Top Dog: A Different Kind of Book about Becoming an Excellent Leader

I found myself looking forward to the switches between fiction and non-fiction equally. Top Dog entices the reader on both levels. I definitely got two books for the price of one. In terms of the non-fiction -- I'm not in management, I'm in managee, and I found this book to be an excellent insight to what upper management has to deal with on a daily basis. The fictional portion was as good as any of the novels that I've read from the New York Times Bestseller lists. It left me wanting more...

Top Dog: an instructive and entertaining blend of management text, fiction, case experience and leadership commentary. Pincus and DeBonis weave a well researched and reported account (fictional, or at least fictionalized) of a "cooking the books" crisis at a major hotel chain into discussion and presentation of the leadership and communication issues raised in the story. All this is supported by interviews with CEOs and reviews of current research and practice, and illustrated by many anecdotes and other cases. The alternating format is at first unsettling and then highly effective. It offers a much more appealing and enjoyable learning process than conventional management texts.

In the daily media, CEOS are often portrayed as ruthless, profit-driven moguls more concerned with their own golden parachutes than with employees and customers. The complexity and challenges of the CEO's role are understood by very few people. J. David Pincus, the lead author of Top Dog, provides depth and insight into the chief executive's role while also teaching us lessons about internal and external communication.As a veteran professional in the communication field, I have read dozens of corporate books designed to illuminate, inspire and bring about change in business communication. It is rare to find one that keeps you turning pages all through the night -- Top Dog is such a book.Pincus combines the gifts of a talented novelist with a researcher's painstaking attention to detail. He presents corporate life in raw form, showing the insecurities, arrogance, pettiness and base motives of his characters along with the deep desire (of at least the main character) to do the right thing. The story in the novel is portrayed so accurately, so humanly, that it will ring true with the college freshman as well as the "top dog" in a major corporation. But Pincus and his co-author J. Nicholas DeBonis also take it a step further. They intersperse chapters of this gripping novel with equally thought-provoking and intelligent chapters of analysis. Yes, this is a book that makes you think, but you will have fun doing it. If I were a CEO today, I would not only read this book, I'd make it required reading for everyone in my company. Until everyone in a company understands the challenges faced by the "top dog", the communication problems in business will only compound.

David Pincus is well-known for his management research of Fortune 500 companies. He puts his research results to good use with co-author, Debonis in this combination fiction-non-fiction book about a CEO in a crisis. Like any novel, the fictional story that alternates chapters of Top Dog, develops memorable characters we root for, such as the protagonist CEO Arlen Royster, and those we want to see vanquished. It is a good story on its own merit, set in the crisis atmosphere of a large business. As story complications arise, the factual chapters discuss real world business problems and solutions that relate to the story. These chapters draw on Pincus's interviews with well-known CEOs and interesting, relevant case studies. It is an excellent and effective technique that keeps the reader interested.Anyone in management will find Top Dog worth reading.

The authors' unique combination of fiction and research-based business communication principles makes this great vacation reading for any executive who wants to improve his or her leadership and communication skills. Although the fictional story wouldn't make it to the New York Times bestseller list on its own, it is engaging and it sets the stage for the salient principles that follow. The numerous case studies and quotes by prominent CEO's makes the book a credible, relevant, practical and essential tool for anyone who must lead an organization. I highly recommend it!