What Makes an Effective Executive

by Peter F. Drucker

In his sixty-five-year consulting career, Peter F. Drucker, widely regarded as the father of modern management, identified eight practices that can make any executive effective. Leadership is not about charisma or extroversion. It’s about these Effective executives ask, “What needs to be done?” They also ask, “What is right for the enterprise?” They develop action plans. They take responsibility for decisions. They take responsibility for communicating. They focus on opportunities rather than problems. They run productive meetings. And they think and say “we” rather than “I.” Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world.

Genres: Business, Management, Leadership, Self Help, Audiobook, Entrepreneurship, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

Published January 24, 2017

About the author

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was a writer, management consultant and university professor. His writing focused on management-related literature. Peter Drucker made famous the term knowledge worker and is thought to have unknowingly ushered in the knowledge economy, which effectively challenges Karl Marx's world-view of the political economy. George Orwell credits Peter Drucker as one of the only writers to predict the German-Soviet Pact of 1939.

The son of a high level civil servant in the Habsburg empire, Drucker was born in the chocolate capital of Austria, in a small village named Kaasgraben (now a suburb of Vienna, part of the 19th district, Döbling). Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, there were few opportunities for employment in Vienna so after finishing school he went to Germany, first working in banking and then in journalism. While in Germany, he earned a doctorate in International Law. The rise of Nazism forced him to leave Germany in 1933. After spending four years in London, in 1937 he moved permanently to the United States, where he became a university professor as well as a freelance writer and business guru. In 1943 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at New York University as a Professor of Management from 1950 to 1971. From 1971 to his death he was the Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Reviews

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective executives follow 8 practices (1st 2 practices give them the knowledge they need, next 4 convert the knowledge to action and the last 2 ensure accountability):
1. What needs to be done
• Not to be confused with “what do I need to do”
• After asking “what needs to be done”, set the priorities

2. What is right for the enterprise?
• They don’t ask if its right for the owners, employees, share price etc. albeit these are important considerations

3. Developing action plans
• What contributions should the enterprise expect from me over the next 18 months to 2 years? What results will I commit to? With what deadlines
• Is the course of action legal, acceptable & compatible with the mission statement?
• This action plan is a statement of intention rather than a commitment. It must not become a straitjacket
• Create a system for comparing results against expectation. First feedback – halfway through the plan period. Second feedback at the end

4. Taking responsibility for the decisions
• A decision has not been made until people know the name of the persons carrying it out, deadline, people going to be affected by it, names of people who have to be informed of the decision
• It is generally assumed that decision making happens at “senior” levels. It is a huge mistake. Decision making must be taught at all levels of the organization

5. Taking responsibility for communicating
• Share your action plans with colleagues and seek feedback
• Organizations are held together by information rather than by ownership or chain of command

6. Focusing on opportunities rather than problems
• Change is an opportunity not a threat
• Scan these 7 situations for opportunities
o Unexpected success or failure in one’s own enterprise, in a competing enterprise or industry
o Gap between what is v/s what could be in a market, process, product
o Innovation in a process, product, WITHIN or OUTSIDE the enterprise/ industry
o Changes in industry & market structure
o Demographics
o Changes in mindset, values, perception
o New knowledge/ technology

7. Running productive meetings
8. Thinking and saying “We” rather than “I”
• Put enterprise’s needs before your own
9. Bonus practice – listen first, speak last

[Fazira Ridzuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is brief, but it contains a many thought-provoking questions that can help you become an effective person.

[Hunter Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seems like Viktor Reznov's steps to escape Vorkuta in Call of Duty: Black Ops

[Ravi Teja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the books in this series, HBR Classics, this is a good book and this book provides checklists of sorts. It was enough to make me identify one chink in my armour that I'd would work on. In essence this is what author says:


So what do effective leaders have in common? They get the right things done, in the right ways— by following eight simple rules:
• Ask what needs to be done.
• Ask what’s right for the enterprise.
• Develop action plans.
• Take responsibility for decisions.
• Take responsibility for communicating.
• Focus on opportunities, not problems.
• Run productive meetings.
• Think and say “We,” not “I.”
• Listen first, speak last. (bonus rule)
Using discipline to apply these rules, you gain the knowledge you need to make smart decisions, convert that knowledge into effective action, and ensure accountability throughout your organization.

Initially Drucker gave excellent example regarding the topic, 'What needs to be done?' but thereafter the concrete examples got dwindled. Again he gave a solid example for the topic 'Take responsibility for communicating'.

An immensely helpful book which would have been even better had there been more examples. But like I said this book is very good refresher and checklist to refer.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management and the author of more than 39 books and articles, has worked with some of the best business and nonprofit CEOs over his 65-year consulting experience and states that they weren’t stereotypical leaders. But what made them all effective are the practices they all followed.

In “What makes an Effective Executive” Drucker reveals how to manage oneself for effectiveness and how executives can and must learn to be more effective.

He illustrates the particular skillset of the Executive and gives fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business challenges.
All executives make decisions that have a major influence on the overall success of the company. Their responsibility is to generate outstanding results and enhance their skills and talents for being successful.

Drucker provides a framework in the introduction, stressing the importance of eight specific practices that are recommended by the CEOs of the most successful businesses.

[Héctor Iván Patricio Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los consejos que se mencionan en este libro me parecen muy útiles y creo que si se aplican pueden mejorar dramáticamente la capacidad de liderazgo de la empresa.
El consejo que más me transformó es la parte de organizar correctamente las juntas, con estos pasos:

1. Definir para qué es
2. Terminarla cuando se haya logrado el objetivo
3. Darle seguimiento inmediato mandando una minuta, registrando lo que se logró

Cuando se trata de tomar decisiones creo que tengo que aprender los puntos que propone:

1. Nombrar al responsable de llevarla a acabo
2. Poner un límite de tiempo
3. Hacer la decisión conocida para los afectados
4. Hacer saber a los que tienen que saber aunque no estén afectados
5. Revisar periódicamente la decisión para ver qué se tiene que cambiar

Es un libro-arteiculo que me parece lo suficientemente corto para ser efectivo.

Parecen puntos muy básicos pero creo que a veces no se toman en cuenta.

[Chase Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great distillation of what can be found in The Effective Executive and The Effective Executive is one of the most important books I've read for my career.

There are 8 practices (with a bonus practice) that Drucker calls out as making an effective executive:

- They asked, “What needs to be done?”
- They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
- They developed action plans.
- They took responsibility for decisions.
- They took responsibility for communicating.
- They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.
- They ran productive meetings.
- They thought and said “we” rather than “I.”
- They listen first, speak last. (bonus)

[Santosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tiny volume, talks about what makes an effective executive.

Drucker gives 8 point formula. Or 8 Questions that executives asks.

First two are related to knowledge, next four are related to effective action and last two are related to responsible and accountable.

A) Knowledge-related Questions are:
1) What needs to be done
2) What is right for the enterprise?
B) Action-oriented QUestions are:
3) Action plans
4) responsibility for decisions
5) responsibility for communications
6) Focus on opportunities rather than problems.
C) And the final two are:
7) Productive meetings
8) They say "We" rather than "I".

[Kells Next Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ratings 4.25 stars

'Effectiveness is a Discipline'

Eight practices of an Effective Executive:

What needs to be Done

What is right for the enterprise

Write Action plans

Take responsibility for decisions.

Take responsibility for communicating.

Focus on opportunities rather than problems

Run productive meetings

Think and say 'We' rather than 'I'

Bonus practice ( elevated to a Rule instead of practice because of its importance ):

Listen, First, Speak Last.

[Dillon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short enjoyable read. Peter Drucker's work is always a good refresher on the best practices in management and leadership. If you're in a leadership role within an organization, this book is short enough that you should absolutely read this. Eight simple rules are defined to make an effective executve. Through out the short book they are given examples on these rules and then are summarized in the last section of the book.

[Maribel Maldonado · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too abbreviated to be impactful. The section on meetings is particularly lacking, although it is possibly one of the most important strategies discussed. Nevertheless the list of 8 rules effective leaders follow according to Drucker can be a good and easy thing to keep handy for constant personal reset as one travels along the executive path.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only 48 pages long and packed with 8 great things that make an effective executive.

I read this book in about one hour and plan to read it several more times before I return it to my local library.

I highly recommend this book and I may buy my own copy for my bookshelf.

[Penelope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice and easy read packed full of real time applicable items.

[Ahmed Atef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short concise read with rules one have been grouping for years. Need to read once a year till you apply naturally. Enjoyable read.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a reason why it’s a classic...but more of a 4.7 due to overly-aggressive editing.

[James Goswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020: 2

[Kai Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything P Druker writes is basically gold

[John Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiny book, decent content

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has some really good pieces of advise. It’s mostly observational and some of the items discussed here can really help some effective executives.

[Matthew Mechtly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A significantly condensed version of Drucker's effective executive; good information without excess hours of reading.

[Adii Pienaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, simple ideas

Nothing groundbreaking to see here, but it's a good reminder of some solid techniques and perspectives nonetheless. It also feels like returning to some form of fundamental management or first principles due to the extreme simplicity being proposed (in a world where our "cleverness" sometimes only clutters and confuses).

[Efrem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good, brief guide to the essentials of success in high-level positions. It boils down the requirements of being a good executive to its most rudimentary form.