Lessons from the Top: In Search of America's Best Business Leaders by Neff, Thomas J., Citrin, James M. (1999) Hardcover

by Thomas J. Neff

What does it really take to run a successful company today? Thomas Neff and James Citrin, U.S. chairman and managing director, respectively, of the Spencer Stuart executive-search firm, offer revealing answers in Lessons from the The Search for America's Best Business Leaders . In 50 short but perceptive profiles, they identify and analyze the men and women who drive today's most successful corporations. As might be expected, the authors lean heavily on well-known CEOs such as Steve Case of America Online, Michael Dell of Dell Computer, and Howard Schultz of Starbucks. But they also look at a number who don't get the same publicity, including Fannie Mae's Frank Raines, the Gap's Don Fisher, and Autodesk's Carol Bartz. The result is a broad but surprisingly consistent palette of personalities and philosophies that in a concluding section Neff and Citrin highlight by synthesizing into 10 common traits (passion, intelligence, communication skill, high energy, controlled ego, inner peace, a defining background, strong family life, positive attitude, and a focus on "doing the right things right") and six core principles (live with integrity, develop a winning strategy, build a great management team, inspire employees, create a flexible organization, and implement relevant systems). This book is for managers and anyone else looking for the patterns of success, both in and out of business. --Howard Rothman

Genres: Business, Leadership

Hardcover

First published August 17, 1999

Reviews

[Saqib Shaikh · Rating 3 out of 5]

V.Good book on Management... Great lessons on how to be an effective leader. Also interesting notes on how companies become successful. Enjoyed it..

[Andriyanto Suroso]

amazing

[Jeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lessons on how to be an effective leader. Also interesting notes on how companies become successful. It is also a little bit humorous, because some of the CEOs have since been let go for poor performance or fraud. Over all, a great read.

[Mahuang59 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who is interested on what is expected from CEOs or C-Suites, should give this book a look.

[Asmuni Syukir]

good book for motivational success

[Justin Palmer]

I keep this because it shows how hubris can lead to disgrace and jail time