Author
William N. Thorndike Jr.
Genre
Strategy
Last Read
June 10, 2021
Cover
Stars
★★★☆☆
The best book I’ve read on successful managers. Investors should read this one so they don’t get shiny CEO syndrome and start to idolize certain more-promotional CEOs vs others that are more focused on maximizing shareholder (+ stakeholder) value and allocating capital effectively.
Key Takeaways
Essentially, what to look out for in successful managers.
- Humility: humble, understated and distinctly “un-promotional”
- Analytical: highly familiar with their companies and really knew they key drivers very deeply
- Cash flow focused: Understood key to long term value creation was optimizing cash flow
- Trust: Most ran de centralized organizations to allow trusted managers to respond quickly
- Flexible: At times focused on acquisitions, at times focused on divestitures. Adapted to market without being stuck in ideology. Not afraid to shrink their business.
- Capital deployment: Bought back stock, particularly when cheap
Highlights or Notes
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