Lessons From the Top.

• Author: Lapides, Paul D.
• Position: Review

Lessons From the Top by Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin Published by Doubleday, New York, 414 pages, $24.95

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE to have breakfast with Sandy Weill, just the two of you, and listen to him share the three principles that have guided him for the past 40 years? How about lunch with Jack Welch? Or, would you rather just meet with Steve Case, Carol Bartz or Charles Schwab for a cup of coffee? If you would like to spend some time with these captains of industry or dozens of others -- 50 in total -- reading this book will make you feel like you're doing just that.

Lessons from the Top: The Search for America's Best Business Leaders successfully addresses the following questions: What makes someone a great business leader? What does it take to lead an organization successfully in today's competitive and fast-moving global economy? The authors address these and similar questions by conducting extensive interviews of each of the individuals profiled.

Thomas Neff and James Citrin both work at Spencer Stuart, one of the nation's leading executive search firms. Neff is the firm's U.S. chairman and Citrin is managing director of its Global Communications & Media Practice. Honed over years of experience in the search business, their excellent communication skills come through in the quality of the material included in the profiles and in their ability to make you feel like you are with them as they conduct each of the interviews.

Neff and Citrin interact with senior executives on a daily basis. The information included in the profiles is part of their normal search process, but for most of us, the opportunity to join them as they conduct their work is a real treat. In fact, for less than the cost of a power breakfast, you will feel like 50 of America's best business leaders have decided to take an interest in your personal success, sharing with you some of the important lessons they have learned.

One of the assignments I require of entrepreneurship students is a profile of an entrepreneur or intrepreneur by interviewing him or her and by researching the relevant literature on the person, their career, and their company or companies. The students are asked to identify the three to five lessons that they can learn from this person and the three to five critical success factors that make their company successful. Over the course of a semester, the students learn that certain patterns emerge. Sharing their interview and listening to the other...