Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have Book

The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers—and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.

Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the 'right' people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.

In a sense, Menkes's work reveals an executive IQ—the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognise the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.

Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.

Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.

Publishers Weekly

On the heels of bestsellers about emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences have come titles on moral, cultural, social and visual intelligence. Consultant Menkes introduces the concept of executive intelligence, which he characterizes as "a blend of critical aptitudes that guide an individual's decision-making process and behavioral path." Menkes collects terrific first-person anecdotes of corporate failure and success, but the stories don't necessarily prove what he wants them to. With 20/20 hindsight, he attributes every setback-whether caused by shortsightedness, venality, stubbornness or simple bad timing-to some CEOs "severe lack of Executive Intelligence." And of course, EI gets credit for every decision that happened to pan out. The book's second half convincingly debunks time-honored techniques for assessing executive acumen and abilities; researchers, Menkes argues, "have for too long been enamored with attributes, such as personality and style, that are only tangentially related to how well executives actually do their job." But the author's surprisingly skimpy research doesn't clinch his case for replacing traditional hiring practices with EI-focused interviews. And it doesn't help that Menkes is unclear whether EI is ingrained or learned. Are we stuck with the EI we were born with, or is it something we can work on? If the former, why should general readers worry about it? (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.