Customer Reviews

The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed

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First, the author is a New York Times Sunday business columnist, and he knows what he is talking about. He compared different businesses and their CEOs. He wanted to find out why some people succeeded better than the others - was it the way they led or was there something else that made them differ from the others?
This book evaluates the persons based on their characters and personal attributes.
The author has interviewed and observed 75 CEOs and corporate executives, including companies like Aflac, Xerox, Continental Airlines, Cisco, Intercontinental Hotels, Timberland, and Yahoo.

You will learn a lot of how these examplary CEOs operate and evaluate their employees, and how their daily decisions affect the business and other employees.

But, it's not just the business decisions that are evaluated in the office but also the facial expressions and how you dress up...
A quote of the book:
"CEOs have learned firsthand what it takes to succeed and rise to the top of an organization. From the corner office, they can watch others attempt a similar climb, and notice the qualities that set people apart. As they evaluate talent, they learn to divine why one person is more likely to succeed than another. When they bring in talent from the outside, they watch as some new hires blend in better than others. Who succeeds? Who fails? Why? It's a feedback loop that expands with every additional person they manage, creating a kind of laboratory for studying the qualities that enable people to succeed."

The book is divided in 3 parts:
part 1: Succeeding
part 2: Managing
part 3: Leading

I ordered the kindle edition, and for some reason, my kindle version did not allow me to do any serches in this book. I was a bit disappointed that I had not put any bookmarks while I read it because afterwards it was hard to find some topics.

I found it interesting to read how the CEOs built teams and how they value different chracteristics.

"The Corner Office" draws on the CEO interviews that Bryant has been doing for two-plus years for a weekly NY Times column of the same title. But the book is NOT just a reprint of his columns. Instead, Bryant sifts, sorts, and summarizes key takeaways of what his CEO subjects have variously told him. In each of the book's three major parts, Bryant sets out the career-changing practices and attitudes he has observed, illustrating them with real-life stories, quotable quotes, and "what seems to have worked for me" pointers from his subjects. Great reading for any manager, whether or not she aspires to the corner office.

What we have in this volume is a "buffet" of "nuggets" from about 75 interviews of mostly CEOs that Adam Bryant conducted over a period of several years, interviews featured by The New York Times in its Sunday edition. Several of those interviewed are prominent but most were not familiar, at least to me, when I first read what they had to say about what they did as well as about how and why they did it.

Bryant is wise not to present one interview after another, in alpha or chronological order. Rather, he divides the material into three parts (Succeeding, Managing, and Leading) and cherry picks from the interviews whatever is most relevant to the given topic or insight. For example, consider this extended excerpt during which he shares what he learned about "passionate curiosity," the subject of the first chapter.

"The C.E.O.'s are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, but they are the best students -- the letters could just as easily stand for `chief education officer.'

"'You learn from everybody,' said Alan R. Mulally, the chief executive of the Ford Motor Company. `I've always just wanted to learn everything, to understand anybody that I was around -- why they thought what they did, why they did what they did, what worked for them, what didn't work.'

"Why `passionate curiosity'? The phrase is more than the sum of its parts, which individually fall short in capturing the quality that sets these C.E.O.'s apart. There are plenty of people who are passionate, but many of their passions are focused on just one area. There are a lot of curious people in the world, but they can also be wallflowers.

"But `passionate curiosity' -- a phrase used by Nell Minow, the co-founder of the Corporate Library -- better captures the infectious sense of fascination that some people have with everything around them.

"'Passionate curiosity,' Ms. Minow said, `is indispensable, no matter what the job is. You want somebody who is just alert and very awake and engaged with the world and wanting to know more.'

"Though chief executives are paid to have answers, their greatest contributions to their organizations may be asking the right questions. They recognize that they can't have the answer to everything, but they can push their company in new directions and marshal the collective energy of their employees by asking the right questions."

Bryant carefully selected chapter titles that, with few exceptions, specify or at least imply one of the core ingredients of great leadership at the C-level. They range from "Battle-Hardened Confidence" (Chapter 2) through "Bananas, Bells, and the Art of Running Meetings" (Chapter 9) to "Small Gestures, Big Payoffs" (Chapter 14). Those interviewed acknowledge mistakes made and what they learned from them, they explain how they interview and what they do (and do not) look for, and at least some of them indicate an endearing sense of vulnerability when citing the pressures and frustrations as well as loneliness when having to make tough decisions. Most of those interviewed seem to spend much more time in the trenches than in a corner office.

In the foreword, Bryant explains, "For this book, I was interested in pursuing a different story line about CEOs - their own personal stories, free of numbers, theories, jargon, charts, and with minimal discussions of their companies and industries." I presume to add that, in the case of the most prominent executives (e.g. Microsoft's Steven Ballmer, Cisco's John Chambers, Zappos' Tony Hsieh, Disney's Bob Iger, and Ford's Mulally), Bryant elicits remarkably frank comments that might not otherwise be shared if the corporate equivalent of "palace guards" had been involved.

Bryant notes that he was reminded of the first line of Tolstoy's novel, Anna Karenina, after interviewing dozens of executives: "'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Many of the CEOs I interviewed resembled one another in their approach. They listen, learn, assess what's working, what's not and why, and then make adjustments. They are quick studies and they also tend to be good teachers, because they understand the process of learning and can explain what they've learned to others. They seem eager to discuss their hard-earned insights, rather than holding on to them as if they were proprietary software."

To a significant extent, the same can be said of Bryant. He not only asks the right questions and elicits thoughtful responses; he also creates what (to me) resembles a mosaic of insights, revelations actually, that suggest all great leaders are alike but each has her or his own unique ways of deciding what is most important and, therefore, what must be done. Bryant characterizes his role as "dinner-party host, encouraging lively discussion and pointing out connections among the people gathered." He succeeds brilliantly but, in my opinion, he accomplishes much more than merely allowing those interviewed "to share their stories in their own voices." Those interviewed comprise a chorus of great voices and he is the skillful conductor of what now awaits those who read the book.

By Adam Bryant (Times Books, 2011)

This fascinating business book takes you on a journey through over seventy interviews with CEOs of top organizations, such as Disney, BET Networks, eBay, Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart Stores, Delta Air Lines, BAE Systems, Ford Motor Company, Yum Brands, DreamWorks Animation, and many more. Woven with great insights, professional wisdom, and inspirational bits, this book is divided into three core parts: Succeeding, Managing, and Leading.

The author discusses that, "...these keys to success are not genetic," and goes on to mention, "These qualities are developed through attitude, habit, and discipline-factors that are within everyone's control. They will make you stand out in any setting or organization," (Bryant, 2011, p. 12). "The qualities these executives share: Passionate curiosity. Battle-hardened confidence. Team smarts. A simple mindset. Fearlessness," (Bryant, 2011, p. 12); these qualities, in addition to preparation, patience, and obstacle courses, are chapters encompassed in the first section of this book.

Delving into the reality that the workplace environment for management and leadership is more of a stage than a hideaway office, this book communicates the significance of realizing your actions and statements from the receiving end, including the results and consequences that can occur based on what you might speak or do. The second and third parts in this book define and slide into what it takes to be a manager versus a leader, and the difference between the two roles. Offering a waterfall of knowledge and advice, this durable hardback book with dust cover would make the perfect gift for students, entrepreneurs, and business professionals at any stage in their career.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Macmillan (Henry Holt and Company) book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255vf: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Excellent collection of leadership reflections, especially interesting to me were the near universal disdain among the C.E.O.'s for Annual Performance Reviews and their suggestions under heading of "Be a Coach-not a Critic".

I've been reading Adam's Sunday NY Times Corner Office column for a while now. It's always inspiring and I've even scanned it a few times before important meetings. The book is a nice expansion of the column. You'll learn a lot from all the CEOs profiled, how they think and what it takes to advance in large and small organizations. I'm always motivated when reading the stories and perspectives of the people profiled in Adam's book. This the type of book you do not have to read cover to cover. You can choose chapters. It's also a book I'm sure to go back and re-read. Thanks Adam for your column and the book!!!!

This was a straightforward and practical book on the day-to-day leadership styles in an educational environment. Much of what is written in this book exemplifies what many supervisors and personnel in leadership roles must possess but often lack. A good read and instructional text.

Everyone needs a mentor now and again. Whether you're a recent college grad or an executive nearing the ladder's top rung advice from one who knows is more than welcome. That's precisely what Adam Bryant, New York Times business columnist, has provided in this treasure of wisdom and wit from 75 CEOS and top execs.

These industry leaders are speaking informally as they offer advice and observations gleaned from their years of experience. Bryant is a more than an able interviewer so it's a bit like listening in on affable conversations. Those interviewed represent diverse companies - from Microsoft to Ford Motor to Zappos. Their styles of leadership are different but each knows and shares what they do and do not look for in others, their own personal paths, day-to-day experiences, surprises, and how they cope.

THE CORNER OFFICE is an invaluable resource for those in the corporate world, literally full of information, ideas, and inspiration.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

Although the intent is there, the biggest problem with this book is that Mr. Bryant highlights a number of CEOs who can hardly be called role models for corporate success or ethical behavior.

Among the people Mr. Bryant interviewed for his book are CEOs of companies that are hardly success stories or to be admired on any level for their leadership qualities. CEOs whose personal comments on "leadership" and "success" do not mirror their actual real world business practices or corporate ethics in any way.

Many of these CEOs are the ones who can be blamed for the failings of corporate governance and leadership over the past decade. Ethical, strategic and operational lapses that were direct contributors and causes of this country's recent economic collapse. CEOs who should have known better and acted much better, but looked the other way, fought and ignored regulation, and personally profited from the collapse.

This book required much more research. Mr. Bryant should have included interviews with former top executives who worked for these CEOs to meaure and examine the very real differences between these CEO's self-glorifying and personal perspectives of themselves and their performance, against the reality of what they practice in the real world and have actually accomplished.

This book was great. It's filled with great advice from leaders from across a variety of industries and easy to read. Bryant has organized the book very well and made everything easy to understand. I love that he makes the advice applicable to everything - I only wish I read this book earlier!