Athletic CEOs

Book excerpt: Athletic CEOs: Leadership in Turbulent Times is about CEOs who do not lead by the book: people who score low on emotional intelligence, do not praise their subordinates, and rarely provide constructive feedback or celebrate small wins. Yet it is also a book about high-performing transformational leaders: Alexander Dyukov (Gazprom Neft), German Gref (Sberbank), Eugene Kaspersky (Kaspersky Lab), and Vitaly Saveliev (Aeroflot). Each of these leaders have created formidable enterprises that deliver sustainable growth in profits and shareholder value, set new standards for the industry, leave a positive impact on their employees and on the country and the regions they operate in; and – most remarkably – continue to reinvent themselves. Having studied the work of these leaders for a decade, Shekshnia, Ulanovsky, and Zagieva’s model of athletic leadership summarizes the unique characteristics of these leaders and their leadership.