CEO Test

Adam Bryant is managing director of The ExCo Group, a leadership development and mentoring firm, where he's worked with hundreds of CEOs. Prior to this he was a journalist for 30 years, including at the New York Times where he created and authored the massively successful "Corner Office" column in which he interviewed CEOs about their key leadership lessons. He's the author of Quick and Nimble and The Corner Office, a bestseller. He is also the Senior Advisor to the Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership at Columbia University.Kevin Sharer is the former CEO of Amgen, the largest biotech company in the world. He spent 20 years in the role, growing the company from $1 billion to nearly $16 billion. He is a former chief engineering officer in the Navy and Lieutenant Commander on fast-attack submarines. He has helped with more than 20 major CEO transitions for various companies. He teaches at Harvard Business School, where he is the cocreator of a successful course on the life and role of the CEO.You can find Adam Bryant at adambryantbooks.com/, @adambryant, and Linkedin: AdamBryantLeadership.You can find Kevin Sharer at hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=681583.

Shortlisted for the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award in the Leadership Category"I would comfortably recommend this book to anyone from business school students to CEOs in the most successful organizations, anyone who desires to embody the qualities of authentic leadership." — The LaddersAdvance Praise for The CEO Test:"Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer make a brilliant, inspired team. Bryant brings a vast mental database of more than six hundred structured conversations with elite leaders, combined with a gift for weaving smart, lucid prose. Sharer brings decades of strategic experience, including as CEO of Amgen, which became one of the world's first truly great and enduring biotechnology companies. I just love the idea of bringing Bryant's incisive insight together with Sharer's practical wisdom to address the vexing challenges of leadership." — Jim Collins, author, Good to Great; coauthor, Built to Last and Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0"Sharer and Bryant mine insights from hundreds of CEOs to identify universal lessons that will help leaders at all levels become more effective. They steer clear of the truisms and platitudes that are all too common in leadership books and instead rely on their genuine journalistic curiosity and a gift for pattern-spotting—along with memorable stories—to bring the essential challenges of leadership to life." — Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO, The New York Times Company"The CEO Test provides an honest, candid approach to the countless issues that leaders at all levels might face. It's a must-read, whether you’re in the CEO seat today or aspire to be in it in the future." — Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and CEO, American Express"Bryant and Sharer have captured the essence of successful leadership. Their examples are equally applicable to companies large and small and to leaders of all functions and levels, from the C-suite to entry level." — Ellen J. Kullman, former Chairman and CEO, DuPont; CEO, Carbon"As two astute observers and successful practitioners of the art themselves, Bryant and Sharer have crafted a magnificently insightful guide to great leadership. The CEO Test should be required reading, not just for CEOs but for leaders at all levels who are ready to raise their game." — Ronald D. Sugar, former Chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman Corporation; board director, Apple, Amgen, Chevron, and Uber