TEAMS AT THE TOP: Unleashing the Potential of Both Teams and Individual Leaders (Jon Katzenbach)

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It is common knowledge that CEOs declare their direct reports as a team at the top. Yet with a culture of individual accountability and self-reliance pervading executive suites, few management groups ever function as real teams. Now, in a natural follow-up to his bestselling "The Wisdom of Teams", Jon Katzenbach offers practical guidelines for increasing leadership capacity at the highest executive levels. He shows how even the strongest and most successful CEO can improve a company's performance by turning the senior executive group into a real team - without sacrificing each member's individual leadership capabilities. "Teams at the Top" explains how to recognize when a team effort at the management level is preferable and when a work group under single leadership will do. Then, the book shows how to develop the capability to shift into whichever mode is appropriate. With stories and examples from well-known companies including Avon, Ben & Jerry's, Citicorp, and Clorox, "Teams at the Top" will help companies of all sizes and in all industries maximize the full potential of their leadership.

Contents: Preface - the spirit of Haida Gwaii. introduction - achieving more team performance at the top; burns and the buffalo; why "nonteams" prevail at the top; how "major events" spawn teams; two disciplines that conflict; collective action opportunities; making key trade-offs consciously; multiple roles for the CEO; for "teams that run things" at any level; the context is critical.

PUBLICATION DATE: Dec 2007