Hit the Ground Running: A Manual for New Leaders

by Jason Jennings

Book Overview

One of the toughest jobs in business is taking over as a new leader. It requires hitting the ground running - diagnosing the situation, pulling together a strong team, deciding on a strategy and inspiring everyone to execute it. Jason Jennings and his research team have searched for new CEOs who have pulled off the most impressive transformations of this decade - resulting in 10 new golden rules that can help leaders balance the short term and the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591842476
• ISBN13: 9781591842477
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Portfolio
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Timely reminder of lessons I should have remembered

Reading Jason's book is like being beaten over the head with lessons from the past that have been tragically forgotten! I found myself almost compelled to read the book under a blanket with torchlight so that my guilt in trying run a company in the conventionally accepted manner didn't show. It could easily have been titled "Wake up moron - here is where you are screwing up" Jason continues his style of story telling to make his point. Hit the Ground Running is happily devoid of theoretical intstruction or personal opnion and instead uses real life (and timely) examples of CEO's who have succeeded beyond market expectation. Interestingly, they all seem to have very similar traits and attitudes. To find out what these are I suggest you buy the book.

A well written and insightful peak under the covers of the leaders who shape today's business world

Jason has done it again! This book is a must read for today's leaders. The stakes have never been higher for leaders to make the right decisions at the right times. Success leaves clues and Jason has done the business world a great service by assembling the most powerful clues into a single resource that any leader; no matter their rank in a company; can use to better themselves, better their employees, and better their companies. I'm so impressed with this book, that I've already purchased additional copies to give to friends in leadership roles. This book belongs in every leaders referrence library.

An Amazing Guide

This is an inspiring, and informative book. After applying the principals in this book, and taking the advice from the men reviewed I have seen a change in my momentum!

Something to Believe In

Hit the Ground Running: A Manual for New Leaders In these times, when so many corporate wrong-doings are exposed, it is hard to hear about CEO's and their success without a healthy dose of cynicism. At the same time it kills me when I meet a young person who thinks you've got bend the rules and cheat the system to get ahead. If you are one who still believes in doing the right thing, no matter what, Jennings book will provide the hard evidence you need to support your case. With his accomplished research team (author Laurence Haughton and others) Jennings introduces you to the key drivers of success. You'll be surprised, you'll be inspired and your belief in the good in others will be reaffirmed. Buy it, read it and share it.

Jennings' most important as well as his most entertaining book thus far

I have read and reviewed Jason Jennings' three previously published books and consider his latest, Hit the Ground Running, to be his most informative and most entertaining, indeed his most valuable book thus far. The narrative is driven by rigorous and extensive research conducted by Jennings and his associates. Through a process of elimination best explained in the book, he selected nine exemplar companies and their CEOs and explains how each of the nine combinations (i.e. company and its CEO) demonstrates an especially important "Rule." Jennings devotes a separate chapter to each of the ten, the last being "Be a Fish Out of Water." His focus is primarily on the nine CEOs and suggests that the best way to measure the performance of a CEO and compare one anther to each other is to calculate the total amount of economic value they created. "We defined economic value as the sum of the profits generated, dividends paid, increases in sales and profits, and the increase in the company's share price during the CEO's tenure." After all of the nine CEOs who took over companies because of death, retirement, resignation, or the poor performance of their predecessor, they hit the ground running and "almost doubled revenues, more than tripled earnings per share, nearly tripled EBITDA, and doubled their company's net profit margins." How did they accomplish these exceptional results? Jennings provides the answer in this book. In Jennings' previous books, his focus is primarily on companies that, after rigorous and extensive research (including on-site visits and interviews with C-level executives), survived a series of cuts. For example, prior to writing Less Is More, Jennings and his research associates examined thousands of companies, selected eighty for further study, and finally identified eight great companies that use productivity as a competitive tool in business. And then prior to writing Thing Big Act Small, Jennings and his associates conducted research on 110 companies, eventually reduced the number to 17 "finalists," and then selected the nine publicly traded companies that were the "best performers" in that then increased revenues and profits by 10% or more each year for ten years or more. As previously indicated, the focus in this book is primarily on the first-year performance of nine CEOs: Patrick Hassey (Allegheny Technologies), Marshall Larsen (Goodrich Corporation), Frederick Eppinger (The Hanover Group), Howard Lance (Harris Corporation), Jeffrey Lorberbaum (Mohawk Industries), Ronald Sargent (Staples), Keith Rattie (Questar), Mike McCallister (Humana Inc.), and finally, Tim and Richard Smucker (The J.M. Smucker Company). After lengthy interviews, Jennings notes an obvious connection between and among them, one overpowering characteristic that all the CEOs shared: "They told the truth. None of them deceived themselves about anything, nor did they surround themselves with executives who did; they all practice the Golden Rule; and as a res