Customer Reviews

Nightly Business Report Presents Lasting Leadership: What You Can Learn from the Top 25 Business People of our Times

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What a wonderful book this turned out to be. Not only did it give me an insight into what these individuals key strengths were, but the book also had enough personal information about them that you came away from the book feeling you knew more about them as individuals. The book starts off by making the assurance that great leaders are not only capable individuals, but they also have a desire to lead and chose to do so above all else. They are not just great because of smarts or drive, but because they want to be and work at it continuously. Thus the authors provide a book that is not a road map to greatness, but a review of these 25 leaders and what they do that has made them successful. It is a broad group of people and it is interesting that the traits highlighted in the book are also wide spanning. I had incorrectly assumed that the book was going to give me a simple list of the things I needed to get good at, no such luck.

The goal of the book is to help current day leaders observe proven and successful leaders to help them in coming better. The purpose is not so much to imitate their qualities but really to discover which attributes resonate with yourself and the cultivate those traits to expand and improve your leadership skills. There are so many good examples in the book that it is almost too much to take in with one reading, this is one of those books that you will find yourself highlighting and marking pages for further review. It comes as close as possible to a how to guide for personal improvement. Overall I not only enjoyed the book, but I learned a great deal from it. This book as so many helpful bits of info that all managers and business owners can learn from it. The book is not only worth the money, but also worth the time to read.

This is one of the most powerful and inspiring book on leadership. It must be a required reading for MBA students and senior executives.

Who doesn't want to know about leadership? It is a discipline that has been called an "art" by Max DePree and dissected by countless academics. Wharton School Publishing has created, in collaboration with Nightly Business Report (NBR) and Knowledge@Wharton, a perfect book for those of us who like to discover how leadership is done.

The book identifies the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years-side note, I didn't make it. The NBR viewers nominated more than 700 business people from around the world-once again, I was skipped. A panel of six Wharton judges selected the top 25. Seriously, it is a great list. Iacocca, Welch, Branson, Buffett, Bezos, and Kelleher. The panel was asked to pick the "best" of the 25. Andy Grove won that honor. 2 of the 25 have died-Sam Walton and Mary Kay Ash-and they interviewed 15 of the remaining 23.

They have identified eight characteristics that have enabled the 25 individuals to overcome major challenges as well as create their own leadership style.

1. Building a strong corporate culture-Herb Kelleher. 2. Truth telling-Peter Drucker, Bill George 3. Finding and catering to under-server markets-John Bogle, Charles Schwab 4. Seeing the invisible-Steve Jobs, Ted Turner 5. Using price to build competitive advantage-Jeff Bezos 6. Managing and building their organizations brand-Oprah Winfrey, Lee Iacocca. 7. Being a fast learner-Lou Gerstner, Bill Gates. 8. Managing risk-Alan Greenspan, Peter Lynch.

The history and challenges of these 25 leaders are thoroughly covered with tidbits of information on side bars, which includes detailed information on birthdays, marriages, schooling and highlights in their respective careers. What's great about this is that you can pick and choose what you want to read and everything is in bite-sized morsels. The stories ends with what is titled "The Leadership Lesson" which gives further insight into how these 25 leaders got to be where they are. Their stories are told with many verbatim quotes, which really helps this book to be both interesting and motivating. This makes it a great holiday gift book for anybody in business.

The last time I checked, Amazon and Borders offer 18,573 different books on the subject of leadership, supplemented by a significant number of CDs, DVDs, etc. Obviously, interest in this subject remains great as a New Year begins and, if anything, that interest will probably increase in 2006. Many of these books focus primarily on specific qualities which all great leaders share in common. Others focus primarily on individuals (on CEOs such as Jack Welch, public figures such as Winston Churchill, and military leaders such as Ulysses S. Grant) as exemplars of great leaders. Still others focus on both.

What we have in this volume is a rigorous and eloquent examination of 25 contemporary business executives who have provided great leadership over an extended period of time. Lasting Leadership is the result of a collaboration of Nightly Business Report and Knowledge@Wharton. Credit Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell with their brilliant organization and presentation of material in ten chapters which range from "Best of the Best: Inside Andy Grove's Leadership at Intel" to "Conclusion," the final chapter which -- all by itself -- is worth far more than the cost of the book.

When reviewing the list of 25, we recognize many of the "usual suspects" (e.g. Warren Buffet, Grove, Steve Jobs, Herb Kelleher, Ted Turner, Sam Walton, and Welch) but also others who may be less familiar as business leaders -- at least to some readers -- but are nonetheless eminently worthy of inclusion (e.g. John Bogle, James Burke, William George, and Muhammad Yunus). According to Pandya and Shell, those who provide "lasting leadership" throughout any organization create a strong corporate culture, emphasize and exemplify "truth telling," identify and then develop under-served markets, recognize "winners" as well as market and even industry trends before their competitors did, use pricing strategies to establish and then sustain competitive advantage, build and then manage a dominant brand (if not several), are fast learners, and effectively manage risk. Granted, some of the 25 had business careers in which all eight attributes were not required. Peter Drucker, for example. However, all of them affirmed their importance to sustainable excellence.

Comparisons between and among great leaders can sometimes be forced because they "come in all shapes and sizes." Pandya and Shell skillfully avoid making that mistake. Indeed, they note significant differences in personality and circumstance while using eight common characteristics as themes to guide and inform their organization and presentation of material.

I especially commend Pandya and Shell for their skillful use of so many reader-friendly devices throughout their narrative. They identify for each of the 25 a "Challenge" and then explain how the given leader responded to that challenge, in process demonstrating one or more of the "eight attributes of lasting leadership." For example:

Andrew S. Grove: Dealing effectively with the Pentium flaw debacle
Mary Kay Ash: Motivating a Sales force of thousands
Peter Drucker: Inventing the discipline of management studies
Muhammed Yunus: Using microcredit to "lead beggars into business"
Ted Turner: Keeping the Big Picture clear

They also suggest a specific "Leadership Lesson" (or lessons) for each of the 25. For example:

Jack Welch: "The truth can be more bitter than a sweet illusion, and making the right decision [e.g. firing a loyal but incompetent subordinate] can involve unpleasant confrontations" but "doing the right thing -- which usually involves truth telling -- tends to work out well for everyone in the end."

Steve Jobs: Rather than erecting technological barriers to downloading and filing lawsuits against downloaders and their enables, Jobs chose a third path: Creating user-friendly software and hand-held players that would let music lovers download their favorite songs for a small fee."

Bill Gates: He responded to the rise of the Internet in three ways. "First, Microsoft developed the Internet Explorer web browser,...began to adapt existing products and develop new products centered on the Internet," and "when companies came along that had established a strong presence in a niche where Microsoft was lagging behind, Gates responded with another time-tested tactic: acquisition."

Of special interest to me is what Pandya and Shell reveal about Muhammed Yunus whose use of microcredit resulted in loans (ranging from $1 to $100) by the Grameen Bank of more than $4-billion which enabled 8,000 beggars to sell simple products house-to-house. Yunus recognized "that not all poor people are alike, that there are different levels of poverty depending on a person's individual circumstances. And yet, he said, government officials, economists, and social scientists failed to make these distinctions when they created programs to ease poverty." Over time, Yunus and his bank intend to at least 25,000 others so that, as they become successful, "they remove their begging bowls and replace them with with cash boxes."

So many other business books which discuss leadership from one perspective or another tend to focus on celebrity CEOs and their well-publicized successes without explaining how and why those successes were achieved with what Bill George characterizes as "authentic leadership." Granted, Pandya and Shell include several celebrity CEOs among the 25 but, as all of the CEOs whom Jim Collins discusses in Good to Great correctly indicate, character rather than charisma is far more important to effective and sustainable leadership.

This is precisely what Pandya and Shell have in mind when concluding their book. "In the end, leadership boils down to a personal approach to the business of managing. Leaders are able to communicate their ideas, values, and beliefs to em-ployees and the business community at large. They encourage innovation at times when none seems necessary. They work in chaotic environments and bring discipline and a vision of the future to their stakeholders." Yunus envisions a world that will be free of poverty, one in which the market for his bank will no longer exist. This would be a world, he says, "we could all be proud to be in."

A sign of wisdom is being able to learn from the successes and failures of others (without having to make the same mistakes yourself). In the business world, this trait can be worth millions (or even billions). A good resource for starting your learning is the book Lasting Leadership - What You Can Learn From The Top 25 Business People Of Our Times by Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell.

Contents: Best of the Best - Inside Andy Grove's Leadership at Intel; Leadership and Corporate Culture; Truth Tellers; Identifying an Underserved Market; Seeing the Invisible; Using Price to Gain Competitive Advantage; Managing the Brand; Fast Learners; Managing Risk; Conclusion; References; Index

This book is laid out a bit differently than other business leader biographies I've read in the past. The material is grouped into specific sections that focus on a particular trait, such as the skill of managing the brand of your company. Within each section, a number of business leaders are covered with special attention paid to their skill in that area. This is a welcome departure from books that tend to deify a business legend, making it sound as if they never made a mistake. In the post-Enron era, we know that the public hype doesn't always equate to reality. For each business leader covered, there's a few pages of side bars that recap his/her career, along with a brief write-up about their skills as it relates to the area being discussed. Following that information, there's a "Leadership Lesson" that helps take the leader's skill and make it a bit more generic to allow you to think about applications to your own business arena.

The other thing that was nice about this title is that it didn't gloss over errors or mistakes. Richard Branson didn't turn everything he touched into gold. Overextension of resources forced him to choose between his record company and his fledging airline. But there's lessons to be learned there. Likewise, Fred Smith of FedEx hasn't exactly missed all the potholes in the road to where they are today. Again, the skill to learn quickly from mistakes and adapt is a critical trait, and you can learn from his mistakes.

For business people looking to tap into the collective experience of those who have gone before them, this is an excellent read with many points to apply...

Organizations need leaders, but natural leaders are at least as rare as natural athletes. And, even natural athletes need careful training and development - given that almost everyone is capable of developing some degree of athletic potential. Similarly, the right training and development program can help almost anyone cultivate some degree of leadership potential. In fact, it can help a few people develop extraordinary leadership abilities. Ignoring leadership development is foolish, but at many companies, short-term priorities eclipse the long-term thinking needed to develop a good leadership pipeline. This book's plain, sensible approach is simple without being simplistic. It is generally lucid and clear, and - somewhat to my surprise - it does not suffer from having five authors. If you are a leader or need to develop leaders for large corporations, this is a very useful volume.

"Lasting Leadership; What you can learn from the Top 25 business people of our times," by Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell is without a doubt mandatory reading for all young CEO-track junior executives. This book...which is a collaboration of Nightly Business Report and Knowledge@Wharton is filled with superb shaded historical sidebars that provide for quick visual downloads of information. The balance of the text is filled with well-written narratives on how these special 25 individuals attained success.

The introduction identifies eight attributes or qualities that have enabled the 25 individuals to overcome major challenges as well as to nurture their own leadership styles. Don't skim over it...the eight attributes are threaded into practically every page of the text. It is difficult to point a finger at the best of the 25. Certainly, Warren Buffet who resisted the pressure to jump into tech stocks and who harshly criticizes George Bush's proposed tax cuts as an unfair break for the wealthy...stands tall.

Peter Drucker is also a giant pioneer that greatly impacted this nation. Steve Jobs, saw "the invisible." John Bogle, used "common sense." James Burke, was a "risk-taker." George Soros, had "balls." And Mary Kay, nurtured "women who worked for her and the customers who bought her products." They were my favorites. On the downside...this book lacks photos which gives it a sterile look. Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Lasting Leadership.

It is an ephemeral concept. While most of us when we see it demonstrated, few of us can articulate its attributes. Leaders are not alike; they demonstrate varied styles.

In Lasting Leadership, the Nightly Business report and Knowledge@Wharton team up to identify eight qualities of leadership:

* Building a strong corporate culture.
* Truth telling.
* Uncovering and catering to under-served markets.
* Spotting to spot winners and trends before their competitors.
* Building competitive advantage using price.
* Building and managing a brand.
* Being fast learners.
* Managing risk.

Using case studies and profiles of 25 business leaders, the book explores the theme of lasting leadership in ten chapters. What emerges is a fascinating portrait. No one leader demonstrates all of the attributes. Yet each has the ability to capitalize on their individual strengths while emulating others to navigate their organization's challenges.

The book is insightful and well-written. As interesting a read as it was, I finished it wishing I could be exposed to each of the leader's thoughts on the subject. While a portrait written by a competent freelance writer satisfies, nothing beats studying at a master's knee.

"Lasting Leadership" is really about illustrating eight attributes or qualities that the authors believe will enable business people to lead their organizations through challenges and overcome the setbacks and unforeseen events that inevitably arise and rock even the most successful companies to their core. These eight traits are:

-Building a strong corporate culture
-Truth Telling
-Finding and catering to under-served markets
-"Seeing the invisible" - that is, spotting potential winners or faint trends before their rivals or customers do.
-Using price to build competitive advantage
-Managing and building their organization's brand (which, in some cases, may be their own name)
-Being fast learners
-Managing Risk

These traits as a group are not discussed directly by the 25 business leaders, although interviews for this book were conducted with about two thirds of the leaders. Instead, each of these traits is given one chapter (plus one introductory chapter and one for conclusion for a total of ten). Andy Grove is given the top spot and discussed separately. The other chapters use a single incident or strategy from two or three of the business people selected for the book. I like the way the stories of the business people are organized. First, the Challenge is presented. The Leadership Lesson is then presented. Along the margins of the Challenge section is a chronology of major dates and events in the life of the person being discussed.

What is nice about this approach is that you get a variety of "case studies" to illustrate the point the authors are making. The brevity of the case studies makes for easy reading and the authors make their points clearly and succinctly. However, such condensed treatment of complex business issues cannot help but oversimplify realities quite a bit. For example, the authors take Steve Jobs from the Apple II to the macintosh. However, there was the Lisa before the mac, even if only a few of us remember it today. The Lisa had the graphic operating system first and had those weird and wonderful variable speed Twiggy drives. But everyone would (or should) know this kind of simplifying has to be done and it is an acceptable tradeoff for the lessons the book is trying to teach.

I am sure that everyone will have different reactions to the vast range of people included. Some will be your heroes. Some you may not know very well. And others you may not think well of. I had that reaction to the range of people in this book. However, I really enjoyed reading through it and thinking about what the authors were saying.

Good business book.

"Nightly Business Report Presents Lasting Leadership: What You Can Learn from the Top 25 Business People of Our Times" has a long title, but does not meet its meaning. It is not about leadership. It is about management. There is not an ethos espoused, or an explanation of people development. Instead, it aims at what the leader did, rather the outlook and purpose for doing those things.

The difficulty with leadership books highlighting celebrity leaders is in separating the truth from the publicity campaign. The other challenge is in sorting out what we readers can learn from people in positions many steps above us. What, for example, can I, a mere marketing manager, learn from Alan Greenspan or Bill Gates? Both of their jobs involve a caliber of thinking far beyond my own, in fields I do not understand at an even rudimentary level.

The question, then, is does the book understand my needs, or are they just trying to trumpet the success of others? Are they trying to teach me something practical, or inspire me in a more amorphous way? "Lasting Leadership" does both. Neither category is focused enough for me to give it top marks, but there is enough for a casual, interested look into how the 25 people profiled made it to, and stayed at, the top of their game.

Each chapter is broken down into two essential parts.

The first part is the long sidebar timeline providing a minimal biography for each leader. We learn more than where and when they were born (Soros and Grove, for example, are both from Budapest, born in 1930 and 1926, respectively), but also some trivia (Turner was expelled from Brown University as a junior after breaking dorm rules), and some hardship (Oprah was raped at age 14).

The second part fleshes out the business side of the biography. For example, we learn about how Sam Walton took his first Wal-Mart in 1962 to make him America's richest man. Throughout this section are topical instruction. In the case of Walton and his stores, the focus is "Using Price to Gain Competitive Advantage."

Where the book lands into PR fluff is that each profile is too short, and relies on anecdotes. Good business is not a few anecdotes, but such is what curses most well-meaning business books. The reader leaves inspired without substance rather than having gained useful tools for the marketplace.

Amazon.com customers will appreciate founder Jeff Bezos' inclusion. As much of a fan I am of Amazon.com, his profile may be too early. The company's success is still in the engineering stage. While it easy to argue its force in book selling, and the selling of almost anything online, it is as easy to argue that profits are still unsure in the long-term. The popular online retailer is only 11 years old, having been officially launched in July of 1995. In fact, it was not until 2004 that they reported a profit. Considering Bezos a lasting leader is a question we can ask in 20 years, but not now.

The book is an easy read, the kind a young manager might read on a business trip or train commute. It is not a serious leadership book, but can be inspiring to think strategically and aggressively in order to make it once he or she reaches a position of influence.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com