Rules to judge leaders by

Book review of The CEO Test: Master the Challenges that Make or Break All Leaders

Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer are well-established management writers, and this book has been published by HBR Press. So the credentials of the book are gold standard. The subject being what the title states, the book recommends itself as a must-read for leaders. So go ahead and read it.

As you read the book, however, you might ask yourself, “What is so special about this advice or insight?” Welcome to the leadership literature club.  As a general rule, meaningful leadership messages appear obvious in print. Yet, many leaders miss these lessons, so such books continue being written. That is because a reader needs to absorb the lessons in a context. So, before you read it, set yourself a context.

But, first, what is the book about?

Slim at about 50,000 words, arranged into seven neat chapters, with each chapter representing a “test.” For example, can you develop a simple plan for your strategy? Can you build true teams that are true teams? Can you handle a crisis? And so on. As the authors observe in their introduction, “there is so much leadership advice in the world that it can quickly lead to paralysis by analysis of trying to remember the hundred different things you are supposed to do at any given moment.”

Leaders who lead by trying to remember the hundred different lessons will lead as successfully as golfers who recall every tip before constructing their fairway shot. Both performances will misfire, that is for sure.  Exemplary leadership is that which slows down the act, allowing you to reflect on the moment rather than recall every piece of advice heard in the past.

The CEO Test: Master the Challenges that Make or Break All Leaders 

Author: Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer 

Publisher: HBR Press

Pages: 224; Price: Rs 1,250

To help the reader make sense of this book, let me review the lessons with a specific context. The tips from last three chapters concern crisis management and listening. I read these in the context of the pandemic we are all experiencing.  Apply the leadership tests mentioned in the book to the pandemic handling in India — you will, of course, be influenced by your own opinion on the success or otherwise of the leadership.

• Uncertainty is the new certainty. Hence, a good leader must have established a simple plan, fostered a strong culture, developed a cohesive team, and ensured that the team is listening to weak signals if they are to at all tackle the unforeseen crisis.

• Show up and be human. People want to see a confident leader, but they also want to see the human side. It is crucial for leaders to show their human side.

• Capitalise on the urgency. How can the leadership team use the emergency to revamp the system that failed during the crisis?

• Embrace the ambiguity. People must believe that you are giving them accurate information, including what you know and, more importantly, what you do not know.

• Reimagine your organisation. Can your organisation be better prepared for the new normal whenever the crisis subsides? The single biggest mistake that leaders make is that they say things that go beyond what they really know.

• Listening is not about listening to the person across the table from you. People close to you will tell you anything but the hard truths. Go out and listen. It is about listening to the whole ecosystem in which you operate.

• Break the denial mode. Do not escape the hard truth that you have not handled things well enough. Stop pontificating from the corner office without a bead of sweat on your forehead.

• Do not take scrutiny as an affront to your credibility. Above all, avoid finger-pointing. You need everybody on your side if you are going to get over the crisis.

These bullets are not exact quotations from the book, but every one of what appears above is derived from what the pages of the book state. Judge our national leadership by applying these yardsticks and you arrive at your own conclusion on whether the national leadership has succeeded or failed.

By now, you have a pretty good idea of the value of the book.  It states what you most likely already know before you spent money on buying. Yet, I would assert, the book is worth buying. Don’t just skim through it, whatever the temptation.

Management comprises “hardware” which comprises explicit knowledge like legal matters, productivity, information technology, financial analysis and so on. It also comprises “software” which embraces implicit knowledge like human behaviour, listening, communications and so on. When the crunch comes, very often, leadership relies on the software, not the hardware.

As it so happens, parallel to reading this book, I read No Rules Rules by Netflix founder, Reed Hastings and “The Culture Map” by Erin Meyer — three soft, squishy books simultaneously. Maybe the soft stuff is the essence of leadership.

The reviewer is a best-selling author and corporate advisor. His latest book is titled Wisdom for startups from grownups. He was Director of Tata Sons and Vice-Chairman of Hindustan Unilever