MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF SUCCESSFUL CEOS

A debut memoir offers personal reflections from 50 years of management consulting.

Retired psychological consultant Armatas worked with scores of CEOs at companies in a wide variety of industries. This book features recollections of many of these experiences with a primary focus on the management practices of CEOs. The memoir provides intimate portraits of several CEOs as well as observations about the companies and industries in which they worked. One striking aspect of this volume is that it gives readers the rare chance of getting a glimpse into five decades of business management from a psychologist’s perspective. Although recalling key interactions with individuals is remarkable, Armatas digs beneath the superficialities to examine the way CEOs think and operate. In a tribute to three dead CEOs in particular, the first chapter concentrates on Del Dunmire (Growth Industries), Garry Drummond (the Drummond Company), and Dave Noble (American Equity Investment Life). While their names and companies may not be widely recognized, their stories are no less important, for according to Armatas, “as successful entrepreneurs, they had similar management styles and practices.” The author impressively relates the CEOs’ tales, highlighting their challenges and their personal attributes and demonstrating how they developed their own approaches to management, citing commonalities along the way. Armatas points out that, while each was in a different business, they shared notable similarities: “They were dominating leaders…They had a clear picture of areas of accountability…They thoroughly understood their markets…They all valued the contributions of outside consultants, including suggestions for change.” Subsequent chapters are anchored by organization type, including conglomerates, multidivisional companies, legal monopolies, service companies, restaurants, and manufacturing firms. In each of these chapters, the author covers specific business leaders and supplies salient commentary about their companies and industries. Armatas concludes the book by suggesting that “successful companies can be modeled,” and that the CEOs in these pages were largely “intelligent, conceptual, competitive, management-type individuals” who also demonstrated “flexible, adaptable personalities.” Readers seeking a look into the minds of a diverse group of CEOs should find this well-organized, candid memoir revealing and pertinent.

Valuable insights into the psychology of CEOs.