlineBookClub review nor any other editorial or customer reviews had any bearing on my decision. A suggestion for improvement would be to shorten the blurb, focusing on the contents of the book more and including less promotional material.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 7:50 pm by MsH2k.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

AntonelaMaria

I wouldn't have read this book even if I haven't read the sample because the genre is not the one I'm interested in reading. The blurb is also not appealing to me. Reading the sample didn't change my mind. I will not read the rest of the book. My impression from reading the sample is that this is a well-researched book. The author provided data and language that support the professionalism claims. I noticed an error on page 7. "In an interview." This is an incomplete sentence and a mistake in punctuation. There is an Official Onlinebookclub review, and it summarizes the book well. I wouldn't improve anything about the book. I think it is helpful and has great pieces of information.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 4:52 pm by AntonelaMaria.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rizki Pradana

I have chosen to read the first ten of this book based on Amazon reviews because the title looks interesting to me. I have seen an OBC review, and it affect me to read this book because the cover was really interesting. What I really like about this book is this book teaches us about a lot of things, so we can become independent and self discipline, not just in everyday life, but also in the workplace. For instance, this book told us about self-discipline and how to manage time. Because of that, I wanted to read the whole book. I found no errors that could hinder reading this book, which means this book has been exceptionally well-edited.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 4:00 pm by Rizki Pradana.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Yvonne Monique

The book cover and title are very clear and explain exactly what this book is about. As I am a manager, I would pick this book up if I would see it in a bookstore. The blurb and OBC review give a good description of the book, although I found the comments about the book being monotonous and boring, off-putting. The sample is well edited, and the writing style is professional. I found the content interesting and useful for my job. I liked the reflection that the author did on the word responsibleness. As I believe that this book can help me in my career, I will read the rest of it. I would like to thank the author and OBC for providing a free copy. I have no suggestions for improvement.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 2:54 pm by Yvonne Monique.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Laura Ungureanu

I'm not into non-fiction books about business, so this book was not something I wanted to see. The cover looks very typical for its genre, so I wasn't interested. The OBC review, blurb, and customer reviews were encouraging, but I still didn't want to sample this book. The book reminds me of an academic paper. It starts with several studies and findings. Since leadership is not something I'm interested in, I had a hard time following the author. It would've been an improvement to introduce the reader slowly into the subject. A simpler language could've also helped me understand why I should be interested in the book. I noticed an error from the very beginning: the apostrophe is missing in "in harms way." There were other errors along the way, so the book is not professionally edited. Since I didn't like the sample, I'm saying no to this book.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 2:34 pm by Laura Ungureanu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Emy Katherine

Without this program, I would not have read the book based on the genre and the OBC review. Unfortunately, as I am not interested in reading business books, reading the first ten pages did nothing to change my mind. However, I enjoyed the author's straightforward writing style as she offered useful tips on how to build a strong and successful company by helping leaders and employees become a better version of themselves. Also, as I did not find any typos or grammatical errors, there was nothing that needed to be improved. Considering the book has great Amazon ratings, those interested in reading informative business books should give it a try.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 1:57 pm by Emy Katherine.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Bertha Jackson

I would not have checked out this book based on its cover, title, genre, blurb, customer reviews, editorial review, or the OnlineBookClub review because I am not interested in the topic. Reading the first ten pages did not change my mind. I like how the author used examples in explaining the difference between “responsibility” and “responsibleness.” Although the author states that “responsibleness” is an uncommon term, this term was used in many of my management classes years ago. I do like that the author has included end-of-lesson takeaways. I encountered an error on Page 8 where there should be a comma after the introductory phrase “In an interview” instead of a period. I have no recommendations for the author because the book appears to have been professionally edited. Although I have downloaded the free copy of the book, I will not finish reading it because I am not interested in the topic.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 1:26 pm by Bertha Jackson.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Emily Schrum

Based on just the cover, title, and blurb, I most likely would not have read this book. Business guides are not something I would typically enjoy. However, after reading the first ten pages, I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging it was. The small dialogue example of a workplace issue was fun to work through as I read. I found no errors, indicating this book was professionally edited. I cannot wait to read the entire novel.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 1:09 pm by Emily Schrum.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Michelle Menezes

From the title and cover, I guessed that the book was a non-fiction novel about achieving at work. The blurb did not interest me, but the Official OnlineBookClub review had good things to say about it. I don't read editorial or customer reviews, as I don't want to get influenced by them and would like to form my own opinions. Based on all the above things, I didn't want to read it. After reading the first ten pages, I have decided to stick to my original decision and not continue with it. Deborah Bright has explained concepts like pro-achievement, responsibleness, etc. in the book. She also mentions that there's a difference between responsibility and responsibleness and talks about the control that a worker can exercise to achieve better results. I liked that there were examples used to explain the points better. However, most of the content didn't appeal to me, as it's not my preferred genre. I did find two errors, so the book does not seem professionally edited. For example, "Teaching people to… your team, is the core… applied read." There shouldn't be a comma after "team." I don't think the book needs any improvement.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 1:04 pm by Michelle Menezes.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kira Bonita Reece

This is a good practical self-help book for persons wishing to advance in their careers and be more efficient in the workplace. I liked how persuasive the author was. I would choose to read this book based on the cover, customer reviews and the official online book club review. However, I wont be continuing this book because I'm not fond of the genre and I'm not sure I can apply it to my life since I'm not currently part of a workplace. The book seemed professionally edited.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 1:03 pm by Kira Bonita Reece.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

markodim721

I would choose to read a sample of this book because of the cover and title. I also read the blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews but they did not affect my attitude. The title of the book is direct and represents what the book is about. The cover of the book is designed to combine bright colors and attract attention. I will read the book because it is a topic that interests me. While reading the sample I did notice only one typo (no need for the period in the middle of the sentence: In an interview. Amber McCord… it should be: In an interview Amber McCord…) but other than that the book seems like it is professionally edited. Reading the sample didn’t change my mind from my original guess. I like the approach that employees voluntarily commit to raising their performance at least because I think it’s something that can work successfully. I don't think anything needs to be improved in the book. The book has an Official OnlineBookClub review, I read it but it also did not influence my decision.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 12:30 pm by markodim721.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda

The cover is quite colorful and eye-catching, and I appreciate there's a subtitle because this way, at first glance, the reader can know whether or not he would like to know more. I appreciate the highly organized blurb, and the use of bold type to highlight the most important aspects of it. However, since this "is a book on how to get commitment from workers" and I'm not in a managerial position, I don't feel it applies to my life. Despite the mostly high ratings, I wouldn't have bought the book based on my first impressions.
The first ten pages didn't change my mind. On the one hand, I think the idea of BIZLETs is innovative, and there are some interesting statements, such as "What’s motivating for working people today is the feeling of belonging and knowing that they’re contributing something of value to the organization. They want to know how they can make a positive and valuable difference." On the downside, the Foreword seems like a lot of buzzwords strung together, and some things simply don't make sense. For example, "In today’s world everyone has to be a leader." That's simply impossible, because if everyone was a leader there wouldn't be "followers" and, hence, no one is a leader. I know phrases like these are catchy, but I rather read something meaningful than "buzzy".
There are a couple of editing mistakes. For example, on page 7 the word "Study" should not be capitalized and there shouldn't be a space before the ellipsis: "The Study notes that “The great leadership teams pay attention to cultivating not only the leader competencies and skill sets …" I suggest polishing the edition, and reducing the vacuous, catchy phrases in favor of more meaningful ones. The official OBC review convinced me this book doesn't apply to my life and I would have found it tedious.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 12:10 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Astral Magi

The cover and title caught my attention immediately. I would have chosen the book based on these if I hadn't read the first ten pages. The official OBC review, as well as the first ten pages, confirmed my initial reaction. The customer and volunteer reviews also played a part. The blurb sealed the deal. I enjoyed the author's distinctions between pro achievers and overachievers and would like to read the rest of the book. There were no errors and nothing needs to be improved. The book was professionally edited.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 11:59 am by Astral Magi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Kajori Sheryl Paul

'The Pro-Achievement Principle' is a book written by Dr. Deborah Bright. It is the first book in the series. This is a guide that aims to aid people to gain organizational success by gaining skills like attitudinal alignment and a collaborative mindset. This book outlines ways for managers to enhance the productivity of their workforce. There are some editing errors. For example, there should have been a comma after "2019" in "In the spring of 2019 MIT Sloan Management Review and the Cognizant U.S. Foundation surveyed 4,394 global leaders, conducted 27 executive interviews, and facilitated focus-group exchanges with next-gen emerging leaders worldwide to explore what the future of work portends for the future of leadership." Nothing else is in need of an improvement. I like the way the author differentiates between responsibility and responsibleness. Also, I like the way the author provides teaching points at the end of the chapters. The OBC review is detailed. I would skip this book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews as I am not in the mood to read non-fiction books as of now. l will give this book a skip as I am not interested in the subject matter as of now.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 11:56 am by Kajori Sheryl Paul.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Timothy Rucinski

From the cover page and title alone, I knew that I would not be reading this. I read no other customer reviews or blurbs, just the Official OBC Review. I am retired from the workforce and, although I once upon a time used to teach leadership skills, my interest in this genre dissipated long ago. Perhaps, back in the day, had I come across this book in the management/leadership section of a bookstore, I would have checked it out as I regularly visited that aisle. The Official OBC Review was also cautionary as it highlighted the monotony of the content. That was an additional red flag that this book was not for me. After reading the first several pages, it was clear that I would not continue reading this book, primarily because I am no longer interested in the genre. What I liked most was the concept of the BIZLET, an informative set of lessons to follow in a short amount of time that could have overwhelming results once applied. There wasn't anything that I disliked except the genre. Although an editor is cited in the Acknowledgements, this book does not appear to be professionally edited as I found numerous errors. For example, in the Amazon Kindle edition, in the first paragraph of the Foreword, there is a comma missing after "2019" in the following sentence: "In the spring of 2019 MIT Sloan Management Review and the Cognizant U.S. Foundation ..." On page 7, there is a period rather than a comma after the word "interview" in the following sentence: "In an interview. Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed..." The bottom of page 7 ends with a quotation but the quotation mark is missing after "It's who we are." On the Acknowledgements page (11) there are multiple commas missing from the following sentence: "They are Frank Blackwell who assisted in the role of the book's developmental editor and Wayne Purdin who copyedited and formatted the material." A comma is missing after "Blackwell," one missing after "editor," and a third missing after "Purdin." As a recommendation for improvement, I suggest having a professional proofreader go over the material.

First Ten review added on January 6, 2022, at 9:57 am by Timothy Rucinski.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Total ~ 27%

The Pro-Achievement Principle earned a score of 27%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 27% plan to read the whole book.

IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.

Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.

Go to main Bookshelves page for The Pro-Achievement Principle