From Publishers Weekly
"By its very nature, a manager’s job leaves little room for reflection," Bruch and Ghoshal contend, "and as a result managers tend to ignore or postpone dealing with the organization’s most crucial issues." How can managers overcome this problem and learn to take "purposeful action" rather than drowning in the day-to-day deluge of email, phone calls and meetings? That’s the question the authors answer in this practical and motivating, if somewhat academic, self-help business book. Focusing on the productive minority, Bruch, a professor of leadership at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), and Ghoshal, a professor of strategic and international management at London Business School, conducted a 10-year study to learn how effective managers overcome the "traps" of overwhelming demands, unbearable constraints and unexplored choices. Their findings were numerous, but above all, they highlight the importance of willpower: productive managers want to produce, and they make an internal, emotional investment toward getting the job done. Along with a plethora of case studies and charts, the authors provide a six-step program for helping managers imbed such will and commitment within themselves. Just as importantly, they provide guidance on how organizations can rearrange themselves to accommodate and foster such willful leaders, since "to exercise their willpower, managers must first have sufficient freedom to act." An excellent choice for managers struggling with days of "mindless busyness," this book teaches its readers how to identify their goals and reach them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Boston Globe, May 23rd, 2004
"A Bias for Action" is certain to attract attention and spark debate in the management field.
