There have been many books on leadership, but here at last is one that actually draws on the wisdom of those in the know. Acting on his belief that you get the most done in the first twenty minutes of a meeting, Allan Leighton invited Britain's top businessmen and women to spend just twenty minutes talking about their views on leadership.
And he has talked to an astonishing range of them - the established giants such as Philip Green and Rupert Murdoch; the new generation of leaders, such as Andy Hornby at HBOS and Simon Wolfson at Next; and entrepreneurial figures who include Tom Hunter at the Gadget Shop and Gulam Noon at Noon Foods. He has gone further too - interviewing the nation's top financial journalists, whose views can help make a company soar or sink; the money men, whose support is critical for investment and acquisition; the politicians, who help create the climate in which businesses can thrive or falter. The result is a fascinating, 360 degree view of what it takes to be a business leader in today's cut-throat global economy - thought-provoking, often surprising, always insightful.
"On Leadership is immensely readable. It will provide a welcome resource for those wanting to tell others stories about leadership and for those who want to relate their own experience to the collected wisdom of many of today's brightest business leaders." Paul Walsh Management Today
"He takes us on a breakneck tour of the hot topics of business in 2007…the contributors of the book are impressive and interesting, and the book barrels along at such a pace, with such enthusiasm, that we are breathlessly carried along…On Leadership is a profoundly hopeful read – informed by the almost palpable joy Leighton feels in inspiring and leading others " World Business
"Leighton has chosen to consult an impressive selection of friends and colleagues about the subject, and chuck in his own thoughts in a jaunty narrative. His cast is first rate, and his access to A-list business leaders striking…for a selection of conventional wisdom on business leadership, and a sense of what is being discussed in the first-class lounges of the world’s airports, you could do no better than to read this book " Financial Times
"The best management book I’ve read in a long while." Chris Blackhurst, City Editor Evening Standard
"There's only one Allan Leighton." The Times