| | |  | Guy Kawasaki | Home » » The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials) | | | | | | | Description: | | What makes an effective executive?
The measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results. Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: - Managing time
- Choosing what to contribute to the organization
- Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect
- Setting the right priorities
- Knitting all of them together with effective decision-making
Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9780060833459
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Peter F. Drucker | | Paperback:
| 208 pages | | Publisher:
| Harper Paperbacks | | Publication Date:
| January 01, 2006 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0060833459 | | Package Length:
| 7.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.6 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.35 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 64 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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Setting the Right PrioritiesNov 06, 2009
The key to being effective in any endeavor is to focus on the essential elements in the task at hand, while discarding the clutter. This is the essence of what Peter Drucker has written about in this wonderful management guide. Not surprisingly, the strategies Drucker proposes closely allign with Richard Koch's The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less. Drucker didn't categorically state that 80% of our success comes from 20% of our efforts, but that's really the gist of it.
Drucker's focus on time management is based in a solid 80/20 principle philosophy; his advice is sound. If you're trying increase your "executive effectiveness" (and who isn't?), this is a great place to start. The genius of Peter Drucker will certainly help anyone perform their jobs better; and enhance their lives in the process.
Transcends the "Business Book" GenreJun 29, 2009
Drucker defines "Executive" widely -- an executive is basically anyone who makes decisions regarding how to spend one's time in order to further the goals of the organization. By this definition anyone can benefit from reading Drucker's musings: Project Coordinators, low and mid level managers, VPs and CEOs. Drucker's explanation of the difference between manufacturing workers and "knowledge" workers is illuminating. Essentially, anyone not "on the clock" has to manage him/herself, and therein lies the challenge. This book is both a business book and a self-help manual in one, and is the best I've read in either genre.
Sticking to the fundamentalsJun 01, 2009
I read this as an MBA student and it helped a lot throughout my formative years in the business world. Reading it now (12 years later) as the owner of my own business makes me appreciate this classic even more. It's a great book to have at your side to make the most of the most valuable resource: time. As in Drucker's on Innovations and Entrepreneurship, its fundamental lessons are solid foundations to build a career/business on. Read it, learn it, live it and you will get more out of life.
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Still relevant after 40 years - Effectiveness is habitMay 02, 2009
I have taught this book in a dozen university courses. It remains a classic for understanding effectiveness in organizations and specifically "how to manage oneself".
Even after 40 years, the book remains relevant. Most of my students, predominantly in their 20s, feel that the book is relevant for today. The examples are a bit dated and the use of the male pronoun throughout is awkward. Nonetheless those minor flaws are far outweighed with systematic writing and practical insight.
For Drucker, effectiveness is habit, a set of practices that can (and must) be learned. It is neither a skill, nor is it knowledge. Instead it is a set of simple practices which simply must be engaged in regularly. Drucker frees us from the idea that effective people are born, have a talent or temperament for effectiveness.
Effectiveness is "getting the right things done". This is very different from efficiency, which is merely "doing things right". Effectiveness is the key to the growth of the entrepreneurial economy.
The five habits of effectiveness are: 1) knowing where your time goes, 2) focus on outward contribution, 3) build on strengths, 4) concentrate on a few areas that produce outstanding results, and 5) make effective decisions.
Drucker walks through these habits in a highly engaging writing style. He explains and illustrates the habits and provides practical information based on his experience with dozens of executives over decades.
While many of Drucker's books are excellent, this is possibly the one that is most widely applicable for anyone who seeks to become more effective and to manage themselves for effectiveness.
Handy guide to becoming a top executiveApr 20, 2009
As an author and an intellectual, the late Peter F. Drucker was a true business sage. Recognized as the father of modern management, Drucker forecast numerous pivotal trends, including decentralization, privatization and the development of the information society. He introduced the concept of the "knowledge worker," a term he employs widely in this fascinating book. His internal study of General Motors, Concept of the Corporation, greatly influenced how businesses conduct their affairs. Each Drucker book is a genuine business classic, including this one. getAbstract believes it will help you think productively about what you do. No one writes more intelligently or presciently on management and its functions than Drucker. All executives, even those who are already effective, will benefit from reading this informative, enlightening book.
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