From Booklist
Using stories and diagrams, Katzenbach explains his theory of recognizing when a team effort at the top (executive management level) is preferable and when a working group under single leadership is more appropriate. An integrated balance of real teams, individuals, and single-leader groups is possible and desirable among top executives; one mode of behavior is not intrinsically better than the rest. The best leaders are able to constantly reshape their top executives into and out of team mode as appropriate, varying the top team's composition, behavior patterns, and leadership approach to maximize opportunities, depending upon the challenges and issues at hand. The author advises discipline to energize rather than stifle initiative and performance among top executives; the alignment of behaviors and decisions of people throughout the organization; and the balancing of the various elements of the organization for optimum results. We learn that while top executives of organizations rarely function as a team, such teams have the most potential for immediate results and yet are most often neglected. Mary Whaley


Training & Development, July 1998
"A good book... worth reading."


Book Description
It is common knowledge that CEOs declare their direct reports as a team at the top. Yet with a culture of individual accountability and self-reliance pervading executive suites, few management groups ever function as real teams. Now, in a natural follow-up to his bestselling The Wisdom of Teams, Jon Katzenbach offers practical guidelines for increasing leadership capacity at the highest executive levels. He shows how even the strongest and most successful CEO can improve a company's performance by turning the senior executive group into a real team--without sacrificing each member's individual leadership capabilities. Teams at the Top explains how to recognize when a team effort at the management level is preferable and when a work group under single leadership will do. Then, the book shows how to develop the capability to shift into whichever mode is appropriate. With stories and examples from well-known companies including Avon, Ben & Jerry's, Citicorp, and Clorox, Teams at the Top will help companies of all sizes and in all industries maximize the full potential of their leadership.


Book Info
Shows how even the strongest and most successful CEO can improve the performance of various leadership groupings by enabling senior executives and next-level leaders to function as real teams as well as single-leader units - withouth sacrificing each member's individual leadership.


From the Back Cover
Rigorously objective and relentlessly realistic, Teams at the Top performs the greatest service a management book can render by deliberately avoiding simplistic, trendy prescriptions in favor of something much more enduring and substantial: understanding and insight. --Jim Collins, Co-author of Built to Last

Katzenbach has earned the reputation as the leading thinker on teams in organized enterprises, and this book will enhance that stature. As usual, his writing yields a nice balance of engaging description and conceptual prescription. --Richard E. Cavanagh, President and CEO, The Conference Board

I thoroughly enjoyed Teams at the Top. Katzenbach stimulates business leaders to enter new performance zones via proactive, passionate and practical use of teams. --James W. Rogers, President and CEO, GE Motors and Industrial Systems

Mr. Katzenbach's work significantly enhances our understanding of the elements of ongoing management excellence. His thesis on leveraging both individual efforts and the often latent capabilities of executive teams--discussed in a framework of practical applications--provides a means of increasing the effectiveness of all organizations. --John J. Mueller, Managing Director and CEO, 3M United Kingdom plc


About the Author
Jon R. Katzenbach is a director of McKinsey & Company in Dallas. He is the co-author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller The Wisdom of Teams and The Real Change Leaders.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It is common knowledge that CEOs declare their direct reports as a team at the top. Yet with a culture of individual accountability and self-reliance pervading executive suites, few management groups ever function as real teams. Now, in a natural follow-up to his bestselling The Wisdom of Teams, Jon Katzenbach offers practical guidelines for increasing leadership capacity at the highest executive levels. He shows how even the strongest and most successful CEO can improve a company's performance by turning the senior executive group into a real team--without sacrificing each member's individual leadership capabilities. Teams at the Top explains how to recognize when a team effort at the management level is preferable and when a work group under single leadership will do. Then, the book shows how to develop the capability to shift into whichever mode is appropriate. With stories and examples from well-known companies including Avon, Ben & Jerry's, Citicorp, and Clorox, Teams at the Top will help companies of all sizes and in all industries maximize the full potential of their leadership.

SYNOPSIS

This follow-up to the bestselling The Wisdom of Teams offers practical guidelines for increasing leadership capacity at the highest executive levels.

FROM THE CRITICS

European Quality

While this rich and rewarding work focuses on senior management, its message is equally applicable to all 'teams who run things.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING