Touchstones of Leadership – The Book
In The Touchstones of Leadership, Joseph Carleone distills decades of real-world experience into 45 succinct principles to guide business leaders through the challenges of running an organization at all levels. Organized within a comprehensive four-part model, the principles form a strategic compass directing organizations from managing operations to aligning strategy.
While pragmatic, the touchstones also inspire leaders to
- Act with emotional intelligence
- Seek growth opportunities
- Build trust
- Make values-driven decisions
From historical leaders to management research, Carleone draws broadly to showcase the universal applicability of the touchstones and how they enabled business turnarounds, facilitated smooth leadership transitions after acquisitions, and reversed the fortunes of a struggling subsidiary under his command.
In the aggregate these Touchstones reveal a common message: great leadership is built upon trust and mutual respect.
Balancing profundity and wit, these principles form an indispensable leadership code for turbulent times. Both visionary and results-driven, The Touchstones of Leadership perfectly captures the essence of values-centered leadership. It provides a reliable compass for leaders across industries seeking to navigate obstacles and drive enduring success.
Leadership and the Touchstones of Effective Management with Joseph Carleone
Nick Capman sits down with Joseph Carleone, author of “The Touchstones of Leadership: Essential Principles for Business Leaders,” to explore the core elements of effective leadership across diverse industries. Joseph shares his extensive experience from leadership roles in aerospace and pharmaceuticals, highlighting the universal aspects of leadership and management despite apparent industry differences.
Endorsements
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 provide 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.
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 OBE
Entrepreneur, mentor, and investor in life science
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