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Index
Andreas Krebs / Paul Williams
Copyright
Table of Contents
Foreword by Nik Gowing
Foreword by Prof. Dr. Peter May
The Unexpected Outcome of a Trip to Peru
“Many years of success can produce an unjustified degree of self-confidence and lead to the misguided belief: ‘We can do it all.’”
Dr. Iris Löw-Friedrich, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, UCB
What Goes Up Must Come Down? A Look at the Fortune 500
Remember Nokia?
Rapid Rises, Dramatic Falls
The Logic of Decline
“Becoming Number One in everything you do has to be your prime objective. However, being Number One doesn’t mean being the biggest.”
Gerd Stürz, Head of Life Sciences (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) at EY
1 A Compelling Vision (or the Pitfalls of Ambition?)
“We Don’t Need a Vision—Just Reliable Delivery!”
On Eagles Flying through Circus Tents
Why Striving for Increased Market Share Is Not a Vision
Anything Is Better than Bullshit Bingo
A Stress Test for Your Vision
“You can’t train someone to be smart. That’s something they just have to bring with them!”
—Dr. Timm Volmer, CEO Smartstep Consulting
2 Talent before Seniority (or the Creeping Danger of Mediocrity?)
What Happens When the Prince Automatically Becomes King?
Dilettantism, Disinterest, and Delegation
Rule Number 1: No Compromises!
Prognosis, Not Potential
A Stress Test for Key Aspects of Your Human Resources Policy
“When General Foster came over and spoke with you, you had the feeling that, at that moment, you were at the center of his universe. He knew who you were and what you were doing, even though hundreds of officers reported to him.”
—Dr. David Ebsworth, experienced CEO, chairman, and board member
3 Achieving Results through Others (or the Case of the Leader-Sham?)
On Rock and Roll Women and Jars of Honey
Personal Responsibility: The Last Table
Beyond Delegation: Pull Leadership
Complete Leadership: More Than a Question of Style
1:10 or 1:10,000? Leadership ≠ Leadership
A Stress Test for Leadership
“Credibility in leadership processes ensues when managers act consistently. People’s behavior can be changed by setting clear boundaries, which also means that where there are rewards, there must be penalties as well.”
—Dr. Alexander von Preen, CEO Intersport eG
4 Fair Play (or Just Pretending?)
Sweet Talk, Empty Promises?
Undercover Investigation, Bottom-up!
It Might Be Legal, but Is It Legitimate?
Different Countries, Different Values
A Stress Test for Your Values—and Those of Your Company
“I was flabbergasted by two CEOs who had both left their old firms under difficult circumstances. In their respective new firms, they went on to develop a competing product, motivated solely by the desire to gain revenge on their old companies. And to make it worse, their ‘I’ll show them’ attitude involved huge additional investments and the new products were only partly on strategy!”
—Senior Executive (known to us)
5 Tackling the Real Opponent (or Are You Taking Your Eye off the Ball?)
When Alphas Collide
When Patriarchs Are Blind to the Future
When the Problem Is in the System
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Underestimation!
The Focused Organization
A Stress Test for Your Effectiveness
“You have to strike the right balance between incorporating the best features of the company being acquired and, at the same time, sticking with your own, clearly defined guiding principles.”
—Christine Wolff, multiple board member
6 A Farsighted M&A Strategy (or a License to Lose a Fortune?)
The Usual Merger Mania—and a Positive Example
A Master Plan—or All Based on Hope?
Rational? You Must Be Joking!
The Best of All Worlds—or The Tyranny of the Victor?
A Stress Test for Your M&A Planning
“Flying high and flying low, respected leaders are not only brilliant strategists, but being close to the trenches is also part of their DNA. Knowing the best sales managers who tell them what is really going on, conducting customer visits which are not preplanned milk runs, sending an employee home to take care of a sick family member—these are actions that make people at all levels feel comfortable about creating a shared reality together, and as a nice side effect, it builds loyalty!”
—Rolf Hoffmann, executive and general manager in various countries from 1994–2016
7 Sound Judgment? (Look Who’s Telling the Story!)
In the Hall of Mirrors of the Executive Suite
The Map Is Not the Territory
“Man Errs as Long as He Doth Strive”
Riots in Berlin! Who Really Is Objective?
A Stress Test for your Judgment
“I have often been caught out by my ego, overestimating my abilities and then having the problem of how to sort things out again. Those who demand a lot from themselves also have an increased risk of failure. One of the reasons I rarely failed is that others helped me out at the right moment and I then managed to turn things around in time.”
—Rüdiger Lentz, director of the Aspen Institute
8 Ego Beats Reality (For Whom or for What Am I Doing This?)
Indiana Jones Makes a Hard-Earned Appearance
CEO Today, Gone Tomorrow
On the Drip Feed of Admiration
Sparring Partners, Not Court Toadies
A Stress Test for Your Ego
A Closing Word
Epilogue: A Message from Peru by Dr. Max Hernandez
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
About Our Forewordists
About Our Interview Partners
About the Authors
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