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All In: How Obsessive Leaders Achieve the Extraordinary
What makes great leaders like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Howard Schultz, and Steve Jobs extraordinary? 'ALL IN' shows leaders and aspiring leaders how obsession can fuel the most incredible successes, but also how it can take a serious toll on company culture, families, and support networks.
As a psychologist once noted, “When people with creative energy succeed in putting their obsessional personality traits to good use, everyone benefits.” What personality trait is found in all extraordinary leaders? A passionate commitment to achieving their vision that borders, and sometimes crosses the line into, obsession.
'ALL IN' shows leaders and aspiring leaders how obsession, if properly focused and managed, is necessary and productive. Advances in any field almost always depend on a small group of individuals who are completely consumed by the goal they’re pursuing.
'ALL IN' explores the four types of productive obsession underlying the success of great leaders and their companies:
1. Delighting customers
2. Creating extraordinary products
3. Building an enduring company
4. Contributing to society
By studying the success stories of our most iconic leaders, like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Howard Shultz, and Steve Jobs, acclaimed author Robert Bruce Shaw shows the upside of obsession and the organizational practices that support it. Shaw also provides insight into the dark side of obsession and the price it can extract--from individuals, their families, and the organizations in which they work.
Appealing to any reader of entrepreneurial biographies, 'ALL IN' shows how to manage obsession’s downsides while realizing the benefits of relentlessly seeking to create something that truly matters.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 7hrs. and 53mins.
©2020 Robert Bruce Shaw (P)2020 HarperCollins Leadership
As a psychologist once noted, “When people with creative energy succeed in putting their obsessional personality traits to good use, everyone benefits.” What personality trait is found in all extraordinary leaders? A passionate commitment to achieving their vision that borders, and sometimes crosses the line into, obsession.
'ALL IN' shows leaders and aspiring leaders how obsession, if properly focused and managed, is necessary and productive. Advances in any field almost always depend on a small group of individuals who are completely consumed by the goal they’re pursuing.
'ALL IN' explores the four types of productive obsession underlying the success of great leaders and their companies:
1. Delighting customers
2. Creating extraordinary products
3. Building an enduring company
4. Contributing to society
By studying the success stories of our most iconic leaders, like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Howard Shultz, and Steve Jobs, acclaimed author Robert Bruce Shaw shows the upside of obsession and the organizational practices that support it. Shaw also provides insight into the dark side of obsession and the price it can extract--from individuals, their families, and the organizations in which they work.
Appealing to any reader of entrepreneurial biographies, 'ALL IN' shows how to manage obsession’s downsides while realizing the benefits of relentlessly seeking to create something that truly matters.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 7hrs. and 53mins.
©2020 Robert Bruce Shaw (P)2020 HarperCollins Leadership
Audible Audio
First published July 7, 2020
70 people are currently reading
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About the author
Robert Bruce Shaw
14 books9 followersROBERT BRUCE SHAW is a consultant specializing in organizational and team performance. An in-demand speaker, he is the author of Trust in the Balance and Leadership Blindspots.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 16, 2021
Few people achieve world-class success without obsessive commitment to a single goal.
Though obsession is a powerful force for achievement, it becomes a double-edged sword.
Grit has no negative side effects; obsession does.
At Amazon, Jeff Bezos demands obsession with customer service.
Elon Musk’s obsession with product quality led to historic accomplishments.
Travis Kalanick’s drive to build Uber illustrates the pros and cons of obsession.
Like obsession, passion comes with costs and benefits.
The wisest course is to pursue enjoyable work that doesn’t overwhelm other aspects of your life.
Though obsession is a powerful force for achievement, it becomes a double-edged sword.
Grit has no negative side effects; obsession does.
At Amazon, Jeff Bezos demands obsession with customer service.
Elon Musk’s obsession with product quality led to historic accomplishments.
Travis Kalanick’s drive to build Uber illustrates the pros and cons of obsession.
Like obsession, passion comes with costs and benefits.
The wisest course is to pursue enjoyable work that doesn’t overwhelm other aspects of your life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2022
Weird, mostly useless framing about how “obsession” supposedly “makes” people successful.
As with most of these, survivorship bias and the necessity to hash and rehash mostly known concepts with a new framing permeates. This also unfortunately reduces the amount of useful information to something approaching, but not quite zero.
Go buy a poster with a cat that says “hang in there” or look at a series of gifs on buzzfeed about grit for the same effect.
As with most of these, survivorship bias and the necessity to hash and rehash mostly known concepts with a new framing permeates. This also unfortunately reduces the amount of useful information to something approaching, but not quite zero.
Go buy a poster with a cat that says “hang in there” or look at a series of gifs on buzzfeed about grit for the same effect.
January 23, 2021
Great read - that author talks about the obsessive nature of innovators like Steve Jobs, Elson Musk, etc. He covers both the positive and negative results that come from that obsession and how to balance it out.
September 10, 2022
Robert gave considerable attention to listicles on pros and cons of obsession at work and in work culture through the lens of examples, primarily from founders of Uber, Amazon, Tesla and Apple, along with a few others on the side. However the book fails to offer conclusions, leave everything as 'two sides of a story', barely touches upon first person experiences (something that for a topic like this, would have added value/richness, given its' best told from experiences of those who lived it or lived around it) and do not offer value beyond basics. Overall an average read, something that can be skipped also, especially from those that have read about these companies & their founders from other avenues
January 29, 2023
An insightful book providing leadership insights on how three of the major businesses namely Amazon, Uber and Apple brought their founders to being revolutionaries that challenged the status quo and upturned the economy.
Through their stories we learn what sets them apart and what we can learn from them.
The major lessons derived from the book are that to succeed we need to have a balance between grit and obsession. We also need to have a passion or vocation for something in our lives.
An important point included in the book is also that success comes at a cost. In order to get to the success level of Amazon or Uber, the founders have had to sacrifice a lot including their families and wellbeing.
An interesting and insightful book on leadership.
Through their stories we learn what sets them apart and what we can learn from them.
The major lessons derived from the book are that to succeed we need to have a balance between grit and obsession. We also need to have a passion or vocation for something in our lives.
An important point included in the book is also that success comes at a cost. In order to get to the success level of Amazon or Uber, the founders have had to sacrifice a lot including their families and wellbeing.
An interesting and insightful book on leadership.
March 17, 2021
Captures the essence of doing the extraordinary- with brevity
The author captures well the mindset of the top three modern leaders who’ve forged hi tech, Jobs, Musk, and Bezos. Well researched and with brevity that captures the essence of their nature that drove their respective companies to extraordinary heights. I’ll be reading more from this author. But this book is a good one for today’s high tech companies looking to become the next Apple, Tesla, or Amazon.
The author captures well the mindset of the top three modern leaders who’ve forged hi tech, Jobs, Musk, and Bezos. Well researched and with brevity that captures the essence of their nature that drove their respective companies to extraordinary heights. I’ll be reading more from this author. But this book is a good one for today’s high tech companies looking to become the next Apple, Tesla, or Amazon.
August 19, 2021
Confusing at times, but then halfway through, it was a really balanced view presented, with solutions to having an obsessive individual as a leader, or a group of obsessives, and ways to manage them. A good read for those who are seeking high performance and a greater sense of purpose to your calling in life.
September 17, 2023
Obsession is good indeed! If it's under control, and one applies it to pursue the greater good.
All In is an incredible read, that gives insight into the consistent efforts of the leaders, to achieve their vision. Robert here gives the good and bad it brings in and the impression it leaves behind, from the perspective of an individual and as a leader.
All In is an incredible read, that gives insight into the consistent efforts of the leaders, to achieve their vision. Robert here gives the good and bad it brings in and the impression it leaves behind, from the perspective of an individual and as a leader.
November 22, 2020
I think Shaw has a good point here. Want to fully embrace career GREATNESS? Life outside of work will suffer. Can you do your job in excellence, of course.
March 15, 2021
This book is an enjoyable reading. It provides insightful stories regarding the most well-know companies of our time, but it felt slightly repetitive.
May 13, 2021
Maniacs are driving the most innovative products and companies... in summary :)
August 10, 2021
Wow. Robert unveiled the 3 obsessions underlying the achievement of extraordinary leadership of Bezos, Musk and Jobs.
December 17, 2021
The wisest course is to pursue enjoyable work that doesn't overwhelm other aspects of your life.
January 12, 2022
not the best book, but inspiring.
October 2, 2024
Great book ! It shows how successful people got to where they are by being obsessed with their ideas or products, and also the price they paid for it such as: long working hours, etc.
April 28, 2022
The book is all about obsession and how it can fuel success and its pitfalls. The author points out that obsession is an amplified version of Grit.
I particularly liked the part where he has profiled Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick (documenting his rise and fall). It really gives you an insight of what drives these leaders and make them extraordinary.
I particularly liked the part where he has profiled Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick (documenting his rise and fall). It really gives you an insight of what drives these leaders and make them extraordinary.
February 9, 2023
One of my favorites.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews