The Hummingbird Effect: A Journey to Confidence

By Bob Danzig

You deserve a confident life. Bob Danzig, who taught The Confidence Course at the University of New York City for seven years, has infused all the key tools to enhance your confidence into a warm, memorable fable – the Hummingbird Effect: A Journey to Confidence.

These simple tools will warm your heart, lift your self-esteem and provide you with the stepping-stones to a more confident life. You will learn how to have more successful conversations, worry well, deal better with mistakes and risks, over-come nervousness before speaking as well as give and take criticism better.

Bob calls upon his own life journey from foster child to office boy to CEO of a multimillion-dollar enterprise to reinforce how confidence changes ones self-talk and smooth your life journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Danzig
• Release date: Nov 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781937698010

Bob Danzig

bob danzig grew up in foster homes. moved from teenage office boy at the albany, N.Y. Times Union to publisher (1200 employee-colleagues) in 19 years. he then became nationwide CEO of all Hearst newspapers for 20 years. a multi billion revenue company with 6,000 employee/ colleagues. Author of 8 books/ inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame/ University professor/ and now Dean of The Hearst Management Institute---the corporations Leadership enhancement program.

Book preview

Foreword

It was an unexpected phone call from my friend Walter Anderson, president and editor of Parade Magazine that reached across America in Sunday newspapers.

I have a rare opportunity which I would offer only to you, he said.

I suggested he slow down since that phrase usually meant someone was seeking something FROM ME - not for me.

Walter quickly added, This one is absolutely for you.

I asked him to tell me more.

Walter explained that some years ago he had finished his first draft of a new book titled The Confidence Course. He concluded that he needed to validate his ideas about building confidence by teaching adults at the New School University in New York City.

He said he taught the course for several years, witnessed the effect of his ideas on hundreds of adult students and had then gone ahead with the book.

He had field-tested his ideas and knew they worked. Now he had a conflict that impeded his ability to teach the course scheduled to begin in a few weeks.

His call to me, he said, was the only call he would make to invite a substitute professor to teach his course for that semester.

Bob Danzig, Walter purred, is the only person I would trust my precious course to. And he added, I know you will find great satisfaction in teaching the course.

I responded that I had zero experience as a professor, knew nothing about his course and could very well end up reducing the confidence of his students rather than lifting it.

Walter laughed, told me he would send me a copy of his book by messenger, asked that I read it and only agree to meet the next Monday for dinner. At that time, he added, you can decide whether to teach the course or not, and I will respect your wishes.

I received the easy-to-read book and took it with me on a flight to speak in Hattiesberg, Mississippi. I finished reading the book on the flight. When I turned the last page, I said to myself, This can be a BIG IDEA.

I retrieved my luggage, sat down in a plastic chair at the small airport and constructed a business plan embracing the principles in Walter’s book.

I framed a speaking theme about Tools for Confident Leaders as well as another idea to develop Confidence Clubs for every middle and high school in the nation and another idea to some day author my own book, a fable that would embrace those confidence-enhancing tools all after I experienced the effectiveness of this approach to increasing confidence.

Thus I began to teach the course and witness personally the value of these tools for the students. When I met Walter for dinner the next Monday, I handed him my idea extensions and told him I would indeed teach the course, but only because I had a large vision for its possibilities.

Off I went to the University, stumbled a bit before finding my own natural rhythm as professor and then saw with absolute certainty the value of these tools to enhance the life of every adult student. I taught the course for seven years and created a speaking theme that I have done for various groups throughout the nation. I began a dialogue with a national youth organization about the prospect of Confidence Clubs in the school system.

Now, finally, I am at the Fable, and I hope that the mechanism of it can lubricate the application of the tools to enhance the confidence of every reader.

An early discovery in teaching the class was the pattern of issues that chill confidence for many. They included tools