Random House Books for Young Readers Know-How: The 8 Skills that Separate People who Perform From Those Who Don't Charan, Ram Paperback – Import, 7 February 2008

Must read if you want to sit with CEOs

Ram Charan nails what makes a high calibre executive if you follow his coaching secrets based not on the easy seduction of the right connections, sound bites and a cultivated image. Along with fast thinking ability, articulacy and academic credentials these preferred traits often make up the cultural profile that so often dazzles at selection interviews (and presidential campaigns). But does perceived smartness and political stagecraft deliver?I am reminded at this point of Kahneman's groundbreaking Thinking Fast and Slow which proves in favour of the power and accuracy of long term crystalised knowledge referenced by someone's experience over the lure of their plausibility. I think Charan's emphasis on the 8 key know-hows also mirror the benefits of slow thinking supported by personal traits (confidence, ambition, openness, drive etc). After all newly qualified graduate Engineers don't usually unravel the company's accounts with a fundamental grasp of cash flow, revenue and margin learnt in their father's shoe shop; this is what Charan did - all be it after 10,000 hours of childhood experience.There are many fine observations of CEOs in testing situations described in a fair amount of detail with Charan acting as the coach, the guru and confident - valuable learning lessons from the managers own problems (cf. Henry Mintzberg's advocacy of action learning). But most of the potential repository of material is at a high level of large scale corporate organisation depicting the deliberate strategies of top-down management which a select few will ever experience.For all its highly connected praise essentially amounting to a 21st century Effective Executive (Drucker) the "know-hows" appear to approximate Belbin's team roles theory of people, thinking and action corresponding to the Executive's Trinity (Bungay) of leadership, directorship and management. What Charan highlights as "the 8 skills that separate those who perform from those who don't" can be broken down into the functions of a well-performing team:For example, the Plant (thinking) generates ideas and solves problems = Know-how 1 - a valuable skill in positioning and pivoting a company; The Monitor Evaluator (thinking) sees all options and judges accurately = Know-how 6 - setting goals and allocating resources in deciding what the business can achieve; The Specialist (thinking) is passionate about learning in their particular field = Know-how 8 - external parties are often brought in to advise and guide with outside knowledge beyond the usual understanding and controls of the company; The Shaper (action) challenges people with lots of drive = Know-how 5 - leading the management team with consistent communication; The Implementer (action) turns ideas into actions = Know-how 7 - setting priorities with disciplined follow through to meet goals; The Coordinator (people) delegates and judges talent = Know-how 4 - matching someone's natural talents and tendencies to the right jobs; Team Workers (people) unify interactions in the team = Know-how 3 - maintaining the social system's operating mechanisms; The Resource Investigator (people) explores opportunities, makes contacts, networks = Know-how 2 - detecting patterns and pinpointing change in the shifting landscape.Making the Belbin comparison unlocked the realisation that the 8 know-hows can be constituted in many ways, and not necessarily held by any one individual as the strength of an organisation lies in its diversity of overlapping skill sets. However, ask Jeb Bush and Steve Jobs for different reasons if know-hows alone are the key to success - thinking slow appears to still make little odds in a celebrity-obsessed world if not combined with a winning personality and the requisite flair for political vaudeville!

excellent read and very good value add. Helps to focus self on right journey and right equipment. Worth reading..all the best

The book starts out by discussing a frustrating topic "the appearance of leadership." Unfortunately certain traits can lead people to assume someone would make a good (effective) CEO, but these can often be deceptive. A CEO that delivers results over a sustained period will be one who has "know-how". The author describes that as the following eight characteristics:1. The ability to position and reposition the company to be on the right ends of trends to make money.2. The ability to pinpoint external changes and their effects on the company and its markets3. The ability to lead and shape the organizations "social system" or culture4. The ability to judge people well and determine if and where they fit best5. The ability to mold teams - to get strong individuals to work well as a team6. The ability to set goals - specifically the proper goals to ensure success7. The ability to set priorities - not just the right ones, but also sticking with and reinforcing them8. The ability to deal with forces beyond the marketThe author dedicates a chapter to explore each of these in depth. Most of these were clear and actionable. The only exception was the last one, which I think could have been handled better. The author describes the necessity to "work with" special interest groups, but then admits one can get caught in the crossfire between them (he mentions Ford getting between gay rights and religious fundamentalists). I would have liked to have seen it suggested for businesses to steer clear of endorsing/promoting special interests and clearly communicate that, as the proper course. With the recent commotion for corporations to be "socially responsible", companies need to stand up and say it is WRONG to take money from customers, employees, and/or shareholders (the only sources of fund for companies) and patronize selected causes. There is no way for a company to give to any cause, and please everyone, so individuals should get/keep their money and do with it as each pleases.Overall, this is a great book for people who want to be, or even judge, a CEO. This book really should be required reading for anyone who sits on a board of directors.

Nice packaging. Nice book. Worth reading