Confessions of a Management Consultant turned CEO

Confessions of a Management Consultant turned CEO is like a stroll through a gallery of fine art. The impact builds gradually but inexorably. At first you will be aware of a message that is easy, friendly, and almost obvious. By the time you have finished reading, however, you know that something significant has occurred in your mind and you don't know quite how it happened.

• Foreword by Peter Scholes
• Notes to Readers
• Chapter 1: The Leadership Balance
• Chapter 2: Quality Starts in the Boardroom
• Chapter 3: On Being a CEO … Creating and Sustaining the Vision
• Chapter 4: On Being a CEO … Meeting and Exceeding Expectations
• Chapter 5: On Being a CEO … Wet with Sweat: The Hands-On Manager
• Chapter 6: Don't Think They Don't Know
• Chapter 7: It's Okay to Make a Mistake
• Chapter 8: Understanding One's Process
• Chapter 9: No Stabilization, No Continual Improvement
• Chapter 10: Going Back Upstream
• Chapter 11: Working ON the System versus Working IN the System
• Chapter 12: Budgets as a Positive
• Chapter 13: Performance Discussions without Ratings or Rankings
• Chapter 14: What Training Can Do
• Chapter 15: Teams that Click
• Chapter 16: The Integration of New and Temporary Employees
• Chapter 17: The Trauma of "Firing"
• Chapter 18: Giving and Taking Chances
• Chapter 19: The Example of Eva
• Chapter 20: Joy in My Work
• Epilogue
• Appendix: Dr. Deming's Fourteen Points

When I started reading this book, I assumed it was just another CEO who wanted to be remembered. I was surprised that it was an extremely easy read, and that it could be read streaight-off or by jumping around. But at the start I wasn't very impressed. But after a while, I started to respect the narrator (even if I didn't always agree with her), and in the end, I have to say that this is a remarkable book, as it manages to get you thinking, without you even noticing (and I am a stone-hard cynic, as you all know).

It is well worth the read, and I would even recommend it to new senior managers, as it raises the right questions.