Peter F. Drucker - What Makes an Effective Executive

Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these DR UC seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW KER highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues C L A S S I C S to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world. WHA T MAKES AN W H A T M A K E S A N E F F E C T I V E E X E C U T I V E EFFECTIVE Text tk text tk EXECUTIVE Pet e r F. D r u cke r Cover design: Kelly Blair $xxx | Management hbr.org W h a t M a k e s a n e f f e c t i v e e x e c u t i v e HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 1 25/10/16 2:15 AM HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 2 25/10/16 2:15 AM Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these dr uc seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library.

Each Harvard Business review ker highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues C L A S S I C S to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world. Wha W h a t M a k e s a n t Makes an e f f e c t i v e e x e c u t i v e Peter f. Drucker effective text tk text tk harvard Business Review Press Boston, Massachusetts executive HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 3 25/10/16 2:15 AM HBR Press Quantity Sales Discounts Harvard Business Review Press titles are available at significant quantity discounts when purchased in bulk for client gifts, sales promotions, and premiums. Special editions, including books with corporate logos, customized covers, and letters from the company or CEO printed in the front matter, as well as excerpts of existing books, can also be created in large quantities for special needs. for details and discount information for both print and ebook formats, contact booksales@harvardbusiness.org, tel. copyright 2017 harvard Business school Publishing corporation Originally published in Harvard Business Review in June 2004 Reprint #R0406c all rights reserved no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. copyright 2017 harvard Business school Publishing corporation Originally published in Harvard Business Review in June 2004 Reprint #R0406c all rights reserved no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher.

Requests for permission should be directed to permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu, or mailed to Permissions, harvard Business school Publishing, 60 harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163. the web addresses referenced in this book were live and correct at the time of the books publication but may be subject to change. cataloging-in-Publication data is forthcoming. eisBn: 978-1-63369-255-8 HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 4 25/10/16 2:15 AM the harvard business review classics series since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practicemany of which still speak to and influence us today. the hBR classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. { v } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 5 25/10/16 2:15 AM HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 6 25/10/16 2:15 AM W h a t M a k e s a n e f f e c t i v e e x e c u t i v e HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 7 25/10/16 2:15 AM HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 8 25/10/16 2:15 AM an effective executive does not need to be a leader in the sense that the term is now most com monly used. harry truman did not have one ounce of charisma, for example, yet he was among the most effective chief executives in u.s. history. similarly, some of the best business and nonprofit ceOs ive worked with over a 65-year consulting career were not stereotypical leaders. they were all over the map in terms of their personalities, { 1 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 1 25/10/16 2:15 AM Peter F. they were all over the map in terms of their personalities, { 1 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 1 25/10/16 2:15 AM Peter F.

Drucker attitudes, values, strengths, and weaknesses. they ranged from extroverted to nearly reclusive, from easygoing to controlling, from generous to parsimonious. What made them all effective is that they followed the same eight practices: they asked, What needs to be done? they asked, What is right for the enterprise? they developed action plans. they took responsibility for decisions. they took responsibility for communicating. { 2 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 2 25/10/16 2:15 AM What Makes an Effective Executive they ran productive meetings. they thought and said we rather than i. the first two practices gave them the knowledge they needed. the next four helped them convert this knowledge into effective action. the last two ensured that the whole organization felt responsible and accountable. get the knowledge you need the first practice is to ask what needs to be done. note that the question is not What do i want to do? asking what has to be done, and taking the question seriously, is crucial for managerial success. failure to ask this { 3 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 3 25/10/16 2:15 AM Peter F. failure to ask this { 3 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 3 25/10/16 2:15 AM Peter F.

Drucker question will render even the ablest executive ineffectual. When truman became president in 1945, he knew exactly what he wanted to do: complete the economic and social reforms of Roosevelts new Deal, which had been deferred by World War ii. as soon as he asked what needed to be done, though, truman realized that foreign affairs had absolute priority. he organized his working day so that it began with tutorials on foreign policy by the secretaries of state and defense. as a result, he became the most effective president in foreign affairs the united states has ever known. { 4 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 4 25/10/16 2:15 AM What Makes an Effective Executive similarly, Jack Welch realized that what needed to be done at General electric when he took over as chief executive was not the overseas expansion he wanted to launch. it was getting rid of Ge businesses that, no matter how profitable, could not be number one or number two in their industries. the answer to the question What needs to be done? almost always contains more than one urgent task. the answer to the question What needs to be done? almost always contains more than one urgent task.

But effective executives do not splinter themselves. they concentrate on one task if at all possible. if they are among those peoplea sizable minoritywho work best with a change of pace in their working day, they pick two tasks. i have never encountered an executive who remains effective while tackling more than two tasks at a time. hence, after asking { 5 } HBR_Classics_Drucker.indb 5 25/10/16 2:15 AM Peter F. for a ceO, the priority task might be redefining the companys mission. for a unit head, it might be redefining the units relationship with headquarters. for a unit head, it might be redefining the units relationship with headquarters.

Other tasks, no matter how important or appealing, are postponed. however, after completing the original top-priority task, the executive resets priorities rather than moving on to number two from the original list. he asks, What must be done now? this generally results in new and different priorities. to refer again to americas best-known ceO: every five years, according to his auto-biography, Jack Welch asked himself, What needs to be done now