The Amazon Showroom
Losing My Virginity
by Richard Branson
Paperback
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Amazon rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis:
Richard Branson's life is an adventure - from terrifying balloon flights, record-breaking Atlantic crossings and courtroom battles with British Airways to the daring Gulf War airlift from Baghdad and the sale of the world-famous Virgin Records. Filled with anecdotes about rock stars, politicians, friends and foes, Losing My Virginity offers fascinating insights into the inner workings of Virgin and the man whose ethos of family, work and living on the edge has always kept the company in the news.
Review:
The way Branson invented Virgin and then re-invented the products and the image is an inspiration to us all, entrepreneurs or not. If you're not in business, you'll want to be after reading these 500 pages which whistle by as fast as a Virgin Atlantic jumbo. He's honest to a fault and that makes the book all the more readable - I never want to fly BA again! The tales of adventure on sea and by balloon are fascinating insights into how close Branson came to death - in fact you could say he's had a charmed life which inspired me to make my next 40 years as worthwhile and fulfilling as his first 40. Sorry to gush, but it's a top read whatever age.
Jack Welch & the GE Way : Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO
by Robert Slater
Hardback
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Amazon rating: 3 out of 5
Synopsis:
This text provides an in-depth look at the management and insights of the CEO of G.E., Jack Welch. It features over 30 of his leadership secrets and advises readers on the challenges that may face corporate America as it heads into the 21st century.
Review:
This book lays bare Jack Welch's recipe for success. I was amazed at how every principle despised by Welch is so typical of British management today. Every business manager should read this book. The only downside? The author can see no wrong with Welch, something the man himself would disagree with.
I'd Like The World to Buy a Coke : The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta
by David Greising
Paperback
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Amazon rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis:
This biography profiles the late Roberto Goizueta, former Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola. An immigrant who spent his entire career with a US icon, Goizueta fled his native Cuba in 1960 with only $20 in his pocket and 100 Coke shares in a New York bank (worth $2 million today). By the time of his death in 1997, the Coca-Cola Chairman was worth $1 billion and had transformed Coke from a doddering giant into one of the world's most successful and admired companies. Under his leadership, Coke's stock price jumped 3,500%, the company tripled in size, and it controlled nearly half of the world's soft drinks market. This book charts Goizueta's career from his first job managing Coke's Cuban production plant, through his appointment as CEO in 1981, and up to his death while still Chairman at the age of just 65. It also examines his inimitable management style, variously described as "charismatic" and "The Spanish Inquisition", and his approach to the successful globalisation of the Coke brand.
Review:
An excellent read, the author has gone to great lengths to ensure accuracy of the information. Not only does it show an insight to the Coke company but alson how and why things are as they are. Highly recommended
Bloomberg by Bloomberg
by Mike Bloomberg & M Winkler
Paperback
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Amazon rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis:
Mike Bloomberg's company is a major provider of financial information and news through on-line services, a wire service, national radio networks, a monthly financial magazine and Bloomberg Business News on PBS. This is his story. It tells how, dismissed from Salomon in 1981 in the wake of a merger with Philip Brothers, he started Bloomberg Financial Services in 1982.
Review:
I enjoyed reading this book because of the way in which Michael Bloomberg describes the role that skill, personality, contacts and luck played in building his business. It was interesting to note how he does not seem all that concerned with what his competitors are doing. He focuses on what his customers want. An interesting part of the book was at the end where he describes his philanthropy and the fact that once a certain level of wealth is reached, that money should be given to charitable causes. I particularly liked the section where he attributes much of his success to putting in long hours
Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul re-invented an industry - and made himself the richest man in America
by Stephen Manes & Paul Andrews
Paperback
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Amazon rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis:
Describes how Bill Gates built Microsoft into the worldwide leader in software.
Review:
This is by far the most personal look at Bill Gates I've ever seen. It gives an insider's view of what it was really like to work for Microsoft in the early years. This includes everything from Bill's temper tantrums to his personal hygiene and old girlfriends. A must read for any Bill Gates follower!
Adventures of a Bystander
by Peter F. Drucker
Hardback
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Synopsis:
The autobiographical story of (probably?) the most influential management thinker and writer of all time, whose 28 books have been translated into more that 20 languages. A remarkable story about a remarkable man.
Review:
Drucker's autobiography is a joy to read because of the mix of intriguing characters, momentous events and sharp insights we've come to expect from one of the most original management theorists
Rupert Murdoch
by William Shawcross
Paperback
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Synopsis:
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire ended the 80s with a debt the size of Ecuador's and on the verge of catastrophe. Houdini-like Murdoch survived, buying time, merging Sky with BSB, advancing into the '90s as one of the most powerful media barons the world has ever known. Shawcross tells two stories. The story of the man himself, his origins and personality, of how an Australian with Scottish Presbyterian grandparents became a US citizen owning newspapers and TV stations on 3 continents, a film studio in Hollywood, satellites in space, and selling to the world the 20th-century's most powerful persuaders - information and entertainment. Also he tells the fascinating tale of the information and technology revolution which Murdoch (despite his own technological ineptness) knew how to exploit and which has made him so powerful.
Bill Gates Speaks
by Janet Lowe
Hardback
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Amazon rating: 4 out of 5
Synopsis:
This volume chronicles the life of Bill Gates, using quotes compiled from speeches, articles, essays, newscasts and interviews. It discloses what he says on topics including financing a start-up to running a conglomerate, developing technology to raising a family, and growing his business to expanding his personal wealth.
Review:
Presentationally, the book is simply a collection of snippets--sometimes as many as four on a page--comprising background explanation and a quote from Gates or another. They have been drawn together into themed headings: "The Gatesian Management Style", "The Microsoft Business Model", "Microsoft Mistakes", "Living at the Pinnacle", and so on. Because its source material is taken from the public domain Bill Gates Speaks does not offer any new insights or revelations, but it is still an interesting read, particularly for anyone seeking their first glimpse into the Gates character.
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