Ram Charan

A radical new leadership strategy to transform business as we know it—from a dream team of INSEAD professors and mega-bestselling author Ram Charan The business landscape is littered with the wreckage of companies that crashed and burned when an apocalypse came—in the shape of new competitive technologies, upstart entrants, demographic shifts, and new world orders. Who can feel safe in firestorm change? The authors of The Phoenix Encounter Method don’t advise safety. In fact, their method of leadership thinking requires you to imagine burning your business to the ground—throwing yourself into a firestorm change—and turning the upheaval to your organization’s advantage. It can then rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes, stronger and more powerful than ever. Written with a sense of urgency and purposefully radical provocation, The Phoenix Encounter Method represents the forward thinking of legendary business guru Ram Charan and professors from the senior global leadership program of INSEAD, one of the world’s top graduate business schools. The resulting methodology, based on analysis of thousands of articles, studies, reports, and academic and business practice, was field tested in real-life Phoenix Encounters conducted with more than fifteen hundred senior executives—from startups and family businesses to legacy companies—representing a broad range of industry and sectors in both developed and developing economies. Whatever your sector or industry, if you’re responsible for your organization’s ability to use change as a transformative opportunity, you’ll appreciate the dramatic impact The Phoenix Encounter Method will have on you, your leadership, and your organization.

NEW from the bestselling HBR's 10 Must Reads series. Learn why bad decisions happen to good managers--and how to make better ones. If you read nothing else on decision making, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you and your organization make better choices and avoid common traps. Leading experts such as Ram Charan, Michael Mankins, and Thomas Davenport provide the insights and advice you need to: * Make bold decisions that challenge the status quo * Support your decisions with diverse data * Evaluate risks and benefits with equal rigor * Check for faulty cause-and-effect reasoning * Test your decisions with experiments * Foster and address constructive criticism * Defeat indecisiveness with clear accountability Looking for more Must Read articles from Harvard Business Review? Check out these titles in the popular series: HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication HBR's 10 Must Reads on Collaboration HBR's 10 Must Reads on Innovation HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategic Marketing HBR's 10 Must Reads on Teams

Learn why bad decisions happen to good managers—and how to make better ones. If you read nothing else on decision making, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you and your organization make better choices and avoid common traps. Leading experts such as Ram Charan, Michael Mankins, and Thomas Davenport provide the insights and advice you need to: Make bold decisions that challenge the status quoSupport your decisions with diverse dataEvaluate risks and benefits with equal rigorCheck for faulty cause-and-effect reasoningTest your decisions with experimentsFoster and address constructive criticismDefeat indecisiveness with clear accountability

TWO FORTUNE 500 CEOs AGREED TO CO-AUTHOR THIS BOOK. Both withdrew after board discussions. Dozens of executives contributed anonymously, fearing retaliation. This book reveals what they cannot say publicly. China's economic model is not about competition. It's about destroying American industrial capacity and the US-led global order. America is losing a war it barely knows it's fighting. At the heart of China's strategy is the 90% Model: build capacity to meet 90% of global demand, sell at below marginal cost with 20% deliberately depreciated currency, flood markets with subsidized exports. Destroy competitors. Ten American industries destroyed, including: Furniture. Textiles. Basic chemicals. Pharmaceutical ingredients. Solar panels. The next ten targeted include: New materials. Bio-pharma. Artificial intelligence. Aerospace. High-tech ships. China can shut down your industry at will. Within weeks. The assault is deliberate. But it's not too late. This book shows the path to fight back and win.

Set up your company for long-term success by building and reinforcing your leadership pipeline In the newly revised third edition of The Leadership Pipeline, a team of veteran leadership practitioners delivers a practical and essential framework for identifying future leaders, assessing their competence, planning their development, nurturing their talents, and analyzing the results of your efforts. The work to be done, the required skills, time application, and the necessary work values for each leadership layer are clearly defined for the digital age. The book explains how to integrate your organization’s leadership development process with a succession plan that provides your company with a ready supply of capable leaders. You’ll discover the tools and techniques you need to knit together your succession and leadership development programs and constantly renew your leadership pipeline. You’ll also: Explore anecdotes and stories drawn from the authors’ extensive experience with top companies that illustrate the principles discussed in the bookFind ways to eliminate bias and tunnel vision when identifying leadership candidatesLearn to objectively consider the efficacy of individual leadership candidatesA powerful resource for managers, executives, board members, and other business leaders at firms of all sizes, The Leadership Pipeline is an effective and insightful blueprint to future-proofing your company.

Invest in your most valuable resource: your people. Top talent is hard to come by. And seeing your stars walk out the door is painful—and expensive. You need to take steps to ensure that you attract, develop, and retain your best people. If you read nothing else on managing talent in your organization, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you boost the engagement, skills, and commitment of your highest performers. This book will inspire you to:Build a winning talent strategyRecruit and hire the best candidatesIdentify and develop high-potential employeesFoster a just and inclusive workplaceOvercome the challenges of hybrid workPrepare your workforce for the futureThis collection of articles includes "Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy," by Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill, and Robert J. Thomas; "Your Approach to Hiring Is All Wrong," by Peter Cappelli; "'A Players’ or 'A Positions'?: The Strategic Logic of Workforce Management,” by Mark A. Huselid, Richard W. Beatty, and Brian E. Becker; "Turning Potential into Success: The Missing Link in Leadership Development," by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Andrew Roscoe, and Kentaro Aramaki; "Making Business Personal," by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey, Andy Fleming, and Matthew Miller; "The Power of Hidden Teams," by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall; "The Performance Management Revolution," by Peter Cappelli and Anna Tavis; "People Before Strategy: A New Role for the CHRO," by Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey; "Toward a Racially Just Workplace," by Lauren Morgan Roberts and Anthony J. Mayo; "How to Do Hybrid Right," by Lynda Gratton; and "Your Workforce Is More Adaptable Than You Think," by Joseph Fuller, Judith K. Wallenstein, Manjari Raman, and Alice de Chalendar. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

Inflation is here. Do you know how it’s impacting your company? It’s not just a matter of rising costs. Inflation eats cash, squeezes margins, threatens working capital, and throws all your great forecasts and plans into question. Its effect is cumulative and pervasive. Yet this period of economic discontinuity is a huge opportunity to come out stronger for those who know how to lead in the face of inflation and a looming recession. Ram Charan has guided hundreds of companies through many tough business challenges. In the early 1980s, he helped GE preserve its teetering credit rating in the face of double-digit inflation. Now, in Leading Through Inflation, he brings the same common sense and wisdom that made his book Execution, coauthored with Larry Bossidy, a long-time New York Times bestseller. This book will be your guide to avoiding the hazards of inflation while positioning your company to thrive when the business cycle stabilizes. It provides Ram’s down-to-earth recommendations and real-world examples to help you navigate a landscape that may be new to you. As you learn to lead through inflation, you will be better prepared for recession and stagflation as well. You will know how to protect your cash, your customers, and your capital investments. Your psychology will shift from anxiety and fear to optimism and excitement as you define the path to a reimagined future.

Invest in your most valuable resource: your people. Top talent is hard to come by. And seeing your stars walk out the door is painful—and expensive. You need to take steps to ensure that you attract, develop, and retain your best people. If you read nothing else on managing talent in your organization, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you boost the engagement, skills, and commitment of your highest performers. This book will inspire you to:Build a winning talent strategyRecruit and hire the best candidatesIdentify and develop high-potential employeesFoster a just and inclusive workplaceOvercome the challenges of hybrid workPrepare your workforce for the futureThis collection of articles includes "Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy," by Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill, and Robert J. Thomas; "Your Approach to Hiring Is All Wrong," by Peter Cappelli; "'A Players’ or 'A Positions'?: The Strategic Logic of Workforce Management,” by Mark A. Huselid, Richard W. Beatty, and Brian E. Becker; "Turning Potential into Success: The Missing Link in Leadership Development," by Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, Andrew Roscoe, and Kentaro Aramaki; "Making Business Personal," by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey, Andy Fleming, and Matthew Miller; "The Power of Hidden Teams," by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall; "The Performance Management Revolution," by Peter Cappelli and Anna Tavis; "People Before Strategy: A New Role for the CHRO," by Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey; "Toward a Racially Just Workplace," by Lauren Morgan Roberts and Anthony J. Mayo; "How to Do Hybrid Right," by Lynda Gratton; and "Your Workforce Is More Adaptable Than You Think," by Joseph Fuller, Judith K. Wallenstein, Manjari Raman, and Alice de Chalendar. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

Digitally transform your organization, one manageable step at a time In The Digital Leader: Finding a Faster, More Profitable Path to Exceptional Growth, a team of visionary entrepreneurs delivers an authoritative and engaging roadmap demonstrating how to digitalize your business by taking small, achievable steps that yield measurable, near-term results. In this handbook of concrete strategies and methods, the authors show you how to pinpoint and implement bite-sized projects that sync up with your business priorities. You’ll learn how to find and choose between the digital enablement options available to you while discovering the tools you need to explain their value to stakeholders and get much-needed buy-in from executives, managers, and employees. You’ll also: Learn about the value of experimentation, continuous innovation, and how to generate dramatic transformation by using incremental changes to your advantageFind out how to digitalize one piece of your business at a time, instead of taking on a gargantuan transformation all at once that is destined for failureDiscover how to straddle the technology and business worlds and help define each of them to the otherA can’t-miss resource for executives, managers, and other business leaders, The Digital Leader also belongs in the bookshelves of IT and data professionals seeking to maximize their impact on the businesses around them.

How do some Companies Multiply their Market Cap several times over? Learning to build a high performing talent engine – today’s strategic imperative! In this book, General Atlantic’s Operating Partner Anish Batlaw and veteran business advisor and New York Times bestselling author Ram Charan, show you how to build and incentivize management teams that can multiply enterprise value several times over in 4-5 years. No matter how high your company’s growth goal is, you’ll get from here to there by learning from this book’s riveting narrative of the high-stakes personnel decisions and bold actions taken by CEOs, investors, and boards who grew six real—and world-class—companies, ranging from ecommerce startups to major corporations like Johnson & Johnson. Told from both authors’ firsthand vantage point inside each company, and from Batlaw’s active role in shaping their outcomes, TALENT offers a rare inside look at how shareholder value is created when CEOs move with speed and accuracy to get the right leadership teams in place. How can you be sure that your company can grow its value as much as these six companies did? By learning from the versatile and replicable methodology presented in this book, which has worked effectively across geographies, cultures, and sectors. TALENT is the answer. Now is the time.

From the million-copy-bestselling author of Execution'Ingenious . . . An insightful and practical guide for leaders and practitioners at every level.' ForbesWelcome to the age of big tech. The old rules no longer apply. How do companies build a competitive advantage in the digital age? In this lively, accessible guide, Ram Charan - million-copy-bestselling author and advisor to some of the world's top CEOs - reveals that the tech giants have radically rewritten the rules of business. If you want to win, you need to learn to play a new game. Delving into the inner workings of the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Alibaba, Charan uncovers the six rules that the digital giants use to stay ahead: from their emphasis on creating corporate 'ecosystems', to the way they approach team organisation and moneymaking. And he outlines how to use these rules to transform your business, starting today.'One of the world's preeminent counselors to CEOs.' Harvard Business Review'The most influential consultant alive.' Fortune

Long-term value creation&#8212the board's new agenda. A big shift in public ownership has created a new set of challenges for boards. Index funds managed by firms like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street represent an emerging class of permanent institutional investors who are focused on creating and preserving long-term corporate value. These investors are stating in no uncertain terms that simply managing for short-term shareholder profit is not acceptable. Bill McNabb, Ram Charan, and Dennis Carey have been on the front lines of these changes with the investment community, corporate boards, and top-level management teams. Since TSR (total shareholder return) cannot keep the short and long term in balance, the authors argue, boards should focus on a different kind of TSR&#8212talent, strategy, and risk&#8212because decisions and actions around these factors, more than any others, determine whether or not a company creates long-term value. This book redefines the board's agenda and explains how to:Build and incentivize the right leadership teamHelp leaders take a longer view and communicate it to investorsRefresh board composition and create diversity to meet the new challengesKeep major risks, such as cyberattacks and sexual harassment allegations, front and centerAnalyze the business through the eyes of a shareholder activistWith the new realities of corporate ownership, boards need to lead for the long term. This authoritative book shows them how.

From a dream team of business leadership experts—including INSEAD professors and mega-bestselling author Ram Charan—this Power Pack helps transform any business in our unprecedented times of change Advanced technologies, upstart entrants, demographic shifts, new world orders, and a global pandemic have put many businesses out of business. CEOs and managers can spin their wheels trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t—or they can take the “phoenix” approach. Based on reams of research into effective leadership during times of disruption and crisis, The Phoenix Encounter Method provides a radical new leadership strategic thinking approach to transform business as we know it. Then, the companion to this breakthrough work, The Phoenix Encounter Method: Implementation Guide walks readers through the process steps of executing this leadership method throughout their organization in a practical, hands-on way. This power pack makes both books available to corporate leaders, academics, consultants and executive trainers at a discounted price. The main book asks business leaders to imagine burning their business to the ground, throwing themselves into a “firestorm of change,” and turning upheaval into advantage. The implementation guide then walks readers through the process of executing the action steps this leadership method needs throughout their organization in a practical, hands-on way. With both books, readers will learn that they can then rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes—stronger than ever.

From the million-copy-bestselling author of Execution'The most influential consultant alive.' FortuneWelcome to the age of big tech. The old rules no longer apply. How do companies build a competitive advantage in the digital age? In this lively, accessible guide, Ram Charan - million-copy-bestselling author and advisor to some of the world's top CEOs - reveals that the tech giants have radically rewritten the rules of business. If you want to win, you need to learn to play a new game. Delving into the inner workings of the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Alibaba, Charan uncovers the six unwritten rules that make the digital giants thrive: from how they use digital platforms and create corporate 'ecosystems', to the way they approach team organisation and moneymaking. But these rules are not the preserve of Silicon Valley. Charan shows that they can be applied to any company that wants to be competitive. And with stories of how traditional companies like Disney, Walmart, and BMW have adopted them, he offers a practical toolbox for applying them to your business, starting today. Whether you're a C-suite executive or a fledgling entrepreneur, your company can succeed in the digital age. This book will show you how.'One of the world's preeminent counselors to CEOs.' Harvard Business Review

How do you gain an edge in the digital world order? "Another book for the ages from a master . . . Particularly insightful is his emphasis on how the end-to-end individual consumer experience will separate winners from losers in our new digital age."--Fred Hassan, chairman, Caret Group; former CEO, Schering-Plough and Pharmacia The old ways of creating competitive advantage for your business--such as building moats to ward off competitors--have become dangerous. Giants like Amazon and Alibaba are creating vast new market spaces through a deft combination of tools like machine learning and business savvy that reimagines customer experiences while generating immense shareholder value. A handful of traditional companies, including Fidelity Investments, Walmart, and B2W, have adopted these new approaches to reinvigorate their businesses. Most, however, are stalled--and the clock is running out. In this lively, accessible guide, Ram Charan, bestselling author and adviser to some of the world's top CEOs and boards, redefines competitive advantage for the digital-first era, offering a set of new rules to get ahead: - Create an ecosystem with third-party partners to revolutionize and personalize the customer experience.- Empower teams focused on a single task, building a "social engine" that drives constant innovation, fast execution, and customer satisfaction.- Attract funders who understand the big picture: that beyond a certain scale, major upfront spending will turn into a cash-generation machine. Filled with stories that peek behind the curtain of digital behemoths as well as traditional companies that have transformed their organizations, Rethinking Competitive Advantage offers concrete advice and methods to help you conceive of new market spaces and moneymaking models. Competing against digital giants might seem daunting, if not impossible. The necessary computing power is within any company's reach. By borrowing from these digital winners' playbooks, traditional companies and upstarts alike can gain an upper hand. Whether you're in the C-suite or brainstorming the next big idea from your garage, Rethinking Competitive Advantage is the ultimate guide to creating competitive advantage today.

The hands-on playbook for transforming your business with today’s most radically effective leadership thinking In The Phoenix Encounter Method, a dream team of INSEAD professors together with the legendary Ram Charan and provided a radical new game plan for transforming any organization. It’s about figuratively “burning your business to the ground,” turning the upheaval to your advantage, and rising from the ashes stronger than ever. Their method isn’t conventional, and it can be daunting—but it works. Now, the authors provide the play-by-play manual you need to implement their strategic thinking approach for maximum impact. Written in full alignment with the original book, The Phoenix Encounter Method Implementation Guide walks you through the three phases to create a future-ready organization:Phoenix Seeking: confront old mindsets, identify new threats and opportunities, prepare for the Encounter battlefield to come. Phoenix Burning: enter the battlefield of Extreme Attack and Horizon Defense, where you apply Encounter tools of Proactive Scanning and the rituals for Completely Opposite Viewpoints Debates, including Radical Ideation and the Separation Imperative to generate a wider set of options. Phoenix Rising: turn battlefield insights into a Future-Facing Blueprint, as well as analysis, planning, and execution work. Whether you’re a corporate leader, academic, consultant, or executive trainer, The Phoenix Encounter Method Implementation Guide provides everything you need to embrace the firestorm of change raging through today’s business world, to drive revenue, profits, and long-term sustainability.

Keep shareholders happy and manage for the long term. Earning a board seat is a rite of passage. But directors must juggle many responsibilities, from steering company strategy, managing risk, and appointing leaders to setting the right incentives, meeting shareholder expectations, and dealing with activist investors. How do you balance it all? If you read nothing else on boards, read these 10 articles by experts in the field. We've combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you set your board up for success. This book will inspire you to:Ensure you have directors who can meet company goalsEstablish a robust succession-planning processEncourage the risk-taking that will generate breakthrough innovationPrioritize the health of the enterprise without neglecting shareholdersProvide the critical support a new CEO needs to succeedIgnite nonprofit board members by engaging them in work that mattersTake on the world's toughest economic, social, and environmental problemsThis collection of articles includes "What Makes Great Boards Great," by Je?rey A. Sonnenfeld; "Building Better Boards," by David A. Nadler; "The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership," by Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine; "The New Work of the Nonprofit Board," by Barbara E. Taylor, Richard P. Chait, and Thomas P. Holland; "Dysfunction in the Boardroom," by Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell; "The Board's New Innovation Imperative," by Linda A. Hill and George Davis; "Managing Risks: A New Framework," by Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes; "Ending the CEO Succession Crisis," by Ram Charan; "Comp Targets That Work," by Radhakrishnan Gopalan, John Horn, and Todd Milbourn; and "Sustainability in the Boardroom," by Lynn S. Paine. HBR's 10 Must Reads paperback series is the definitive collection of books for new and experienced leaders alike. Leaders looking for the inspiration that big ideas provide, both to accelerate their own growth and that of their companies, should look no further. HBR's 10 Must Reads series focuses on the core topics that every ambitious manager needs to know: leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself. Harvard Business Review has sorted through hundreds of articles and selected only the most essential reading on each topic. Each title includes timeless advice that will be relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment.

Amazon’s trillion-dollar success is the envy of everyone, but achievable by anyone. What has propelled their record streak of growth? Their management system, and it can do the same for you no matter what business you are in or what level. Learning it is as simple as six building blocks distilled by New York Times bestselling author and global CEO advisor Ram Charan and Julia Yang in The Amazon Management System. The Ultimate Digital Engine that Powered Amazon’s Unprecedented Growth and Shareholder Value Creation:Building Block 1: Customer-Obsessed Business Model Building Block 2: Continuous Bar-Raising Talent Pool Building Block 3: AI-Powered Data & Metrics System Building Block 4: Ground-Breaking Invention Machine Building Block 5: High-Velocity & High-Quality Decision-Making Building Block 6: A forever Day 1 culture. From their high-velocity decision-making to their top talent hiring practices, the insider secrets behind Amazon’s success are now within anyone’s grasp, block by block. Whether you are an established CEO or a recent college grad, this concise and actionable book will help your business win in a new digital era that demands nonstop innovation.