Ted Marra and I have had many conversations over a number of years. On these occasions we have talked about matters of common interest and shared our views on a wide range of topics. One recurring theme has been why some companies are able to sustain outstanding performance over many years while others are either marginally competitive or fail altogether. In chewing this over we have shared our knowledge based on what we have learned in the course of our work in different fields – in Ted’s case as a global consultant working at the highest level in major international firms and in mine as CEO of an international business school and as a company director.
We agreed that there is no simple answer to this question – no magic bullet that is the key to success. Not surprising, since organizations are extremely complex systems. Achieving sustained business success depends on a range of factors, some hard and some soft. A CEO is like a conjuror who has to keep many balls in the air at the same time – if he takes his eye off one then the whole system can collapse. A global business operating in today’s world has many more balls in the air than a juggling act. We also agreed that these balls are of two kinds. The first set are to do with leadership and the creation of a winning culture, about articulating a clear purpose for the organization – one going beyond shareholder value, developing a vision for the future and embedding a set of enduring values. The second are to do with the essentials of good management – strategic planning, measurement and control and, above all, execution. Tying all these factors together is the business model.
What Ted Marra has done in this remarkably compact volume is to provide today’s and tomorrow’s business leaders with an amazingly clear guide to achieving sustainable success, dealing with all these factors in turn and tying them together. He gives the reader some pertinent examples both from his own consulting experience and from his extensive knowledge of the managerial literature.
I derived particular value from the challenging questions he addresses to his readers at the end of each chapter. These are not simply adjuncts to the test, to be read and consigned to the bookshelf. They raise questions that each CEO, indeed each member of the top team needs to ask him or herself at regular intervals.
I strongly recommend this book to current and aspiring CEOs. It can be read in the course of a moderately long business flight. A productive use of time.
Philip Sadler CBE FCIPD FRSA
Vice-president and former CEO Ashridge Business School
