Audiobook12 hours
Why Smart Executives Fail: And What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes
Written by Sydney Finkelstein
Narrated by Don Hagen
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
A definitive study of executive failures-why they happen and how to prevent them.
There's a scenario that keeps repeating itself in today's business climate. A company is voted one of the most admired in the world. Then three or four years later, it's in dire financial trouble. A CEO is celebrated on the covers of BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Fortune. Soon after, the company is in the midst of a disastrous merger or some other fiasco.
What goes wrong in these cases? Usually it seems that the top management made some incredibly stupid mistake. But the people responsible are almost always remarkably intelligent and usually have terrific track records. Even more puzzling than the fact that brilliant managers can make bad mistakes is the way they so often magnify the damage. Once a company has made a bad misstep, it often seems as though it can't do anything right. How does this happen? Instead of rectifying their mistakes, why do business leaders regularly make them worse?
To answer these questions, Sydney Finkelstein has carried out the largest research program ever devoted to business breakdowns. In Why Smart Executives Fail, he uncovers-with startling clarity and unassailable documentation-the causes regularly responsible for major business breakdowns. Why Smart Executives Fail relates the stories of great business disasters and demonstrates that there are specific, identifiable ways in which many businesses regularly make themselves vulnerable to failure. The result is a truly indispensable, practical, must-have audiobook that explains the mechanics of executive breakdowns, how to avoid them, and what to do about them if they happen.
There's a scenario that keeps repeating itself in today's business climate. A company is voted one of the most admired in the world. Then three or four years later, it's in dire financial trouble. A CEO is celebrated on the covers of BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Fortune. Soon after, the company is in the midst of a disastrous merger or some other fiasco.
What goes wrong in these cases? Usually it seems that the top management made some incredibly stupid mistake. But the people responsible are almost always remarkably intelligent and usually have terrific track records. Even more puzzling than the fact that brilliant managers can make bad mistakes is the way they so often magnify the damage. Once a company has made a bad misstep, it often seems as though it can't do anything right. How does this happen? Instead of rectifying their mistakes, why do business leaders regularly make them worse?
To answer these questions, Sydney Finkelstein has carried out the largest research program ever devoted to business breakdowns. In Why Smart Executives Fail, he uncovers-with startling clarity and unassailable documentation-the causes regularly responsible for major business breakdowns. Why Smart Executives Fail relates the stories of great business disasters and demonstrates that there are specific, identifiable ways in which many businesses regularly make themselves vulnerable to failure. The result is a truly indispensable, practical, must-have audiobook that explains the mechanics of executive breakdowns, how to avoid them, and what to do about them if they happen.
Related to Why Smart Executives Fail
Related audiobooks
The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Attacker's Advantage: Turning Uncertainty Into Breakthrough Opportunities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The CEO Test: Master the Challenges That Make or Break All Leaders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Leader's Checklist Expanded Edition: 15 Mission-Critical Principles Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scorecard Solution: Measure What Matters and Drive Sustainable Growth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unwritten Rules: The Six Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Innovation is Everybody's Business: How to Make Yourself Indispensable in Today's Hypercompetitive World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOwning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Influence Without Authority, 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stealing the Corner Office: The Winning Career Strategies They'll Never Teach You in Business School Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What It Takes: Seven Secrets of Success from the World's Greatest Professional Firms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brilliant Mistakes: Finding Success on the Far Side of Failure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Move: How Decisive Leaders Execute Strategy Despite Obstacles, Setbacks, and Stalls Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Real-Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team, and Growing Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Truths: What Leaders Need to Hear but are Rarely Told Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinning Now, Winning Later: How Companies Can Succeed in the Short Term While Investing for the Long Term Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leadocracy: Hiring More Great Leaders (Like You) Into Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Change: How Organizations Achieve Hard-to-Imagine Results in Uncertain and Volatile Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friend and Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Go Long: Why Long-Term Thinking is Your Best Short-Term Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Create Amazing: Turning Your Employees into Owners for Explosive Growth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Motivational For You
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 50th Law Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Create: Tools from Seriously Talented People to Unleash Your Creative Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Own It All: How to Stop Waiting for Change and Start Creating It. Because Your Life Belongs to You. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stop Doing That Sh*t: End Self-Sabotage and Demand Your Life Back Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets Of Americas Wealthy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Better at Almost Everything: Learn Anything Quickly, Stack Your Skills, Dominate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moneyzen: The Secret to Finding Your ""Enough"" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Own Your Past Change Your Future: A Not-So-Complicated Approach to Relationships, Mental Health & Wellness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think and Grow Rich: The Original 1937 Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership 25th Anniversary: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Why Smart Executives Fail
Rating: 3.533333333333333 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
15 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fascinating stories and very entertaining. Good for leadership training and mindset. The case study perspective flows very well.