|
|
Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have (Paperback)
by Justin Menkes
| Category:
Executive skills, Leadership |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 138.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An absorbing business read with great mix of research and anecdotal evidence. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Justin Menkes
Publisher: Collins; New Ed edition
Pub. in: November, 2006
ISBN: 0060781882
Pages: 336
Measurements: 7.7 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00371
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0060781880
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
An insightful look into the difference between knowledge and intelligence and the role of intelligence played in business success. |
|
- MSL Picks -
"What great executives do is not magic. Their performance is made possible by specific, identifiable skills." - Justin Menkes
Menkes begins the book by talking about what executive intelligence is: The skilled use of information as a guide to action.
The first half of the book outlines the concept in detail, listing the specific skills that make it up. It includes a series of case study interviews with exceptional CEO's, including such notables as: Kevin Rollins (CEO Dell), Andrea Jung (CEO Avon), and Jack Welch (former CEO GE) and Jim Kilts (CEO Gillette) to name a few.
The second half of the book delves into the science underpinning the theory. It gives an excellent history of how the definition of intelligence has evolved over the years, and how controversy over IQ has caused us to disregard the undeniable role that cognitive ability plays in success. He dissects the usefulness of emotional intelligence (not very) as well as current hiring practices- what works, what doesn't, and why. He finishes by explaining how to combine the practices that work with a new kind of interview that measures executive intelligence. The findings include independent studies that support his recommendations.
Menkes does a nice job identifying and laying out the skills needed to be successful at work. But instead of just putting out a theory and arguing why its right, Menkes actually includes executive intelligence test questions to allow the reader to judge for themselves whether they would provide any useful insight.
A perfect gift to executives, managers, and entrepreneurs.
(From partly quoting C. Mathews, USA)
****
Justin Menkes on Executive Intelligence
What is executive intelligence?
The particular kind of smarts that is responsible for making exceptional leaders so much better than their peers. These abilities don’t make star executives the best athletes, the best spouses, or the best at crossword puzzles, but they are the substance that causes them to be the best executives.
I’ve found through hundreds of interviews with senior executives, including 30 of the most celebrated CEO’s in the world, that there are an identifiable set of cognitive skills or aptitudes that all brilliant leaders have in common. Just as a person’s ability in the subject of math is determined by certain cognitive skills, such as arithmetic, multiplication, and spatial reasoning, an individual’s aptitude for executive work is also determined by certain cognitive skills.
What are some of the skills that make up Executive Intelligence?
Leaders are constantly making decisions on the fly. They must be able to properly define a problem or differentiate high priority issues from secondary concerns. Further, they must be able to anticipate the probable effects of their actions, or recognize underlying agendas and how they might be in conflict with one another. And always, executives must be able to look critically at their own thinking and behavior and make appropriate adjustments. These are some of the specific skills that determine a person’s aptitude for executive work.
Why haven’t these skills been identified until now?
Because if you ask the most successful people what enables them to be so effective, they will inevitably answer in vague generalities. Most tend to be unaware of the specific skills they possess- they act intuitively. If you asked Michael Jordan how he made a particularly spectacular play, he wouldn’t be able to offer a step-by-step guide. Like any other great performer, he brought his skills to bear on a situation as it unfolded. But if we were to look at a video tape of his performance we would see things like exceptional quickness, strength, or leaping ability. These are the core aptitudes that made Jordan so much better than his competitors. Similarly, there are core aptitudes that make great business leaders so special. And that’s what Executive Intelligence does; it lays bare the core abilities that make great leadership happen and shows how these skills can be measured.
Can Executive Intelligence be taught?
Absolutely. Like any skill, with practice Executive Intelligence can be learned and improved upon. However, traditional education and teaching methods are not enough. Research has shown that with specialized instruction people can significantly improve their cognitive skills, including their IQ test scores. This is of profound importance- it means people can actually make themselves smarter. But first they must recognize the specific aptitudes most essential to star leadership so that they can focus their training on those skills.
(Excerpted from an interview with Justin Menkes. MSL quote)
Target readers:
Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, government and non-profit leaders, professionals, and MBAs.
|
|
- Better with -
Better with
Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
:
|
|
Customers who bought this product also bought:
|
|
Justin Menkes is a managing director of the Executive Intelligence Group (EIG), a leading provider of executive assessment services to global corporations. EIG is an exclusive partner of Spencer Stuart, the world's preeminent executive search firm. Menkes created the Executive Intelligence Evaluation, used by businesses to identify, develop, and hire effective leaders. Menkes is internationally recognized for his expertise in managerial assessment and has written for the Harvard Business Review. He lives in Los Angeles.
|
|
From Publisher
The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers - and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.
Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the 'right' people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.
In a sense, Menkes's work reveals an executive IQ - the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognize the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.
Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.
Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.
|
Part One: Making The Invisible Visible
In today's workplace, an individual cannot become a star executive without possessing a unique type of business "smarts" that we call Executive Intelligence. Historically, business "smarts" has been a bit like the word "indecency." As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said when asked to define the latter, "I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it." Still, we have all caught glimpses of this kind of intelligence, even in everyday situations, as the following example illustrates.
A truck was jammed underneath a highway overpass, and the fire department and a tow-truck driver were attempting to free the vehicle. But despite their earnest efforts, the truck remained stubbornly lodged. A motorist, annoyed by the delay, approached the fire chief and asked what the problem was. "The bridge is not high enough," the chief responded impatiently, "so the truck is wedged, and we're having trouble getting it out."
The gentleman responded, "It seems like the problem is that the truck is not low enough to get through." The fire chief laughed. "Yes, I guess that's another way to say it." The motorist persisted, "What I mean is, why don't you make the truck lower by letting the air out of the tires." Ten minutes later the truck was freed from the tunnel and traffic was moving again.
This kind of logic often appears to observers to be as clever as a magic trick - a mysterious act with an impressive outcome. But just seeing the result does not get us any closer to understanding how the feat was accomplished. And if you do not know how the trick was performed, you cannot replicate it or teach it to others.
To create a useful understanding of the concept of business "smarts," we need to pull back the curtain and show how the magic trick is done. What's more, we need a consistent and reliable way to recognize and measure this kind of intelligence if we are to develop it in ourselves and also ensure that decision-making responsibilities are assigned to those best qualified to handle them.
So how do we define Executive Intelligence? In its simplest form, it is a distinct set of aptitudes that an individual must be able to demonstrate in three central contexts of work: the accomplishment of tasks, working with and through other people, and judging oneself and adapting one's behavior accordingly.
On the job, executives are constantly pursuing a variety of goals. They must decide which tasks to accomplish, in what order to do them, and how best to carry them out. They must find ways to meet their goals through the efforts of and cooperation with other people. And always they must actively evaluate themselves, identify their own errors, and make adjustments to correct them.
The more proficient an individual is in all three of these areas, the higher his or her level of Executive Intelligence. Obviously, Executive Intelligence does not consist of a single ability or isolated skill. Rather, it is a blend of critical aptitudes that guide an individual's decision-making process and behavioral path.
Executive Intelligence has its roots in what is commonly known as critical thinking, but it is not the same as the abstract-logic and reasoning skills often associated with that subject. Instead, it is an expanded and applied type of critical thinking; specifically it is how an individual skillfully uses the available information as a guide to thought and action.
This type of intelligence permeates every aspect of managerial work. A close analysis reveals a set of consistent, interrelated skills that form the very foundation of smart executive behavior. In a sense, the theory of Executive Intelligence pulls back the curtain and reveals the magic behind exceptional leadership performance.
We will go into greater detail about the components of the three areas of Executive Intelligence - tasks, other people, and oneself - later in the book. But the following examples will give you an idea of the essential role Executive Intelligence plays in business...
|
|
| View all 9 comments |
Kevin Sharer (Chairman, President & CEO of Amgen, Inc.) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-02 00:00>
Executive Intelligence offers real insights into what differentiates the great leaders from the pack. |
Noel M. Tichy (Professor, The Ross School, University of Michigan and author of Cycle of Leadership), USA
<2007-01-02 00:00>
Executive Intelligence is a breakthrough. |
James M. Citrin (coauthor of the national bestsellers The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers), USA
<2007-01-02 00:00>
This will transform the way companies hire, promote and evaluate senior-level employees. It is nothing less than a revolution. |
Peter Han (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-02 00:00>
The basic premise of Justin Menkes's book is simple: just as math problems require a certain kind of quantitative intelligence, or relationships require the delicacy of emotional intelligence, strong business leadership rests on executive intelligence. Menkes has worked as an organizational consultant for an impressive roster of blue-chip companies - the CEOs of Gillette, Amgen, and Tyco offer their praise on the back cover of Executive Intelligence - and his experience shows in this thought-provoking volume. Clearly patterned after Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, the seminal book that explained a theory of multiple intelligences which might leave a person highly expert in one area but surprisingly deficient in others, Executive Intelligence provides a helpful analysis of the cognitive abilities which define strong leaders.
Menkes starts his book by breaking down the different components of executive intelligence. He argues that conventional behavioral frameworks which try to prescribe rote behaviors fail for leadership coaching, due to the need for customized solutions based on the specific circumstances of each business and leader. Instead, the best executives benefit from critical thinking, which helps them gather, process, and apply information to reach goals and navigate complex situations.
Three key areas of this executive intelligence receive significant attention through the book's 17 chapters. The first centers on tasks, and executives' ability to identify problems, devise solutions, and exercise good judgment in pursuing those solutions. The second area of intelligence is social, and revolves around executives' management of relationships with others. Intriguingly, Menkes does not view the social component of executive intelligence as "charisma", or a "good personality", per se; more important than those qualities, he argues, is the ability to see others' viewpoints, to be able to balance among competing views, and to communicate effectively. The third area of executive intelligence is more inwardly focused on leaders themselves, on their abilities to learn from their mistakes, and to adjust behavior to avoid repeating them. In each of these sections, readers will find a mix of real-world examples from the experiences of Fortune 500 leaders like Gillette's Jim Kilts or AOL's Jon Miller, and more theoretical arguments grounded in review of other management books and business-review articles.
The potential audience for Executive Intelligence is large: it includes executives and aspiring executives, of course, but also those who must coach or evaluate leaders, and scholars focused on leadership development. As an addition to the literature on leadership development, following classics like On Becoming a Leader and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, this book will find its way onto many managers' shelves.
|
View all 9 comments |
|
|
|
|
