The Stuff of Heroes: The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership
by William A. Cohen

Dr. William A. Cohen presents the high road to leadership through the eyes of hundreds of outstanding chief executives and combat leaders. This is a book that shows you how to get ahead, not by fighting your way to the top but by helping others to the top.

What does it take to be an outstanding leader? Creative genius? A tough image? Charismatic charm? No, it’s much simpler. But it’s also much harder. Do you have what it takes? Are you willing to do what is right even when no one is looking? That’s the essence of universal law number one—what Peter Drucker calls Cohen’s “root law.” Integrity is a simple concept, but Dr. Cohen brings it to dramatic life with stirring tales from combat, and he demonstrates its complexity in the real life of business.

This book will show you how to develop and put to use a variety of sound and proven principles. The author’s practical advice and pointed anecdotes from leaders who have passed the test will inspire and encourage you. The benefits to both your organization and your personal and professional life will be tremendous.

(This book review was originally published in 1999 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 1.)

Jack Welch and the GE Way
by Robert Slater

Jack Welch, legendary maverick, discusses the traits that led Business Week to anoint him, “… the gold standard against which other CEOs are measured.”

To Jack Welch, change is natural and necessary, and Welch is the master of change. His innate skills and intuition have shaped the course and direction of international business—and his revolutionary strategies have made GE the benchmark for today’s global corporation.

Through Welch’s own words, along with those of dozens of GE insiders who work alongside him, Jack Welch and the GE Way presents a remarkable corporate success saga—and the extraordinary inside story of one of history’s most brilliant business icons.

Welch’s defining credo remains the same: “By reaching for the seemingly impossible, you often do the impossible.”

(This book review was originally published in 1999 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 1.)

Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World’s Hottest Car Company
by Robert A. Lutz

Robert Lutz recently retired as vice chairman of Chrysler Corp. He has held senior management positions in four of the world’s top car companies: Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Chrysler. What else would you expect from a vegetarian who loves a good cigar, a high-achiever who didn’t graduate from high school until he was 22, a former Marine fighter pilot whose “Law Of Life” is a line from a Rolling Stones song?

In this intriguing approach to leadership, Lutz explains how and why every organization must cultivate a “split personality” combining common sense with freewheeling creativity. It defines the leader’s role in maintaining a healthy balance between the two. And it argues that a dynamic tension between them is the prime attribute that enables top-performing companies to introduce new products and achieve record profits.

(This book review was originally published in 1999 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 1.)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
by John C. Maxwell

What would happen if a top expert with more than 30 years of leadership experience were willing to distill everything he had learned about leadership into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It could change your life. John C. Maxwell has done exactly that in this profound, revealing study. He has combined insights from years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict.

This book is a powerful, definitive statement of the timeless laws you simply must follow if you want to be a great leader—at home, on the job, in church, or wherever you are called on to lead.

If you are new to leadership, this book will jump-start your leadership career. If you are an experienced leader with blue-chip credentials, this book will make you an even better leader.

(This book review was originally published in 1999 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 1.)

The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni

In this stunning business fiction debut, the author delivers a powerful wake-up call to all of us who dare to lead. This book provides extraordinary insight into the pitfalls that leaders face when they lose sight of the true measure of success—results. Told in the form of a wise and enthralling leadership fable, Patrick Lencioni delivers a provocative message: CEOs mainly have themselves to blame when things go wrong. If you’re a CEO (or a leader at any level for that matter), do you have the courage to face the blame? Doing so could change your future—for the better. This model should be required reading for your entire leadership team!

(This book review was originally published in 1999 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 1.)

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