Lee Thayer

Some of this book's readers will (astutely) see some parallels between this book and Thayer's How Executives Fail. They both identify the kinds of weaknesses in an organization or its managers that will inevitably lead to its demise (or its mediocrity, which amounts to the same thing). That is inevitable. In his pioneering work of helping CEOs to transform their organizations for high-performance, Dr. Thayer has been developing a successful conceptual framework for understanding organization-making and life-making in general for 60+ years. His mantra for all of those years in his many books, his many consulting assignments here and abroad, and his many, many seminars with CEOs and other top executives, from Australia to Finland, from Greece to China, from Mexico to Canada, and major points in between. Although he started his career as a consultant to the leaders of the Fortune 500, he prefers working with small to medium-sized organizations where, as he says, "it is easier to see the impact being made." He was more recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who, to add to his many awards over the years of his illustrious career as a consultant, author, and mentor. To date, he has published twenty-six books on his experiences and his research, and he is known worldwide for his perspective on the human condition, both at work and at home.

Some of this book's readers will (astutely) see some parallels between this book and Thayer's How Executives Fail. They both identify the kinds of weaknesses in an organization or its managers that will inevitably lead to its demise (or its mediocrity, which amounts to the same thing). That is inevitable. In his pioneering work of helping CEOs to transform their organizations for high-performance, Dr. Thayer has been developing a successful conceptual framework for understanding organization-making and life-making in general for 60+ years. His mantra for all of those years in his many books, his many consulting assignments here and abroad, and his many, many seminars with CEOs and other top executives, from Australia to Finland, from Greece to China, from Mexico to Canada, and major points in between. Although he started his career as a consultant to the leaders of the Fortune 500, he prefers working with small to medium-sized organizations where, as he says, "it is easier to see the impact being made." He was more recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who, to add to his many awards over the years of his illustrious career as a consultant, author, and mentor. To date, he has published twenty-six books on his experiences and his research, and he is known worldwide for his perspective on the human condition, both at work and at home.

This book is about how the world we live in is more often made by others' intentions than our own. That is because we fail to act upon our own good or better intentions. Our modern predators (like commercial marketing) make the world we live in according to their own interests. We apparently don't care where we're headed as a civilization. Our predators do. So we passively adapt to the destiny they are making for us. Our technologies don't care where we end up, and apparently, we don't care either. They've convinced us only that we can get there faster if we adapt to them. It's a strange trade-off. We give them our money to take us wherever they're going-whether they are our financial advisers or our current diet pundits or the celebrities we "love." They make our pop culture, and then, our pop culture makes us. If it is your intention to read one good book this season, this is it. Not only will you learn how you got to where you are, but what your indifference to your own intentions had to do with it.

This book is about how the world we live in is more often made by others' intentions than our own. That is because we fail to act upon our own good or better intentions. Our modern predators (like commercial marketing) make the world we live in according to their own interests. We apparently don't care where we're headed as a civilization. Our predators do. So we passively adapt to the destiny they are making for us. Our technologies don't care where we end up, and apparently, we don't care either. They've convinced us only that we can get there faster if we adapt to them. It's a strange trade-off. We give them our money to take us wherever they're going-whether they are our financial advisers or our current diet pundits or the celebrities we "love." They make our pop culture, and then, our pop culture makes us. If it is your intention to read one good book this season, this is it. Not only will you learn how you got to where you are, but what your indifference to your own intentions had to do with it.

There have been many thousands of books and seminars on the subject of leaders and leadership over the past few decades. Most make no effort to explain that leadership is amoral. It is a power over others that can be used for good or for ill. People are subjected to all kinds of abuse by their leaders organizationally or politically, and as children, they are being poorly led by their parents and teachers. The original concept of leadership was that it would be used for good purposesthat those who purported to be leaders would have virtues that would necessarily be good for the people, for their communities, and for the larger culture. This is obviously no longer the case. There has been plenty of talk about successful leaders, but successful leaders are not necessarily good leaders. Merely making the numbers or being successful in some quantitative way does not imply good leadership. This book, which has already attracted wide attention because it is so outspoken, unpacks the concept of leadership. Once one knows how to do this, identifying the good from the bad becomes much easier. The benefits to all of us as individuals and to the world we all share can be remarkable. It is time to stop idolizing our leaders. It is time to call them to task. It is time to help them become what they should be. The Good Leader can do this for them and for you.

There have been many thousands of books and seminars on the subject of leaders and leadership over the past few decades. Most make no effort to explain that leadership is amoral. It is a power over others that can be used for good or for ill. People are subjected to all kinds of abuse by their leaders organizationally or politically, and as children, they are being poorly led by their parents and teachers. The original concept of leadership was that it would be used for good purposesthat those who purported to be leaders would have virtues that would necessarily be good for the people, for their communities, and for the larger culture. This is obviously no longer the case. There has been plenty of talk about successful leaders, but successful leaders are not necessarily good leaders. Merely making the numbers or being successful in some quantitative way does not imply good leadership. This book, which has already attracted wide attention because it is so outspoken, unpacks the concept of leadership. Once one knows how to do this, identifying the good from the bad becomes much easier. The benefits to all of us as individuals and to the world we all share can be remarkable. It is time to stop idolizing our leaders. It is time to call them to task. It is time to help them become what they should be. The Good Leader can do this for them and for you.

This book is about how the chief executivealong with everyone else directly involvedneeds to think about transforming an okay organization into a fully competent one. Everyone would like to have a more competent organization. There is a lot of fairy dust out there about how to accomplish that the easy way. But there is no easy way . . . that works. To customers and other stakeholders, it is the performance of the organization that matters. They could not care less about promises that are only sometimes kept. They expect performance. This book not only tells you how you have to think in order to make this happen but it offers many of the basic tools and techniques for doing so. Making a fully competent organization is a tough go, but it is doable. This book tells you how. It is based upon many years of successful, hands-on experience in creating fully competenteven greatorganizations of all sorts and sizes. With this book as your guide, you, too, could have that competent organization you dare to dream of. For the past forty-five years or so, I have been traveling the world doing hundreds of seminars for chief executives. My main contribution, however, has been working in the trenches with a few of them to help them make competent or even great organizations. Each is a complex endeavor that has to be customized to the particular organization and its particular executives. Ive talked about this. And Ive answered many questions about it. The time finally came to set forth how to think about doing this, as well as how to get started in actually implementing some of the basics. This book summarizes my unique approach to making high-performance organizations and the leadership required to do so. It is dedicated to those courageous and committed chief executives who volunteered to undergo the stresses and anguish of making great things happen. It is likely that I have learned as much from them as they have learned from me. We have been passionate partners in making great things happen.

This book is about how the chief executivealong with everyone else directly involvedneeds to think about transforming an okay organization into a fully competent one. Everyone would like to have a more competent organization. There is a lot of fairy dust out there about how to accomplish that the easy way. But there is no easy way . . . that works. To customers and other stakeholders, it is the performance of the organization that matters. They could not care less about promises that are only sometimes kept. They expect performance. This book not only tells you how you have to think in order to make this happen but it offers many of the basic tools and techniques for doing so. Making a fully competent organization is a tough go, but it is doable. This book tells you how. It is based upon many years of successful, hands-on experience in creating fully competenteven greatorganizations of all sorts and sizes. With this book as your guide, you, too, could have that competent organization you dare to dream of. For the past forty-five years or so, I have been traveling the world doing hundreds of seminars for chief executives. My main contribution, however, has been working in the trenches with a few of them to help them make competent or even great organizations. Each is a complex endeavor that has to be customized to the particular organization and its particular executives. Ive talked about this. And Ive answered many questions about it. The time finally came to set forth how to think about doing this, as well as how to get started in actually implementing some of the basics. This book summarizes my unique approach to making high-performance organizations and the leadership required to do so. It is dedicated to those courageous and committed chief executives who volunteered to undergo the stresses and anguish of making great things happen. It is likely that I have learned as much from them as they have learned from me. We have been passionate partners in making great things happen.

Thayer always serves up a seven-course meal, and Leadership Virtuosity is a great banquet (Chris Comeaux, president/CEO, Four Seasons). What you have in your hands is the most unique and potent book on leadership you could lay your hands on. It introduces the concept of virtuosity as the crowning achievement in all leadership. In these twenty lessons, Lee Thayer, one of the worlds leading consultants, brings you the building blocks for becoming a virtuoso leader: 1. The lucky leader 2. The good leader 3. The real-world leader 4. The imaginative leader 5. The trustworthy leader 6. The triangulating leader 7. The articulate leader 8. The responsible leader 9. The defining leader 10. The caring leader 11. The accomplishment-minded leader 12. The learning leader 13. The seductive leader 14. The intolerant leader 15. The potent leader 16. The omnipresent leader 17. The frugal leader 18. The strategic leader 19. The passionate leader 20. The performing leader You will return again and again to the wisdom you can partake here. You may be challenged but rewarded all at the same time. As one reviewer puts it, The son of a gun made me think. Thats what Dr. Thayer aims to do in this book. Becoming a virtuoso requires mastery of the basics. Beyond that, it requires a new and different way of thinking about the role of a leader. This book provides that in a provocative but practical wayas only the virtuoso executive coach and consultant Lee Thayer could do it.

Thayer always serves up a seven-course meal, and Leadership Virtuosity is a great banquet (Chris Comeaux, president/CEO, Four Seasons). What you have in your hands is the most unique and potent book on leadership you could lay your hands on. It introduces the concept of virtuosity as the crowning achievement in all leadership. In these twenty lessons, Lee Thayer, one of the worlds leading consultants, brings you the building blocks for becoming a virtuoso leader: 1. The lucky leader 2. The good leader 3. The real-world leader 4. The imaginative leader 5. The trustworthy leader 6. The triangulating leader 7. The articulate leader 8. The responsible leader 9. The defining leader 10. The caring leader 11. The accomplishment-minded leader 12. The learning leader 13. The seductive leader 14. The intolerant leader 15. The potent leader 16. The omnipresent leader 17. The frugal leader 18. The strategic leader 19. The passionate leader 20. The performing leader You will return again and again to the wisdom you can partake here. You may be challenged but rewarded all at the same time. As one reviewer puts it, The son of a gun made me think. Thats what Dr. Thayer aims to do in this book. Becoming a virtuoso requires mastery of the basics. Beyond that, it requires a new and different way of thinking about the role of a leader. This book provides that in a provocative but practical wayas only the virtuoso executive coach and consultant Lee Thayer could do it.

Travel where you will in todays America, and youre likely to be drawn into a conversation about mistreatment by one or more of todays organizations. Someone ordered something. But when the order came it wasnt what they ordered. That was two years ago and still ongoing. Or Your call is very important to us. Thats why youre number 19 in the queue. Doctors and hospitals make mistakes. Only a few are really fatal. But they have insurance for that. Will you get what you want from an organization? It may depend upon whom in the organizations youre talking to. An organizations marketing is not an organizations performance. Its just talk. Organizations live and die by their deeds. This book tells you how. Malfunctions in organizations are ubiquitous. They occur in every kind of organization of every size. Why is that? How do you avoid falling victim to the conventional, to mediocrity? This book can be your guide. Add to that the fact that highly paid CEOs are often frustrated by the performance of their own organizations. Thats one reason for their ever-shortening tenure in that role. They are often disgruntled by the performance of their own executives and managers. And those employees are often openly dissatisfied with the organizations where they work. Even after thousands of books and many thousands of conferences since the 1970s, our organizations dont seem to be doing much better. Here is that rare book that tells you how to perform in the real world. This book addresses those problems head-on. It addresses the sources (not the symptoms) of organizational dysfunctions. Regardless of title, you wont find elsewhere a better guide to making competent organizations, which is where the problems lie. This book is about how you, the CEO or CEO aspirant, need to think about what needs thinking about, for how you think about what needs thinking about will determine who you are. And who you are determines what you can and cannot do about making yours a fully functioning, competent organization. Just reading about it is not of much help. Aristotle said many years ago, What you must learn, you must learn by doing. This book is unique; it tells you how to do just that.

Travel where you will in todays America, and youre likely to be drawn into a conversation about mistreatment by one or more of todays organizations. Someone ordered something. But when the order came it wasnt what they ordered. That was two years ago and still ongoing. Or Your call is very important to us. Thats why youre number 19 in the queue. Doctors and hospitals make mistakes. Only a few are really fatal. But they have insurance for that. Will you get what you want from an organization? It may depend upon whom in the organizations youre talking to. An organizations marketing is not an organizations performance. Its just talk. Organizations live and die by their deeds. This book tells you how. Malfunctions in organizations are ubiquitous. They occur in every kind of organization of every size. Why is that? How do you avoid falling victim to the conventional, to mediocrity? This book can be your guide. Add to that the fact that highly paid CEOs are often frustrated by the performance of their own organizations. Thats one reason for their ever-shortening tenure in that role. They are often disgruntled by the performance of their own executives and managers. And those employees are often openly dissatisfied with the organizations where they work. Even after thousands of books and many thousands of conferences since the 1970s, our organizations dont seem to be doing much better. Here is that rare book that tells you how to perform in the real world. This book addresses those problems head-on. It addresses the sources (not the symptoms) of organizational dysfunctions. Regardless of title, you wont find elsewhere a better guide to making competent organizations, which is where the problems lie. This book is about how you, the CEO or CEO aspirant, need to think about what needs thinking about, for how you think about what needs thinking about will determine who you are. And who you are determines what you can and cannot do about making yours a fully functioning, competent organization. Just reading about it is not of much help. Aristotle said many years ago, What you must learn, you must learn by doing. This book is unique; it tells you how to do just that.

This book takes you on an adventure, an adventure into why you are the way you are, and hence why the world you live in is the way you perceive it. It is a challenging adventure--this seeing why you are the way you are and your world is the way it is. Most people don't care, but they end up regretting not understanding this whole business of perspective in their lives gone by. You are holding in your hands the prescription for avoiding that all-too-common regret at the end of life. Herein are the tools for understanding the one thing in your life you can do something about now--your perspective on things.

This book takes you on an adventure, an adventure into why you are the way you are, and hence why the world you live in is the way you perceive it. It is a challenging adventure--this seeing why you are the way you are and your world is the way it is. Most people don't care, but they end up regretting not understanding this whole business of perspective in their lives gone by. You are holding in your hands the prescription for avoiding that all-too-common regret at the end of life. Herein are the tools for understanding the one thing in your life you can do something about now--your perspective on things.