Customer Reviews

Lessons on Leadership: The 7 Fundamental Management Skills for Leaders at All Levels

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The last time I checked, there are more than 52,000 business books in print on the subject of leadership. It is reasonable to ask, "Why another?" Jack Stahl provides his answer in this book, based on his extensive real-world experience as a senior level executive, notably as president of Coca-Cola and then, until recently, CEO of Revlon. True, both are major corporations. However, Stahl asserts - and I wholeheartedly agree - that "organizational dynamics are often similar in different environments, and most of the important leadership skills and techniques presented here will apply across diverse organizations large and small, and to various management roles. The frameworks are guidelines that I know have helped me."

Specifically, Stahl focuses on seven "frameworks" and devotes a separate chapter to each, with "Key Points" and "Leadership Insights" featured:

1. Leadership and Management: "A modest view of your future brings modest results and rewards. Think big and give people the opportunity to win big." This is what Jim Collins calls a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG).

2. Creating a high-capability organization: "People focus on those skills and behaviors that leaders say count." Also, what they reward.

3. Developing people: "And important oversight technique for major projects is to schedule frequent project updates, and be sure that when someone says something is done, it is totally complete."

4. Brand positioning with consumers, clients, customers, etc.: "A `brand' represents a promise to consumers of what to expect from a product or service. Brand positioning is the process of establishing that promise in the minds of the reader."

5. Customer relationship management (CRM): "Asking questions and listening patiently and carefully - in order to understand your customer's business, where they want to take it, and how well you are serving it - is the foundation of great service."

6. Financial strategy and management: "As the leader, you must help make clear to your people the link between their actions and the creation of value for your company." Also, and at least as important, the creation of value for each customer.

7. Influencing people: "I have presented six frameworks for creating leadership success. The seventh is a linchpin for them all because success in any leadership role will depend upon your ability to effectively influence people to take actions to achieve success."

As these excerpts correctly indicate, Stahl provides no head-snapping revelations in this book, nor does he make any such claim. Rather, he shares everything he has learned (thus far) about what works...and what doesn't...in the seven basic business areas. To his credit, after briefly identifying the "what" of effective leadership, he devotes most of his attention to the "how" and "why" for those who wish to strengthen their leadership and management skills. I especially appreciate his effective use of various checklists for appropriate and effective action, such as the key building blocks for creating a high-capability organization (Page 31), seven basic techniques for leaders that are critical to successful people development (Page 64), customer relationship skills that focus on what is most important (Pages 109-110), and four important elements of an effective control and reporting system (Pages 153-154). These and other checklists facilitate, indeed expedite periodic review of Stahl's key points.

I commend Jack Stahl for his pragmatic approach as he shares a wealth of lessons he learned while occupying a series of progressively more demanding executive positions. His insights will be of special value to those now preparing for or have only recently embarked on a business career. I also recommend it supervisors in need of their own improvement in one or more of the seven areas on which Stahl focuses. Ultimately, however, it is the responsibility of each reader to absorb and digest the material provided, and then apply it effectively. Because Stahl is a pragmatist with a bias for results, he would presumably agree with Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton's admonition to beware of the "knowing-doing" and "doing-knowing" gaps. Or as former Texas football coach Darrell Royal once observed, "potential" means "you ain't done it yet."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Bill George's Authentic Leadership and then True North (co-authored with Peter Sims) as well as Ram Charan's Know-How, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, Paul Spiegelman's Why Is Everyone Smiling?, Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris' Competing on Analytics, James P. Andrew's Payback, Richard Ogle's Smart World, and Matthew May's The Elegant Solution.

I have to admit, when I saw "another" book on leadership I anticipated a theoretical prose that seems to be prevalent in too many books on the subject. I was pleasantly proven wrong.

Although Stahl writes mainly from his experiences at Coca-Cola and Revlon, by no means are they narrow perspectives. And, by no means is what Stahl has to say only for executives of large companies. This book applies to those in leadership at any organization - or those that want to be.

Stahl provides compelling truths about the need for a clear, focused strategy; measurable objectives, and communicating both of those with enthusiasm throughout the organization. These activities are sorely lacking in many companies--yet vital for a company to thrive--so I was glad to see Stahl emphasize them.

He also talks about the flow of information and reporting systems, and perhaps most importantly, developing the people around you who can help the organization achieve its goals. Again, all vital.

What's more, Stahl doesn't use corporate-speak; it's down to earth stuff. And he doesn't just tell us how what to do, he tells us what questions to ask and why we need to ask them.

He also tells us these things based on a train-load of experience.

I believe any leader in any company will take away some golden nuggets from this book.

I work in the private equity industry and spend a significant amount of time with management teams building leadership skills to ensure success in our investments. Having read a lot of these types of books, I can honestly say this book presents the most direct and clear path to developing leadership skills. Stahl uses more of an outline style so it is an extremely easy read and very much to the point - there is never a page in the book that is not useful. The book also is very specific and uses clear examples without getting into nebulous, long-winded discussions that put you to sleep. Overall, I found the book incredibly insightful and would strongly recommend it for anyone in business or investing.

Just read Lessons on Leadership. It succeeds by offering clear advice and ideas for leading people, marketing brands, and managing customers. The author's years of senior experience at Coca-Cola and Revlon really show up in the stories he offers up to make his points. I am already using many of the ideas to help manage my sales team. Most importantly, the chapter on finance is easy to follow for a non-finance person like myself. Highly recommended.

Jack Stahl is the real thing and so is his book on leadership. Do yourself a favor and read it NOW!

If the name Jack Stahl is not familiar to you, he's a former, very successful CEO at both Revlon and Coca-Cola. During his time at both companies boosts in profits and overall performance was considered to be quite positive. Jack Stahl is known in the business world as a true, successful leader so he obviously knows what leadership skills to build and areas to develop in. His new book "Lessons on Leadership: The 7 Fundamental Management Skills for Leaders at all Levels" shares Stahl's experience and the interesting methodology for leadership he's developed over the years.

Now, I believe there is a reason to read books by solid, proven leaders. They've already shown they have got what it takes to make it in business. Who else would you want to trust with shaping your leadership development? I want to learn from "doers" - outstanding individuals who've been challenged to lead in the moment, actively developed teams and shaped organizations, who persevered during challenging times in an increasingly complicated and political business world. There is no substitute for being in the trenches, working through issues, responding to the overwhelming number of issues, risks and challenges, and then understanding how complex the business is - all the pieces of the business pie. A solid leader should understand the importance of setting and achieving solid goals while also learning what is and isn't working, and that's what makes this new book by Jack Stahl a gem.

Stahl's book discusses his proven leadership methodology and outlines seven leadership themes he believes are key to being a success in business. They are focused on helping one become a complete leader - someone who is engaged in every facet of the business. Here are the seven pieces of the leadership pie discussed:

==Leadership and Management
==Creating a High Capacity Organization
==Developing People
==Brand Positioning with Customers
==Customer Relationship Management
==Financial Strategy and Management
==Influencing People

As far as books on leadership go, I found "Lessons On Leadership" to be an interesting, insightful read. Stahl's book could be a virtual handbook on how-to lead a company, and his experience and advice come though clearly. It's a pretty easy read and I found myself appreciating the anecdotes and advice based on Stahl's own experience, since they made the leadership insights feel more real. I also loved that the book wasn't heavy, tedious, boring or full of complicated theories and rambling rhetoric.

If you're looking for your next book on leadership definitely check out Jack Stahl's "Lessons On Leadership". You'll find great information on what to do, good questions to ask, and an excellent seven-step methodology written by a proven leader in the real world. I believe anyone will benefit from reading Lessons On Leadership as there is a ton of useful info packed into this comprehensive book on leadership.

An experienced and successful CEO of the Coca-Cola company's North American group (who also served as head of their global corporation) for twenty-two years, and later serving for five years as CEO of Revlon, Jack Stahl writes with a very special expertise on the subject of leadership in the management of a business with "Lessons On Leadership: The 7 Fundamental Management Skills For Leaders At All Levels". A gifted writer, Stahl expertly simplifies the complexities of running a business by introducing, explaining, and illustrating seven frameworks that cover many of the situations that are commonly encountered by managers when building up world-class organizations in a volatile and competitive marketplace be it local, regional, national, or international. These frameworks relate to the basic issues of leadership and management; creating a high-capability organization; developing human resources; brand positioning with consumers; customer relationship management; financial strategy and management; and 'influencing people'. "Lessons On Leadership" is strongly recommended reading, especially for business students, employees aspiring to management responsibilities, and managers charged with advancing their company's best interests and bottom-line profitability.

Jack Stahl worked for The Coca-Cola Company for 22 years, some of them as president. He was CEO of Revlon for five years. When it comes to leading businesses, he knows his stuff. In his book, he discusses mastering "seven frameworks" of executive leadership. He builds a strong case that corporate leaders need these "core skills." Unfortunately, some of his prescriptions come across as elementary overviews, not concrete lessons. For example, to illustrate the need for clear corporate goals, he explains that he and his executive team set Revlon's corporate goal as: "delivering the promise of beauty" to "consumers, customers, employees and shareowners." Stahl says that, to shareholders, the promise of beauty meant "profitability" and "value." The rhetoric is appealing, but it's not very innovative: Readers know that all shareholders want to be part of a profitable business. However, getAbstract finds that the majority of the book is useful and on target. It is well-organized and carefully outlined. It solidly covers leadership basics and includes numerous useful examples. As a savvy, seasoned corporate leader, Stahl has a lot to teach. And he teaches much - but probably not all - of it in these pages.

I was expecting some techniches to improve leadership skills. But I found author's story about his achievements in his companies. I guess you need more intelligence to understand the hidden meanings the author wants to convey. I am sure there are other books out there with straight approach on "leadership"!!