The path to business success is filled with obstacles, detours, and tough decisions. To skillfully navigate these challenges, it is critical that leaders not only lead, but also effectively manage. The Touchstones of Leadership perfectly balances wisdom and wit to provide an indispensable resource for navigating leadership’s choppy waters.

Preface

Introduction | Laying the Foundation

Part 1 | Managing Oneself

Touchstone #1 | Don’t Focus on Things Outside of Your Control
Touchstone #2 | Never Mistake Activity for Achievement
Touchstone #3 | For Minor Matters, Trust Your Mind; for Major Matters, Rely on Your Gut
Touchstone #4 | Consider Using the Seventy-Two-Hour Rule When Faced with a Major Surprise
Touchstone #5 | Focus on Relationships and Results, Not Activities and Time-Saving
Touchstone #6 | Let Your Principles, Not Circumstances, Guide Your Behavior
Touchstone # 7 | When You Are Out Selling, Never Discuss Religion or Politics
Touchstone #8 | Never Pursue Glory; Pursue Excellence
Touchstone #9 | Procrastinators Are the Leaders of Tomorrow
Touchstone #10 | Sometimes You Must Take a Step Back to Take Two Steps Forward
Touchstone #11 | Those Who Dare to Teach Never Cease to Learn
Touchstone #12 | Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge
Touchstone #13 | Managing Is Doing Things Right; Leading Is Doing the Right Things

Part 2 | Interpersonal Skills

Touchstone #14 | Treat Employees as You Would Want Them to Treat Customers
Touchstone #15 | The More You Expect of People, the More They Achieve
Touchstone #16 | “No Deal” Is Better Than a “Bad Deal”
Touchstone #17 | Fear of Loss Often Results in Irrational Decisions
Touchstone #18 | Trust Is the Highest Form of Human Motivation
Touchstone #19 | Keep Those Who Hate You Away from Those Who Haven’t Made Up Their Minds
Touchstone #20 | Hate Is Difficult the Closer You Get to Someone
Touchstone #21 | Leaders Strive to Be Respected, Not to Be Loved
Touchstone #22 | The Human Soul Hungers to Be Appreciated, Valued, and Recognized
Touchstone #23 | A Formula for Failure Is to Try to Please Everybody All the Time

Part 3 | Managerial Skills

Touchstone #24 | A-Players Hire A-Players; B-Players Hire C-Players
Touchstone #25 | Never Negotiate against Yourself
Touchstone #26 | Never Negotiate “Line-by-Line” and “Bottom-Line” Simultaneously
Touchstone #27 | Once You Get into a Hole, Stop Digging
Touchstone #28 | Don’t Counter an Offer If You Can’t Split the Difference
Touchstone #29 | Problems Are Opportunities Dressed in Work Clothes
Touchstone #30 | In Theory, There Is No Difference between Theory and Practice. In Practice, There Is.
Touchstone #31 | Forecasts Should Be Accurate; Targets Should be Ambitious
Touchstone #32 | Focus on Results and People, Not Methods

Part 4 | Strategy and Alignment

Touchstone #33 | Strategy Is about Deliberately Choosing to Be Different
Touchstone #34 | The Essence of Strategy Is Choosing What Not to Do
Touchstone #35 | If You Can’t Fix It, Feature It
Touchstone #36 | Focus on What’s Strategically Best; Outsource the Rest
Touchstone #37 | Feed Opportunities; Starve Problems
Touchstone #38 | Bad News Is Not like Good Wine; It Doesn’t Get Better with Age
Touchstone #39 | Always Keep Time on Your Side
Touchstone #40 | Maintain Strategic Continuity; Don’t Keep Pulling Up the Flowers to See If the Roots Are Healthy
Touchstone #41 | Stop Doubling Down on Your Losing Strategy
Touchstone #42 | A Business Either Grows or Declines; It Never Remains Constant
Touchstone #43 | Assuming Your Competition Will Fail Is a Losing Strategy
Touchstone #44 | There Is No Upside without a Downside
Touchstone #45 | Simplicity Is the Crown of Genius; Complexity Is the Cloak of Mediocrity

Epilogue
Bibliography

"Touchstones captures a lifetime of experience running successful businesses and is condensed into an extremely useful and easy to remember format. Joe has managed to replicate the way he successfully operated as a CEO, board member and chair of various companies into an extremely useful reference guide for managers and leaders at all levels. His use of a one liner (or touchstone) captures the concept as well as the attention of the reader and at the same time displays a little of Joe’s personality. This flows logically into an explanation of the thought process, which brings the subject to life. Throughout his book, Joe draws on the principles of many scholars of business such as Drucker, Porter and others, but what Touchstones accomplishes is based more on reality than theory and as such is likely more useful as day-to-day reference material by experienced and aspiring managers and leaders alike."

Nick Green
President and CEO, Avid Bioservices

"This book represents a great compilation of lifelong experiences and lessons learned. I really like the takeaways at the end of each section which provides a ‘go to’ reference for most situations and reminders of key leadership traits. A must read and reference for future and current leaders."

Dave Bender
President, AvtechTyee Corporation

"In business, just about every mistake has already been made by someone. Great leaders and executives figure out those mistakes and avoid making them. Joe has provided a superb tool to help you navigate away from those all too common professional and personal pitfalls. Read away."

Paul Manning
Chairman, President and CEO, Sensient Technologies Corp.

"The Touchstones of Leadership is a fabulous book—very readable, thoroughly researched. It reveals that great leadership requires both leading and managing skills, but first and foremost the foundation of good leadership is the ability to manage oneself. Joe has distilled great management and leadership wisdom from his extensive industry experience and has captured them as 'touchstones,' gems of leadership and management which are as timeless as they are necessary to any successful organization. Touchstones presents a comprehensive, yet concise, leadership model that brings together the essential softer, interpersonal skills with the strategic and execution skills so necessary to become an effective leader in the business world. It is easily digestible and summarized in 'index cards' for later review."

William Readdy
US Navy Test Pilot, NASA Astronaut, NASA Senior Executive

"Dr. Carleone, a proven industry leader with many years of experience in diverse industries, has summarized his learnings into a very simple, easy to read, guide for business leaders. Internalizing the concepts associated with the ‘45 Touchstones’ will allow leaders to navigate through the complexities of business and will make a lasting difference in their careers and personal lives. This book is a must-read for all current and future business leaders.”

Dr. Aslam Malik
CEO, SK Pharmteco and AMPAC Fine Chemicals

"Whilst most leadership books contain some new insights and ah-ha moments for the aspiring leader, this book brings together a cornucopia of leadership wisdom distilled from the author’s own experiences and from studying the work of others in the field to provide a guide for self-improvement and further study for any business leader."

Mark R. Bamforth
Entrepreneur, mentor, and investor in life science