Leadership: It Takes More Than a Great Haircut!
Terry L. Sumerlin
SE Publishing, 2011
ISBN Paperback: 9780965966238
ISBN EBook: 9780965966245
Paperback, 172 pages; also multiple ebook formats
Let me begin by telling what you already know if you read my last post. Author Terry L. Sumerlin is my client, and I formatted this book for both print and ebook formats.
But I don’t think it’s a conflict of interest for me to review the book because, unlike most books I work on, I didn’t edit it. In fact, I didn’t even read the book until after it was published.
Leadership: It Takes More Than a Great Haircut! is a compilation of columns that Terry wrote for the San Antonio Business Journal. Since they were professionally edited at the time they were published in the newspaper, there was no need to edit them again.
Of course, it would be a conflict of interest if I told you how beautifully the book is laid out, but I won’t do that. 🙂 I’ll confine my review to the contents.
Terry calls himself “The Barber-osopher,” a combination of barber and philosopher. He owns a barber shop and actually gives haircuts when he’s not giving keynote speeches or writing newspaper columns or books.
I was actually tempted to stop formatting and start reading several times during the production of the book. As I applied the heading style to titles like “When Geckos Do the Backstroke,” “Clothes Can’t Cover the Naked Truth,” and “When the Headless Horseman Drives a Town Car,” my curiosity was piqued. I really wanted to know what in the world he was talking about.
When I finally got the chance to sit down and read the book from cover to cover (well, from front to back on the Kindle), I wasn’t disappointed. Terry uses examples from everyday life—incidents that happen in his barber shop or situations he encounters during his travels and speaking engagements—to illustrate leadership principles. Sometimes the stories bring a groan of sympathy for a difficult challenge he’s faced, but, more often, the stories bring chuckles and laughter as Terry gives humor to everyday observations and frustrations.
This is a book you can enjoy in a quick, fun read and one that you will relish for the important leadership lessons you will learn.
Although the book provides valuable advice for businesspeople, the leadership lessons are equally applicable to personal relationships. I highly recommend Leadership: It Takes More Than a Great Haircut! to anyone who enjoys humor and who wants to improve their interactions with others as well as their ability to effectively handle the challenges we all face in life.
Disclosure: I received compensation from the author for laying out the book, creating the electronic editions, and other publishing services. I have received no compensation for reviewing the book or interviewing the author on my blog. I’m sharing with my readers because I love the book and think they will too.