The Power of Ren: China's Coaching Phenomenon

By Eva Wong and Laurence Leung John Wiley & Sons (2007), 300 pages

Wong, a certified Master Coaching Consultant, the founder of executive coaching firm TopHuman and one of China's 100 "most outstanding women entrepreneurs" as voted by the China Women's Federation and China Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs, is an impressive figure by any measure. In this book, the follow-up to The REN Coaching Model, she and associate Leung expand on her copyrighted "Ren" technique, a "fusion of Western management principles and ancient Eastern philosophies" for engaging with top Chinese managers. The book's first half is mainly dedicated to case studies in which Wong helped coach heads of struggling businesses into turning them around and becoming profitable. The insights into how she pulled it off don't come until later, when the method's underlying principles are laid out in a "ninedot leadership model". Useful for insights into the workings of the mind of the Chinese boss.

China: Fragile Superpower

By Susan L. Shirk Oxford University Press (2007), 336 pages

By Eva Wong and Laurence Leung John Wiley & Sons (2007), 300 pages

Fragile Superpower keeps an eye both on the progress of China's economy and the pressures that threaten the country's stability from within. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has called the book "an objective look at the new China бн as fascinating as it is informative." Shirk herself is a former deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for China, and has spent much of her life studying China and its leadership. Her book has garnered praise from a wide array of fellow former officials and diplomats. Shirk "has injected a dose of realism into a distorted vision of China which has been promoted by gushing China watchers who focus on Shanghai's skyline," writes James Lilley, former US ambassador to China and South Korea. Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to US President George H.W. Bush, says she possesses "an insider's grasp of China's politics and a firm understanding of what makes its leaders tick."