Product Description

Real-world executives reveal how their early experiences have helped them become the best in business, and beyond

How were they raised? What mistakes did they make along the way? What were the adversities they faced? These are just a sampling of key questions top leaders answer in From the Sandbox to the Corner Office. Many of them were spanked as children, including Time Warner's CEO whose parents used a switch from a tree. Others faced major obstacles, such as Ameritrade's CEO who has struggled with stuttering all his life. And many were immigrants who worked their way out of poverty, such as the COO of Cingular who as a young boy came to America from Cuba alone. Based on more than 50 interviews with some of todayâs top corporate executives and leaders from all walks of life, this book offers key lessons for those looking to achieve success in todayâs world of business, nonprofits, and government.

With this book as their guide, readers will learn what it takes to make it to the top and discover that a good resume or an MBA from a leading business school doesnât always help you get there. In this one-of-a-kind book, seasoned executives open up to author Eve Tahmincioglu and reveal both the successes and setbacks faced during their journey. These individuals discuss both the personal and professional experiencesâfrom near-fatal mistakes to the influence of parentsâthat have shaped the way they lead and offer valuable insights that can benefit employees of all levels, from starting managers to CEOs.

Eve Tahmincioglu (Wilmington, DE) is a regular contributor to the New York Times business section and one of the lead writers on "The Boss" column. She has been interviewing executives from a wide range of industries for the bulk of her career.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #816618 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 225 pages

From the Inside Flap
When you think of how high-powered executives and CEOs end up in the lavish corner office, certain things probably come to mind, such as an Ivy League education, personal connections, or even a silver spoon. While these factors may sometimes play a role in making it to the top, in most cases there is something else that propels these individuals to the upper tier of their careers. That something else is the ability to use their life experiences—and the lessons learned from them—to gain a competitive edge.

Author Eve Tahmincioglu is a regular contributor to the New York Times business section and for the past five years she has been one of the main writers of its popular "The Boss" column. It is here where she discovered how life's lessons have allowed some of today's best leaders to make it to the top of their profession. And now, with From the Sandbox to the Corner Office, Tahmincioglu looks to share these lessons with you.

Based on more than fifty interviews with some of today's top executives and leaders from all walks of life, From the Sandbox to the Corner Office offers key lessons for those looking to achieve success in today's world of business, nonprofits, and government. In each engaging chapter, CEOs who run major organizations, as well as entrepreneurs who have made a name for themselves, vividly recount the professional and personal experiences—as a child and an adult—that taught them lessons about life, work, and leadership. Along the way, these individuals talk about everything from their parents, first jobs, and career moves to seeking out mentors, overcoming adversity, and dealing with bad bosses.

Some of the people you'll hear from include:

• Richard Parsons, CEO of Time Warner
• Pernille Spiers-Lopez, President of IKEA North America
• Brian Gallagher, President of the United Way
• Ralph de la Vega, COO of Cingular Wireless
• Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises

Filled with real-world stories and practical advice, From the Sandbox to the Corner Office offers valuable insights that anyone can use—whether you aspire to run a global organization, start your own company, or help your children get off on the right foot.

From the Back Cover
Praise for FROM THE SANDBOX TO THE CORNER OFFICE

"From the Sandbox to the Corner Office offers remarkable insights about the ways our childhood and early life shapes who we become at work. This illuminating book not only helps us understand the recurring patterns in our leadership but also shows us, as parents, how our behavior at home prepares our children to contribute their very best in the workplace."
—Kate Ludeman, Executive Coach and coauthor of Alpha Male Syndrome: Curb the Belligerence, Channel the Brilliance

"Sandbox is a terrific book about overcoming something we almost dare not name today: adversity. Today's adults know little of it, parents are certainly terrified by it, children are not allowed to experience it. But the leaders in Tahmincioglu's book often got where they were only because they were allowed to triumph through it. Sandbox is a much needed wake-up call for our culture!"
—Betsy Hart, author of It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting Is Hurting Our Kids—and What to Do About It

"There is no clear path to becoming a great business leader. You need to find your own way based on your own individuality. And you need to learn from the lessons of those who have succeeded. Ms. Tahmincioglu's interviews with the country's most impressive leaders give an unparalleled collection of such lessons."
—George N. Hatsopoulos, founder and former CEO, Thermo Electron Corporation

"What I really like about this book is that we get to see real leaders up close and as whole people and so understand better the many and varied sources of influence on their progress. We come to understand better that learning leadership doesn't happen only through career experiences; it's the result of a wide range of life experiences from which smart and sensitive people garner wisdom they then put to good effect."
—Stew Friedman

Practice Professor of Management, Director, Wharton Work/Life Integration Project, The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania

About the Author
EVE TAHMINCIOGLU is a regular contributor to the New York Times business section and one of the lead writers on "The Boss" column. She has written for BusinessWeek, Salon, and Time, and was a staff business reporter for UPI, the St. Petersburg Times, and Women's Wear Daily. Tahmincioglu has been interviewing executives from a wide range of industries for the bulk of her career.

Customer Reviews

Pleasant and well-organized but forgettable for me. ...
... perhaps it may mean more for you if you have a strong enough desire to rise to the top. The one major impression I was left with was how diverse the ways were that these executives rose to the top. So no pattern (other than hard and well-leveraged work) but just recognizing that there is no pattern may be of value to you.

It's well-organized. The several lessons at the end of the presentation on each executive may be useful in themselves albeit many are general and almost none seem that notable. "When a door shuts, another door opens wide" : profound? At least encouraging, certainly preferrable to "When a door shuts, another will never open". But do these lessons resemble much of the advice of fortune tellers, i.e. almost always a fit but in the main not all that helpful.

Some of the experiences and lessons of these executives hardly seem different than what I have learned and from what I expect you have learned: the kind of learning that almost anyone who has had jobs will know. Others are more pertinent to those who lead, certainly you won't become a top executive if you're not a leader. However, there seems to be little in common among these leaders although than having had, from an early time it seems, a desire to lead and the corresponding willingness to make tough decisions and take risks.

Does it really help to know if an executive was spanked or not as a child? Might there not have been a better use of Tahmincioglu's time with these executives? Or will knowing that help you identify better with these leaders or decide how you want to raise your children? Hopefully not the latter.

Unfortunately, it seems top executives cannot reveal too much about their current issues so talking about their childhood, first jobs, and mentors may have been safe. Who hasn't had bad bosses? Is there anything in common about dealing with each of them?

So many different ways to lead, so many different ways to have become a leader, so many different job experiences every worker will have. There are some pleasant stories here but will they apply to you? The lesson may be not to look for any lessons other than those you work out with difficulty for yourself.

Wealth of information....
...on CEOS and how they came to be. This amazing collection of CEO life stories is a true treasure. Its a fun read and allows you to draw your own conclusion as to what drives a human being to strive for that leadership position. The intimate stories Eve manages to draw from these otherwise typically private leaders is invaluable and very entertaining. This book is great for many audiences...young parents, young adults on their way to their own version of success, and anyone, really, just for the individual anectodal stories that are quite interesting. I even gave a copy to my 16 year old. Would highly recommend.

A worthwhile read
"From the Sandbox" offers practical tips for the budding executive and for parents who want to establish a positive work ethic and nurturing environment for their kids. The anecdotes offered by the profiled executives are insightful and at times compelling.