The Arc of Ambition: Defining the Leadership Journey [Paperback]

James Champy (Author), Nitin Nohria (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2001

What separates the wannabes from the great achievers? For internationally renowned management experts Jim Champy and Nitin Nohria, the key ingredient is ambition. Showcasing the experiences of dozens of contemporary and historical figures from all walks of life, The Arc of Ambition is a practical and inspirational guide to harnessing your ambition and leaving a legacy of accomplishment.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nearly everyone aspires to something--wealth, fame, happiness. But a few people aspire to changing an entire paradigm, the way the Wright Brothers did when they invented a glider with an engine, the way Nelson Mandela did when he endured decades of imprisonment to see his nation transformed, the way Thomas Jefferson did when he doubled the territory of the young U.S. by purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France for less than three cents an acre. All seem like obvious ideas in retrospect, but in fact all appeared quixotic at the time, as wrongheaded as the alchemy that had been attempted for 300 years without ever succeeding in turning a base metal into gold.

In Arc of Ambition, authors James Champy (Reengineering Management, Reengineering the Corporation) and Nitin Nohria see these visionaries as creators, but also recognize two other species of genius: capitalizers, who take great ideas and create great businesses or social movements from them; and consolidators, who lead these businesses or movements into maturity. All three types have the titular "arc of ambition." That is, they start with a great idea, realize it, cope with the success of it (the chapter on overreaching and squandering opportunity includes the cautionary tales of Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton), and decide when and how to turn the product of their imagination over to others. Ultimately, The Arc of Ambition is the entire history of the modern world, of its politics and technology and art. Everything we know and either cherish or loathe starts as someone's ambition, and ends when the product of someone else's ambition becomes the dominant model. It's an interesting and entertaining way to organize the world, to look at the facts with new eyes. In that sense, the authors display the fruits of ambition even as they explain them. --Lou Schuler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In their quest to identify the particular traits of effective leaders, Champy (coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation) and Nohria, a professor at the Harvard Business School, elbowed aside the constraints of the leadership genre, which typically relies on secondhand sources, and actually interviewed many of the people they use as examples. In addition to some of the usual suspects--such as IBM's Louis Gerstner and computer entrepreneur Michael Dell--they canvass such lesser-known figures as Domain's Judy George and Dhirubhai Ambani of Reliance Industries, making an effort to span all industries. Beyond reporting on the traits that they believe have contributed to these leaders' successes (these executives "never violate values"; they "keep control by giving it up"; they "change or die"), Champy and Nohria show how readers can emulate those they've singled out, offering such advice as "return to ideas that have worked in the past" and "include specific targets to make sure you remain focused." While neither the traits nor the advice are particularly groundbreaking, the authors' well-honed and accessible presentation and fresh thumbnail profiles are surprisingly engaging. Agent, Helen Rees. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738204277
• ISBN-13: 978-0738204277
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #960,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Champy is one of the leading thinkers in business. His first book, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, a New York Times Bestseller with more than 3 million copies sold, helped transform the corporate world. His global bestsellers also include X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age; Reengineering Management; and The Arc of Ambition. Champy's most recent books, OUTSMART! and INSPIRE!, examine the future of business in the digital age. Champy is an advisor to multiple health care organizations on issues of strategy and operations. He continues to work in the corporate world and serves on the boards of several public and private institutions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tension of Human Ambition Unresolved, January 17, 2000

By 

David E. Reynolds (Lansing, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Arc of Ambition : Defining the Leadership Journey (Hardcover)

Humans have a natural distaste for experiences of tension. We tend to want to resolve the tension by giving into one of the forces. The topic of ambition, particularly in America, is one fascinating tension: we believe deeply in the power of the individual to rise above humble means and yet, we tend to resent those who have achieved great wealth, e.g. Bill Gates.

Ambition has its seemy side and its positive side. Ambition implies that there is competition and in that competition, there will be some who come out on top. This is the tension of ambition in a capitalistic society and economy. As a result, any author who dealt with ambition would be tempted to slide toward either extreme: ambition is good or ambition is evil.

Champy and Nohria successfully fail to resolve the tension for the reader. They lift up the amazing trait of ambition with biographical examples and describe the occasionally ambiguous trait with other essential traits without questioning the motives or ethics of ambitious people.

Their thesis is that ambition is the driver for success in the world. Fortunately, they use a broad definition of success by profiling artists, businessmen, social activists, religious leaders, etc. They describe the three phases of the arc of ambition: the upward incline with its accompanying struggles, the peak of success and the inevitable decline that eventually occurs in each ambitious person's life. Their profiles help the reader understand each phase, the supporting experiences and traits and the opportunities and risks of each one.

The authors have written a business book that is not written with common, stale prose. While it is not as exciting to read as a Tom Peters book, it is definitely far from a Peter Senge anesthetic. They also assume an intelligent reader who can draw his or her own conclusions about the nature of ambition.

After reading this book, I have been very encouraged and excited about where I am currently at on my arc of ambition. I have a better understanding of what I am doing and how I am wired. This is a worthwhile read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That distinguishing quality....that defining moment....., January 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Arc of Ambition : Defining the Leadership Journey (Hardcover)

Generally,a healthy sceptic of management philosophies - especially when it comes to implementing them in real life -I found the book provocative and eye-opening.

Champy and Nohria have managed to effectively pinpoint that "ineffable quality", possessed by leaders, across time and chosen paths. The creativity of ideation, the pioneering courage to follow it through and also, importantly, the ability to let go.

Teaching, demonstrating and implementing leadership principles is at best an elusive, challenging process. The book coalesces similarities possessed by leaders(fleshed out by invorating examples from the political, business and social spheres), and lays them out in a crisp, easy to understand fashion.

The title says it all. The reader after having read the book, is strongly tempted to pick it up and read it again.

Some day more management books will be written this way.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travelling the Arc, February 24, 2000

By 

"hfrix" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Arc of Ambition : Defining the Leadership Journey (Hardcover)

Nohria and Champy do an admirable job of examining the power and potential of ambition. Not easy ground as ours is a culture that is almost embarrassed by the word. Ambition is negative. Ambition consumes. Ambition is selfish.

History shows otherwise and Nohria and Champy use historical case studies to dramatic effect. Yes, ambition has been at the core of some figures we could have done without. But, so too did it burn in many who made massive contributions to mankind.

It was downright merciful of the authors not to bury us in the typical motivational pap that usually greets us when matters of business and character meet.

Overall, a clever treatment of a tough subject that manages to both educate and entertain.