Executive Leadership

In his sixty-five-year consulting career, Peter F. Drucker, widely regarded as the father of modern management, identified eight practices that can make any executive effective. Leadership is not about charisma or extroversion. It’s about these practices: Effective executives ask, “What needs to be done?” They also ask, “What is right for the enterprise?” They develop action plans. They take responsibility for decisions. They take responsibility for communicating. They focus on opportunities rather than problems. They run productive meetings. And they think and say “we” rather than “I.” Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world.

The measure of the executive, Peter Drucker reminds us, is the ability to 'get the right things done'. Usually this involves doing what other people have overlooked, as well as avoiding what is unproductive. He identifies five talents as essential to effectiveness, and these can be learned; in fact, they must be learned just as scales must be mastered by every piano student regardless of his natural gifts. Intelligence, imagination and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that convert these into results. One of the talents is the management of time. Another is choosing what to contribute to the particular organization. A third is knowing where and how to apply your strength to best effect. Fourth is setting up the right priorities. And all of them must be knitted together by effective decision-making. How these can be developed forms the main body of the book. The author ranges widely through the annals of business and government to demonstrate the distinctive skill of the executive. He turns familiar experience upside down to see it in new perspective. The book is full of surprises, with its fresh insights into old and seemingly trite situations.

Strong managerial leadership is a major factor in competitiveness and effectiveness in business. Companies must establish a managerial organization structure that puts competent managerial leaders into suitable roles. The aim of this practical text is to provide a foundation for leadership at a down-to-earth and understandable level.

It's the Subtleties that Matter! What is the real difference between competent leader and extraordinary executive? Is it pedigree, experience, intelligence? The answer is yes...and much more. Exceptional leadership hinges on a complex interaction between individual psychology and unique business needs. At the top rung of the ladder, where the dynamics are most complicated, subtle adjustments in style can produce outstanding results. In his new book, The Intangibles of Leadership, Management Psychologist Richard Davis, Ph.D., uncovers patterns in the attributes that truly distinguish those who succeed at the top. What he found was that extraordinary leaders possess certain characteristics that fall between the lines of existing leadership models, yet are fundamental to executive success. Davis explains each of these qualities, the people who exemplify them, how to detect them in others, and most importantly, how to develop the subtle characteristics that will enable them to stand out from the pack. Learn why... It's often better to aim for silver than for gold Playing hard to get attracts people to you It's important to have a slightly inflated view of your abilities Your peripheral vision is so important It's ok to get angry with your team So many extraordinary executives have gone through crises early in their lives

"This book is about the lived experiences on the executive path of 12 racially and ethnically diverse hospital and health system CEOs. It is based on interviews. It seeks to learn from the collective wisdom of all the executives to provide a unique glimpse, from their perspectives, into what it takes to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the executive path to the C-suite"--

Executive Styles in Canada places equal emphasis on both levels, explaining how and in what way cabinet systems have conformed to or diverged from this general pattern.

In this volume, research on the skills, knowledge, abilities and other characteristics that define effectiveness of senior executives is examined. This integrated framework can be used to develop ways of assessing, selecting, training, developing and coaching executives.