Books like The outsiders by William Thorndike


What makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise. Others might point to the qualities of today's so-called celebrity CEOs--charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters when you run an organization? What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Quite simply, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term. In this refreshing, counterintuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. You will meet eight individualistic CEOs whose firms' average returns outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of twenty--in other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million twenty-five years later. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne. In The Outsiders, you'll learn the traits and methods--striking for their consistency and relentless rationality--that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance. Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these 'outsiders' shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company's long-term value. Drawing on years of research and experience, Thorndike tells eye-opening stories, extracting lessons and revealing a compelling alternative model for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one--and reaping extraordinary returns.
First publish date: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics/Business Management
Authors: William Thorndike
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.0 (2 community ratings)

The outsiders by William Thorndike

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for The outsiders by William Thorndike are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.


Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to The outsiders (18 similar books)

Thinking, fast and slow by 6390436|Daniel Kahneman book cover

πŸ“˜ Thinking, fast and slow

Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow" explains how two distinct mental systems shape our judgments and decisions, offering insights into the biases that influence everyday choices.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.1 (189 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Steve Jobs by 12661862|Walter Isaacson book cover

πŸ“˜ Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steveβ€―Jobs draws on more than forty interviews with the pioneer and the perspectives of family, friends, competitors, and colleagues, portraying his relentless drive, meticulous perfectionism, and profound influence on personal computing, animation, music, phones, tablets and digital publishing.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.2 (152 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Innovators by 12661862|Walter Isaacson book cover

πŸ“˜ The Innovators

Walter Isaacson chronicles the minds that forged the digital age, from Ada Lovelace to Larry Page, showing how vision, collaboration, and engineering transformed abstract ideas into the computers, Internet, and technology we use today.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 3.9 (21 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The big short by 6940939|Michael Lewis book cover

πŸ“˜ The big short

Michael Lewis explains how the 2008 financial crisis unfolded, focusing on subprime mortgages, CDOs, and the people who bet against the collapsing market.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.6 (18 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Innovator's Dilemma by 6744863|Clayton M. Christensen book cover

πŸ“˜ The Innovator's Dilemma

Clayton Christensen explains why leading firms can fail when they follow the right strategy, and offers rules for exploiting disruptive innovation to avoid losing market leadership.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 3.9 (16 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Dare to lead by 7427985|Brené Brown book cover

πŸ“˜ Dare to lead


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 4.1 (7 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Creative Confidence by 10273241|Tom Kelley book cover

πŸ“˜ Creative Confidence
 by Tom Kelley

Creative Confidence shows how every person can unlock and apply their creative potential in business and everyday life, using insights and examples from IDEO’s design practice.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 3.2 (5 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Wright Brothers by 6944018|David McCullough book cover

πŸ“˜ The Wright Brothers

Davidβ€―McCullough chronicles the daring brothers who, in 1903, achieved the first human‑powered flight on the Outer Banks of Northβ€―Carolina, revealing their ingenuity, determination, and the family support that drove their success.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Primal Leadership by 6579993|Daniel Goleman book cover

πŸ“˜ Primal Leadership


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
CEO by 8278316|David L. Kurtz book cover

πŸ“˜ CEO


β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Drucker Foundation self-assessment tool by 8650470|Peter F. Drucker book cover

πŸ“˜ The Drucker Foundation self-assessment tool

Suggests five questions leaders should use to evaluate their organization and make changes, covering mission, customers and their values, results, and plans.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The little black book of success by 4731682|Elaine Meryl Brown book cover

πŸ“˜ The little black book of success

Three successful black women executives reveal practical strategies for building confidence, effective communication, collaboration, and courage, while navigating stereotypes and self-victimization to advance careers.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
1000 CEOs by 7001926|Dorling Kindersley book cover

πŸ“˜ 1000 CEOs

From moguls to maverick CEOs, learn their secrets, share their successFrom safe hands to young turks, risk takers to innovators – get the instant profiles of 1,000 of the world's best CEOs. Definitive biographies deliver all the essential information on each CEO's career, their highs, lows, management style, vision and distilled wisdom, providing vital lessons that will give YOU the competitive advantage.Pick up tips from the icons of business, from Bill Gates to Lou Gernster. Draw on the experiences of big partnerships and family dynasties and find out how the likes of Steve Jobs make innovation essential. Plus, discover things you can do NOW – from motivation to how to handle a crisis.Incisive, insightful and inspiring, this is your chance to meet and learn from the CEO's leading the business world.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
What the Best CEOs Know by 5534962|Jeffrey A. Krames book cover

πŸ“˜ What the Best CEOs Know

Leadership Strategies and Secrets of Seven Extraordinarily Successful CEOsWhat the Best CEOs Know looks at the careers of this generation’s top CEOs, examining the beliefs and actions that propelled each to the top of the corporate world. By exploring what they did, why they did it, and what might have happened had they done it differently, this remarkable book turns the wisdom, strategies, and tactics of these business-world icons into a step-by-step handbook for the pursuit and achievement of breakthrough corporate leadershipβ€”at any level, in any industry.Praise for What the Best CEOs Know:β€œFor those without the time to keep up with the flood of CEO biographies, this is the thinking man’s encapsulated summary. Krames distills the core insights from the elite of business leadership in our time. He captures the powerful insights rather than the conventional wisdom, and he simplifies without dumbing down. But most of all, he presents a provocative, engaging read that will stretch the thinking of any practicing manager.”—Christopher Bartlett, Thomas D. Casserly, Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Businessβ€œBy capturing the unique traits and strategies of these seven leaders, Krames gives aspiring CEOs a valuable blueprint for success in an increasingly tough global market.”—Klaus Kleinfeld, President & CEO, Siemens CorporationMichael Dell ... Bill Gates ... Lou Gerstner ... Andy Grove ... Herb Kelleher ... Sam Walton ... Jack Welch ...What the Best CEOs Know goes beyond theory and guesswork to look at how seven contemporary business icons carved their own paths to the pinnacles of corporate achievement. This no-nonsense guide isolates and examines the specific skills and styles that contributed to each CEO’s well-documented achievements. Its straightforward, sometimes startling, but always battle-tested guidelines for achievement include:How Bill Gates trusted the instincts of his employees and successfully transformed Microsoft into a leading Web driver and innovator How Andy Grove fostered awareness in his troopsβ€”what he calls paranoiaβ€”to sense threats and turn them to Intel’s competitive advantage How Michael Dell created a computer juggernaut by placing customers at the epicenter of his enterprise How Jack Welch created a learning infrastructure, aligning rewards with results to make GE an organization that harnessed the ideas and intellect of every employee Herb Kelleher’s rules for creating an exceptional small company culture, even as Southwest grew to more than 30,000 employees Along with subject interviews and expert analyses, What the Best CEOs Know features interactive What Would (the CEO) Do? case studies, Assessing Your CEO Quotient self-tests, and other innovative features to help you apply these traits and strategies to your own career. Contributions from CEOs and leading business theorists, including Philip Kotler, examine the CEOs from different viewpoints and add insights to particular concepts. Each chapter concludes with additional suggestions for adapting and implementing industry-specific ideas to improve your own organization.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
How to become CEO by 6559893|Jeffrey J. Fox book cover

πŸ“˜ How to become CEO

A practical career guide for aspiring CEOs, offering 75 specific rules on leadership, vision, integrity, and workforce management to help climb corporate ranks without compromising ethics.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
In search of excellence by 8181587|Thomas J. Peters book cover

πŸ“˜ In search of excellence

A concise guide that outlines eight essential practices for managing companies successfully in the United States.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
What the CEO Wants You to Know by 6565570|Ram Charan book cover

πŸ“˜ What the CEO Wants You to Know
 by Ram Charan

Discover the universal business principles that drive CEOs to consistent profit, distilled from Ram Charan’s experience from his family shoe shop to advising Fortune 500 leaders.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The mind of the CEO by 8164444|Jeffrey E. Garten book cover

πŸ“˜ The mind of the CEO

The Mind of the CEO explores how top executives view their roles and navigate change, drawing on interviews with forty global CEOs from GE, AOL, Newscorp, BP Amoco, Nokia, and Toyota.

β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Some Other Similar Books

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Becoming Warren Buffett by Robert G. Hagstrom
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!