"With good judgment, little else matters. Without it, nothing else
matters."
Whether we're talking about United States presidents, CEOs, Major League
coaches, or wartime generals, leaders are remembered for their best and
worst judgment calls. In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and
conflicting demands, the quality of a leader's judgment determines the
fate of the entire organization. That's why judgment is the essence of
leadership.
Yet despite its importance, judgment has always been a fairly murky
concept. The leadership literature has been conspicuously quiet on what,
exactly, defines it. Does judgment differ from common sense or gut
instinct? Is it a product of luck? Of smarts? Or is there a process for
making consistently good calls?
Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis have each spent decades studying and
teaching leadership and advising top CEOs such as Jack Welch and Howard
Schultz. Now, in their first collaboration, they offer a powerful
framework for making tough calls when the stakes are high and the right
path is far from obvious. They show how to recognize the critical moment
before a judgment call, when swift and decisive action is essential, and
also how to execute a decision after the call.
Tichy and Bennis bring their three-dimensional model to life with
interviews with world-class leaders who have thrived or suffered because
of their judgment calls. These stories include:
- Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, whose judgment to grow through
research and development transformed GE into the world's premier
technology growth company.
- Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education,
who made tough calls about teachers, students, and parents while
turning around a troubled school system.
- Jim McNerney, CEO of Boeing, whose strategic judgment helped him
reinvigorate his company and restore a culture of trust and respect.
- The late general Wayne Downing, who found an unexpected opportunity in
the midst of crisis when he led the Special Operations raid to capture
Manuel Noriega.
- A. G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, who bet $57 billion to purchase
Gillette and reinvent his company.
- Brad Anderson, CEO of Best Buy, who made the call to commit totally to
a customer-centric strategy and led his people to execute it.
Whether you're running a small department or a global corporation,
Judgment will give you a framework for evaluating any situation, making
the call, and correcting if necessary during the execution phase. It
will show you how to handle the overlapping domains of people, strategy,
and crisis management. And it will help you teach your entire team to
make the right call more often.
No organization can afford to neglect this crucial discipline--and no
previous book has ever brought it into such clear focus.
