Reviews
Praise For STIFLED Where Good Leaders Go Wrong
“Insightful and thought-provoking! James dives into all the little things we do to undermine the productivity of our organizations and the people we manage. The business world is moving too fast to not adapt and change with it – if you’re feeling behind the curve with your workforce, read this book and take its advice!”
Marshall Goldsmith
New York Times#1 bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
“I have known Jim for nearly 25 years. His broad experiences throughout his career come out loud and strong in this work as well as what is so desperately needed for future managers and leaders.”
Ken Jennings PhD
Best-selling co-author of The Serving Leader and The Greater Goal
“James Wetrich has written a counter-intuitive book: most business books try to tell us what we should be doing; this book shows us what we should STOP doing. And there is much that falls under that heading and James Wetrich covers it all, using his long and storied career as a leader to underscore his philosophy. Read it and reap!”
Lance Secretan, PhD
Best-selling author of The Bellwether Effect and 21 other books
“If you want to know what it takes to be an effective leader, read this book. Jim Wetrich provides inspirational, practical, and coherent guidance on what works. You will find yourself going back to this book again and again to help determine a path forward.”
Richard Chow
Founder and Investor
“This is one of the most meaningful books about leadership I have read in the last 25 years of my senior executive career. Jim provides us with a comprehensive leadership and management toolbox to help people and companies sustain their competitive advantage. Jim reemphasizes how and why properly led and developed human capital is our greatest asset to create corporations which are built to last. A must read!!!”
Pierre Guyot
Chairman of the Board, Limflow SA
“James’s book is not just an ordinary book about dealing with complex management issues, it is a survival guide for all employee levels in Corporate America. I was particularly drawn to the chapter on micromanagement, and his words ‘You will have people with a lot to say and those that don’t like to speak at all. But the volume of the words coming out of a person’s mouth shouldn’t be an indicator of the value of what they have to offer. Truer words were never said!’ I would also add ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time so don’t try.’ Bravo James for an exceptional guide to leadership.”
CB Bowman, CMC, MCEC, BCC
CEO, Trusted Advisor; CEO Association of Corporate Executive Coaches; CEO Workplace Equity & Equality
“Jim Wetrich has captured the essence of the issues faced by leadership in today’s tumultuous world—including all of those which have come about most recently—as from the pandemic, the millennial generation, the diversity movement, inexcusably poor leaders. He has discussed them in depth and provides solutions for leaders. This is a must read for anyone trying to build an organization and to be successful in leading it. A powerful read for us all.”
James G. Ellis
Former Dean, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
Stifled: Where Good Leaders Go Wrong is an absolute masterclass of leadership books! This book is a real-life blueprint of all things leadership. Jim’s decades of work experience, his never-ending desire to learn, and his remarkable gift to teach make this book a must-read. I have a bookshelf full of other business books, but this is my favorite! Thanks, Jim!”
W. Hays Waldrop
Founder and President, Institute of Healthcare Executives and Suppliers, LLC
“There are some leadership lessons that can only be learned by living. In this book, Jim Wetrich has bottled decades of experience to deliver a crash course in business and life. Reading Stifled is like having an executive mentor in your back pocket.”
Tiffany Dufu
Founder & CEO, The Cru
“Jim Wetrich delivers on the promise of the title. This book isolates and discusses all the biggest stifles in any organization and then discusses what we can do about them….Big Red is bringing us back during this pandemic time to the principles that should guide our leadership everyday while also pointing out the critical need to discard old practices that stifle our leadership and frustrate our teams every day.”
Linda McCauley
Dean, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
“This book is written by a leader. Insightful, accessible and full of wisdom. It reads like a playbook that looks forward more than backwards. If you take the field of battle in a leadership role, this book should be your manual!”
Commander Rorke T. Denver USN (Ret.)
Navy SEAL, NY Times best-selling author of Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior
“In his book, Jim points out that ‘there is no standardized assessment or competency process for managers and leaders.’ This book is a wonderful starting point to educate and mentor today and tomorrow’s leaders and managers.”
Hector A. Quintanilla, PhD, CPA
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Texas Wesleyan University
“This book is absolutely superb! A well organized and highly relevant compilation of world-class knowledge, experience and wisdom! The breath, depth and relevance of Critical Leadership Lessons is just amazing! If you are serious about growing, learning, improving and achieving, this book will prove to be a priceless treasure for you!”
Dan Nielsen
Founder/CEO/Publisher, America’s Healthcare Leaders
“STIFLED provides great insights that illustrate the stupid things that undermine the productivity of organizations and the people we manage. You will be inspired to fix organization challenges and skilled to identify and resolve them. His examples come alive and provide more insights than you can count.”
Karen E. Stewart
Associate Chief Learning Officer, Medical University of South Carolina