4 out of 4 stars
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It may not be unusual to find real-life situations presented in a fictitious way. However, when these situations are mundane, textbook business concepts, such a presentation becomes unique. Gary Brose started or purchased twenty plus companies in a thirty-year span starting 1981. Many were his lessons in regards to staying-in-business techniques. Brose then decided to condense these techniques in a way that the reader would feel the real-world pain, fear, and angst of leading a department or company through massive change. Thus, Express Exec was 'born.'
Although the book’s description promised a business book in novel form, I still expected to encounter some dull, technical interlude characteristic of many business books. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on an exciting roller coaster ride. A young company executive valiantly tried to swim upstream in the turbulent waters of a dying company, apathetic employees, the boss’ non-performing pet employee, top management’s resistance to change, and some unexpected foul play. Complex business principles were so cleverly hidden in the book that it wasn’t easy to see them as textbook principles. Below is an example:
Juggernaut Industries has six months to turn around her financial standing or else, the bank won’t advance her a loan desperately needed to keep the company afloat. The company CEO challenges senior management to come up with ways to save the company. The other VPs only coin business as usual solutions – cut costs, lay off a few people, add a sales rep, get everyone to work faster and harder. On the other hand, Andrea Lane, the main protagonist, comes to the conclusion that the company’s only hope lies in making some drastic changes. With her uncle mentoring her, Andrea decides to effect these changes. As the reader walks with her through her fear, pain, joy, and frustration, it becomes apparent there is someone out to sabotage her efforts and crash the company. Will Andrea’s efforts bear fruit or will the company be sold for a song?As they took their seats, she flashed back, remembering an article saying that a speech like the one she was about to give needed to be well articulated and a bit inspiring. It had to explain the reason change is necessary, the challenges and opportunities ahead, and paint a picture of how making those changes would impact the employees in a good way. She swallowed hard.
The book deals with getting one’s business into the express lane. You see, in life, change must happen no matter what. We can choose to embrace it and make it work for us. Brose beautifully sums this up as:
The storyline was exciting and easy to follow. Dates, over a six-month period, replaced chapter numbers. The resulting chronological narration was in the third person using Andrea’s and on a few occasions other characters’ points of view. This effectively gives the reader an omniscient grasp of the plot. I had fun watching Andrea fight against all odds to humanely push her agenda through. The author successfully weaved suspense into the unusual twists. The characters were so authentic that had they stepped off the pages, they could have walked right into a real company and signed in for work! Moreover, there seemed to be a budding romance. This kept me guessing at how it was going to blossom.You may be powerless to stop the world from passing you by, but you are not powerless to gain from it.
The conversational writing style was articulate and engaging. The author’s unique way of introducing business concepts was quite refreshing. I was treated to interesting perspectives on team building, coaching, meritocracy, staff motivation, and many others without breaking a sweat. The author avoided technical ‘how to’ descriptions by simply showing a sample. For example, instead of explaining how to draw up a bonus program, he just posted what Andrea had come up with.
The core themes in the book are change management and employee engagement/productivity. It was evident right from the cover that ‘things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!' The antagonistic and anxiety-ridden nature of organizational annual performance reviews was specifically singled out. The book is professionally edited. I only encountered a couple of errors.
All the same, there were two dampers on this book. First, in a few instances, the narration moved on to a different scene, without proper spacing from the previous scene. This caused momentary confusion. In addition, the author decided to insert a summary explaining various business concepts he had employed in the book, before concluding the interesting story. I found this distracting. The author should consider putting this summary at the very end of the book.
The issues raised above are however very minor when viewed against the backdrop of the overall unique and enticing plot execution, superb character development and professional editing. I, therefore, don’t hesitate to rate Express Exec 4 out of 4 stars.
HR managers, departmental heads, business executives and business owners stand to benefit most from this book. I recommend it to entrepreneurs, managers, business students and all lovers of fast-paced fictional drama.
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Express Exec
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