Customer Reviews

The Gamesman: The New Corporate Leaders

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Even though the book is from the mid 70's, Maccoby does us all a great service by publishing the results of his extensive study into corporate life.

Based on his surveys and interviews, he develops four organizational personalities: The Craftsman, The Organizational Man, The Jungle Fighter, and The Gamesman - and states that no one is purely of one type, but rather, containing a mixture, depending on the circumstances and personalities. He gives a description of each character and establishes how and when they are the most effective, in an organization.

As an example, the Organization Man is most valuable at 'keeping things as they are', which is so desperately needed in times of stability, but an awful impediment to organizations that need innovation and courage to take risks in times of change.

He spends an entire chapter describing a real life Gamesman, showing how this character's strengths are those that are most recruited for the top level organizational positions. Through the description and mini-biograph, he shows that corporate personalities are shaped by job requirements, and less so by the individual (him)self. The higher the position in the firm, the more outside pressures there are to conform to the expectations of that role.

Maccoby spends a chapter critiquing Maslow's hierarchy. This is a good read if you've been relying on this to rationalize your own lifestyle.

Finally, in my favorite chapter, Maccoby addresses the question of how a corporate player can move from a head-based approach, to a heart-based approach. While he doesn't answer the question and provide concrete action steps, it is refreshing, at least to this reviewer,to know that someone is thinking of the issues, and sharing the thoughts that go into it.

A good book. Recommended.

The "Gamesman" hero of the book is Richard Hackborn, who 25 years later recruited Carly Fiorina to run Hewlett-Packard.