2018: Book #31
“Only 7% of CEOs …graduated from an Ivy League college.”
“…in real boardrooms, results speak louder than charisma.”
“A potentially bad decision is better than a lack of direction.”
“Successful CEOs stood out for decisiveness itself – the ability to make decisions with speed and conviction. Decisive CEOs in our study are twelve times more likely to be high performers.”
That’s how “The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors that Transform Ordinary People into world class leaders” by Botelho and Powell opens. So far, this book is the leader for my Leadership Book of the Year.
Wow…just, wow!
Both Botelho and Powell are part of ghSMART—a consulting agency that helps organizations recruit, filter, and hire CEOs.
They’ve interviewed THOUSANDS of candidates. They took those interviews and worked with a university to look for patterns. They looked at what made certain candidates successful, what made certain CEOs fail, and what characteristics were seen in all the successful ones.
This book is amazing and so insightful. It’s so good, I’m buying a copy for all the PAR leaders and we’ll work through it together. The book is well written; not a single page is boring.
This book is a must read for any and all leaders, as well as those who aspire to be leaders.
These quotes really impacted me:
“CEOs who engage for impact are akin to great orchestra conductors. The only member of the orchestra who doesn’t produce any music directly, the conductor, like a CEO, is entirely dependent on others to deliver results.”
“Any message has to be repeated seven times in seven different ways before an organization has any hope of hearing it.”
“Most executives we work with severely underestimate the sound barrier around their office. In their minds, they are still ‘Mary’ or ‘Randy’ – one of the team. Whereas for others in the organization, they become the big boss the moment they got promoted.”
“In the sample we studied, 94 percent of the strongest CEO candidates followed through consistently on their commitments.”
“Prioritizing how people feel over getting things done doesn’t help you…”
That’s book #31 for 2018.
21 more to reach 52 for the year.
Remember, all leaders are readers.
If you want to be a better leader…be a reader.
#52in2018
