Start with the Answer And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders

by Seelert, Bob

• ISBN13: 9780470450321
• ISBN10: 0470450320
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-04-27
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi offers timeless wisdom on great business leadershipStart with the Answer offers transformative insights and practical instruction for men and women determined to succeed as executives and industry leaders. The book presents and explores the eight dimensions of business lifepreparation, building and managing a career, business strategy, business operations, finance and economics, leadership, culture and communication, and personal spirit and style. All successful business leaders must master these essentials in order to succeed in the fundamental challenges of business. This book will explain how to do that, and is the road map that today's lost business culture sorely needs. Based on his experience as a leader in a number of industries, Seelert presents both the philosophy and the nuts-and-bolts of a successful and happy career.Bob Seelert (New Canaan, CT) is Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, a leading global ideas and advertising company. A Harvard Business School graduate, he has been CEO of five companies, has built brands and businesses, been a party to two mega-mergers, and enacted numerous turnarounds. He has served on Boards of Directors of companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Author Biography

Bob Seelert is Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, a leading global ideas and advertising company. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, he has been CEO of five companies, has built brands and businesses, been a party to two mega-mergers, and enacted numerous turnarounds. He has served on boards of directors of companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
Preparing for a Career in Business
Go with Your Gut	p. 3
Choosing the Right Path	p. 5
What I Learned at Harvard	p. 7
Expect the Unexpected	p. 9
Managing Your Career
How to Choose a Career	p. 13
The Interview	p. 15
Your Clothes Are Talking about You	p. 17
Sales Fundamentals	p. 19
Every Memo Is an Ad about You	p. 23
Get to Know Yourself Better	p. 25
I'm an ENTJ, What Are You?	p. 29
You Learn More from Failure than from Success	p. 31
How to Become a Senior Executive	p. 33
The Importance of a Great Executive Assistant	p. 35
You'll Need to "Work Your Ass Off"	p. 39
Stay in Touch with Recruiters	p. 41
Planning and Other Essentials of Business Strategy
Start with the Answer	p. 47
How to Do Strategic Planning	p. 49
Ten Rules for Leading the Turnaround of a Declining Business	p. 51
Quick! You've Got 100 Days to Act	p. 55
Establishing Objectives, Strategies, and Plans	p. 57
Tape the Strategy to Your Forehead	p. 59
Perfecting 100 Day Plans	p. 61
What Does It Take to Get to the Top?	p. 63
Don't Ask, "What's Wrong?" Ask, "What's Right?"	p. 65
Sometimes You Have to Blow Up the Old and Start Anew	p. 67
"Don't Get Fat-Headed by Winning"	p. 69
Choose Your Partners with Care	p. 71
The Acquirer Has Rights	p. 73
Selecting the Right Formula for a Joint Venture	p. 75
Centralization and Decentralization Do Not Mix	p. 77
What's Your Inspirational Dream?	p. 81
Heaven and Hell in Europe	p. 83
Business Operations: Looking Beyond the Obvious
Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity	p. 87
The Scarcest Resource of All	p. 89
Generating Great Ideas	p. 91
Cultivating Big Ideas	p. 93
The Importance of Excellence in Execution	p. 95
Cutting the Tail Off the Dog	p. 97
The Importance of Being First to Market	p. 99
"Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust"	p. 101
One-Third of Consumers Do Two-Thirds of the Consuming	p. 103
Ninety-Five Percent of Winning Is Anticipation	p. 105
How to Defend Against a Competitor's Attack	p. 107
And/And Beats Either/Or	p. 109
Layoffs Are Hard	p. 111
What Separates a Great Ad from a Good Ad?	p. 113
Secrets to Client Success	p. 115
"Who's Got the 'R'?"	p. 119
Finance and Economics, or Dollars and Sense
The Importance of Market Share Ratios	p. 123
Breaking the Law of Diminishing Returns	p. 125
How to Do Annual Planning	p. 129
Don't Get Outfoxed by Low-Ballers	p. 131
Delivering Budgets in a Client Organization	p. 133
Achieving Budgets in an Advertising Agency	p. 135
"If I Knew What the Price of Green Coffee Was Going to Be Tomorrow, I Wouldn't Be working Here"	p. 137
There Are Three C's in Pricing	p. 139
Adam Smith on Pricing	p. 141
Lessons in Leadership
What Is Leadership?	p. 145
Chairmen and Chief Executives	p. 149
The Art and Science of Selecting the Chief Executive Officer	p. 151
Evaluating High Performers	p. 155
Evaluating the Chief Executive Officer	p. 157
What Winners Learn from Losing	p. 161
Occupy the High Ground	p. 163
You Get What You Expect	p. 165
"Don't Tell, Ask"	p. 167
To Try and to Succeed	p. 169
Delegation: The Art of Letting Go and Holding On	p. 171
How Leaders Should Be Involved in Decision Making	p. 173
Go Home and Sleep Like a Baby	p. 175
Sometimes You Have to Fire People	p. 177
Left-Brained Management of Right-Brained People	p. 179
The Chief Executive Officer's Obligation	p. 181
Building Culture Through Communications
One Team, One Dream	p. 185
"Breakfast with Bob"	p. 187
Ability + Chemistry = Team	p. 191
Nothing Is Impossible	p. 193
Passionate, Competitive, Restless	p. 195
Be Relentless, Be Relentless	p. 197
I Can't Say Too Much about Communications	p. 199
"K-R Live"	p. 201
Repeating a Good Thing Is a Good Thing	p. 203
Coin Your Own "OHCCIMR"	p. 205
Personal Style and Spirit
Driving a Ford Fiesta	p. 209
To Improve Your Performance at Work, Go Home	p. 211
Staying Calm, Cool, and Collected	p. 213
A Formula for Success	p. 215
Listen to Your Barber	p. 217
Two Words You Should Avoid	p. 219
Have Fun While You Work	p. 221
Foster a Foreign Language, It Makes You Less Foreign	p. 223
"Plus ca Change, Plus c'est la Meme Chose"	p. 225
Be True to Yourself	p. 227
Acknowledgments	p. 229
Index	p. 231
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