Book Review of CEO Tools

CEO Tools: the Nuts-n-Bolts of Business for Every Manager’s Success
Author: Kraig Kramers,
Publisher: Gandy Dancer Press, 2002

In CEO Tools: the Nuts-n-Bolts of Business for Every Manager's Success, Kraig Kramers, a veteran CEO, lays out the tools he used to make his various organizations rise to success. The book includes financial, communication and organizational models. These tools are neatly introduced in “How to” form and can be equally useful for managers, executives and CEOs alike. The book also comes with a CD containing many of the models discussed in the book in useable formats.
If you are number-phobic this book will challenge you (but that ain’t so bad, is it?). But, the book is much more than numbers. The tools can be though of as a heart rate monitor for your company.  On top of the tools, the acronyms are titillating. My favorites are 12MMA, CoCal, T12M and MST. YES! You will have to read the book to get the scoop on these gems.

I wish I had read this book ten years ago. This book should be bundled with “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. The combination of these books should be mandatory reading for every CEO and those that aspire to be the Big Kahuna.

Have you read this book? Let us know what you think.  Please comment below

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Bruce Hodes Book Review: The Strategist

The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs
By Cynthia Montgomery

Typically I do not like what I call “MBA” books. These are business tomes written by professors. They are theoretical and hardly relate to the business world. Typically the case studies are complicated and irrelevant. The Strategist is different. Though written by Cynthia Montgomery, a Harvard professor, the author’s writing style is straight forward, almost conversational. 

A good business book is one which takes a simple idea, spices it up with interesting case studies and then challenges the reader to take on worthwhile and challenging work. This is exactly what the Strategist does. In a thought provoking yet easy to follow manner the author gets the reader to look at the purpose of their organization. She challenges you the reader to think through what really makes up the secret sauce of your organization. The case studies are well-crafted and focused, except for the one on Apple. After putting forth the compelling arguments for crafting an organizations purpose, the book goes on to outline how to create a strategy wheel. The simple presentation along with the focus on implementation and taking action are powerful facets of this book. 

I highly recommend this book to CEOs and executives who are interested in growing their companies and also engaging others in that journey.