Better under pressure: how great leaders bring out the best in themselves and others

Most business leaders can take only so much pressure before their performance slides. Yet some CEOs deliver their greatest successes when times get toughest. In "Better Under Pressure", Justin Menkes reveals their secrets. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 150 CEOs from an array of industries, Menkes shows that great leaders strive relentlessly to maximize their own as well as their people's potential and possess three cornerstone attributes: (1) Realistic optimism: They recognize the risks threatening their organization's survival, yet remain confident that the company will prevail, (2) Subservience to purpose: They dedicate themselves to pursuing a noble cause, and win their team's commitment to that cause, and (3) Finding order in chaos: They find clarity amid the many variables affecting their business and cull data to form the conclusions that matter most to the company. Menkes demonstrates how each attribute manifests in real life and enables top performance under extreme duress. And he shows how to deploy those attributes to become a leader who only shines under pressure. Personal and practical, this book is a potent resource for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned business leaders alike. (http://hbr.org/product/better-under-pressure-how-great-leaders-bring-out-/an/12319-HBK-ENG?Ntt=9781422138700)