The Art of the Strategist: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory

William Cohen's wide range of interests is explained by the variety of positions he has held throughout his career thus far. Currently, he is founder and president of The Institute of Leader Arts. He is also a retired major general from the U.S. Air Force Reserve. After graduating from West Point, Cohen flew 174 combat missions in A-26 aircraft in the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters, and the Air Medal with eleven oak leaf clusters. He has written 53 books, including The Stuff of Heroes, The New Art of Leader and The Art of the Strategist. His latest is A Class with Drucker. He also has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and M.A, and Ph.D. degrees from Claremont Graduate University. In this volume, Cohen responds to questions such as these: 1. Why is strategy the key to success in any enterprise? 2. What are the essential principles of strategy? 3. Why and how must strategy be tailored to the given competitive environment? 4. How to seize a decisive advantage and then sustain it? 5. How to use strategic positioning? 6. How to formulate multiple, simultaneous alternatives prior to a major initiative? 7. How to practice timing and sequencing? 8. How to respond to a crisis? 9. How can the essential principles of strategy be applied most effectively? 10. To what extent are these principles universal? To Cohen's substantial credit, he devotes relatively little attention to the "what" of organizational effectiveness and concentrates almost entirely on how to achieve it. In the Preface, he asserts that "tactical implementation should be directed toward implementing the right thing - a good strategy. Good implementation of a bad strategy is doing the wrong thing in the right way. It is optimizing the kind of approach that will eventually lead to defeat, not to triumph." In the business world, an inappropriate strategy (however effectively it may be implemented) will eventually lead to failure, not success. In this context, I am again reminded of what Cohen's graduate school professor and mentor, Peter Drucker, observed in 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." I especially appreciate Cohen's provision throughout his narrative of dozens of real-world examples to illustrate his key points. Within each chapter devoted to a specific essential principle, he includes a list o0f suggested action steps to achieve a specific objective. In Chapter 2, for example, here is what he recommends to ensure that an organization gains, and keeps, its competitive advantage: 1. Analyze the situation carefully. 2. Seek hidden opportunities and new solutions. 3. Act now! 4. Act boldly. 5. Keep the pressure on. Granted, none is a head-snapping revelation. Cohen is a pragmatist who places greatest emphasis on achieving the desired result(s). He explains each of the previously listed

The art of the strategist. The book title was correctly chosen. My way of understanding it, is something like this: - it is not a recipes book, it may look like one if you see it as a list of ten principles to be used while developing a strategy. - the problem is that the skill of the strategist will not be in knowing the list of principles, but in the choice of what principles to use and when. It is easy to read, it is the type of book that should be kept close so you can read it from time to time, for inspiration or for advice. If you are in a position to develop a strategy for your business or even for your career, the principles presented in this book will be of great help. To complement the concepts presented in this book it is interesting to read The Logic of Business Strategy by Bruce Henderson. Reading it is worth the price and the time spent.

Cohen is a consultant, speaker, and seminar leader with a PhD and significant military leadership experience (retired major general, US Air Force Reserve). His books (plural) bring helpful information to focus for leaders of all kinds of organizations. My first impression of this book is that it is designed well. The text begins with a positioning of Strategy in the leader's tool kit, then dives right into a listing and explanation of Cohen's ten essential principles of strategic leadership. The first is a no-brainer-or should be: Commit Fully to a Definite Objective. Remember the old adage: "If you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there." Your focus must be clear...and shared with team members. Next, Seize the Initiative and Keep It. Economize to Mass Your Resources. The list continues, with a solid chapter on each theme. The presentations are illuminated by examples and stories that help the reader understand how the principles have been applied over history. This approach builds interest and variety for the reader, enhancing the value of the book. The third section of the book addresses action steps to put the principles to work. Readers will learn how to link their plan to their environment, what to do when things go wrong (you know they will-Murphy is still with us!), and how to apply the universal principles. This handbook is good reading, and will also be a valuable tool for leaders of any kind of organization.

William A Cohen succeeds in his declared objective of establishing ten principles for leading a company to victory. He first provides a case for why strategic thinking is needed. He then introduces the ten principles within the context of some past research and the application of the principles. Ten chapters follow with each chapter elaborating one of the principles through additional detail and examples. The books end with an argument to establish the ten principles as universal principles that can be applied in all spheres of life. The book read with ease, is well structured and the content can be summarised without much effort. Information is presented in a way that it is easy to find information or to drill down to a specific topic. Supporting notes is at the back of the book with references within the chapters to guide the interested reader to additional information sources. The index is comprehensive and easy to use. Each chapter is ended with a concise summary that captures the essence of the chapter. Throughout the book the author keeps to the same recipe of clarity, simplicity and supporting anecdotes. The anecdotes are primarily based on the author's insights of war scenario's, battles and business cases. The author is seems to be more acquainted with war strategies than with business strategies. The principles are easy to grasp with broad based relevancy to business strategies. Although examples are given of the application of these strategies its correct application still will have to be mastered through experience. The content can hardly be described as revolutionary but can most definitely be commended for its clarity. It is not the equivalent of Sun Tzu's "Art of war" but it does capture key strategic elements with explicit clarity. Every strategist can use the book to create a checklist against which he can evaluate his strategies. The book effectively highlights several alternative approaches that are at the disposal of a strategist. This book might help to increase the life span of CEO's if they succeed to apply the ten principles in business.