Part Five.

Questions 23 – 28 

Read the following review of a

book called

John Stuart is an executive

recruitment specialist who has turned to writing.  The result is this book, based on interviews

with twenty Chief Executives.

Each top manager – none of

them famous names, surprisingly – is given a short chapter, and there is some

introductory material and a conclusion. 

This means you can jump from one person to another, in any order, which

is good for people who are too busy to read a book from cover to cover.  For a management book it isn’t expensive,

although whether it’s good value for money is doubtful.

Some of the twenty

interviewees started their own businesses, while others joined a company and

worked their way up.  Some are fairly new

in their position, and others have had years of experience, though, strangely,

Stuart doesn’t seem interested in these differences.  The interviewees work in everything, from

retailing to airlines to software, and it is this variety that forms the main

theme of Stuart’s book.

I have to say that Stuart’s

approach annoys me.  He rarely stays at a

distance from his interviewees, who are mostly presented in their own, positive

words.  If this were always the case, at

least you would know where you were.  But

he seems to dislike certain interviewees. 

As a result, I don’t know whether to accept any of his opinions.

It also means that the book

gives no clear lessons.  At the very

least, I expected to learn what makes a successful Chief Executive.  But these people seem to share two types of

qualities.  Some of them are very common,

suggesting that anyone can be equally successful, which is definitely not the

case.  And the other qualities are ones

which most successful bosses I’ve seen definitely do not have.  So in the end I’m no wiser about what really

goes on.

Perhaps I’m being unfair.  As long as you don’t think about whether

you’d like them as friends, and pay no attention to most of the advice they

give, the most readable parts are where the bosses describe their route to

their present position.

Stuart seems to think that his

book would be useful for people aiming for the top, and that it might even make

a few want to start their own company; but, in fact, what they could learn here

is very limited.  Seen as light business

reading for a doctor or teacher, though, this book would provide some good

entertainment.

23.

The reviewer suggests that one advantage of the book

is that