Customer Reviews

Eleadership: Proven Techniques For Creating An Environment Of Speed And Flexibility In The Ne

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I met Susan Annunzio on December 1 and since then her book has been on the fast-track to becoming required reading at e-GM. The only thing better than Susan's upfront approach in her book, is Susan Annunzio in person. The writing style is as conversational as having Susan over for coffee (although you may have to strap yourself in for the ride). The content hits home and resonates with those who get it and reaches out to those who really want to understand. If you already believe in the necessity of cultural transformation, the book will energize you. Indeed, prophets need encouragement. If you're in a leadership position and disappointed that your company's new culture hasn't come with the wave of your hand, Susan's book identifies the real work necessary to begin. OK, so the title is tired; tear off the cover as the first demonstration that you understand it takes more than wrapping paper to live and breathe real cultural change.

This book is bigger than the "e" we've grown tired of..."e everything." This is a book about how to position your company for today and whatever the next wave of change might be, whether it is away from or back to the .com revolution. Annunizio is more than a writer or consultant, she is a zealot. It is clear in her writing that she has lived through the fear and thrill of making fundamental organizational changes, as an insider putting her job at risk and a consultant putting her fees at risk. What she offers us in this book is practical, common-sense, doable and, yet, scarey. The last quality is what makes it worth doing. If it were not scarey, it would be just another "change of the month." However, don't just pick one or two ideas from this book and then expect to transform your company. This is a comprehensive change program...one of the few we've ever been offerred in such detail and with such an easy to read and easy to follow format. I bet one of the other reviewers is right. If you bring Annunzio to your company, she will shake it at its' roots, not with the funny quips of Tom Peters, but with any one of the mind-bending questions that she poses in her chapters. I'm sending this book to all my burned-out colleagues.

I finished this lovely little book about 10 days ago. Is the book any good? Well, I have already been using some of what I found in there with my clients and my employees, both to good effect. That would be a yes! :)

One of the things I really like about the book is that it is a "dipper". I can browse through and stop at almost any page, dip in and pick up an illustrative real life story that reminds me of things I could do, suggests new things I might do or confirms things I am doing. This book is both a great reminder and an inspiring boot in the ***.

I finally got to read your book. Well done! Your steady use of interesting cases illustrated your points extremely well. It's applicable to far more situations than leading change in "e" business. The approach you advocate would work well in any company in today's talent short environment. Here's hoping the publisher's marketing efforts obtain the widest audience possible. The book deserves it.

The author is one of the foremost experts on communication and change management. Her insights and ideas on how to drive change in an organization are truly unsurpassed. Ms. Annunzio is someone who writes from actual experience and her book is a virtual manual for any leader who is responsible for communication or change management in their organization -- and these days, what good leader isn't? I give this book my highest possible recommendation.

One of the great paradoxes of the technology-driven economy is that people have become more critical to business success than ever. None of the New Economy rhetoric about technology-driven business models and disruptive technology alters the fact that it is people in the end who will make the difference between the winners and losers in the marketplace. And inspiring and leading the kind of people who will make the most difference is becoming more complicated and challenging than ever, particularly in the big old companies that still rule the roost.

Susan Annunzio understands these challenges. She has a perceptive ability to identify the behavior that presents the most formidible challenges, empathize with the players, and pinpoint the leadership skills and talents that can transform large companies into rejuvenated market leaders.

eLeadership is written in an enthusiastic, breezy style; it makes one want to rush back out into the corporation and make believe that even the most lumbering and complex organization can think and act like a dot.com for just long enough to pull off the improbable! Dot.corp leaders will not only draw inspiration from this book; they will also take comfort from knowing that they have shared the pain with so many of the managers Ms. Annunzio interviewed for her study.

eLeadership is written not for new companies but for established companies whose formerly effective business rules are now causing them problems. Change-management specialist Susan Annunzio provides a five-step process for transforming established cultures and structures to enable flexible and fast-paced leadership. The author starts off with observations about the differences between the Baby Boom generation and the X and Y generations. This does serve to focus executives' attention on improving communication between diverse backgrounds, though it inevitably overgeneralizes.

A core part of her book revolves around the 20/60/20 rule. The top 20 percent of the workforce are the change leaders and high-potential performers at every level of the organization. These are the people who can be spurred to ignite change throughout the enterprise. The bottom 20 percent are the complainers and enemies of change. The middle 60 percent can be influenced by either the top or bottom groups, so Annunzio's strategy is to show executives how to use the top 20 percent to influence the middle group while diminishing the power of the obstructive bottom group. The best chapter is probably chapter 4: "Ask the Unaskable, Speak the Unspeakable". Through real-life examples and clearly articulated strategies, this chapter shows how to break through fear and open communications throughout the enterprise, allowing real change to begin. Most of the value of this book can be extracted by careful attention to this chapter while skimming the rest for the key points. The easy style of writing and the author's restraint in book length makes gleaning the core points rapid and painless. If you are part of a company where everyone feels trapped with old rules but where no one dares break out of the mold, this is a fine book to read and put to use.

eLeadership is a breath of fresh air for any executive who is serious and ready to take advantage of the new digital economy. Author Susan Annunzio has untangled the complexities of leadership in a constantly changing world into a useable blueprint that is a guarantee for success. (2-2001)

E-Leadership is a must read for both managers and employees in today's workforce. The book is very easy to read and is the perfect companion for a car ride or flight on your next business trip (I read it on a a day trip to NYC from Chicago). The author's insights and examples are very easy to relate to and you will walk away with at least 5 -10 things to think about when you go to work the next day. Annunzio is especially insightful around the working relationship between boomers and Gen X/Yers. She provides tangible ways for managers to better relate to and motivate workers. E-Leadership should be in the bookcase for every middle and upper manager in today's companies!

I thought this book was awful for three reasons.

First, the author spends way too much time discussing how to placate the 20-somethings in the workforce today. Managing a workforce isn't that difficult. Identify what motivates workers, and then establish opportunities to help workers achieve goals. Managers shouldn't be in the business of catering to the whims of their immature staffers. Managers should be leading by example.

Second, the author is extremely vague about the companies she worked with and the accomplishments achieved. The author should have provided a list of concrete examples - company names, their problems and the solutions to those problems. Instead the author dances around the specifics and speaks in broad generalizations. It leads me to believe the author was called into failing companies and made recommendations akin to rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship.

A company can have the best management in the world. But if nobody is buying its products and services, the company is doomed to failure. Companies need to figure out what customers want, and then give it to them. Unfortunately, too many e-businesses were trying to convince customers to buy products or services they didn't want and didn't need.

Finally, the author's speaking voice reminds me of nails scraping over a chalkboard. Very squeaky and irritating. Her voice lacked any sense of confidence. This lack of confidence was compounded because she failed to list specific businesses that may have benefited from her advice.

Most speakers do a better job in person. I would like to hear the author in a live presentation to see and hear the difference. I recognize that the book was written at the tail end of the dotcom boom and released in the midst of the dotcom bust. In the heyday of the dotcom revolution, what worked early on did not always apply down the road.

I also noticed that Nextera, "the leading global management consultancy firm" that the author use to work for, has sold off all of its operating units, and is looking for a partner to help relieve the net operating loss of $43 million as of December 31, 2003. Nextera's failure raises a series of questions such as:

Did Nextera not listen to it's own consultants?
Did Nextera follow its own consultants' advice and still fail?
Did Nextera's advice to other companies help or hurt those companies?

Then again, perhaps all the good consultants left the company before the financial problems started. I have searched the web some sort of rebuttal or follow up commentary from the author, but have not found anything.

The Bottom Line: I cannot recommend this book. Read Patricia Seybold's newsletters and publications to see what is and is not working in the technology field.