By reading this book at executive will:
- Learn what to do to get a lot more important things done
- Learn what to do to avoid the Peter Principle
- Learn what to do to make the organization effective
- Learn what to do to make one’s boss effective
- Learn what to do to staff the organization for effectiveness
- Learn how to manage priorities
- Learn how to make strategic decisions for long-term results
There are particular behaviors that make an executive effective. These behaviors can be learned.
Drucker defined effectiveness as the ability to get the right things done. The end of which is to achieve results to accomplish the goals and the mission of the organization and to help workers achieve opportunity and satisfaction.
For over fifty years Drucker observed and advised the most effective executives, including General Motors (GM) chief executive, Alfred Sloan Jr. These executives had various personalities, styles, and educations but all practiced the same self disciplines.
All tracked their time, contributed to goals, focused on strengths, managed priorities, and made strategic decisions. Drucker explained these practices in detail and compared them to music scales. They must be mastered if one expects to play well.
The best way to benefit from the book is to apply the practices. This can be done by asking oneself the recommended questions such as, “What results are expected of me?” “What would happen if this were not done at all?” or “What can I contribute that will significantly affect the performance and the results of the institution I serve?”
The book is part of Drucker’s integrated strategy for achieving results. Several of Drucker’s books focus on organizational management and strategy, this one focuses on self-management.
One important idea is that if one’s time has never been tracked or recorded, it is probably being misspent.
Drucker provides helpful case studies to illustrate his points, including GE’s Jack Welch, President John Kennedy, and Bell Telephone Company executive Theodore Vail.
The book will help those who want to increase their capacity to achieve organizational goals and develop leaders.