Synopses & Reviews
"Too few managers and executives understand the importance of mentoring. In elevating this role to the top of a leader's priorities, the authors offer managers a way of becoming even more influential." --John A. Byrne, "BusinessWeek Why do some companies consistently win in the marketplace while others struggle from crisis to crisis? Drawing on decades of research, practical experience, and colorful examples from leading CEOs, Noel Tichy shows that the answer to this question is the "Leadership Engine" -- a proven system for creating dynamic leaders at every level and an integral factor in a company's sustained success.
Questions for Discussion
- From the real-life examples of the CEOs profiled in the book, did you find one person's leadership style to be more effective than the others? Which of the examples or stories made the greatest impression on you?
- Throughout the book, Tichy uses Jack Welch of General Electric as an example of successful leadership and mentoring. What is it about Welch that made him such a successful CEO? Do you believe that Welch's integration of a "Leadership Engine" contributed to GE's success? What is your assessment of GE's future now that Welch has retired as CEO?
- In one instance Tichy states, "Some companies don't do a good job developing leaders because they don't try very hard." What differences does Tichy cite between companies that display effective leadership and those that do not? Is leadership really more important than other factors, even those that would seem to have a more immediate impact on a company's bottom line?
- Tichy maintains that in order to generate sustainable organizational performance, one musthave winning leaders to successfully teach others in the organization to be leaders as well. How does he support this theory? Do you agree or disagree with his assessment of what constitutes an effective leader? What did you learn from this book?
- As Tichy has participants do in his leadership training workshops, share a story of leadership success you have enjoyed. Reflect on what made the leadership successful, and then generate a list of characteristics of effective leadership built on this "personal benchmarking trip." About the Authors: Noel M. Tichy is a professor at the University of Michigan Business School where he directs the Global Leadership Program. He is the coauthor (with Stratford Sherman) of Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will. A Consultant to General Electric since 1982, he ran GE's renowned Crotonville executive development center for two years. As a senior partner in Action Learning Associates, Tichy has consulted with clients around the world, including Accenture, HP, Intel, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Trilogy. Eli Cohen is an Investor with Ziff Brothers Investments.
Review
“A useful and intelligent guide for elevating the performance of any organization”
-Jim McNerney, chairman, president, and CEO, The Boeing Company
“This book demonstrates how companies have prospered by empowering their frontline staff to address customers with the degree of passion and commitment you would otherwise only expect from those who owned the company.”
-Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group
“DeRose and Tichy offer a practical, no-nonsense prescription for building an organization in which each persons voice can be heard and everyones ideas can make a difference.”
-Doug Oberhelman, chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
“This well-informed and timely book unlocks the secrets of employee empowerment with compelling examples as important insights,”
-Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor; director of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative; author of Confidence and SuperCorp
“At last! Unique insight into every companys undervalued competitive advantage, the front line - where success actually happens or doesnt - from the authors whove been there. Managers everywhere must pay attention to this book.”
-Geoff Colvin, Fortune columnist; author of Talent Is Overrated
“An essential volume.”
-Andrew N. Liveris, chairman and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company
“Read Judgment on the Front Line and tap in to a brain trust that has been right under your nose!”
-Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Leading at a Higher Level
“Tichy and DeRose have put their finger on the issue that all executive know determine success… you are only as good as the customer thinks you are.”
-Ray Lane, managing partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, executive chairman, Hewlett-Packard
“A must read and more important, a must act volume of insight and wisdom!”
-Leonard A. Schlesinger, president, Babson College; former vice chairman and COO, Limited Brands
“A comprehensive and easy-to-understand model to attain great outcomes.”
-J. Randall MacDonald, senior vice president, Human Resources, IBM
“Judgment on the Front Line takes the notion of empowerment from motherhood to a practical imperative for success.”
-Don Tapscott, CEO, The Tapscott Group, author, most recently, of Macrowikinomics
Synopsis
Noel Tichy, co-author of Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will and one of the world's foremost authorities on organizational transformation, knows that winning corporations are distinguished by their ability to cultivate leadership at every level. An ability that ultimately creates a pool of formidable home-grown talent that can be drawn on whenever top management jobs need to be filled. aBased on extensive consultations with such leading companies as PepsiCo, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Ford Motor Company and honed through Tichy's Global Leadership Program, The Leadership Engine helps businesses exercise this ability by showing how to foster a corporate atmosphere that nurtures leadership and initiative. Tichy explains that top leaders must develop a systematic approach to building a system-wide culture of business leadership on business ideas and values, and they must have a personal vision that can be codified, embodied as a story, and communicated throughout the organization.
Synopsis
Why do some companies consistently win in the marketplace while others struggle from crisis to crisis? The answer, says Noel Tichy, is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine"—a proven system for creating dynamic leaders at every level.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [418]-443) and index.
Synopsis
In this Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestseller, Michigan Business School guru and worldwide consultant Noel Tichy brings his special brand of organisational transformation to a practical level that guarantees a leader at every level of an organisation.
Why do some companies consistently win in the marketplace while others struggle from crisis to crisis? The answer, says Noel Tichy, is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine" , a proven system for creating dynamic leaders at every level. Technologies, products and economies constantly change. To get ahead and stay ahead, companies need agile, flexible, innovative leaders who can anticipate change and respond to new realities swiftly. Tichy explains that everyone has untapped leadership potential that can be developed winning leaders and winning organisations have figured out how to do this.
In this acclaimed bestseller, Tichy offers colourful and insightful best-practice examples from dozens of leaders gathered from decades of research and practical experience.
Synopsis
Front-line employees can be your greatest asset-here's how to tap their rich vein of insight and leadership.
Front-line employees who deal directly with customers are the face of any organization. Not only do they have the most impact on how a brand is perceived, but they are also the most valuable source of insight into what customers want and how to give it to them.
Unfortunately, as management experts Chris DeRose and Noel M. Tichy explain, most organizations don't know how to evaluate the risk of giving employees more autonomy. Many of those who are willing to try haven't even invested resources in ensuring that-once the shackles are off-front-line employees make good judgments.
Tichy and DeRose offer powerful examples of front-line leadership, such as:
- How Zappos trusts its people to do anything in service of a customer, including providing free product or reimbursing for mistakes
- How Mayo Clinic of Arizona enabled its nurses to challenge the hierarchy in order to improve patient car
Judgment on the Front Line was the Winner in the Business: Management and Leadership category for the 2013 International Book Awards. The book also won a Silver medal in the Axiom Business Book Award contest.
About the Author
Noel M. Tichy is the author of
Judgment,
Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will and many other business bestsellers.
He is a professor at the Ross School of Business
at the University of Michigan and advises CEOs
around the world.
Chris DeRose has consulted and taught around the world with companies such as Royal Dutch/Shell, Ford Motor Company, Agilent, 3M and HP.