Sources and Notes


Overview

As noted in the first part of the book (as well as in the acknowledgments), much of the information for this book came from the CEOs who participated in the preparation of this book. Michael Dell, Herb Kelleher, Lou Gerstner, and David Glass provided invaluable insights that made this a better work. Michael Dell and David Glass were interviewed by phone (a court stenographer was on hand to "record" the interview so that I could focus on the respondents' answers.) Herb Kelleher and Lou Gerstner decided that they could best answer the questions in writing, which indeed did produce most helpful descriptions and analysis of their leadership methods. For the purposes of this section, the date of the "interview" refers to the date that I received their written responses.

In addition to other interviews, more than 250 books, articles, speeches, reports, stock charts, annual reports, and so on were culled and played an important role in the preparation of this book. While the sources of the individual quotes and anecdotes follow, I would like to cite the works that proved most important in providing rich context, historical facts, and insights into the minds and strategies of several of the leaders in the book.

Sam Walton's Made in America (New York: Doubleday, 1992) was particularly helpful in the writing of this work, since it contains the most complete description of how Sam Walton built Wal-Mart. As the only book written by Walton, it was invaluable in creating a chapter that captured the essence of his business philosophies and vision, and in giving a voice to an exceptional individual who died more than a decade before the publication of this work.

Andy Grove's Only the Paranoid Survive (New York: Currency/Doubleday, 1996) was also an important work that aided in the preparation of this book. While Grove has spoken and written on the subject of strategic inflection points many times throughout the years, this book comprises the most exhaustive knowledge on the subject, straight from Grove himself. It was particularly useful in helping to explain the nuances of strategic inflection points, such as how an organization can help to insulate itself from their threat.

Direct from Dell, by Michael Dell, was a valuable supplement to the lengthy interview that Michael Dell granted this author in early 2002. A concise and candid work, it provided an in-depth discussion of the direct model, and also provided some interesting background material on Dell's life. For example, Dell's explanation of the failure of the product code-named Olympic was gleaned from this leadership memoir.

Other books that proved particularly helpful was Nuts, by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg (Bard Press, 1996) which described Herb Kelleher's rich journey at Southwest. Peter Drucker's books are uniformly excellent, and his 1992 publication, Managing for the Future (Truman Talley/Dutton Books), was no exception. Robert Slater's books on Jack Welch, from The New GE (McGraw-Hill, 1992), to Jack Welch and the GE Way (McGraw-Hill, 1998), were also instrumental in helping me to advance my own Welch body of knowledge (in the interest of complete disclosure, I edited those works).




What the Best CEOs Know[c] 7 Exceptional Leaders and Their Lessons for Transforming Any Business
What the Best CEOs Know[c] 7 Exceptional Leaders and Their Lessons for Transforming Any Business
ISBN: 007146252X
EAN: N/A
Year: 2002
Pages: 109

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