How to Run a Company: Lessons from Top Leaders of the CEO Academy

by Dennis C. Carey

Book Overview

LESSONS FOR EVERYONE IN BUSINESS FROM AN ALL-STAR TEAM Every six months Dennis C. Carey and Marie-Caroline von Weichs run the CEO Academy, an immersion course for newly appointed CEOs of the world's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 140004927X
• ISBN13: 9781400049271
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Lessons Learned in the Corporate Trenches

Carey and Von Weichs have assembled an impressive selection of essays whose authors discuss various business subjects. Most of them are (or were) CEOs of major corporations and associated with Spencer Stuart's CEO Academy. As Carey and Von Weichs explain, "we suggested to each of the contributors that they address their topic as if it were the advice they wished they had received when they first started their job." I cannot recall a prior period in the history of American business when the position of CEO was more challenging than it is today. Consider this statistic: Between 1999 and 2001, 57% of the largest companies in the United States removed their CEOs. Daily it seems, we learn of other CEOs who has been forced to resign or are under tremendous pressure to improve their performance. Meanwhile, still other CEOs are indicted for various crimes. "Two recent developments have fundamentally changed the rules of the game for chief executives. The first is a series of high-profile cases of corporate malfeasance that came to public attention beginning in the fall of 2001...The other development that has significantly changed the lives of CEOs is the noisy crash of the stock market and the accompanying bursting of the tech and telecom bubble." The best of recently published business books address an especially important question. For Carey and Von Weichs: "Where can an executive turn when seeking training and advice on how to lead and manage a company?" Answers vary, of course. What Carey and Von Weichs attempt to do in this book is to create access -- for as many executives as possible -- to what has been "an immense and untapped body of knowledge" which resides among seasoned and retired CEOs "who have been working in the trenches for many years."Carey and Von Weichs organize their material within four Parts: Management and Leadership in the Midst of Change; Governance: The Board of Directors and Its CEO; Operational Excellence and the Pursuit of Strategy; and finally, The CEO and the Outside World. Here are four brief excerpts from various essays:"A new CEO from outside the company also has to make it clear that some things will not change -- including basic values and ethical standards. When I came to Merck, I felt it was especially important to make it clear that I was totally in line with the values and traditions of the company. This was a matter of personal principle for me -- and something that was recognized by the board while they were recruiting and hiring me. I didn't want to impose new traditions or abandon old ones simply because I was coming in from the outside." Raymond V. Gilmartin, chairman and CEO of Merck & Co."Even when leading from strength, a CEO undergoing fundamental change must prepare for the long haul. The legendary film producer once quipped, `Give me a couple of years, and I'll make that actress an overnight success.' Similarly, a CEO has to realize that real transformation takes real time to accomplish. The biggest