The Edge: How Ten CEOs Learned to Lead - And the Lessons for Us All by Michael Useem

HOW TEN CEOS LEARNED TO LEAD – AND THE LESSONS FOR US ALL

Insight and tools crucial for moving forward in a world turned upside-down.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ten vivid you-are-there accounts of chief executive officers who are reinventing leadership, providing insight and tools crucial for moving forward in a world turned upside-down.

The tumultuous changes in the marketplace, the impatience of a new generation, the specter of inequality, and, most recently, the simultaneous challenges of a pandemic, economic collapse, and racial crisis all cry out for new thinking to confront a radically changed world.

Michael Useem has integrated himself into the life and work of CEOs of major companies including Bill McNabb of Vanguard, Jeffrey Lurie of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Tricia Griffith of Progressive and chronicles their “moments of truth,” those turning points when chief executives confronted the hard realities of a new, harsher world and faced the fact that what they were doing was no longer working. He explores how they approached fateful decisions on management, retention, hiring, and the bottom line, and provides unprecedented insight into how company leaders reached their most critical decisions.

Useem provides a new roadmap for how to reach decisions in any organization as we face the decade ahead in which massive disruptions are likely to emerge yet again and how to lead when an executive needs to be a 24/7 communicator, crisis leader, and an emphatic voice inside and outside the organization, dealing with employees, customers, officials, non-profits, governing boards, Wall Street, the media, and investors.

PRAISE

Michael Useem stands as one of our seminal leadership observers. Generations of students and executives have been shaped into better leaders through his teaching. He is one of those rare professors who blends academic rigor with practical guidance and who has a gift for… Read More

Jim Collins

Author of Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall, and Turning the Flywheel

Michael Useem stands as one of our seminal leadership observers. Generations of students and executives have been shaped into better leaders through his teaching. He is one of those rare professors who blends academic rigor with practical guidance and who has a gift for bringing ideas to life with vivid analogies from history and adventure. His accumulated years of perspective make him one of the wise men among us.

Jim Collins

Author of Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall, and Turning the Flywheel

Developing the skills required to grapple with ever escalating demands—whilst simultaneously doubling down on the traditional but still crucial skills of strategic vision and operational excellence—requires going to the very edge of modern practice. In this engaging and eminently practical book… Read More

Rebecca M. Henderson

University professor, Harvard Business School, and author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

Developing the skills required to grapple with ever escalating demands—whilst simultaneously doubling down on the traditional but still crucial skills of strategic vision and operational excellence—requires going to the very edge of modern practice. In this engaging and eminently practical book, Mike Useem takes us into the intimate stories of an extraordinarily diverse group of business leaders. Moving beyond platitudes and easy generalization, The Edge shows us what post pandemic leadership looks like on the ground for leaders everywhere.

Rebecca M. Henderson

University professor, Harvard Business School, and author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

Michael Useem extracts an array of compelling lessons from the tangible experiences of ten executives who learned to lead in a new era without letting go of what had worked for them before. The Edge provides the roadmap for drawing on the past while mastering the future.

Ram Charan

Author of Execution and Rethinking Competitive Advantage

Wharton’s Michael Useem draws on the close-in experience of ten CEOs to help us all understand not only what is still true for leading an enterprise but also what is new as customer markets and security measures transform around us. The Edge offers the essential guide for leading in an ever-changing… Read More

Rob Katz

CEO, Vail Resorts, Inc.

Wharton’s Michael Useem draws on the close-in experience of ten CEOs to help us all understand not only what is still true for leading an enterprise but also what is new as customer markets and security measures transform around us. The Edge offers the essential guide for leading in an ever-changing and more uncertain world.

Rob Katz

CEO, Vail Resorts, Inc.

In a vivid look at how CEOs have led their enterprises through thick and thin, The Edge presents actionable guidance on how to lead with both enduring principles and emerging precepts, including a learning tour, a flywheel for growth, and a partner at the top. For becoming a complete leader… Read More

Indra Nooyi

former chair and chief executive of PepsiCo, Inc., and director of Amazon and the International Cricket Council

In a vivid look at how CEOs have led their enterprises through thick and thin, The Edge presents actionable guidance on how to lead with both enduring principles and emerging precepts, including a learning tour, a flywheel for growth, and a partner at the top. For becoming a complete leader in the years ahead, this is the book to absorb.

Indra Nooyi

former chair and chief executive of PepsiCo, Inc., and director of Amazon and the International Cricket Council

MEET THE AUTHOR

Michael Useem is William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management, faculty director of the Leadership Center and the McNulty Leadership Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is co-anchor for a weekly program “Leadership in Action” on SiriusXM Radio Channel 132 and co-director of the annual CEO Academy. He lives in Pennsylvania.