Customer Reviews

Value Leadership: The 7 Principles that Drive Corporate Value in Any Economy (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

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It has been my experience that most business leaders are smart, thoughtful, competent and ethical people. I have also met those who `live and die by the numbers' or conversely see their major responsibility as building a `culture where the business can thrive'. Both sides of this leadership spectrum have great value but when a leader chooses to focus on one side it is at the expense of the other.

Peter Cohan, in his book Value Leadership, brings together the numbers people and the culture people with a rationale and clear treatise. He then offers an effective tool to measure the results of this balanced and effective leadership stance. He takes the traditional business analyst's quantitative factors (market share, revenues and profit, balance sheet strength and more) and combines them with critical qualitative factors (quality of communications, employee satisfaction, customer service and more) to create a numeric score which can be used to assess current business functioning and to plan for strategic and tactical improvements. This measure alone is a great tool for business leaders and their managers, but it is what is measured that defines this books common sense standard. Mr. Cohan has created a way for business leaders to understand and measure their business' value. For anyone who has bought, sold or merged a business, or who invests in stocks, knows that the most elusive question is "what is the value of this business?" Mr. Cohan's "Value Quotient" is the most complete answer to the value question that I have seen. It works well for active business managers and for investors.

It is my belief that "value' will emerge over the next ten years as the most important factor in determining a business leader's success. Value encompasses the quantitative and qualitative factors that often appear to be at war with each other. How do you run a highly profitable business while also maintaining an effective culture? Short-sighted business leaders who are under performance pressures often boost their numbers at the expense of their people, while the great business leaders can effectively manage both their numbers and their people. In my new book Corporate MVPs I had the opportunity to talk with many great business people who spoke of the importance of building and conserving their most valuable performers. These business leaders focus on building value as their prime responsibility. Peter Cohan's Value Leadership is the book that will help all business leaders build the value of their businesses and of themselves.

Often, CEOs feel their executives do not share the same understanding of the critical drivers of their business's performance. Cohan's book is a useful tool for getting a management team "on the same page" and enabling them to clearly define the key levers that contribute to their business's success.

Cohan's framework makes it easy for managers in even the most complex companies to identify where their weaknesses are and address them. The book lays out a detailed, step-by-step guide that walks managers though all the activities and tactics that need to be considered in order to noticeably impact their company's bottom line. As a former general manager in a software company, I feel that sections of this book, such as "experimenting frugally," can really inspire a company to be more creative in identifying profitable paths to growth which it might not otherwise consider.

The book is invaluable as it enables managers to rise beyond the daily responsibilities of their jobs to identify levers that can have a truly significant impact on their companies.

I frequently read several books on the same general subject at the same time and did so again recently, reading this book as well as Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal's The Wizard and the Warrior and Wally Adamchik's No Yelling.

Here is the core concept in Peter Cohan's book: "Value leadership focuses on the essence of what makes American capitalism work, the persistent struggle to create ever higher levels of value for a company's stakeholders, in order to inspire the executives to reemerge from postboom economic gloom." Cohan identifies and then discusses with rigor and eloquence what he views as "The Seven Principles of Value Leadership": value human relationships, foster teamwork, experiment frugally, fulfill your commitments, fight complacency, win through multiple means, and give to your community.

He identifies five qualitative factors and six quantitative factors of "Value Leaders" and examines several companies that exemplify the concept and principles. They include Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, J.M. Smucker, MBNA, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Synopsys, and Wal-Mart. Agreeing that "what you cannot measure, you cannot manage," Cohan offers a way to quantify and manage "the amorphous topic of values": what he calls the Value Quotient (VQ) "which is predicated on a set of four or five activities that companies can perform within each of the seven Value Leadership principles."

It is important to note that although all of the exemplary companies are large, the same principles are directly relevant- and can be of substantial benefit - to all organizations, regardless of size or nature. Moreover, the VQ of a given company - based on four levels of analysis: concept, principles, activities, and tactics -- is determined by the VQ of those within it. Cohan devotes a separate chapter to each of the seven principles, none of which is a head-snapper...nor does he make such a claim. The great value to be derived from his book is found within the context he creates for each of the principles, and, from his brilliant analysis of correlations between and among them.

Readers will especially appreciate Cohan's skillful use of various reader-friendly devices. For example, he provides the first portion of a declarative sentence such as "To understand the customer, executives may use the following tactics:" and then completes it with a list (e.g. "Ask the customers to list and rank the criteria they use to consider purchases among competing products" and "Ask them to articulate how well the [given] company's products satisfy the customer purchase criteria relative to competitors). I need to add that Cohan does not marinate his readers with naked lists; to his credit, he comments on each of the action steps recommended.

I also want to comment briefly on the Appendix within which Cohan provides a brief but remarkably specific "Criteria Performance" analysis of each of eight exemplary companies previously discussed, followed by a brief but (also) remarkably specific "Value Quotient Analysis" of each. Although their assigned total scores may change in the future, it makes sense for a reader to review periodically the criteria for both analyses, then apply them to her or his own organization to ensure that it remains committed to treating all people with respect, getting people to work well together, harnessing accidental discoveries to create greater value for customers, meeting all commitments, weeding out complacency and arrogance, using strategy to sustain market leadership, and continuing an active and generous involvement in society.

One final point: Many of the companies on Fortune magazine's annual list of those most highly regarded consistently appear on its list of those most profitable. Does Cohan view that as a coincidence? No, and neither do I.

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out any of Warren Bennis' books (notably Geeks & Geezers and the more recently published Leading for a Lifetime, both co-authored with Robert Thomas) as well as Bill George's Authentic Leadership and the more recently published True North, James O'Toole's Leading Change and The Executive's Compass, Martin Linsky and Ronald Heifetz'Leadership on the Line, Heifetz's Leadership Without Easy Answers, and Winning co-authored by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch.

Mr. Cohan's work offers something for everyone, but will be especially appealing to change-minded readers who are looking to make a real difference in their professions. One of those books where the reader will want to throttle his or her reading speed to absorb the author's wisdom and thought provoking details. Plenty of excellent examples of how real world practicioners; Goldman Sachs and Southwest Airlines just to name a few, are utilizing the full breadth and depth of value creation and delivery to sustain industry leadership. Mr. Cohan introduces the "Value Quotient", a comprehenive tool for tracking value leadership initiatives. Value Leadership is a necessary prerequisite to building a culture that truly binds and motivates stakeholders to value creation.

Often, CEOs feel their executives do not share the same understanding of the critical drivers of their business's performance. Cohan's book is a useful tool for getting a management team "on the same page" and enabling them to clearly define the key levers that contribute to their business's success.

Cohan's framework makes it easy for managers in even the most complex companies to identify where their weaknesses are and address them. The book lays out a detailed, step-by-step guide that walks managers though all the activities and tactics that need to be considered in order to noticeably impact their company's bottom line. As a former general manager in a software company, I feel that sections of this book, such as "experimenting frugally," can really inspire a company to be more creative in identifying profitable paths to growth which it might not otherwise consider.

The book is invaluable as it enables managers to rise beyond the daily responsibilities of their jobs to identify levers that can have a truly significant impact on their companies.

Value Leadership is an insighful book with a well developed
and easily understood model to determine how well your company, a company you wish to invest in or a competitor company meets the needs of its customers, employees, communities and shareholders. Everyone from grad students (who are looking to work in the best run companies) to senior executives (who are trying to restore confidence in US businesses of all kinds) will
find the book fascinating and innovative.

Value Leadership is an outstanding book that introduces a valuable framework for analyzing companies along critical dimensions.

Value Leadership is a robust and practical framework that can be fruitfully utilized by investors who want to look beyond financial measures to find Value Leaders and by managers who want to create them. Cohan's Value Quotient provides a useful way to quantify and compare companies on the level of their Value Leadership.

As with his earlier books, Cohan has written a well-organized, insightful and highly readable book. He uses numerous vivid examples from the 8 value leaders (such as Wal-Mart and Microsoft) as well as from other companies in order to bring the Value Leadership concept to life.

As Cohan notes, value emerges from how well a company manages relationships with its customers, employees and communities. His book provides a practical guide for managing those relationships effectively. A manager can drill down from the 7 key principles which define Value Leadership to the specific, nitty-gritty activities and tactics that can create value. This book can help managers create Value Leaders.

Peter Cohan's new book is a Value Leader itself and is definitely worth owning!

"Value Leadership" by Peter Cohan is a great business book because it provides a practical framework for companies to follow. It also contains many real-world examples that show how companies benefit from the principles he discusses.

As Cohan points out, his Value Quotient model reflects his background as both a management consultant who focuses on strategy and operations and a financial analyst who looks at quantitative measures. The resulting insight is both fresh and powerful.

Chapter Five, in particular, which deals with trust, should be required reading for all business leaders.

Trust between leaders and their people has eroded steadily from the days of Watergate to Enron. Questionable accounting, fraudulent disclosures and excessive executive pay are symptoms of the problem, while glossy codes of ethics booklets and more stringent corporate governance regulations are mere bandages. What's needed is a seismic shift in executive attitude. Leaders need to embrace core values in their practice of management and hold themselves up to higher standards.

In Value Leadership, Peter Cohan makes the link between values-based leadership and superior economic performance. Cohan's pedigree as a strategic thinker includes tenure with James A. Champy, author of Reengineering the Corporation, and Michael E. Porter, author of Competitive Advantage.

Value Leadership is one of the best books on leadership I have ever read because it addresses all stakeholders -- from employees and customers to board members and investors. His seven principles of value leadership are guideposts to good management, and his "Value Quotient" provides a pragmatic framework for leaders who want to achieve that goal. If I were
running a corporation today, I would adopt his philosophy and process.

-- William T. Redgate, Founder and Executive Director, The Center for
Values-Based Leadership, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn.,

The premise is that superior profits flow to companies that outperform competitors in creating value for employees, customers and communities. Seven principles that constitute Value Leadership correlate with such success criteria as market share. These principles are: value human relationships; foster teamwork; experiment frugally; fulfill your commitments; fight complacency; win through multiple means (use strategy to sustain market leadership); and give to your community. Chapters include worksheets (an assessment questionnaire or Value Quotient [VQ] Tool) for measuring how well an organization adheres to Value Leadership principles. Guidelines are provided for implementing change. Includes a VQ selection interview guide and some examples from successful companies.

In a nutshell, Cohan provides excellent ideas, and presents them clearly. This is a top-notch book for any leader seeking to strengthen his or her organization's performance and its ability to deliver value, and consequently reap a healthy ROI.