What It Takes No. 8242: Seven Secrets of Success from the World's Greatest Professional Firms

**Expert insights on what sets the great professional firms apart from all the rest**Having devoted a career that spans fifty years to consulting with and studying professional firms in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, author Charles Ellis learned firsthand how difficult it is for an organization to go beyond very good and attain, as well as sustain, excellence. Now, he shares his hard-won insights with you and reveals "what it takes" to be best-in-class in any industry. Enlightening and entertaining, __What It Takes__ explores firms that are leaders in their particular field and the superior people who create and maintain them. Along the way, it identifies the secrets of their long-term success and reveals exactly how they can put your organization in a better position to excel when properly executed. * Contains many stories of achieving excellence, and addresses the obstacles that top-ranking organizations face in sustaining it * Includes insights on leaders in their particular field—from McKinsey & Company in consulting and Cravath, Swaine & Moore in law to the Mayo Clinic in healthcare * Written by one of the most experienced and respected business consultants/advisors of our time __What It Takes__ skillfully shows you how innovation and a commitment to excellence can drive success, while also revealing how easy it is to fall behind. With it, you'll discover what separates the great firms from the good ones and learn how to attain, and maintain, organizational success throughout the years. Expert insights on what sets the great professional firms apart from all the rest Having devoted a career that spans fifty years to consulting with and studying professional firms in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, author Charles Ellis learned firsthand how difficult it is for an organization to go beyond very good and attain, as well as sustain, excellence. Now, he shares his hard-won insights with you and reveals "what it takes" to be best-in-class in any industry. Enlightening and entertaining, What It Takes explores firms that are leaders in their particular field and the superior people who create and maintain them. Along the way, it identifies the secrets of their long-term success and reveals exactly how they can put your organization in a better position to excel when properly executed. Contains many stories of achieving excellence, and addresses the obstacles that top-ranking organizations face in sustaining it Includes insights on leaders in their particular field—from McKinsey & Company in consulting and Cravath, Swaine & Moore in law to the Mayo Clinic in healthcare Written by one of the most experienced and respected business consultants/advisors of our time What It Takes skillfully shows you how innovation and a commitment to excellence can drive success, while also revealing how easy it is to fall behind. With it, you'll discover what separates the great firms from the good ones and learn how to attain, and maintain, organizational success throughout the years. This book is the story of what sets the great professional firms, the acknowledged leaders in their industries, apart from all the rest. It is a blueprint for how to create, build, and maintain such a firm. While you might expect to find major differences, from industry to industry, in how the great firms set themselves apart, the principles they follow are few and nearly identical. The stories of the people, their decisions, and their interactions found in this book bring seven keys to success: defining an inspiring mission, recruiting the right people, developing people from early accelerated training through career-long coaching, establishing a strong culture that unites all in teamwork to serve clients, assuring a strong client focus, innovation at all levels, and providing leadership that brings all six together and identifies problems and corrects them quickly.--From book jacket