William A. Cohen (1) (1937–)
Autor de How to Make It Big as a Consultant
Para otros autores llamados William A. Cohen, ver la página de desambiguación.
Sobre El Autor
William A. Cohen, Ph.D., is President of the Institute of Leader Arts and an international speaker on management and leadership. As Director of the Small Business Institute for California State University Los Angeles, he built the program into one of the country's largest, supervising consulting mostrar más for more than 700 small businesses. He is the author of many books including The New Art of the Leader and A Class with Drucker. He lives in Pasadena, California. mostrar menos
Obras de William A. Cohen
Secrets of Special Ops Leadership: Dare the Impossible -- Achieve the Extraordinary (2005) 48 copias
Art of the Strategist, The: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory (2004) 29 copias
The Practical Drucker: Applying the Wisdom of the World's Greatest Management Thinker (2013) 25 copias
The Entrepreneur and Small Business Problem Solver: An Encyclopedic Reference and Guide (1984) 24 copias
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Fecha de nacimiento
- 1937
- Género
- male
- Nacionalidad
- USA
- Lugares de residencia
- Pasadena, California, USA
- Educación
- United States Military Academy (BS|Engineering)
University of Chicago (MBA)
Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University (MA)
Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University (PhD) - Ocupaciones
- military officer (USAFR, Major General, retired)
- Organizaciones
- Institute of Leader Arts (President)
- Premios y honores
- California State University Los Angeles Statewide Outstanding Professor Award (1996)
Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence in Economic Education (1985)
Outstanding Professor’s Award at California State University Los Angeles (1982)
Miembros
Reseñas
También Puede Gustarte
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 41
- Miembros
- 476
- Popularidad
- #51,804
- Valoración
- 3.2
- Reseñas
- 5
- ISBNs
- 110
- Idiomas
- 4
First, the title. Sigh...why are almost ALL books in the genre so focused on heroes and being a leader in order to be larger than life? There are eight billion people in the world requiring countless leaders of all types at all levels. Why must practicing the skill be about "becoming a hero"? Furthermore, the author's "8 Universal Laws" are less "heroic" in definition (e.g., "exhibiting courage and daring or supremely noble or self-sacrificing") than they are just good practices of those who would lead well. I suspect there were some marketing people involved in the title that led to unnecessary overreach.
Second, the laws: (Maintain absolute integrity; know your stuff; declare your expectations; show uncommon commitment; expect positive results; take care of your people; put duty before self; and get out front). These are good principles and significant skills any leader would want to practice. But "universal laws"? One can think of several other crucial leadership skills (e.g., self-sacrifice, clear communication, a leader develops other leaders). These are not "universal"? Or "laws". But I suppose "8 Crucial Principles of Leadership" doesn't sell as well as "universal laws" (one of the problems of the genre).
Third, the methodology. The author declares the "8 universal laws" to be a product of long study and research, then illustrates them by a string of vignettes and stories from military and business environments. In addition, he adds three or four "how to" steps under each law, again just declared and illustrated by story. There is noting particularly wrong with story as a means to illustrate points--it's an important skill for a writer--but the book read more as a "here's 8 universal laws and I'll tell a lot of stories to illustrate them" than a real analytical study of leadership. Kouzes and Posner's "The Leadership Challenge" is a much better methodological look at the subject.
Fourth, unfortunately for the author, some of his illustrations have not aged well. His first, and important, universal law is "Maintain absolute integrity." Later in the book, he illustrates the laws of declaring expectations and expecting positive results in the life and work of Ken Lay, the CEO of Enron. Mr. Lay may have been expert at setting expectations, but the positive results that built his multi-billion dollar company were built on lie upon lie that destroyed both Enron and Arthur Anderson, their major accounting firm.
Finally, the author has an odd habit of telling a great story within a section of a chapter, often under a specific subtitle, then concluding that section with a quote from a completely different person and subject. As an illustration, under the law of "getting out front," the author takes two and a half pages to tell the story of Peter Ueberroth's leadership of the Los Angeles Summer Olympics, then ends that story with a quote from an A-1 combat pilot, Brigadier General Dunwoody, who said, "When it's time to produce, be right there. Talk to your people and personally brief the troops. Don't delegate leadership that demands a leader. If you want to succeed, be everywhere." I'll leave the wisdom of that quote (be everywhere?) for other media, but use it here simply to make the point: it has nothing to do with Peter Ueberroth and the Olympics and belongs somewhere else in the book.
Against those significant weaknesses, the book, because it is a collection of vignettes to prove a particular view of leadership, has a deep wealth of stories that are useful in illustrating many truths, even beyond the author's intentions. It's a good reason to keep the book because I have it, but not, in my view, a good enough reason to buy it.… (más)