Sudden Impact on the Job: Top Business Leaders Reveal the Secrets to Fast Success [Hardcover]

Susan Quandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

In today's job market, organizations are impatient for results, so managers feel they need to make a fast and powerful impact to establish themselves in a new position. Sudden Impact on the Job is based on interviews with many successful executives and business luminaries who endured highly visible transitions. The Book explores the factors that contribute to success and provides best practices for starting off on the right foot. At the same time, it dispels many commonly held beliefs about successful executives.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Sudden Impact on the Job is written for business executives or managers who have just moved (or are aspiring to move) to the next level in their careers and want to make a fast and powerful impact to establish themselves in their new positions of responsibility.

Sudden Impact on the Job recounts the real-life experiences of corporate executives in their first eighteen months at top-level positions. From candid interviews with noted new CEOs, this compelling book reveals the problems and challenges of some of the world's highest-profile business leaders. Sudden Impact on the Job offers first-hand insights from seasoned business professionals on what to anticipate when taking the reins of power as a top executive, how to identify the organizational nuances that have the potential to lead to success or disaster, and when to institute change for high-impact results. This book shows how leaders reacted to a variety of situations in ways that often contradicted the prescribed "must-dos" of business leadership. Author Susan Quandt offers an illuminating resource book that includes strategic information executives need to prepare and perform well on the new job.

Through the personal stories shared in this book, Quandt challenges misconceptions about executives who move into top-level positions and debunks commonly held myths about the behaviors that make new executives successful:

• THEY Never have surprises when they walk into their new position
• THEY Never take risks
• THEY Never make mistakes
• THEY Never need mentoring or advice
• THEY Always enter the new job with a solid game plan
• THEY Always quicken the pace of the organization for increased success
• THEY Always make a major mark on their companies by the end of 90 days

Sudden Impact on the Job is the book aspiring executives will find invaluable in developing a personal game plan for becoming the most effective and high-impact executive

From the Back Cover

Your Handbook for Creating Sudden Impact on the Job!

"Sudden Impact dispels the notion that leadership change dictates broad organizational disruption as a consequence. Quandt uniquely demonstrates through leaders' own stories how they sense the rhythm of an organization and improvise for success based on the unique context of each organization. A must?read for any aspiring leader."
—Denise Rousseau, outgoing president, Academy of Management; HJ Heinz II Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

"When you're about to start in a new leadership position, the last thing you need is a formulaic, cookbook approach with someone dictating what you must do. Instead, it is much more productive and infinitely more enjoyable to learn the experiences of those who have come before you and adapt the lessons to your unique situation. That's what Sudden Impact is all about. If you believe in learning from the very best business leaders, then read this book."
—James M. Citrin, senior director, Spencer Stuart; coauthor, You're in Charge, Now What?

"Sudden Impact shows how great leaders can make a great difference—fast! Great 'real?world' examples that apply to all levels of management. Great coaching for new leaders!"
—Marshall Goldsmith, leading executive coach; University Professor at Alliant International University's Marshall Goldsmith School of Management

Executives featured in Sudden Impact on the Job include:

Jay Amato – Viewpoint

Stephanie Burns – Dow-Corning

Jamie Dimon – JP Morgan Chase

Peter Dolan – Bristol-Myers Squibb

Dave Dorman – AT&T

Jeffrey Joerres – Manpower

Andrew Liveris - Dow Chemical

Dick Notebaert – Qwest

John Parker- American Culinary ChefsBest

Irene Rosenfeld – Frito-Lay

Pat Russo – Lucent Technologies

Stephanie Streeter – Banta

Dave Vander Zanden – School Specialty

Ed Zander – Motorola

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787978388
• ISBN-13: 978-0787978389
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,400,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is THE handbook for new executive hires, October 23, 2006

By 

R. Baker (Corona, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sudden Impact on the Job: Top Business Leaders Reveal the Secrets to Fast Success (Hardcover)

I own an executive search firm and I'm now providing a copy of this book to all the executives we place, as added insurance for their success. Quandt's stories illustrate the real-world challenges of starting a new job and debunk many traditionally held beliefs about job transition, such as the required 90-day plan. I'm amazed at how she was able to draw out the very authentic stories and emotions of some of the biggest name CEOs in the country. As great as this book is for new executives, I can't imagine an executive of any degree of experience who wouldn't benefit from this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real stories about real leaders, refreshing!, October 20, 2006

By 

Robert E. Puissant (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sudden Impact on the Job: Top Business Leaders Reveal the Secrets to Fast Success (Hardcover)

I have had the opportunity to work closely with two of the CEO's who were interviewed (Notebaert of Qwest & Vander Zanden of School Specialty) and have also met with Russo (of Lucent). I can vouch for the realness of the stories being reported and situations being shared. The author's (Susan Quandt's) ability to share the unique story of each of the top leaders she met with reveal a very human side to how these individuals handled some very complex challenges in taking on the top job of thier respective companies. What is compelling about this book is that there is no simple formula for success that so many business books seem to attempt to define, rather Quandt stresses the uniqueness that each person's experiences bring to the challenges they faced and the thought process each used to make some very significant and impactful decisions. I strongly recommend this book. It is a compelling read for any aspiring executive and/or manager who wants to better understand how the leaders of their organization think, take action and analyze the outcomes. Some great lessons on authenticity .

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside stories on how to move up the career ladder!, November 9, 2006

By 

Nancy A. Mccort (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sudden Impact on the Job: Top Business Leaders Reveal the Secrets to Fast Success (Hardcover)

I'm a financial executive with a professional services organization and wish I had this book when I started this job and others before it. From my experience, there is no one formula for starting fast in a new job and Quandt really drives that point home with the breadth of stories the CEO's in her book share. Coming out of the financial services industry, Jamie Dimon's stories were of particular interest to me especially around how he picked his team and personally jumped in when needed - which seems to contradict all traditionally held beliefs. I was surprised by his candor - and that, of all the CEO's interviewed. I highly recommend this book for anyone from middle management on who wants to get the inside stories on how to move up the career ladder by those who have made it to the top.