Ram Charan was an adviser to Jack Welch at GE and other successful CEOs of the ‘90s. He’s most famous for co-authoring ‘Execution’ with Larry Bossidy and Charles Burck. But he also published his own book ‘What the CEO wants you to know’ beforehand.
Writing for aspiring corporate managers, Ram uses the example of an Indian Street Vendor to illustrate how firms of any size operate on the same principles.
From a financial perspective, he explains how business operations boil down to Margins, Returns and Growth. Along the way, Ram also explains the importance of understanding your Customers, matching people to Roles, Coaching your team and Communicating effectively.
The case studies he uses are now a little dated, but his guidance is timeless. Few books explain both the processes and the people side of running a good business. And even fewer in less than 200 pages!
I didn’t read ‘What the CEO wants you to know’ until I had already become a CEO. But the value of these principles was familiar from my senior management experience. And it helped me explain how our company worked to everyone else.
In today’s challenging economic climate, if you want to grow profitably then you need the whole company to understand how they can contribute to success. Whether you have an established business or are still planning how to grow your firm, it’s worth reviewing the lessons which Ram Charan explains clearly and concisely.
So, if you fancy a quick and easy read over the holidays, or need a gift for an ambitious colleague then it’s worth considering ‘What the CEO wants you to know’..
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