Synopses & Reviews
Dealers, Healers, Brutes & Saviors They are brilliant leaders and fearless renovators. They meet crises head on, defying expectations and striking out in radical directions in order to achieve breakthrough solutions. They are behind some of the biggest business success stories of the decade. Dealers, Healers, Brutes, and Saviors presents the inside stories of a remarkable group of businesspeople who guided their companies through storms that would have shattered most businesses. It takes you behind the scenes at such companies as Texaco, Intel, Chrysler, and Dow Corning, captures their leaders performing at their very peak under immense pressure, and provides some of the most eye-opening business lessons you'll ever encounter. Peeling back the layers of each high-profile business dilemma, Gerald C. Meyers and Susan Meyers dig deep beneath the stories that made the news and offer fresh insights about how each leader overcame near-impossible odds. Gerald Meyers is on a first-name basis with all of the key executives in this book. His unique exposure lets him drive right to the heart of what makes these executives tick-revealing how they make decisions and why they make mistakes, what they are willing to sacrifice to stay on top, and what they will fight for to the bitter end. This is the first book to classify eight distinct and highly successful styles of management used by top businesspeople in times of severe crisis. From the Dealmakers to the Sizzle Sellers to the Unorthodox Operators, these executives offer a candid, frequently personal narrative describing what they felt and how they acted under extreme pressure. You'll hear from power CEOs such as Robert Crandall, the Brilliant Brute who pulled American Airlines out of a tailspin; Steven Goldstone, the Savior who engineered a resolution to the tobacco wars; Steve Miller, the Healer who led rescues at Morrison Knudsen and Waste Management; and Peter Bijur, the Peacemaker who resurrected Texaco following devastating racial discrimination accusations. Using these and other vivid illustrations of winning leadership styles, Dealers, Healers, Brutes, and Saviors takes an unprecedented look at how some of the very best business leaders solve problems. The executives here are role models for tomorrow's business leaders. These are the shoes the next generation must fill to lead us into the promising but uncertain century ahead.
Review
"These revealing stories capture what it takes today to lead your company through a crisis."(Heath Meriwether, Publisher, Detroit Free Press)
"I urge all senior managers to read this book....Most crises are sudden, with intensity building in a couple days like a tropical storm. Gerry's wisdom will prepare you before it becomes a category-4 hurricane." (Dr. Ilker Baybars, Senior Deputy Dean, Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University)
"Dealers, Healers, Brutes, and Saviors is must reading for any executive, who too often does not recognize a crisis until it's too late. Gerald Meyers' keen insight into crisis management has been invaluable to many corporate CEOs, including me."(John R. Hall, Retired Chairman of the Board and CEO, Ashland, Inc.)
Synopsis
This is an inside look at how some of the world's best CEOs successfully dealt with Godzilla-like crises. Organized around specific themes such as brilliant brutes, unorthodox operators, saviors, healers, gutsy gamblers, and sizzle sellers, the authors present several famous CEOs under crisis -- like Steve Goldstone, who piloted the tobacco wars at RJR Nabisco, and Bob Eaton and his final deal at Chrysler Corporation -- to offer strategies and lessons for today's managers.
Synopsis
Praise for Dealers, Healers, Brutes & Saviors "These revealing stories capture what it takes today to lead your company through a crisis." -Heath Meriwether; Publisher, Detroit Free Press "I urge all senior managers to read this book.. Most crises are sudden, with intensity building in a couple of days like a tropical storm. Gerry's wisdom will prepare you before it becomes a category-4 hurricane." -Dr. Ilker Baubars, Senior Deputy Dean, Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University "Dealers, Healers, Brutes, and Saviors is must reading for any executive, who too often does not recognize a crisis until it's too late. Gerald Meyers's keen insight into crisis management has been invaluable to many corporate CEOs, including me." -John R. Hall, Retired Chairman of the Board and CEO, Ashland, Inc. "There's a huge range of responses that are feasible when you're faced with a crisis. Knowing how real people chose, acted, and succeeded in managing their crises is critical to solid decision-making. That's what this book is all about and why it is worth the investment." -Edward A. Snyder, Dean, The Darden School University of Virginia "Confronted by crisis, the successful leaders profiled in this fast-moving, readable book universally embrace risk, take charge, move quickly, often, save their companies." -James A. Henderson, Chairman and CEO Cummins Engine Company
About the Author
GERALD C. MEYERS, a former Chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation, is a well-known expert in the field of crisis management in business. He is currently a professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Mr. Meyers also taught for more than a decade at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Mr. Meyers is president of his own crisis management firm, headquartered in Michigan. SUSAN MEYERS is a freelance writer and former newspaper editor. Together with her father, Gerald C. Meyers, she has coauthored and published over a dozen business commentaries in national newspapers including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
Table of Contents
Unorthodox Operators: Taming Big Labor.
Peacemakers: Finding a Solution.
Brilliant Brutes: Respected and Feared.
Healers: Restoring Health.
Dealmakers: Gutsy Gamblers.
Sizzle Sellers: Winning the Heart of the Market.
Saviors: Virtuoso Performers.
Master Managers: Courage Meets Chaos.
Index.
About the Authors.