The full title of this book by Jerry Toomer, Craig Caldwell, Steve Weitzenkorn and Chelsea Clark is
The Catalyst Effect: 12 Skills and Behaviors to Boost Your Impact and Elevate Team Performance
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book three stars.
Here is my book review.
Not as good as expected
Every now and again I find a book with an interesting theme which gives me high hopes of new insight. Some are insightful but others disappoint.
Sadly this has been a disappointment.
I think the idea some people have the knack of lifting performance in others is fascinating. I didn’t get on with the book. Part of the problem is the use of American sports references I don’t understand. An American might have similar problems if the book referred to cricket and rugby.
The other problem I had was with the writing. Perhaps I’m more tired and mentally jaded than I thought but I struggled with getting meaning out of sentences and paragraphs as I tried to interpret the “business school speak”. On another day, it might not have been a problem.
I also had some doubts on the skills and behaviours of a catalyst. Are some missing? I think they might be although I’ll admit I gave up on the book about a third of the way through. Perhaps the analogy between success in sports and business only goes so far or the book was written for more general teams and I was trying to read for a more specific application (in small businesses).
I don’t think this book has received the best of me but the curiosity I had at the beginning about the catalyst effect has passed and I doubt I’ll come back to it. I’m not going to mark the book down to a one or two star review but nor can I recommend it.
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