Social Power and the CEO

The power of top management is pervasive and profound. It affects the quality of economic life, but also our personal and social lives. Equally strong is its impact on the sustainability of a free enterprise system. Psychoanalyst, teacher, and management consultant, Elliott Jaques argues that great as this power is, it is being squandered, not because of what managers do but because of what they don't know. Serious misconceptions about managerial leadership—and equally serious misunderstandings of people—abound. Jaques argues that the problems inherent in the way management is practiced are attributable to gravely dysfunctional systems of managerial leadership, systems that have evolved over the years and are now, despite their ineffectualities, taken for granted. He shows how the CEO class will determine the future of free enterprise democracy, but how massive misconceptions about human behavior have undermined its capability for leadership. It's the managerial leadership systems that need changing, he maintains, not the people who implement them. The result of more than a half century of thought, observation, analysis and experimentation, Jaques' book offers a totally new and creative system of managerial leadership and a unique system of managerial organization. In doing so, it becomes essential reading for academics, students, consultants, top management, and executives on the way up throughout the public and private sectors. Jaques argues that the problem of achieving effective and sustainable managerial organizations does not lie in poor decision making, interpersonal stress, lack of innovation, greedy self-interest, and other ills and defects, although they certainly play a part. The art of management, somewhat like alchemy, is not securely grounded in science. This is its most severe weakness, and the reason why organizations have always been badly managed. He cites examples to show that management tends to blame its shortcomings and inefficiencies on other people, yet there is no research to prove that the source of managerial failure is really to be found there. People strive to do their best, he has found, but they are stymied by poor organization and systems that pitch people into conflict with each other. Jaques looks at these systems closely, particularly our current systems of compensation, and itemizes his findings, showing how the the same problems are to be found throughout industry, public service, health and services organizations, and less surprisingly perhaps, the military. He then lays out the ways in which a new system of managing operations and organizations could work, shows that it is already working in certain selected places, and provides convincing evidence that his assertions and recommendations have much to offer, as we continue to search for better, more efficient, and more productive, profitable organizations.

1. Introduction: Creating the High Mutual-Trust Organization
2. The New and Powerful CEO Class
3. Why People Work
4. Manager-Subordinate Accountability
5. The Four Managerial Authorities
6. The Nature of Time and the Measurement of Size of People and Size of Roles
7. In Praise of Hierarchy
8. The Cross-Functional Morass
9. Getting the Right Person for the Right Role
10. The Appraisal of People Effectiveness and Merit Recognition
11. Strategic Planning and Alignment
12. The Demystification of Compensation
13. Managerial Leadership
14. CEOs of Public Service Organizations
15. The Light at the End of the Tunnel
16. Some Practical Examples of Organizational Development
17. Some Results in One Company
18. Managerial Leadership and the Great Free Enterprise Democracy

• Glossary of Key Concepts

You'll learn more from reading 10 pages of this book than you get from most other management books.

I bow my head in awe, this is a truly awesome book. After just 4-6 pages, you'll start thinking hard about important issues and it gets better. Dr. Jaques talks about how to define accountability, handle compensation issues, the real working agreement, getting better profitability, defining roles, hiring the best suited persons, the role of CEOs in society and more, in just under 200 pages!

If you read ONE management book, this has to be on your shortlist. Recommended readings to all practicing managers and any MBA students. Heck, I will even recommend it to politicians, entrepreneurs and union representatives, as they all would profit from reading it.

My fervent wish now, is that HR people would read it, as their ignorance of Dr. Jaques could explain why they so often seem less than competent.

In short, you'll never regret reading it.