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(More customer reviews)Why is it that some executives are succeeding in this post-9/11, post-Enron economy while others are left scratching their heads as their companies collapse? This book shows you why, in a way that's gripping, insightful, and highly engaging. This is one of the best business books I've read.
This book is also fresh-the authors address Enron and 9/11, and give us insight into executives from companies like IBM, Nike, Wal-Mart, Solectron, Cisco, Yahoo, EMC, Campbell's Soup and dozens more.
One truly refreshing and unique aspect of this book is that it's based on an study of 18,000 leaders; not hearsay or opinions. The authors bring you inside the minds of this economy's best executives and show the strategies they use to turn chaos into competitive advantage. And not only do they give you the rules to follow, they show you how to implement them. There's even a test in the back to measure your leadership readiness.
The 10 rules they provide (taken from the book)...
1. Make Haste Slowly. To survive in this volatile economy, leaders must move with greater speed and precision than ever before. This "need for speed," however, does not mean that leaders should act without first taking time to think. In fact, just the opposite is true-if ever there was an economy that punishes sloppy thinking, this is it.
2. Partner with customers. In times like these, many leaders become insular, ignoring customer partnerships to focus solely on internal operational challenges. As a result, they disconnect themselves from the best source of current revenue and future success.
3. Build a culture of commitment. Times of volatility will stress a culture to its limits. But if you can build a culture of commitment, one where employees passionately pursue the organization's mission, you can emerge not only intact, but better positioned for success.
4. Put the right person, in the right place, right now. Exceptional leaders know they will have to assemble and align the right collection of talent to face the challenges that lie ahead.
5. Maximize knowledge assets. In a knowledge economy, an organization's ability to harness and maximize information plays the dominant role in creating competitive advantage.
6. Cut costs, not value. In a turbulent economic environment, any company can experience lowered earnings and overall weakened financial health. There's no shame in having to cut costs, but there is grave danger in doing it incorrectly.
7. Outposition your competitors. In a rapidly changing business environment, competition intensifies for an often elusive and sometimes shrinking market. Success goes to those who can understand and develop sources of competitive advantage.
8. Stir, don't shake. Successful leaders understand that the stress of living in chaotic times can cause an organizational panic attack that can stop progress in its tracks. They reduce anxiety and inspire hope by stirring employees to higher levels of achievement, not shaking them with negativity and fear.
9. Cut through the noise. Benchmark leaders understand that chaos and "noise" rise in tandem with volatility, undermining a leader's ability to communicate. Without the ability to communicate effectively, a leader's other skills are worthless.
10. Focus or fail. To manage all the challenges that emerge in volatile times, leaders need a blueprint for action. Highly effective leaders follow a carefully structured process that focuses their energies and prioritizes opportunities for success.
11. Epilogue: When Bad Things Happen To Good Corporations. Even for great leaders and their companies, crisis is sometimes inescapable. The Epilogue provides a process for understanding, planning for, and adapting to crisis, including the special threat of terrorism.
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Leading on the Edge of Chaos: The 10 Critical Elements for Success in Volatile Times
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