Description
What It Takes
Seven Secrets of Success from the World's Greatest Professional Firms
Language: English
Subject for What It Takes:
Keywords
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304 p. · 15.8x23.1 cm · Hardback
Description
/li>Contents
/li>Biography
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Having devoted a career that spans fifty years to consulting with and studying professional firms in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, author Charles Ellis learned firsthand how difficult it is for an organization to go beyond very good and attain, as well as sustain, excellence. Now, he shares his hard-won insights with you and reveals "what it takes" to be best-in-class in any industry.
Enlightening and entertaining, What It Takes explores firms that are leaders in their particular field and the superior people who create and maintain them. Along the way, it identifies the secrets of their long-term success and reveals exactly how they can put your organization in a better position to excel when properly executed.
- Contains many stories of achieving excellence, and addresses the obstacles that top-ranking organizations face in sustaining it
- Includes insights on leaders in their particular field?from McKinsey & Company in consulting and Cravath, Swaine & Moore in law to the Mayo Clinic in healthcare
- Written by one of the most experienced and respected business consultants/advisors of our time
What It Takes skillfully shows you how innovation and a commitment to excellence can drive success, while also revealing how easy it is to fall behind. With it, you'll discover what separates the great firms from the good ones and learn how to attain, and maintain, organizational success throughout the years.
Introduction xi
I. Achieving Excellence
Chapter 1: Mission 3
An Inspiring Long-Term Purpose
Chapter 2: Culture 25
How We Do Things around Here
Chapter 3: Recruiting 47
Getting the Right People
Chapter 4: Developing People 65
Training, Educating, and Organizing for Excellence
Chapter 5: Client Relationships 97
Developing Ties That Last
Chapter 6: Innovation 111
Changing How the Game Is Played
Chapter 7: Macro Innovation 133
Changing the Game
Chapter 8: Leadership 151
Bringing the Secrets Together
Chapter 9: . . . and Luck 173
Sometimes It Really Matters
II. Sustaining Excellence
Chapter 10: Trouble 181
Excellence Challenged
Chapter 11: Arthur Andersen 211
Excellence Lost
Afterword 245
Thanks 249
Notes 251
About the Author 285
Index 287
CHARLES D. ELLIS was for three decades managing partner of Greenwich Associates, the international business strategy consulting firm. A popular teacher, he has taught advanced courses on investing at the business schools of both Harvard and Yale, is the author of fifteen books, including the bestselling Winning the Loser’s Game, has served on the governing boards of Yale University, Harvard Business School, Exeter, NYU Stern, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and chairs the Whitehead Institute.
