The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All by Jon Gordon

The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All Reviews

• 
  Stace

  This is a great, little book.
  
  My favorite quote:
  "“I know that I’m not a human being having a spiritual experience. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience. While I have a body, it is my soul and spirit that power me. Artists create from the depths of their souls. An artist is moved by the spirit. I know who I am, and I know the power that moves me to create.”
  
  I love Jon Gordon's book and weekly newsletters! They always motivate and inspire!
• 
  Stephanie

  While Gordon isn't a master novelist....so many repetitive phrases and words...he is a master of incredible messaging. This is a book that I couldn't help but mark up all over. If you ever need encouraging tidbits and strategies to improve your life, I'd highly recommend a Jon Gordon book. "The Carpenter" will forever remind me to Love, Serve, and Care.
• 
  Bharath

  This is a cute little book which exudes a very genuine feel good sentiment. It is written as a story. A carpenter who saves a life and teaches about his success principles. The "Love - Serve - Care" philolosophy is outlined in simple terms. There are good short stories and anecdotes to support the principles. Certain aspects are elaborated including the need for living by love and not fear, talking to yourself rather than listening, having a focus to serve others one at a time and importance of sharing success.
  
  This is a small, simple and genuine book which is worth a read, though it is simplistic and may not offer too many new things. It would have been good if there were more stories and anecdotes.
• 
  Sebastián Valencia Navarro

  Simplemente un libro para reflexionar sobre el camino que estamos transitando en nuestra vida y la forma como enfrentamos los retos que se presentan cada día. Un libro recomendado a todos los que quieren amar,servir,cuidar.
• 
  Todd McGlinchey

  A great fable to help reinforce great principles of leadership and positivity. The website from this book helped me remember these great principles. Another great story by Jon Gordon.
• 
  Amy

  I listened to this on audio and love the theme throughout - Love, Serve and Care. This book reinforced great principles of leadership and positivity.
• 
  Paula Zveja

  “Your plan might not be working perfectly, but there’s a perfect plan working in you.”
• 
  Cameron

  Good self-help book, Love, Serve, and Care??? Share??, Quick easy read, flows really well but not sure if I am going to read any of his other books
• 
  Christopher

  I have mixed feelings on this book. There are some really good ideas in it, but the style wasn't my favorite, and it felt like it could have used some firmer editing. It had something of a self-published feel to it, lacking polish.
  
  The style of the book is to take some lessons and principles that can theoretically be applied to life and business, and present them as a fable-type story. This gives it a very inspirational "feel good" style story, but with little in the way of practical advise or structure. I expect that most people will enjoy reading the book, and feel better after reading it, but I'm not sure it will actually help most people improve anything.
  
  Maybe it's just not a style that clicks with me. I prefer books in this genre to mix more practical, useful, hard information along with the anecdotes that can help expand on the principles. Books that are all story with no exposition leave me feeling more entertained than educated. It reminded me strongly of
  The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win in style, and I felt the same way about that book. Entertaining, perhaps a little inspiring, but ultimately of limited practical value.
  
  Note, this book contains a pretty overt Christian vibe to it (as might be guessed by the title). Not a big deal to me, except that it felt a little clumsy and ham-fisted; like the author thought himself to be so very clever with it. I just wanted to mention it because some people can be sensitive to religious overtones.
• 
  Quang Quấn Quít

  Khác với câu chuyện đổ vỡ hôn nhân của Harry trong tiểu thuyết Cha và con của Tony Parsons, Người thợ mộc lạ lùng nói đến một khủng hoảng khác của tuổi 30: sức khỏe.
  
  M. là một người đàn ông thành đạt, khởi nghiệp công ty riêng cùng với vợ của mình và có hai con. Một ngày đẹp trời, M. bị đột quỵ trong lúc chạy bộ. Bác sĩ khuyến cáo rằng, đó là dấu hiệu cho một cơn nhồi máu cơ tim. Và người thợ mộc lạ lùng xuất hiện. Ông lão đã sơ cứu và gọi xe cứu thương đưa M. vào bệnh viện kịp thời, và chỉ để lại một tờ danh thiếp là một tấm thẻ màu trắng kèm dòng chữ Thợ mộc có in số điện thoại màu đen bên dưới. "Một kiểu tiếp thị thật kém!" - M.hài hước nhận xét.
  
  Đây là một cuốn sách self-help, nhưng nó khoác lên người là một cuốn truyện dài (mình nghĩ vậy). Xuyên suốt cuốn sách là câu chuyện M. tạm dừng lại công việc của mình và ở nhà hồi sức, cũng là thời điểm anh nhận được những bài học đắt giá nhất từ người thợ mộc lạ lùng qua việc nhờ ông đóng một cái tủ quần áo cho gia đình.
  
  Sau khi đọc cuốn sách này, mình nhận ra một điều. Ở cái tuổi sắp ba mươi như mình, khi bản thân không còn tràn trề nhựa sống của tuổi hai mươi và tương lai là cả một cuộc sống về hưu sau tuổi bốn mươi, mình phải thật sự nghiêm khắc và kỷ luật với sức khỏe nhiều hơn. Bệnh tật không từ bỏ một ai, cuộc sống thì rất vô thường, ngay lúc này mình cần phải quyết tâm xây dựng và thực hiện các thói quen chăm sóc sức khỏe và tinh thần như chạy bộ, hành thiền, đọc sách, trồng cây hay cũng có thể học nghề thợ mộc cũng được, biết đâu sau này mình lại có thể trở thành một người thợ mộc lạ lùng giống như ông lão trong cuốn sách này cũng nên :)
  
  
  https://ntquangg.wordpress.com/2019/0...
• 
  C. Spencer Reynolds

  Another brilliant work by Jon Gordon
  
  I have read every book Jon has published and I am a real fan! In this book Jon really brings his storytelling skills to an intricate level in this charming real-world feeling story that you can see with your mind. The Carpenter is a wise soul that shares wisdom in useable practical ways, and you can use them the same day you read them. I love books that give you tools that work in everyday situations, not in just a one-off way to do something a bit different, this book delivered that beautifully.
  
  I ordered several of the wood hearts to share with executives at my office, and purchased additional copies of the book to share with them as well. I printed several of the posters from the website to put up in my office and other public spots in the office, and love these creative tools to continue the learning from the book into future days and weeks ahead. I know installing the "Love Serve Care" model within our company culture will add value for years to come! Thanks for the inspiration again Jon!!!
• 
  Bill Pence

  This book is written as a leadership fable, like a book by Patrick Lencioni, Mark Miller or Ken Blanchard, the latter of whom writes the “Foreword” for the book. The book tells the story of Michael, who with his wife, have started up a business. With the business and two children, they are quite busy and stressed. The business - Social Connect - has grown a good deal in the past year. As a result, Michael is feeling the stress of being a husband, father, and business owner. The stress eventually impacts his health.
  The book opens with Michael in the hospital. He had been running through the city streets, thinking about ways to build his company, when he collapsed as a result of the stress he was under. A carpenter happened to be close by and saved his life. The carpenter had left his simple business card, so after Michael got out of the hospital, he decided to reach out to him to thank him.
  The carpenter’s name was J. Emmanuel. After thanking him, Michael asked him to build an entertainment center for their home. As they worked together, Michael realized that J is much more than a carpenter. J tells him that over the years he has built more than furniture and cabinets. He has helped people build their lives, careers, and teams. He never planned it that way. It just happened. It was his purpose and he received it. Throughout the book, J shares principles about the greatest success strategies, what he calls “The Way”, and his Heart of Success Model. He tells Michael that “The Way” begins with love and love is the antidote to the fear, busyness, and stress that Michael has been feeling. Michael acknowledges that his life was based on fear, not love, and that he needed to change starting immediately.
  Michael had to be away from both work and coaching his daughter’s basketball team as he recovers. During that time, Social Connect loses their largest client. They have just two months to find new clients to replace the revenue loss, or they will need to shut the business down. J shares three main points of “The Way”, his Heart of Success Model – Love, Serve and Care. He tells Michael that you love, you serve, and you show people you care. It’s the simplest, most powerful and greatest success model of all time.
  Michael is committed to implementing the principles of “The Way” at Social Connect. But will this be enough to save Social Connect before their largest client departs?
  I enjoyed this story of J mentoring Michael on the principles of love, serve and care, in both his business and his personal life, as J teaches Michael how to be a servant leader.
  Below are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
  1. Once you design your masterpiece, you must be a craftsman in your approach to your life and work.
  2. All success starts with being a craftsman.
  3. Everyone can be a craftsman or craftswoman but not everyone is willing to become one. They don’t want to spend the thousands of hours it takes to master their craft.
  4. Life and success are about what you choose to believe. It’s easy to believe things will be great when everything is going well, but the true test of your faith is what you believe when you are facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
  5. Your optimism today will determine your level of success tomorrow.
  6. The more you focus on love in each moment and each day, the more fear fades away.
  7. You cannot be a craftsman unless you are putting your love into the work that you do.
  8. Only through love will you create a masterpiece.
  9. True success isn’t about money or possessions. It’s about people, commitment, loyalty, and relationships.
  10. In the end we won’t be measured by our bank accounts, sales numbers, wins and losses, or the size of the company we built, but by the difference we made in people’s lives—and we make a difference through relationships.
  11. If we make time to invest in our relationships and spend quality time with our family, friends, and colleagues, we will dramatically improve the quality of our lives and careers.
  12. Real leaders, great leaders, become powerful by serving others and giving their power away with love. Only by serving can you become truly great!
  13. Your greatness as a leader will not be determined by how much power you accumulate. It will be determined by how much you serve and sacrifice for others to help them become great.
  14. Great leaders don’t succeed because they are great. They succeed because they bring out the greatness in others.
  15. When you care about the work you do and show people you care about them, you stand out in a world where most don’t care.
  16. If you want to be successful you must show you care about the work that you do.
  17. When you care, you will inspire others to care.
  18. Caring is the ultimate success building strategy.
  19. Failure can be a gift if you don’t give up and are willing to learn, improve, and grow because of it.
  20. No challenge can stop you if you have the courage to keep moving forward in the face of your greatest fears and biggest challenges. Be courageous.
  21. The key to becoming a powerful success builder is to make a difference to one person, one moment at a time. You do it each day, with each person, in each moment, as part of each interaction, and over time you powerfully impact a lot of people.
  22. Don’t focus on building your business. Focus on using your business to Love, Serve, Care, and build others up. If you do this, your business will build and multiply exponentially.”
  23. Two thousand years ago there was no separation between someone’s work life and spiritual life. Now we separate them and wonder why people are so miserable. Work is meant to be a spiritual experience, not a daily chore and a grind. All work is sacred.
  24. You aren’t a true success unless you are helping others be successful. Success is meant to be shared.
  25. The success you create now is temporary, but the legacy you leave is eternal.
• 
  Jess Fulton

  I can't think of one person that would not benefit from reading this book. The lessons go much deeper than building a successful business. The steps are simple, clear and precise. The author truly believes in condensing the information, less is oh-so-much more. The book deals with values and morals without preaching from a pedestal.
  There is a thread of a story line that keeps the reader engaged while the Carpenter shares his secrets of crafting ones life into a masterpiece.
• 
  Blair

  The Carpenter was a very quick self help book I picked up after reading a review. It was a simple read that helped me get focused on a few things I'd like to do to make 2015 a great year.....at work and at home.
  
  Simple, solid advice.
• 
  Hajed

  إذا كنت تريد أن تكون زوجًا أفضل ، أو صديقًا أفضل ، أو قائدًا أفضل أو ببساطة شخصًا أفضل ، فهذا هو الكتاب المناسب لك. يضع صيغة بسيطة تجعلك نسخة أفضل من نفسك وتجعل الجميع من حولك أفضل في نفس الوقت.
• 
  Aaron Mikulsky

  Much gratitude to my brother who gifted this book to me. I recommend this quick, impactful read. Here is a teaser on the gift of failure:
  Remember that we all fail. It’s what we do after we fail that determines what we build in the long run.
  Walt Disney was once fired from a newspaper for a lack of ideas, and his first cartoon production company went bankrupt.
  Lucille Ball was told that she had no talent and that she should leave the drama school she was attending.
  Dr. Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers and almost burned the manuscript of his first book.
  Steve Jobs was fired from Apple at age 30.
  Oprah Winfrey was fired as a news anchor and was told she wasn’t fit for television.
  
  Failure can be a gift if you don’t give up and are willing to learn, improve, and grow because of it. Failure often serves as a defining moment or test designed to measure your courage, perseverance, commitment, and dedication. Sometimes failure causes you to take a different path that is better for you in the long run. Sometimes we have to lose a goal to find our destiny. See failure as a test, a teacher, a detour to a better outcome, and an event that builds a better you. Failure is not meant to be final and fatal. It is not meant to define you. It is meant to refine you to be all that you are meant to be. See failure as a blessing instead of a curse. “Every struggle, every challenge, every failure is meant to help show us who we are in this moment and how far we have to go to become all we are meant to be.”
  
  The key is finding the purpose that inspires you to be the mission. When you know your why, you will know the way and you’ll find a way. The love of what you are building has to be greater than the challenges you face.
  
  “Don’t focus on building your business. Focus on using your business to love, serve, care, and build others up. If you do this, your business will build and multiply exponentially.” “Don’t focus on winning a championship, focus on becoming a champion.” The success you create now is temporary, but the legacy you leave is Eternal.
• 
  Matt Manney

  Powerful allegory to overcome stress, business, and failure.
  
  Some great quotes,
  “Love works to build something. Fear worries of losing something.”
  
  Why did I love this book?
  Quick read and the story framework to communicate the lessons and principles as Jon does is easy to consume. Simple but powerful.
  
  Who is this book for?
  Leaders, owners, people who want to do more than just exist and stay in a rut. People looking for encouragement and inspiration.
  
  Who is this book not for?
  If you’re looking for very specific detailed strategies to implement, not here. There are guidelines and lessons to employ but nothing like “step one: write a note, step two: analyze your profits every two days, step three: take a client to a burrito shop for lunch on Tuesday.”
  
  My favorite part of the book?
  How Jon weaves stats, anecdotes, quotes, and info into the story line. For example he talks about a tribe of runners who were cut off from civilization and would run 40 miles a day to get food, pass on info, etc. the older the got the stronger, faster, and greater endurance they had.
  
  Great solid read. I love Jon’s work.
• 
  Shelly

  Oh my goodness! This is probably the best book I've read in a long time. Jon Gordon uses stories to really make his point. The basic theme is Love, Serve, and Care. J. Emmanuel is a craftsman/carpenter that makes you look twice. Same name as Jesus. The basic premise is very similar to the bible.
  
  Some of my favorite points and tidbits were focused around the whole thing. I don't know about you but I am a work in progress. I can improve every day.
  
  “In this spirit, the key to becoming a powerful success builder is to make a difference to one person, one moment at a time. You do it each day, with each person, in each moment as part of each interaction, and over time you powerfully impact a lot of people.. Always remember that a big mission starts with a small group of people. If you want to impact millions of people, you have to start with one. If you want to impact billions, start with twelve, once person at a time. – J. Emanuel” -Jon Gordon.
  
  All we can do is try to change the world one person at a time. Many of us have heard the Starfish story. That is the secret to success. I just love this book. Warms your heart and changes your life.
• 
  Candi

  Can I tell you how conflicted I was to score this?! It's a great and inspirational book. However, I've read other books with bits of what this book is about with various real life examples. It's also easy for me to be inspired by this book because I've met a leader like this. Didn't say these exact words but through his actions, the team was a group and better environment for us all to learn from each other. I do think if you use Love, Serve, and Care, you will build great things. I continue to invest in people and my relationships because I know they are worth it. I don't have to be a leader to know that.
  
  There are a lot of great quotes or phrases in here that are great reminders of what we are here for.
• 
  Troy Blaylock

  The goal in life is not to accumulate things, but to give your life away. And the best way to give your life away is to help others build things that make a difference. Love, Serve, and Care. The 3 greatest success strategies of all. The Way. The key is to being an extraordinary leader is to focus on multiply others one at a time. If you want to win, don't focus on winning, focus on becoming a champion.
  
  The numerous paradoxical teachings in this book offered a refreshing revelation of how utilizing a courage, faith, and be a servant leader can impact and build successful organizations, businesses, and relationships. Truly an empowering read. Thank you for the book recommendation Donaghvan Brown! Super excited to apply these principles in my current occupation.
  
• 
  Ron Scheese

  Uplifting & positive message
  
  Just finished Jon Gordon's "The Carpenter "
  
  "The Carpenter" is a parable of putting Christ's teachings and message into our daily walk.
  It provides a narrative filled with sound advice on leadership, business and living one's purpose. Uplifting and positive - a terrific read for those in any service ministry or industry.
  
  Quick, easy to read, and very relatable to my world view. Encourages one to remain grounded, positive, kind and committed. Would highly recommend this book - I've already purchased copies and shared this gift this season.
  
  
• 
  Con hình Con Chữ

  Not a very well written book (or at least Vietnamese edition); However, it is full of valuable stories and lessons. I am filled with inspirational quotes that keep me noting page by page.
  
  Love the life philosophy advocated by the carpenter: "Loving, serving, and caring". I am sure anyone who goes for this lifestyle will live a remarkable, significant, and fulfilling life!!
  ---
  Không phải là một quyển sách chau chuốt về câu từ nhưng chứa đựng đầy những bài học và câu chuyện ý nghĩa. Thực sự có quá nhiều những câu nói truyền cảm hứng khiến mình cứ note qua từng trang sách.
  
  Rất thích quan niệm sống của người thợ mộc: "Yêu thương, phục vụ, và tận tâm" mà mình chắc bất kỳ ai theo đuổi lối sống này sẽ sống một cuộc đời ý nghĩa và viên mãn!
• 
  Brendan Lynch

  The best book I have read in recent memory. A story about a carpenter who saves another man's life. They build an entertainment center together, while the carpenter teaches his Way, and the three keys: love, serve, and care. As presented, some religious aspects are brought up and used to support the argument for the Way. However, I would pose that regardless of those points on religion, the Way as described in this book is the proper way to think. Love, Serve, and Care. One who would be truly successful helps others achieve success.
• 
  Christine P

  I’m going be honest and say that I’m not sure where all of the good reviews for this book came from. I read this as part of a business book club for my work and everyone agreed that while it was a nice story, it was unrealistic and failed to provide actionable steps. The biggest distraction to me throughout the book were the religious, Christian undertones. I probably should have guessed this from the title, but clearly didn’t and was shocked that there was such a focus on faith and spirituality in a business book. A quick read, but not worth your time.
  
  2.5/5 stars
• 
  Matt B. Perkins

  Incredibly hard NOT to be inspired by this short but powerful story. Approaching one’s work and life like a craftsperson, the element of CARING about every detail, pouring love into it all, choosing love over fear....this can sound daunting and exhausting, which can result in self-discouragement and overwhelm. But what this book does is explain how and why love and caring and serving others actually energizes you, not drains you. Empty the well and it will refill tenfold. Loved this book.
• 
  Alicia

  The only reason I managed to get through this book is that at just over 120 pages, it is mercifully short.
  Already I knew what I was getting into when the "carpenter" was named J. Emanuele, a clear reference to Jesus Christ. The message of love, serve and care is wonderful and we should live by these principles because it is a good way to be, not so that you can have a successful business.
  
  
  
• 
  Brian Miracle

  Recommended by my VP at work. Coming from a Christian background, the principles outlined were not groundbreaking, as they’re principles espoused by Christ. However, the principles are worth restating, as they run counter to many leadership techniques advocated for or followed in the business world.
  
  The book has simple, practical advice that will help you succeed in all areas of life. Valuable principles in a quick read.