GREAT BY CHOICE Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck: Why Some Thrive Despite Them All

Initially, some listeners will wish for a professional narrator in place of the author. Between the vocal drama and biting enunciation, his intensity competes at first with the substance of his book. But soon listeners will conclude that his enthusiasm is genuine—and a perfect vehicle for the riveting findings of this research. The authors compared extraordinarily successful companies to those that were mediocre or worse in the same industries, business climates, and time frames. Exhaustive comparative analyses revealed that leaders of high-performing companies were not more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, lucky, or likely to make bold and risky decisions. Fueled by more passion for noble ideals, these leaders were more fanatically disciplined, creatively empirical, and productively wary of survival issues. Read with appealing verve, this is an energizing lesson for leaders in all realms of life. T.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2011]