The Ant and the Elephant: Leadership For the Self

by Vince Poscente

Book Overview

A renowned speaker, business consultant, record-setting speed skier and Olympian, Vince Poscente believes in the enormous potential of the unconscious mind. Poscente likens the dynamic between the conscious and subconscious minds to an ant and an elephant: "Our minds are separated into two distinct functions -- the conscious and subconscious elements. Our ant is the intentional part of the brain, but our elephant is the instinctual, impulsive part...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974640352
• ISBN13: 9780974640358
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Corner Stone Leadership Institute
• Length: 115 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Highly recommend

Awesome book excellent to help in your personal and business life. Helps you learn to tap into your subconscious mind

A wonderful resource for charting your destiny

Vince Poscente is an incredibly gifted speaker, and his wisdom shines through in The Ant and the Elephant. The story of Adir's journey to the oasis, and the helpful action steps and "Notes to Self" that are liberally sprinkled throughout this delightful story, can help any reader dream bigger dreams and think more clearly about how to overcome the barriers that stand between them and the realization of those dreams. I plan to highly recommend this book to the readers (all over the world) of my Spark Plug newsletter, and I highly recommend it to the readers of this review. -- Joe Tye, CEO of Values Coach America

Really helpful leadership guide!

This book is great for anyone looking to get better control over themselves and their leadership skills. I thought the story and the analogy were both really unique and interesting, and it gives a concrete image of an abstract idea. This book is already changing the way I approach problems now, and I hope to become even better at controlling my subconscious in the future. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in bettering themselves as a leader AND as a person.

Powerful and rewarding

The Ant and the Elephant lays out five simple steps that set you on a journey toward a better professional life and personal life. The parable of the ant and the elephant is interesting and inspiring. This relatively short book, at only 115 pages, is packed with life lessons that will make you appreciate the every day things and lead a more gracious life. It will transform your attitude and your overall state of being. I definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking for deeper meaning and satisfaction in their life.

Awaken Your Elephant Within!

Vince Poscente has created a powerful little book that will propel you to be the best you can be. Written as a quick read using an entertaining allegory between an ant and the elephant, the book contains strategic tools that you can use to create peak performers personally and personally. Vince also weaved in his great sense of humor that had me laughing out loud! The crux of the book is his five-step program that he calls the 5 C's. Here are the 5 C's that you will learn about in the Ant and the Elephant: 1. Clarify your vision. Make fear your friend, not your master. You don't know what you don't know. Open your mind to discover possibilities that may not be obvious at the time. Zero in on a goal that has depth of meaning. The journey has to be worth taking. 2. Commit to cultivating positive dominant thoughts. Shift beliefs, attitudes and truths so they are in alignment with your vision. Envision having the goal, rather than merely wanting the goal. 3. Consistently focus on performance. Experience the goal as though it were happening right now. Show your gratitude consistently. 4. Strengthen confidence. Frustration will lead to negative thoughts. Negative thoughts add fuel to more negativity. This negativity can be a pattern that destroys confidence. No two thoughts can occupy the mind at the same time. Replace negativity with positive, confident thoughts. 5. Control the response to any situation. Unforeseen circumstances will arise. Expect the unexpected. Anticipate your response to challenges as well as your team's. Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works and founder of EmpoweringMessages.com

It is not just for the workplace

I found The Ant and The Elephant an excellent resource on self development not only in the workplace but also in my personal life. I read this book at a time when my family was going through a great loss of a loved family member. As in all situations in life we are always faced with the projection of negativity from unexpecting sources. This book helped me in being the guide for those around me not to get caught in the patterns of negativity but focusing on the joy we had for one another.