Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Kenneth Adelman (Author), Normand Augustine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1999

Timelessly wise and eternally popular, the plays of Shakespeare are packed with essential insights into human psychology and the use and abuse of power. In Shakespeare in Charge, Norman Augustine, former Fortune 500 CEO, and Kenneth Adelman, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, show how the Bard's shrewd understanding of palace politics and the strategies of warfare can just as easily be applied to the twists and turns of the corporate world.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Both of these books present palatable lessons on leadership, change, risk management, crisis management, power, and emotion, though Corrigan's book has a unique chapter, "Listening to Fools and Knaves." Corrigan's approach is more closely tied to Shakespeare's individual characters, while Augustine and Adelman focus on entire plays and the interaction of characters. Their writing style is also the more casual and engaging of the two. A passage from their introduction effectively captures the rationale for studying the lessons of Shakespeare in a high-tech world: "While the accoutrements of corporate life are now dramatically high tech--dominated by e-mail, cell phones, the web, and PCs--the basics still hinge on human nature." Both books link lessons from Shakespeare to modern-day business practitioners, although Corrigan tends to repeat the well-known names, while Augustine and Adelman refer to less well known, smaller-scale success stories. The latter use more actual passages from the Bard's work and end each "Act" with lessons for today's business leaders. Either or both books would make valid additions to collections of all sizes. If you have succumbed to Dilbert, Winnie the Pooh, and Goldilocks in your business collections, Shakespeare deserves to be represented.
-Susan Dimattia, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

In order to receive my high-school diploma, like many others I was required to memorize various Shakespearean passages. To this day, I can spout soliloquies from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Beyond helping with crossword puzzles and being fun at parties, there doesn't seem to be much practical use for this kind of specialized knowledge.

But in their lively book Shakespeare in Charge, Norman Augustine and Kenneth Adelman offer a surprising reason to dust off the old textbooks: Studying Shakespeare's characters - and the sticky situations they find themselves in - can offer busy execs advice about surviving in today's competitive marketplace, the authors argue.

Consider The Taming of the Shrew: Petruchio's goal is to train Katherine to become a model wife so he can marry her and obtain her dowry. Each time Katherine displays her shrewlike behavior in response to his wooing, Petruchio must regroup and redefine his plan of attack. The lesson, the authors say, is to adapt to a changing environment, as 3M learned when it developed Post-it notes out of a failed attempt to create superstrength glue.

In Julius Caesar, Cassius convinces Brutus to help him kill Caesar, a popular and effective leader. Although Caesar receives warnings to "beware the ides of March," he disregards them and is stabbed in the back by conspirators. But Cassius' inability to stand up for what he believes and Brutus' inability to work with others, combined with their combined failure to plan for a successor to Caesar, lead to their downfall. You get the idea.

In Shakespeare's play, King Henry V of England gained valuable information when he disguised himself and walked among his soldiers the night before a battle. Unlike the sugar-coated advice he got from his lieutenants, the leader didn't always hear what he would have liked from the rank and file. As the authors recount, AOL learned that lesson after an outside consultant said it was on the wrong track to increase sales. So AOL gave the consultant the reins and the result is the now successful Web network iVillage.com.

The layout of Shakespeare in Charge cleverly mimics the structure of a play. Divided into Acts I through V, each section contains a "prologue" that introduces the "scenes" (plot synopses) as well as "acting lessons," which cover the act's characters and how their actions translate to the world of modern corporate life.

The book uses examples from many of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, but focuses its bard-business comparisons on five major works: Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice and Hamlet. The fundamentals of a successful business are detailed, such as basic leadership strategies, intelligent risk-taking in the corporate world, effective communication between executives and employees, and expedient crisis management.

While entertaining, Shakespeare in Charge provides more of a course in Business 101 rather than any major revelations. Ultimately, however, Augustine and Adelman have managed to make both Shakespeare and the fundamentals of business accessible and entertaining for anyone on the corporate stage. -- From The Industry Standard

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Miramax Books; 1st edition (November 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786866012
• ISBN-13: 978-0786866014
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare in Charge, February 1, 2000

By 

Scott Franks (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage (Hardcover)

Norman Augustine and Kenneth Adelman hop on the Bard's very crowded coattails with this attempt to translate soliloquies into sales. Give them points for timing. 1999's Shakespeare in Love garnered seven Oscars. Now that everyone thinks Shakespeare looked like Joseph Fiennes, Will is hotter than ever. But do men in tights using words like "anon" and "whilst" really have anything to teach middle management? Perhaps. Shakespeare's genius was his ability to plumb the human psyche, dissect the motivations of his characters, and make even taking out the garbage sound like poetry. To the extent that business success is often determined not by who makes the best widget, but who understands the complexities of person-to-person relationships, the premise of this book is on target. Yet stuffing Hamlet and Henry IV into three-piece suits is a stretch, to say the least. Each chapter is a quick study of a different Shakespearian play; for instance, Julius Ceasar as a model of poor succession planning within an organization, or The Merchant of Venice as a lesson in risk management. The parallels drawn between these plays and modern case studies flow naturally and well. The authors, however, cram so many Shakespeare quotations into their little book, even in the opening credits, it is very nearly swamped. Many of these quotes are strained, discombobulating, and downright annoying. This reaches a laughable low when a case study opens with Victoria's Secret's sales going flat: "Leslie H. Wexner, the chairman of Intimate Brands, decided on a strategy posed by Posthumus in Cymbeline, who says, 'I will begin the fashion - less without and more within' and so changed the company by offering the best bras on the market." Taking snippets of Shakespeare out of context and hammering them sideways into a business case study does not make them wise proverbs for the CEO, they remain poorly packaged gimmicks for selling a book. In the Historical Figures as Business Gurus genre, read Donald T. Phillips' Lincoln on Leadership for truly useful advice. As for Shakespeare in Charge, you can get the same effect for much less money by reading the Wall Street Journal while watching a video of Hamlet.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Way to See the Timeless Aspects of Leadership, March 16, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage (Hardcover)

I generally do not like busines books that are built around historical or fictional characters. The analogy in most cases is superficial and of little interest. On the other hand, I love it when Peter Drucker draws on examples from a hundred or more years ago. Interestingly, this book permits a timeless series of reflections that feels a lot like reading a Drucker example. I can remember thinking of analogies to my own life when first reading Shakespeare, so the idea of having a successful leader draw leadership lessons from Shakespeare made immediate good sense to me. Also, it occurred to me that when strong themes continue from Shakespeare to today, that is probably a good sign that we should all pay special attention. We are probably in contact with something very fundamental about human nature. That was a new and useful thought to me. On the other hand, I suspect that we all find ourselves in Shakespeare so anyone who writes about the lessons of Shakespeare is really drawing a portrait of themselves. In this interesting book, you will find a portrait of Norman Augustine, someone who is a modern exemplar of fine leadership qualities. I found myself looking forward to seeing what areas the authors would decide to portray about Shakespeare. I also enjoyed rereading material that I had not seen in twenty or thirty years. I found the lessons that related to personal character to be especially good reminders that good character is what ultimately draws us to others. Further, the authors provide their own lessons throughout, drawing from the examples in Shakespeare as well as modern cases. That gives a lot of useful perspective. I found that I did no know the modern cases, so they added to my enjoyment of the book. At the same time any good reviewer would have to note that many people will find this book hard to read, particularly as the authors shift back and forth between modern and Shakespearean English. If you have that reaction, I suggest that you slow down and read aloud if you want to get the most benefit from the book. Also, you can also skip some sections if you are getting more the Bard than you like. If you are not a big Shakespeare fan, you may not like this book. There's a lot of subtle humor there for those who like puns. I do, so I was laughing throughout. You might want to read a few pages first to see how you react. On the other hand, if you do not read Shakespeare in Charge you will miss the opportunity to get new insights into and from some of Shakespeare's best stories, such as Henry V, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. Simply because a book provides some reading challenge is no reason to ignore it. Anyone who has skipped Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past would have avoided a tough read, but missed a remarkable learning experience. Shakespeare in Charge presents such an opportunity. I have read and enjoyed Norman Augustine's other books, but I must admit that this is my favorite. Please do read it. Leadership is a hard road, and those who succeed will know that the path to progress is never easy. I think you will find yourself rewarded for your efforts. You'll have had a chance to learn from two masters, Shakespeare and Augustine. Good luck with applying the very valuable and interesting lessons to helping those around you, and yourself!

33 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brush Up Your Shakespeare-Start Quoting Him Now!, December 16, 1999

By 

A. C. Shellhase (California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard's Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage (Hardcover)

It's become fashionable to use fictional or historical figures as gurus of modern business wisdom. We've got Machievelli, Attila the Hun, and, just a few weeks ago, Goldilocks, to name a few.

I'm not sure why this has come about; perhaps it's only a gimmick to grab our attention and set a particular book apart from the crowd.

Gimmicks are OK, I suppose, but, after you get past that, content & usefulness reign. Unfortunately, that's not the case in this book.

This is probably the most pretentious book I've come across. It would be fabulous if you were teaching a "Business as Literature" course. It'd be the perfect book.

It's not perfect for the general reader. If you hated or didn't understand Shakespeare in school, you're not going to feel any differently now.

It's not Shakespeare's fault this book fails. Here are some of the problems I found:

=> even though the authors give plot summaries, unless you are very, VERY familiar with the play in question, you will find the business stratagems difficult to deduce from the context

=> it is abysmally difficult to read because quotes from the plays are strewn in between the business parallels the authors are trying to get across

=> though it's sprinkled with examples from modern day businesses (Virgin Atlantic; Amazon.com; Pak Mail Centers; Dell; & more), they get lost in a sea of Elizabethan English

=> in many places I thought the authors were working overtime trying to make plots fit the business lessons they were touting

Did I say it was pretentious? Oh, boy, is it! Here's why. The book's overall format is set up like a play: Prologue, Act I, Act II, and so on, right up to the Epilogue.

Then, at the beginning of each chapter, ah-hem, excuse me!, each act, you get a quote (from the Bard, of course).

And then, get this -- Dramatis Executivus Summarius -- which I take to mean dramatic executive summary. This is nothing more than an overall introduction to the theme for the chapter. It's enough to make you scream.

What follows is the business information broken down into Scene I, Scene II, etc. until you're just about gagging over the entire concept. It goes too far.

Mixing a business example with a quote slows down the reading. Try this one.

"When (Richard) Branson phoned People's Express and kept getting busy signals, he concluded that "they must be doing really well or they're really inefficient. If either was true, I figured there was room for competition." He promptly bought a single 747 and began flying customers. He felt akin to Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet: "In delay, we waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day."" (pp.18-19)

Yeah. Sure. Akin to Mercutio. Do you see what I mean?

I recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Shakespeare, who loves business books built on gimmicks, or who teaches Literature.

For everyone else --pass.