On Leadership

The definitive analysis of what it takes to be a great business leader, written by one of the UK's top businessmen and based on interviews with leading figures from every walk of business life.

On Leadership is immensely readable. It will provide a welcome resource for those wanting to tell others stories about leadership and for those who want to relate their own experience to the collected wisdom of many of today's brightest business leaders

The best connected man in the business world

He takes us on a breakneck tour of the hot topics of business in 2007 ... the contributors of the book are impressive and interesting, and the book barrels along at such a pace, with such enthusiasm, that we are breathlessly carried along ... On Leadership is a profoundly hopeful read - informed by the almost palpable joy Leighton feels in inspiring and leading others

The best management book I've read in a long while

Leighton has chosen to consult an impressive selection of friends and colleagues about the subject, and chuck in his own thoughts in a jaunty narrative. His cast is first rate, and his access to A-list business leaders striking ... for a selection of conventional wisdom on business leadership, and a sense of what is being discussed in the first-class lounges of the world's airports, you could do no better than to read this book

Allan Leighton made his name at supermarket group ASDA, transforming it from a £500 million company to one sold to US giant Wal-Mart for £6.2 billion in 1999. In 2002 he was personally appointed by the Prime Minister to turn around the loss-making Royal Mail, and he has achieved that task in only four years, bringing about a revival in the Royal Mail's fortunes that few experts felt to be possible. He has sat on the board of many leading companies, including lastminute.com and BSkyB, and is widely regarded as one of the UK's top business leaders. He lives in West Yorkshire.

There have been many books on leadership, but here at last is one that actually draws on the wisdom of those in the know. Acting on his belief that you get the most done in the first twenty minutes of a meeting, Allan Leighton invited Britain's top businessmen and women to spend just twenty minutes talking about their views on leadership. And he has talked to an astonishing range of them - the established giants such as Philip Green and Rupert Murdoch; the new generation of leaders, such as Andy Hornby at HBOS and Justin King at Sainsbury; and entrepreneurial figures who include James Dyson and Gulam Noon at Noon Foods. He has gone further too - interviewing the nation's top financial journalists, whose views can help make a company soar or sink; the money men, whose support is critical for investment and acquisition; the politicians, who help create the climate in which businesses can thrive or falter. The result is a fascinating, 360 degree view of what it takes to be a business leader in today's cut-throat global economy - thought-provoking, often surprising, always insightful.

Allan Leighton

Admirable stuff… I have no doubt Tough Calls will follow Leighton's On Leadership onto the bestseller charts. It deserves to … We need leaders of Leighton's simple, direct, analytical and visionary stamp to see our great corporations through. Tough Calls is a topical read indeed

Tough Calls should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to the boardroom. But, equally, it is a useful guide for leaders and decision-makers in many walks of life, from voluntary organizations to community councils

There are many enjoyable moments in Allan Leighton’s latest book, Tough Calls

An engaging, very readable collection of business anecdotes from such luminaries as Sir Terry Leahy and Archie Norman

Unlike many other authors in this field, [Allan Leighton] doesn’t try to bamboozle you with jargon or fancy theories; he tells it like it is

Easy to read and very useful … Leighton’s literary walkabout generates excellent views, hypotheses and anecdotes, followed by sound conclusions

Making the right decisions in challenging times

We all make decisions every day. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but every so often there are some really tough calls. In business the choices that executives are sometimes faced with can make the difference between acclaimed success and ongoing prosperity, and failure and financial disaster. 
 
In Tough Calls, leading businessman Allan Leighton focuses on specific decisions he has made in the course of his career - at ASDA, Royal Mail and elsewhere - and describes the thought processes behind them. He also talks to many others in the know, from Sir Stuart Rose and Sir Terry Leahy to Adam Crozier at ITV and Stephen Hester at RBS. Taking into account facts that were known to them at the time, as well as other interrelated factors and potentially high-risk consequences, this line-up of top executives outline their approaches to breaking down often highly complex problems into achievable solutions. 
 
All Allan Leighton’s royalties from this book will be donated to Breast Cancer Care (Registered charity: England and Wales 1017658, Scotland SC038104)

Allan Leighton

Praise for Tough Calls

Admirable stuff… I have no doubt Tough Calls will follow Leighton's On Leadership onto the bestseller charts. It deserves to … We need leaders of Leighton's simple, direct, analytical and visionary sta ...

Tough Calls should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to the boardroom. But, equally, it is a useful guide for leaders and decision-makers in many walks of life, from voluntary organizations to communi ...

There are many enjoyable moments in Allan Leighton’s latest book, Tough Calls

Admirable stuff… I have no doubt Tough Calls will follow Leighton's On Leadership onto the bestseller charts. It deserves to … We need leaders of Leighton's simple, direct, analytical and visionary sta ...

Tough Calls should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to the boardroom. But, equally, it is a useful guide for leaders and decision-makers in many walks of life, from voluntary organizations to communi ...

There are many enjoyable moments in Allan Leighton’s latest book, Tough Calls

Admirable stuff… I have no doubt Tough Calls will follow Leighton's On Leadership onto the bestseller charts. It deserves to … We need leaders of Leighton's simple, direct, analytical and visionary sta ...

Tough Calls should be compulsory reading for anyone aspiring to the boardroom. But, equally, it is a useful guide for leaders and decision-makers in many walks of life, from voluntary organizations to communi ...

There are many enjoyable moments in Allan Leighton’s latest book, Tough Calls

Books by Allan Leighton

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter