Igniting the Third Factor: Lessons from a lifetime of working with Olympic athletes, coaches and business leaders

Peter Jensen has consolidated a wealth of facts in an effective, concise and easy to understand model.
The beauty of the approach is that, for any person who aspires to lead/coach a team, it provides a recipe for massive success.
Too often, we assume that profitability in any venture (business, sports, non-profit, or government context) results from policies, systems or structures.
There is some value in focusing to improve these context factors. However, when the rubber hits the road, the winning factor is people.
Peter Jensen has hit the nail on the head. His research illustrates how taking care of people and helping them align on purpose, creating an environment for performance, and allowing them to contribute their full potential, produce massive results.
As Tom Wentz, author of Transformational Change points out, "different" has arrived. The era of bigger, better, faster is passé. We must find ways to release people's potential.
Peter Jensen provides an amazing blueprint to the path to peak performance. Using numerous examples and a clear explanation of the five elements of the Third Factor, he has laid out a strategy that today's leader must learn and integrate in his/her leadership process. If one takes a step back and reflects on his/her own experience, leadership indeed has the responsibility to: 1) manage oneself; 2) build trust with the team; 3) use imagery to help people see the bright future; 4) uncover and work through barriers and obstacles to performance; and 5) welcome adversity as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Following Jim Clemmer's footsteps in shining a light on possibilities of leadership (Growing the Distance and The Leader's Digest), Peter Jensen has provided all leaders with a realistic and feasible framework for developing organizational and individual potential.

I highly recommend this book to the budding leader and also to the experienced one. Learning and integrating the Jensen Model into our leadership effort is the key to exceeding expectations in this age of people power (not information).

I'm not the type to write a review but I finished this book a few days after I bought it and that alone was a first for me and worth sharing. It's a good read and Dr. Jensen is a masterful storyteller. I've been in the corporate world for 12 years and although I like what I do, I get very frustrated by the politics and lack of "real" support from management. There are many valuable skills and techniques in this book that the business community needs to take advantage of. If all of us got just a little better at developing people, I think we would be shocked by the ripple effect and the overall impact to the bottom line.

I was very fortunate to attend Peter Jensen's book launch last night in Ottawa. As a professional coach, I always look for new tools to use in my craft to assist the colorful diversity found in my clientèle. If you are a coach, a parent, a mentor or anyone who simply loves 'igniting' the world into a brighter, greener, happier, more productive, accepting, compassionate and efficient world, then, make sure to get this book! Or, you might be simply looking for a map for your very own 'self coaching'. The tIme has come to move beyond Nature and Nurture and stretch our cognitive maps to manifest our true human potential on this new earth! Let's ignite together and make a difference by practicing the Third Factor!

I'm glad I came across Igniting the Third Factor. As a senior manager I've had some exposure to a few of the terms mentioned in this book but there wasn't a management meeting or skill development workshop that pulled it all together for me like this book. I didn't realize how important speaking in imagery was to getting results. Helping to motivate my team has always been a big priority for me and it's becoming more and more difficult given the current state of our economy and the growing stress levels of daily life -- we keep hearing that we need to do more for less. My copy is full of post-its now with new ideas I want to act on. I have no doubt it will make me a better manager and my team will reap the rewards.