Confidence

How Winning and Losing Streaks Begin and End

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Narrated by: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

From the boardroom to the locker room to the living room—how winners become winners . . . and stay that way.

Is success simply a matter of money and talent? Or is there another reason why some people and organizations always land on their feet, while others, equally talented, stumble again and again? There’s a fundamental principle at work—the vital but previously unexamined factor called confidence—that permits unexpected people to achieve high levels of performance through routines that activate talent. Confidence explains:

• Why the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team continues its winning ways even though recent teams lack the talent of their predecessors•

Why some companies are always positively perceived by employees, customers, Wall Street analysts, and the media while others are under a perpetual cloud

• How a company like Gillette or a team like the Chicago Cubs ends a losing streak and breaks out of a circle of doom

• The lessons a politician such as Nelson Mandela, who resisted the temptation to take revenge after being released from prison and assuming power, offers for leaders in both advanced democracies and trouble spots like the Middle East

From the simplest ball games to the most complicated business and political situations, the common element in winning is a basic truth about people: They rise to the occasion when leaders help them gain the confidence to do it. Confidence is the new theory and practice of success, explaining why success and failure are not mere episodes but self-perpetuating trajectories. Rosabeth Moss Kanter shows why organizations of all types may be brimming with talent but not be winners, and provides people in leadership positions with a practical program for either maintaining a winning streak or turning around a downward spiral. Confidence is based on an extraordinary investigation of success and failure in companies such as Continental Airlines, Seagate, and Verizon and sports teams such as the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as schools, health care, and politics. Packed with brilliant, practical ideas such as “powerlessness corrupts” and the “timidity of mediocrity,” Confidence provides fresh thinking for perpetuating winning streaks and ending losing streaks in all facets of life—from the factors that can make or break corporations and governments to the keys for successful relationships in the workplace or at home.

©2004 Rosabeth Moss Kanter (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a divison of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Confidence . . . makes the compelling argument that the people who succeed are the people who expect to succeed.” —Elle

“A successful book on leadership that illuminates the underlying principles applicable to teams and small businesses as well as schools, corporations, and countries.” —Washington Post

“Well-researched and engaging. . . . Kanter is a witty and entertaining writer.” —Miami Herald

Not much to it

This abridged version is not helpful. The statements are helpful. However, shortened descriptions keep the reader wanting more. I would not recommend this book.

Great Content, Horrible Narrator

The content of this book is terrific. The author did a great job of researching and drawing parallels between the world of sports and the business world. A lot of this book echoes Good to Great by Jim Collins, but its focus on confidence is enough to keep it from being redundant to Collins' readers.

The one issue with this book is the narration. The narrator has a pleasant enough voice and she is not hard to listen to. The problem is her mispronunciation of major figures' names. She butchers everything from Piniella (Lou, manager of the T.B. Devil Rays) to Krzyzewski (men's basketball coach Duke). And while these names aren't necessarily easy at first glance (especially coach K), these names would also not have been hard to find the correct pronunciation for. At some point in the book, she is reading about Adam Vinatieri's game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl and she calls it a "35-year field goal," when it was obviously 35 yards. Whether or not it was misprinted in the book itself, I don't know, but these types of mistakes are inexcusable and threaten to ruin a great book. Where were the editors? To let these egregious errors make it to audio publication, the editors were obviously asleep at the wheel.

Barely worthwhile

This book could have been re-written better for audio release; I hope the book itself came across as less confused, meandering and with too many repetitive examples. The sports metaphors were a little strained and the reader was only average.

The idea is there but..

I'm not sure this translates to audio very well. The author reads this book herself and I think it would do her well to hire a voice actor or someone with, oddly enough, more confidence in their voice.
I think the content of the book was pretty good but, for me, her voice was enough of a distraction that I feel I didn't get all that I could from the book. Preview before you buy.

Good Context but Dry! Very Dry Narration

I expected this book to focus more on building confidence, not sure if I like the comparion between company's and sport teams. I felt I was learning how to correct a fail company and build a winning sport's team. Maybe I am slow, but for building confidence, NOT!

I could not listen to her anymore after 3 hours of listening!!!

Repetitive and unnecessary

I could have read the title of each chapter and not wasted hours reading this. It was mandatory for a class and that is the only reason I read it. The point is severely belabored in each chapter and could be easily summed up in a few sentences.