Book Review: What the Best CEO's Know
Book Review: What the Best CEOs Know
Michael R. Hummel
Wayland Baptist University
Leadership and Management Development, MGMT 5306-VC01
Submitted to Dr. Kelly Warren
September 10, 2011
What the Best CEOs Know was chosen by this reader due to Jeffrey Krames’ reputation, prior writings, and the fact that several of these CEOs are considered shining examples of the modern CEO. Krames takes an in-depth look at the modern icons of business leadership: Michael Dell of Dell Computer, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Andy Grove of Intel, Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Jack Welch of General Electric (GE), Sam Walton, formerly of Wal-Mart (now deceased), and Lou Gerstner of IBM. Krames uses interviews and expert analyses to describe their leadership styles and methodologies. He also utilizes interactive “What would (the CEO) do?” case studies, self-tests for assessing the reader’s “CEO Quotient”, and other features to help the reader apply these strategies and traits to his or her own career.
In his opening chapter, Krames pinpoints the "celebrity CEO." This individual is the corporate forerunner who is "idealized, even idolized," and whose appearance graces magazine and book covers, (Krames, 2003; Gold, Chenowith, & Zaleski, 2003). Celebrity CEOs ran wild in the 1990s and early 2000s, but alas, says Krames, the celebrity CEO 's era has ended, and ended with a crash. Many of the “celebrity CEOs” were then caught in the public’s crosshairs when the “dot-com crisis” unfolded and many companies previously thought to be forerunners in the industry crashed and burned. At that time, no CEO was above the wave of outrage; however, a few CEOs rose above and proved that not all business leaders were the “corrupt cause” of the dot-com crisis and the resulting crash of the NASDAQ, which fell from a high of over 5000 in March, 2000, to under 1200 by the fall of 2002.
For his book, Krames outlines the three selection criteria for final inclusion in the book: 1) “Each CEO
Michael R. Hummel
Wayland Baptist University
Leadership and Management Development, MGMT 5306-VC01
Submitted to Dr. Kelly Warren
September 10, 2011
What the Best CEOs Know was chosen by this reader due to Jeffrey Krames’ reputation, prior writings, and the fact that several of these CEOs are considered shining examples of the modern CEO. Krames takes an in-depth look at the modern icons of business leadership: Michael Dell of Dell Computer, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Andy Grove of Intel, Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Jack Welch of General Electric (GE), Sam Walton, formerly of Wal-Mart (now deceased), and Lou Gerstner of IBM. Krames uses interviews and expert analyses to describe their leadership styles and methodologies. He also utilizes interactive “What would (the CEO) do?” case studies, self-tests for assessing the reader’s “CEO Quotient”, and other features to help the reader apply these strategies and traits to his or her own career.
In his opening chapter, Krames pinpoints the "celebrity CEO." This individual is the corporate forerunner who is "idealized, even idolized," and whose appearance graces magazine and book covers, (Krames, 2003; Gold, Chenowith, & Zaleski, 2003). Celebrity CEOs ran wild in the 1990s and early 2000s, but alas, says Krames, the celebrity CEO 's era has ended, and ended with a crash. Many of the “celebrity CEOs” were then caught in the public’s crosshairs when the “dot-com crisis” unfolded and many companies previously thought to be forerunners in the industry crashed and burned. At that time, no CEO was above the wave of outrage; however, a few CEOs rose above and proved that not all business leaders were the “corrupt cause” of the dot-com crisis and the resulting crash of the NASDAQ, which fell from a high of over 5000 in March, 2000, to under 1200 by the fall of 2002.
For his book, Krames outlines the three selection criteria for final inclusion in the book: 1) “Each CEO
References: Gold, S. F., Chenowith, E., & Zaleski, J. (2003, May 5). What the Best CEOs Know (Book Review). Publisher 's Weekly, 18(215). Krames, J. A. (2003). What the Best CEOs Know: 7 Exceptional Leaders and Their Lessons for Transforming Any Business. New York: McGraw-Hill.