D. A. Benton - Lions Dont Need to Roar: Using the Leadership Power of Personal Presence to Stand Out, Fit in and Move Ahead

WARNER BOOKS

A Time Warner Company

SUCCESS SPEAKS
FOR ITSELF...

Critical Praise for D. A. Benton
and
Lions Dont Need to Roar...

Good impressions can take work.... Bentons style is not to tell people what to do, but to help them figure out a better way.

Seattle Times

In Lions Dont Need to Roar, Debra has identified some of the more subtle but critical success factors essential for a person to rise to the top in todays business world. Her chapters on the importance of listening, asking questions (vs. always having the answers) and Life at the Top are particularly insightful.

John D. Bowlin, president,

Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation

Highly readable... for people with talent to match their ambitions.

Working Woman

If youve got the right stuff for a business career, Debra Benton can tell you how to make the powers-that-be take notice. Her books give you the people skills to achieve your goals.

Bob Berkowitz, author of

What Men Wont Tell You But Women Need to Know,

host of CNBC, Real Personal

Her work is aimed at giving people control over their destiny.

New York Times

A working persons Miss Manners, Ann Landers and Dale Carnegie, all-in-one... she offers guidelines and techniques for achieving executive presence, that magical aura that marks a person as someone to be reckoned with.... Useful for those looking to polish their picture of success. For those needing and willing to attempt a behavioral transformation, the book is a how-to manual.

Colorado Business Magazine

Debra Benton is a leader in presence and bearing.

Barrons

Benton was 100% on target about our needs, and that directly affected the bottom line. Everyone in my company needs this... its like breakfast.

Dave Powelson, president, Tri-R

Explores the nuances of everything from how to shake hands to asking for a favor.

San Jose Mercury News

Sophisticated... contains a lot of specific advice from known success stories.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A primer on how to strike a personal chord with others, using such techniques as anecdotes and humor and how to develop bonds.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Apply these savvy ideas to your business and watch your company move ahead.

Entrepreneur

Required reading for anyone eyeing the executive suite.... All about how to develop and communicate competence. Benton has earned the right to advise us through her experience and research.

Soundview Speed Reviews

First, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, Teresa and Fred Benton, for helping me maintain a sense of humor throughout this project.

Second, I am most appreciative of Pat Straley, who provided constant constructive critique and who really made the computer work in producing several final versions.

Third, my editor at Warner Books, Fredda Isaacson, and my agent, Michael Cohn, who along with Susan Meltsner gave the book its professional presence.

Finally, needless to say, I am indebted to several people who provided encouragement, support, and recommendations: Lee and Mary Alexander, Curt Carter, Frank Childs, Sherry Gerity, J. M. Jones, Dr. Kelly Kesler, Nancy Albertini, Arthur Oldham, Ray Storck, Hugh Sullivan, Inge Trump, Dennis Wu, and especially... Rodney Sweeney.

Debra Benton,

Benton Management Resources

Fort Collins, Colorado

LIONS DONT

NEED TO

ROAR

The Basis for Business SuccessBe Yourself

Rogers career was at a standstill. He had been passed over for a half dozen promotions in the last two years.

I dont understand it, he said. I come into the office early and stay late. I make all my deadlines, even if I have to work nights and weekends to do it. Youll never catch me huddled in the hallways shooting the breeze with my colleagues or see me grandstanding at staff meetings. Im paid to do a job and I do it. I do it well. Im smarter and more productive than half the guys who started at the same time I did. So why are they heading departments and up for vice-presidencies while Im stuck in limbo, doing the same things at the same level Ive been at for the past few years?

Mark, an ambitious young editor, found himself in a similar situation. However, he had begun to figure out why he wasnt zooming up the corporate ladder as planned. I know my stuff, he said. Im good at what I do. But Im a washout at office politics. Every time I turn around Im either saying something I shouldnt or kicking myself for keeping my mouth shut when I should have spoken up. Making small talk with authors and agents at cocktail parties isnt my strong suit either. I break into a cold sweat just thinking about it, and even when I tell myself, Get out there and make a good impression. Go up to that guy and introduce yourself. He wont bite your head off, I cant bring myself to do it. I just freeze up in social situationsand it shows. My boss has mentioned it more than once. She keeps telling me to loosen up, that Ill never get ahead in business unless I learn to make the right impression and get along with people in