Stahl, Revlon CEO and former president of Coca-Cola, doesn't live up to his potential to share a wealth of management tips in this leadership guide. He delivers on the title's promise of identifying key skills, ranging from leadership and management to delivering people, brand positioning and financial strategies. But his emphasis on developing clear strategies and setting measurable objectives, or defining a unique product or service, is bland, particularly for regular business leadership–book readers. Too often, Stahl turns to generic examples to illustrate his points, rather than focusing on his own experience. And when he does touch on his professional life, he often leaves the reader wanting more. For instance, he mentions a moment early in his career at Coca-Cola when he toured East Germany in 1989, just after the Berlin Wall came down, and had to decide how to approach the new market, then quickly drops it—although that experience could have leant itself to a deeper market development case study. Readers may justly wonder why he held back. (July)
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