Harder Than I Thought: Adventures of a Twenty-First Century Leader

by Robert D. Austin

Being a great leader today is much harder than you think.

Meet Jim Barton. He’s a newly minted CEO, rising leader of a firm in transition, and manager of massive complexity - thanks to our incredibly networked and increasingly unpredictable world of business. What if you were in his shoes?

If you’re a top executive today, you probably are.

Harder Than I Thought is a fictional narrative that puts the increasingly complex job of chief executive in a very real context. It serves as a practical guide by allowing you to walk alongside Jim as he takes on his new role and all its attendant challenges. Jim’s story - developed in collaboration with seasoned, real-life CEOs - includes crucial lessons for anyone hoping to master the new-world skills required of successful business leaders today.

As the narrative unfolds, Jim grapples with an array of business crises, some he inherited and some of his own making. As events push this new leader to the edge of his abilities, he seeks counsel from a panel of advisers - resulting in a wealth of teaching moments bound to keep you captivated. Experts agree that many 20th-century leadership practices won’t work in the turbulent 21st century. This engaging book gives you the insights you’ll need to navigate in a fast-changing business landscape.

Genres: Business, Leadership

Audible Audio

First published August 2, 2011

Reviews

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

CEOs get “The Goal” treatment. This is a fictional account of a newly hired CEO for an aircraft manufacturer. The story goes through the trials and tribulations as the CEO meets his staff and board and begins his work of saving the company. It is a lot like “The Goal”, but where “The Goal” focused on a manager learning optimization, this covered a number of areas of difficulty faced by the new CEO, from dealing with the press, making hiring and firing decisions, negotiating with the Union, you get the idea. After each chapter, there are a number of pertinent questions posed to pique additional thought, perfect for groups. This really felt like a fictionalized and plotted business case study, and I think the appropriate audience would be people in business classes. Read as a story, it was OK, but it doesn’t aspire to be great literature. I must admit, I found it entertaining listening to the audio on a long trip – it isn’t too taxing and provides a few management-related things to think about without providing pat answers. And strangely, it was a personal "double" - it mentioned two of the four companies I have worked for over my career. This is rare.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review has been published here - http://businessleadershipmanagement.w....