Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer Managing for Conflict and Consensus

by Roberto, Michael A.

• ISBN13: 9780137000630
• ISBN10: 0137000634
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-06
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

Harvard Business School's Michael Roberto draws on powerful decision-making case studies from every walk of life, showing how to promote honest, constructive dissent and skepticism; use it to improve decisions; and align organizations behind those decisions. Learn from disasters like the Space Shuttle Columbia and JFK's Bay of Pigs Invasion, from successes like Sid Caesar and Bill Parcells, from George W. Bush's decision-making after 9/11. Roberto complements his compelling case studies with extensive new research on executive decisionmaking. Discover how to test and probe a management team; when 'yes'means 'yes'and when it doesn't; and how to build real consensus that leads to action. Gain important new insights into managing teams, mitigating risk, promoting corporate ethics, and much more.

Author Biography

Michael A. Roberto is a faculty member at the Harvard Business School. He teaches courses on general management, managerial decision making, and business strategy. Professor Roberto's research focuses on strategic decision-making processes and senior management teams. Recently, he has studied why catastrophic group or organizational failures happen, such as the Columbia space shuttle accident and the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy.

Professor Roberto's work has been published in the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and The Leadership Quarterly.

He has taught in the leadership development programs at a number of organizations including Morgan Stanley, Mars, The Home Depot, Novartis, and The World Bank. He has also consulted with organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Corporate Executive Board, and The Advisory Board.

Professor Roberto earned an M.B.A. with High Distinction and a doctorate from the Harvard Business School. While pursuing graduate studies at Harvard, he taught the introductory undergraduate course in economic theory, twice winning Harvard's Allyn Young Prize for Teaching in Economics.

He lives in Holliston, Massachusetts with his wife, Kristin, and his two daughters, Grace and Celia.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Leading the Decision Process

The Leadership Challenge

Deciding How to Decide

Managing Conflict

An Absence of Candor

Stimulating the Clash of Ideas

Keeping Conflict Constructive

Building Consensus

The Dynamics of Indecision

Fair and Legitimate Process

Reaching Closure

A New Breed of Take-Charge Leader

Leading with Restraint

Appendix Endnotes

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.