Lessons on Leadership

Jack Stahl worked for The Coca-Cola Company for 22 years, some of them as president. He was CEO of Revlon for five years. When it comes to leading businesses, he knows his stuff. In his book, he discusses mastering “seven frameworks” of executive leadership. He builds a strong case that corporate leaders need these “core skills.” Unfortunately, some of his prescriptions come across as elementary overviews, not concrete lessons. For example, to illustrate the need for clear corporate goals, he explains that he and his executive team set Revlon’s corporate goal as: “delivering the promise of beauty” to “consumers, customers, employees and shareowners.” Stahl says that, to shareholders, the promise of beauty meant “profitability” and “value.” The rhetoric is appealing, but it’s not very innovative: Readers know that all shareholders want to be part of a profitable business. However, getAbstract finds that the majority of the book is useful and on target. It is well-organized and carefully outlined. It solidly covers leadership basics and includes numerous useful examples. As a savvy, seasoned corporate leader, Stahl has a lot to teach. And he teaches much – but probably not all – of it in these pages.