Ram Charan

Presents the fundamentals of business, but speaks directly to the employee instead of the owner.

Charan does a great job summarizing the fundamentals of business into 4 building blocks: customers, cash generation, return on invested capital, and profitable growth. For a typical employee who has never stopped to think beyond his/her role, this is a great intro

However, beyond a rudimentary understanding of business, I'm not sure this is enough to change employee mindset or help them apply it in real life. Charan did include several chapters to talk about execution and real-world application, but I found those way too vague and theoretical to be truly useful.

So, this is probably a nice reference for anyone who's never really thought hard about their company or business in general. And since it's relatively small and easy to read, it's not intimidating at all to refer to employees. Just not convinced it will really change behaviors in the real world.

What it covers:
• The 4 fundamental building blocks for any business, regardless of the size, type or industry: customers, cash generation, return on invested capital, and growth;
• How to combine the 4 building blocks to see the full picture of how an organization is doing; and
• How to apply these insights in real life to cut through real-world complexities, generate wealth for shareholders, achieve superior execution, and expand the company’s capacity.

Book summary at: Book summary at: https://readingraphics.com/book-summary-what-the-ceo-wants-you-to-know/… (more)