Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
by By Charan, Ram, Burck, Charles, and Bossidy, Larry
Category: Business & Economics , Management

The book that shows how to get the job done and deliver results . . . whether you’re   running an entire company or in your first management job Larry Bossidy is one of   the world’s most acclaimed CEOs, a man with few peers who has a track record for   delivering results. Ram Charan is a legendary advisor to senior executives and boards   of directors, a man with unparalleled insight into why some companies are successful   and others are not. Together they’ve pooled their knowledge and experience into the   one book on how to close the gap between results promised and results delivered that   people in business need today. After a long, stellar career with General Electric,   Larry Bossidy transformed AlliedSignal into one of the world’s most admired companies   and was named CEO of the year in 1998 by Chief Executive magazine. Accomplishments   such as 31 consecutive quarters of earnings-per-share growth of 13 percent or more   didn’t just happen; they resulted from the consistent practice of the discipline   of execution: understanding how to link together people, strategy, and operations,   the three core processes of every business. Leading these processes is the real   job of running a business, not formulating a “vision” and leaving the work of carrying   it out to others. Bossidy and Charan show the importance of being deeply and passionately   engaged in an organization and why robust dialogues about people, strategy, and operations   result in a business based on intellectual honesty and realism. The leader’s most   important job—selecting and appraising people—is one that should never be delegated.   As a CEO, Larry Bossidy personally makes the calls to check references for key hires.   Why? With the right people in the right jobs, there’s a leadership gene pool that   conceives and selects strategies that can be executed. People then work together   to create a strategy building block by building block, a strategy in sync with the   realities of the marketplace, the economy, and the competition. Once the right people   and strategy are in place, they are then linked to an operating process that results   in the implementation of specific programs and actions and that assigns accountability.   This kind of effective operating process goes way beyond the typical budget exercise   that looks into a rearview mirror to set its goals. It puts reality behind the numbers   and is where the rubber meets the road.  Putting an execution culture in place is   hard, but losing it is easy. In July 2001 Larry Bossidy was asked by the board of   directors of Honeywell International (it had merged with AlliedSignal) to return   and get the company back on track. He’s been putting the ideas he writes about in   Execution to work in real time.