It's an all too common scenario: A great company breaks from the pack; the analysts are in love, the smiling CEO appears on the cover of BusinessWeek and Fortune, the stock soars.
Two years later, the company is in flames, the CEO is under attack, and the stock has tanked.
Why does this sort of thing keep happening at respectable companies like Motorola, Quaker, and Sony, all of which have very smart, hard-working senior executives? And how can you tell if it's about to happen at your own company?
Why Smart Executives Fail answers these and many more crucial questions.
Sydney Finkelstein, a distinguished professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, carried out a six-year study of leadership failure, the largest of its kind.
After hundreds of interviews with insiders at top companies that got into major trouble-such as GM, Mattel, and RiteAid-Finkelstein figured out the common causes behind failures in wildly different types of companies. He explains "the seven habits of spectacularly unsuccessful people" that drive smart managers to make catastrophic mistakes.
As much about psychology as it is about business, Why Smart Executives Fail tells the stories of more than fifty great business disasters and includes exclusive interviews with many of their leaders, in which they explain what really led to their disastrous decisions.
Industry Reviews
A marvelaa jargon-free business book based on serious research that offers genuine insights with clarity and sometimes even wit... it should be required reading not just for executives but for investors as well. ("The Wall Street Journal") Richly detailed storytelling and analysis. ("Fortune") A landmark book, certain to become a classic. (Warren Bennis) If you think you know whatas bringing down the leaders of the corporate world, think again. (Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman and CEO, Hasbro Inc.)
A marvela jargon-free business book based on serious research that offers genuine insights with clarity and sometimes even wit... it should be required reading not just for executives but for investors as well. ("The Wall Street Journal") Richly detailed storytelling and analysis. ("Fortune") A landmark book, certain to become a classic. (Warren Bennis) If you think you know whats bringing down the leaders of the corporate world, think again. (Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman and CEO, Hasbro Inc.)
A marvel?a jargon-free business book based on serious research that offers genuine insights with clarity and sometimes even wit... it should be required reading not just for executives but for investors as well. ("The Wall Street Journal") Richly detailed storytelling and analysis. ("Fortune") A landmark book, certain to become a classic. (Warren Bennis) If you think you know what's bringing down the leaders of the corporate world, think again. (Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman and CEO, Hasbro Inc.)
"If you think you know what's bringing down the leaders of the corporate world, think again."
"If you think you know what's bringing down the leaders of the corporate world, think again. Written with tact and humor, and offering tremendous insight (often straight from the horse's mouth), Why Smart Executives Fail can be your road map for avoiding the rocky paths these leaders followed."--Alan Hassenfeld Chairman
