Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have [Hardcover]

Justin Menkes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

"Executive Intelligence" is about the substance behind great leadership. Justin Menkes has isolated the qualities that make for the 'right' people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive. In a sense, Menkes' work reveals an executive IQ - the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Contrary to our popular assumptions, star leaders have many different sorts of interpersonal styles - they are not all warm, empathetic, or overtly charismatic. But they do have one common, consistent trait; they are all sharp. And they are sharp in the specific ways that constitute Executive Intelligence: they readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognize the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges. Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The basic premise of Justin Menkes's book is simple: just as math problems require a certain kind of quantitative intelligence, or relationships require the delicacy of emotional intelligence, strong business leadership rests on executive intelligence. Menkes has worked as an organizational consultant for an impressive roster of blue-chip companies--the CEOs of Gillette, Amgen, and Tyco offer their praise on the back cover of Executive Intelligence--and his experience shows in this thought-provoking volume. Clearly patterned after Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, the seminal book that explained a theory of multiple intelligences which might leave a person highly expert in one area but surprisingly deficient in others, Executive Intelligence provides a helpful analysis of the cognitive abilities which define strong leaders.

Menkes starts his book by breaking down the different components of executive intelligence. He argues that conventional behavioral frameworks which try to prescribe rote behaviors fail for leadership coaching, due to the need for customized solutions based on the specific circumstances of each business and leader. Instead, the best executives benefit from critical thinking, which helps them gather, process, and apply information to reach goals and navigate complex situations.

Three key areas of this executive intelligence receive significant attention through the book's 17 chapters. The first centers on tasks, and executives' ability to identify problems, devise solutions, and exercise good judgment in pursuing those solutions. The second area of intelligence is social, and revolves around executives' management of relationships with others. Intriguingly, Menkes does not view the social component of executive intelligence as "charisma", or a "good personality", per se; more important than those qualities, he argues, is the ability to see others' viewpoints, to be able to balance among competing views, and to communicate effectively. The third area of executive intelligence is more inwardly focused on leaders themselves, on their abilities to learn from their mistakes, and to adjust behavior to avoid repeating them. In each of these sections, readers will find a mix of real-world examples from the experiences of Fortune 500 leaders like Gillette's Jim Kilts or AOL's Jon Miller, and more theoretical arguments grounded in review of other management books and business-review articles.

The potential audience for Executive Intelligence is large: it includes executives and aspiring executives, of course, but also those who must coach or evaluate leaders, and scholars focused on leadership development. As an addition to the literature on leadership development, following classics like On Becoming a Leader and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, this book will find its way onto many managers' shelves. --Peter Han

From Publishers Weekly

On the heels of bestsellers about emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences have come titles on moral, cultural, social and visual intelligence. Consultant Menkes introduces the concept of executive intelligence, which he characterizes as "a blend of critical aptitudes that guide an individual's decision-making process and behavioral path." Menkes collects terrific first-person anecdotes of corporate failure and success, but the stories don't necessarily prove what he wants them to. With 20/20 hindsight, he attributes every setback—whether caused by shortsightedness, venality, stubbornness or simple bad timing—to some CEOs "severe lack of Executive Intelligence." And of course, EI gets credit for every decision that happened to pan out. The book's second half convincingly debunks time-honored techniques for assessing executive acumen and abilities; researchers, Menkes argues, "have for too long been enamored with attributes, such as personality and style, that are only tangentially related to how well executives actually do their job." But the author's surprisingly skimpy research doesn't clinch his case for replacing traditional hiring practices with EI-focused interviews. And it doesn't help that Menkes is unclear whether EI is ingrained or learned. Are we stuck with the EI we were born with, or is it something we can work on? If the former, why should general readers worry about it? (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060781874
• ISBN-13: 978-0060781873
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Thinking, November 30, 2005

By 

Alan Goldberg "Professor and Director," (Baltimore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have (Hardcover)

Executive Intelligence By Justin Menkes
Reviewed By Alan M Goldberg Ph.D.
Professor of Toxicology and Director, Center for Alaternatives to Animal Testing, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

It takes brilliance to make what become apparent- apparent. We know that intelligence and knowledge are different--once we read Executive Intelligence (ExI). We may have even known it before reading ExI but not quite in the same way. The clarity of the presentation and the real life examples provides proof that both are necessary, but alone neither is sufficient. Once paired, then the critical thinking that evolves makes ExI extremely powerful. As impressive is the understandable way the 3 skills of ExI - tasks, people, and self- are taught. Having read the book and having a chance to think about the concepts, it is unlikely that I will ever approach a problem without thinking through the ExI concepts. The approach developed in ExI goes beyond the corporate office but equally applies to academic management as well. This is breakthrough thinking not unlike the work of the late Peter Drucker. A must read for those that really want to improve their own performance.

77 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Smart Read, November 29, 2005

By 

John Musero - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have (Hardcover)

This is the book my Wharton alma mater should assign its students. Why? Because it sheds new and significant light upon something which has been too much of a mystery for far too long and the understanding of which is highly relevant to anyone involved in management - what makes a star executive a star? Menkes answers this question with a welcome clarity and directness that is far removed from the unnecessarily dense prose and jargon which obscures so many business school articles and tomes. Indeed, Executive Intelligence crackles along with entertaining and enlightening insight and example. But don't let the accessibility of this book fool you because it is obviously a work of academic rigor. Those of us who could do without wasting our time on another business self-help book filled with platitudes and exhortations will find themselves deeply satisfied and educated.

66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Mix of Science and Anecdotal Evidence, November 1, 2005

By 

Miriam Bookey (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have (Hardcover)

Like many readers, I need my intellectual stimulation to come with a healthy dose of good storytelling. Menkes gives us both here. His Executive Intelligence theory comes with a strong empirical foundation, and the sample questions he gives to measure said intelligence intrigue and challenge us. Readers who test their own executive intelligence by these measures will either find themselves pounding fist to forehead asking, "Why didn't *I* think of that?" or will immediately seek better jobs in the knowledge that they can indeed perform in high management positions. Fortunately for those of us with black and blue foreheads, Menkes provides exercises for both learning and teaching Executive Intelligence. Overall an absorbing read in the spirit of Gladwell's Tipping Point or Drucker's Effective Executive.