[.ca] The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and ... (ISBN 0812932307)

From Amazon.com:
To prove their various points, most books on business leadership focus strictly on either a series of standard, contemporary corporate illustrations or a single nontraditional model (such as a specific historic personality or a classic manuscript such as the Tao Te Ching). But Michael Useem, director of the Center for Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, has long used poignant real-life examples of people facing their "moments of truth"--regardless of the setting--to teach students how best to perform under the pressures they will face in the business world. In The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All, Useem presents some of these surprisingly effective profiles to show how others have responded when push truly comes to shove. Among them are: the story of Roy Vagelos championing an unprofitable drug that ultimately wiped out a debilitating disease in Africa; how flight director Eugene Kranz worked calmly and efficiently to return the endangered Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to Earth; and a look at Arlene Blum's pioneering all-woman ascent of the 26,545-foot Himalayan peak Annapurna in 1978. --Howard Rothman

great service:
The book arrived on time, and in great condition. And they also included another book for free with the order!

Warren Bennis is right: "It's one helluva read.":
I read this book soon after it first appeared (in 1998) and recently re-read it, curious to know how well its core concepts and insights have held up. My conclusion? Very, very well. In his remarkably informative Foreword, Warren Bennis acknowledges having several reasons why he admires Michael Useem's book and cites three. First, Useem's selection of "cases" that focus on nine "real people, not stick figures"; the cases deal with what in theater would be called "turning points" (i.e. "life-challenging, morally consequential events fraught with risk and danger"); and third, the principles that Useem examines can be applied to any organization, regardless of size or nature, and the lessons learned from the nine cases are "eternal and universal. " Useem suggests that leadership "is at its best when the vision is strategic, the voice persuasive, the results tangible." His focus is on exceptionally difficult leadership decisions, "those fateful moments when our goals are at stake and it is uncertain if we will achieve them, and when the outcome depends on mobilizing others to realize success." He examines nine quite different leaders who found themselves in "life-challenging, morally consequential events fraught with risk and danger" and prevailed. Those who have seen the film Apollo 13 are already familiar with Eugene Kranz (portrayed by Ed Harris). However, most of those who read this book were previously not familiar with several others, notably Wagner Dodge, Arlene Blum, and Clifton Wharton. Nonetheless, valuable leadership lessons can be learned from each of the nine. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is of special interest to me. Briefly, he had assumed command of the 20th Regiment of Infantry, Maine Volunteers, in May of 1863; within four days, they were marching through Virginia. Less than a year before, the 20th had mustered a thousand men at commissioning time; only 358 remained. The situation was soon complicated by the fact that 120 mutineers in the 2nd Regiment had been placed under Chamberlain's command. His orders from his superior, General George C. Meade: "make them do duty or shoot them down the moment they refused." What happened next is best revealed within Useem's compelling narrative but I can reveal that Chamberlain's combined forces played a major (if not the pivotal role) at Gettysburg, securing and then defending their position. Useem observes that, in a crisis such as the one Chamberlain and his men faced on Little Round Top when under relentless attack, "everything is magnified, for better or for worse." Some rise to the leadership challenge and take effective action as Chamberlain did, others don't. Useem suggests several leadership lessons to be learned from that bloody, decisive day on the fields of Gettysburg. For example: "Winning the confidence of your people now may well be invaluable in a yet-unforeseen time when you face the ultimate test...\oHowever,\c early investments in winning support among even your most stalwart opponents may make the difference between success and defeat when it counts most." This is precisely what President Abraham Lincoln did when forming his first cabinet, one that Doris Kearns Goodwin characterizes as a "team of rivals." I commend Michael Useem on his brilliant correlation of historical information with an analysis of the leaders he has studied and the lessons to be learned from their encounters with "life-challenging, morally consequential events fraught with risk and danger." Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out his Leading Up as well as Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas' Geeks & Geezers (recently updated and reissued as Leading for a Lifetime), Bill George's True North, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward's Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters, and Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition co-authored by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy.

VERY ENTERTAINING READ, OKAY ANALYSIS:
In this book, Mike Useem describes nine situations in which leadership emerges. The situations outlined are very diverse, including a mountainclimbing expedition, a pharmaceutical company's decision, a firefighter's dillemma, and a Central American emerging democracy's negotiation with terrorism, to name a few. Roughly half of the stories are cases of success, half are failures, which makes it interesting exploration of both sides of the coin. Overall, the stories are very interesting per se, and worth the read. Some of these are classics of management and ethics, such as the Merck Riverblindness case. At the end of each story, Useem tries to do an analysis of what the leader did right or wrong. In this section, I did in fact disagree with some of Useem's conclusions, and what bothered me was the fact that I felt like the author did not leave enough space for alternative views. For example, he argues that Roy Vagelos of Merck was a great leader because he guided his company to do the right thing and spend all the money on the disease though it would not recoup costs. I would argue that he did recoup, by the free publicity, which Useem helps extend, but Useem never mentions the possibility of it being worth it. I did like the book and would recommend it, especially the stories, which are told in a very fast paced and easy to read manner. However, not so sure about the analysis.

Leaders in action:
Useem's description and depiction of each character deviates from the mundane monologue usually produced in hardcore texts. He presents a diverse set of leaders with unique circumstances. Each case is a dramatic narrative. At the same time, Useem provides readers with the underlying details that occurred prior, during and in the aftermath of the major leadership decisions. This is one of a few accounts that examines leadership of men, women, minorities and international leaders in both corporate and non-corporate organizations.

I only can only hope there will be a sequel !:
Useem distills lessons for the reader from the 9 events described in his book. Some of his example case studies have heroic elements to them, yet he focuses on the basis of the decision making process of the principal - rather than only the net effect. Thus, providing the reader with tangible leadership tools to help steer any group, team or organization to their goals. A good read for any manager, coach or leader.