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Help! I Work with People: Getting Good at Influence, Leadership, and People Skills
We know leadership isn't exclusive to corner offices and multimillion-dollar budgets--some of the best leaders are the mentors and technicians who are more comfortable behind the scenes. But what if being an effective leader isn't just about having innovative ideas and high levels of productivity? What if becoming a great leader is more about prioritizing self-awareness and people skills than production and performance?
Help! I Work with People is not a book about leadership theory, but rather a handbook on how to connect with people and influence them for good.
With his signature transparent and relatable storytelling, Chad Veach uses modern research and biblical principles to encourage you to lean into your leadership potential regardless of your level of influence or experience. In short and easily digestible chapters, he addresses the three phases of becoming a quality
· learning to lead the hardest person you will ever be in charge of--yourself
· recognizing the power of becoming a people person
· creating a culture and environment where the team's shared vision can grow
People are the most important part of life.
Let's learn how to lead as if we like each other.
Help! I Work with People is not a book about leadership theory, but rather a handbook on how to connect with people and influence them for good.
With his signature transparent and relatable storytelling, Chad Veach uses modern research and biblical principles to encourage you to lean into your leadership potential regardless of your level of influence or experience. In short and easily digestible chapters, he addresses the three phases of becoming a quality
· learning to lead the hardest person you will ever be in charge of--yourself
· recognizing the power of becoming a people person
· creating a culture and environment where the team's shared vision can grow
People are the most important part of life.
Let's learn how to lead as if we like each other.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published August 18, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
September 16, 2020
A quick read but overall disappointing. I know people who respect and follow Chad Veach so I thought I'd give this a read. While I enjoy many of John Maxwell's leadership books, this one has even fewer connections to spiritual ideas and scriptures than Maxwell.
As a book written under the Christian genre it is almost entirely void of deeper spiritual ideas or connection to pastoral work. As a leadership book it's not bad. Anyone will find a refresher course in what's been said by many other before. Don't expect any new wisdom.
I'd say this would be a good gift book from a Christian leader to give to a non-Christian friend who is a leader. As far as recommending for other ministers, I'd put this low on the list I would recommend. We need more young and developing pastors to ascribe to deeper principles of Scripture and spiritual disciplined, not another book of best business practices.
Overall, 3-stars for a leadership read. I'd give it 2-stars if I put it in the pastoral / spiritual category but I feel the publisher made the mistake of putting it in the ministry category. Just because the author is a pastor doesn't mean the book is spiritual in nature. A good lesson to remember.
As a book written under the Christian genre it is almost entirely void of deeper spiritual ideas or connection to pastoral work. As a leadership book it's not bad. Anyone will find a refresher course in what's been said by many other before. Don't expect any new wisdom.
I'd say this would be a good gift book from a Christian leader to give to a non-Christian friend who is a leader. As far as recommending for other ministers, I'd put this low on the list I would recommend. We need more young and developing pastors to ascribe to deeper principles of Scripture and spiritual disciplined, not another book of best business practices.
Overall, 3-stars for a leadership read. I'd give it 2-stars if I put it in the pastoral / spiritual category but I feel the publisher made the mistake of putting it in the ministry category. Just because the author is a pastor doesn't mean the book is spiritual in nature. A good lesson to remember.
December 5, 2021
This book is fine. There’s nothing wrong with it, a lot of the information is very practical and applicable. However, a lot of it is also surface level, pretty obvious, and repetitive. I did learn a few things, and it had some really good reminders, but nothing earth-shattering.
November 3, 2020
Very practical. There wasn’t anything earth shattering in this book, but a great reminder of things that I have learned before but may not be applying. Very glad to have read this book!
September 19, 2023
I have had quite my share of 'interesting' situations working with people over the years. I have often thought about writing a book about these experiences. For now, I share some of the stories with my family. My mom gets quite a kick out of my stories. She was watching whatever day show who brought on Chad Veach to discuss his new book, "Help! I Work with People" and she couldn't buy it for me fast enough. She was so excited to send it to me!
The rating is closer to 3.5 stars and where I typically round up, I didn't here. All of the stories and points made in this book are very good. I find a lot of books like this serve as good reminders on things you already know. It gives you some nuggets to implement or refresh in your daily life. But I thought it skimmed to surface too much and didn't delve into any topic thoroughly enough. It is great for someone who doesn't read a lot of management books and needs a start. Or someone who needs an intro. The chapters give an overview and an explanation of a situation but doesn't go that one step further to help someone implement the suggestion.
I did really appreciate one of the later chapters in the book about systems. It sparked memories of some things I learned in my production operations management course in college refreshing what I know. I flagged some content but nothing really stuck with me. I also did appreciate the summary at the end of the chapters serving as a reminder to either delve deeper somewhere else or to refresh the practice in daily life.
The rating is closer to 3.5 stars and where I typically round up, I didn't here. All of the stories and points made in this book are very good. I find a lot of books like this serve as good reminders on things you already know. It gives you some nuggets to implement or refresh in your daily life. But I thought it skimmed to surface too much and didn't delve into any topic thoroughly enough. It is great for someone who doesn't read a lot of management books and needs a start. Or someone who needs an intro. The chapters give an overview and an explanation of a situation but doesn't go that one step further to help someone implement the suggestion.
I did really appreciate one of the later chapters in the book about systems. It sparked memories of some things I learned in my production operations management course in college refreshing what I know. I flagged some content but nothing really stuck with me. I also did appreciate the summary at the end of the chapters serving as a reminder to either delve deeper somewhere else or to refresh the practice in daily life.
January 18, 2024
A helpful read for emerging leaders, those who feel ‘stuck’ in their leadership role, or are trying to learn relational principles and go to techniques to connect with people. Let’s be honest- looking people in the eye, remembering their name and asking about their day wanting to genuinely know about it shouldn’t be lacking in any leader, but it is, and Chad empowers the reader to know how to apply relational principles in leadership. I appreciate that he talks a little about narcissism in leadership AND uses inclusive language. He seamlessly mentions that people of different cultures and women can be in leadership positions, without outrightly saying that. Almost like it should be a non issue (imagine that!)
Lastly- his mention of brain chemistry and the way this impacts our ability to do things was fantastic.
Highly recommend
Lastly- his mention of brain chemistry and the way this impacts our ability to do things was fantastic.
Highly recommend
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2020
It's okay. It's just okay.
One of the big problems with books on leadership (and I think some might argue this for self-help books in general) is answering the question: is this book necessary? Not just necessary to read for your personal growth, but is it necessary to publish at all? Does it say anything that really needs to be said that hasn't been said before. And I think the answer to that question with this book is no.
The book isn't bad. It's a leadership book that definitely has some good nuggets of insight and direction if you need that. But I find the biggest stumbling blocks for this book are two things: 1) who even is the author and his experience, and 2) there is a shotgun blast of information instead of a concise direction for the book. For the first point, this won't be the first time I've read a book and didn't know anything about the author. But it's one instance where knowing the author, his experience, his successes, and his context REALLY could have helped. As a contrast, I finished reading Jocko Willink's book Extreme Ownership (loved it), and didn't know that much about the authors going in. But they did such a great job of telling their story and experiences, that you are invested in everything they say. With this book, I have no idea who Chad Veach is. Maybe there is a blurb on the back of the book, but listening to the audiobook, I barely heard anything in this book about who Veach is as an authority in this field. Maybe he is, but I wish I could have known more about the author and his authority to explain these principles. Otherwise it comes across as someone who can just google leadership advice and compile it into a book, making some cash without any real experience. Even if the principles are true, this goes to my initial question: did this book need to exist?
My second point, though, is my bigger criticism. For books that give advice, the temptation is to give as much information as you can because "more is better", right? But to a reader, more information becomes too much to internalize. Reading this book at times just made my head swim. It was an information overload, and much of the information wasn't pertinent to me at all. I think it would have been far better if the author had simplified his points down to just a few and then expanded his ideas in other books directed at more specific types of leaders. I don't need to know about the correct frequency of group meetings or about processes for quality control. Those are topics that should be for different books.
The writing is on par with writers of this ilk. It's passable, and it communicates. It's not mind-blowing, and it's not emotionally investing at all. There are numerous spots where the author clearly thought, "I should put a movie reference here," even though it barely made sense to do so. It's not great, but it's passable.
This book is okay. I don't think it's a book that is necessary to read if you are looking to improve your leadership. I think there are far better, more poignant, more memorable, and more applicable books out there on the topic.
One of the big problems with books on leadership (and I think some might argue this for self-help books in general) is answering the question: is this book necessary? Not just necessary to read for your personal growth, but is it necessary to publish at all? Does it say anything that really needs to be said that hasn't been said before. And I think the answer to that question with this book is no.
The book isn't bad. It's a leadership book that definitely has some good nuggets of insight and direction if you need that. But I find the biggest stumbling blocks for this book are two things: 1) who even is the author and his experience, and 2) there is a shotgun blast of information instead of a concise direction for the book. For the first point, this won't be the first time I've read a book and didn't know anything about the author. But it's one instance where knowing the author, his experience, his successes, and his context REALLY could have helped. As a contrast, I finished reading Jocko Willink's book Extreme Ownership (loved it), and didn't know that much about the authors going in. But they did such a great job of telling their story and experiences, that you are invested in everything they say. With this book, I have no idea who Chad Veach is. Maybe there is a blurb on the back of the book, but listening to the audiobook, I barely heard anything in this book about who Veach is as an authority in this field. Maybe he is, but I wish I could have known more about the author and his authority to explain these principles. Otherwise it comes across as someone who can just google leadership advice and compile it into a book, making some cash without any real experience. Even if the principles are true, this goes to my initial question: did this book need to exist?
My second point, though, is my bigger criticism. For books that give advice, the temptation is to give as much information as you can because "more is better", right? But to a reader, more information becomes too much to internalize. Reading this book at times just made my head swim. It was an information overload, and much of the information wasn't pertinent to me at all. I think it would have been far better if the author had simplified his points down to just a few and then expanded his ideas in other books directed at more specific types of leaders. I don't need to know about the correct frequency of group meetings or about processes for quality control. Those are topics that should be for different books.
The writing is on par with writers of this ilk. It's passable, and it communicates. It's not mind-blowing, and it's not emotionally investing at all. There are numerous spots where the author clearly thought, "I should put a movie reference here," even though it barely made sense to do so. It's not great, but it's passable.
This book is okay. I don't think it's a book that is necessary to read if you are looking to improve your leadership. I think there are far better, more poignant, more memorable, and more applicable books out there on the topic.
March 1, 2021
Chad Veach provides a helpful framework for understanding core principles of leadership within any style of group or organization. The material is well researched and written.
I would absolutely recommend this book to help you better focus your efforts in how you influence and lead in whatever capacity and role you are responsible for - family, church, work - this book gives helpful insight.
Practical tools are provided, though the author does not pretend to have all the answers. His knowledge and experience have been combined to give specifics wherever possible, though he leaves open those areas where the reader is invited to dive deeper and better understand how to lead in their own context.
If you've found yourself stuck and struggling, or perhaps you are needing a boost to elevate yourself out of a leadership plateau; Help! I Work With People will be a worthwhile book for the job.
Blessings.
I would absolutely recommend this book to help you better focus your efforts in how you influence and lead in whatever capacity and role you are responsible for - family, church, work - this book gives helpful insight.
Practical tools are provided, though the author does not pretend to have all the answers. His knowledge and experience have been combined to give specifics wherever possible, though he leaves open those areas where the reader is invited to dive deeper and better understand how to lead in their own context.
If you've found yourself stuck and struggling, or perhaps you are needing a boost to elevate yourself out of a leadership plateau; Help! I Work With People will be a worthwhile book for the job.
Blessings.
December 31, 2020
Chad Veach is a great influencer. I love his style and approach to how he leads his church, his followers and his authenticity. This book felt like he pulled many great anecdotes and quotes from other business leaders to explain his approach. I was expecting a more in-depth review of how these practices we’re implemented into his leadership and church. He did that once in a blue moon, but within a few sentences, never more than that. I thought it was a good read that I will pass along to young readers.
March 3, 2021
This book is clear, organized and practical, a great resource for anyone who is leading or is regularly teaching leadership to a team. Chad is young and a pastor but neither of those things limit his understanding of the topic. He draws from great stories and other more seasoned leaders but speaks in the language of millennials and Generation Y. The book is not limited to spiritual leadership principles but could be useful in any leadership context.
These principles are things we know but often fail to practice. This is a great book to read and re-read as a leader to stay on track.
These principles are things we know but often fail to practice. This is a great book to read and re-read as a leader to stay on track.
July 7, 2025
A book you can hand to a former individual contributor who suddenly finds themselves a manager and isn’t quite sure what that means yet.
You used to get along well with people, communication never seemed like a problem — but now you’re the boss, and expectations have changed. This book can become a go-to handbook for a freshly minted manager who is starting to reflect on their new role — not just as someone executing others’ plans, but also as a leader with influence, responsibility, and vision.
You used to get along well with people, communication never seemed like a problem — but now you’re the boss, and expectations have changed. This book can become a go-to handbook for a freshly minted manager who is starting to reflect on their new role — not just as someone executing others’ plans, but also as a leader with influence, responsibility, and vision.
February 7, 2021
Den bästa ledarskapsboken jag har läst i hela mitt liv!! kände igen mig i förklaringarna som också var lätta att ta till sig och att sedan applicera i den verkliga världen! Om du känner att du har någonstans ledarroll i livet på något sätt rekommenderar jag dig att läsa den är boken då du kommer utvecklas på alla möjliga plan. Chad förklara allt på ett så simpelt sätt och hans sätt att tala till läsarna är väldigt lätt att hänga med på.
December 4, 2021
I thought this book was overall excellent! So good at teaching you how to relate to people well and serve them in order to drive forward your common goal and vision with leadership! There was a lot packed into it and I'm not sure if there's a specific thesis to it but there were a lot of good points that helped me to understand how to get shaped into a genuine and authentic leader, who also gets things done!
February 6, 2021
This a great resource for leadership and even just relationships in general. It’s not necessarily an inspirational, hoorah motivational book. It’s more so a manual that you can come back to for guidance when you intersect with a specific leadership/relational situation.
August 14, 2021
The last page perfectly sums up what I got out of this book: expanded thinking, sparked creativity and the encouragement to keep leading. I plan to purchase a copy for future reference and to share with others.
January 18, 2024
3.5 stars. Solid leadership book but nothing too revolutionary. A lot of quotable (tweetable?) lines but sometimes it seems too surface level. A good book for someone to read that has never read anything leadership or business related.
February 24, 2024
I distinctly disliked this book and only read it because it was required for work. Despite there being a handful of useful takeaways, Chad Veach comes across as overconfident, arrogant, and a pastor I absolutely would not trust to shepherd me or anyone else well.
March 18, 2025
The book is fine and think that there are many who would get value from it. My problem, though, is that I've read enough books like this that it didn't add any value. There were actually parts that were identical to other leadership-type books making this less valuable to me.
March 22, 2021
I liked it! Loved the first 70% of it, but then the book lost steam for me as it went on.
September 22, 2021
Wow! I loved this book, it combines so many thoughts from multiple leaders books, teachings, and talks into a simple and easily understandable form.
October 6, 2021
Great book packed with encouraging information on how to lead with compassion and grace. It a informative resource to aide one to rise about the messy of life’s challenges. Recommended.
January 30, 2022
Very generic leadership book. A good place to start I guess if you’ve never read any kind of leadership material, but nothing special about this book that made it stand out
March 27, 2022
The most important currency is relationship.
January 24, 2023
Solid leadership principles, and gives good sources to seek out for more explanations from different experts.
July 31, 2023
Nothing groundbreaking but a good reminder of many leadership principles.
August 14, 2023
This was a helpful book!
December 11, 2023
good one !
Read
September 19, 2025Great book - practical and easy to read with tools and resources to help you work with people and influence at a greater level.
April 7, 2022
A beautiful book about leadership!
I just finished it for the second time!
I just finished it for the second time!
May 19, 2022
Really eye opening book that is relatable. Definitely a great book for improvement
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews