The Effective Executive cover art

The Effective Executive

The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Effective Executive

Written by: Peter F. Drucker
Narrated by: Jim Collins, Timothy Andrés Pabon
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.46

Buy Now for $24.46

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A commemorative edition of Peter F. Drucker's timeless classic work on leadership and management, with a foreword by Jim Collins.

What makes an effective executive?

For decades Peter F. Drucker was widely regarded as "the dean of this country's business and management philosophers" (Wall Street Journal). In this concise and brilliant work, he looks to the most influential position in management - the executive.

The measure of the executive, Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done". This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.

Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can - and must - be mastered:

  • Managing time
  • Choosing what to contribute to the organization
  • Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect
  • Setting the right priorities
  • Knitting all of them together with effective decision making

Ranging across the annals of business and government, Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.

©2017 Peter F. Drucker (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Management & Leadership Small Business & Entrepreneurship Business Thought-Provoking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Effective Executive

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    116
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    90
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    89
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Much needed insight and instruction - loved it!

I almost didnt get this because of some negative comments on Audible. To my delight - the book was one of the best I’ve ever listened to. Full of applicable wisdom from an old-school genius in effectiveness for executives. Truth doesn't change with time. So the truth in these lessons holds up, even if the illustrations used are a few decades old. If you listen for the guiding principles, and are comfortable thinking through their application - you will find some valuable advice in the Effective Executive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must Read

this book is for anyone who has to manage themselves or others.
It is a must read for anyone who works with others in a leadership role.
I recommend this book for anyone who struggles to prioritize their time.
#Audible1

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Solid foundations for any knowledge worker

This book felt like an extended cut of "Managing Oneself" with much more emphasis on decisions and teams. Had I read the books in a different order or format this probably would have been 5 stars.

The forward does a great job summarizing the entire book. made this special edition worth it.

Many topics were covered from deciding how to contribute, making decisions and managing your time. Each has stories and examples throughout.

The advice is timeless, but grounded in stories from the time it was written. This is made apparent through hints at what a world could be with computers which are all bang on. I like it as it helps the book cut deeper into what makes to leaders work.

Would highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Principles Still Relevant Today

Key management lessons for those in manager or leadership positions, but applicable to anyone who has even an inkling of wanting to do more for themselves and their organizations. It provides guidance on essential questions to ask yourself day to day, and has helped answer some problems I have been having in my management role giving me a clearer direction on how to move forward and prevent future problems from arising.

It feels simple and concise, but I know I will be coming back to this auidobook often to review its lessons, truly a timeless classic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Timeless and powerful

I've read many books about business and management, but this one really stands out. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to step up their accountability and effectiveness. As someone who has long prided himself on being a hard worker, I now realize that working hard is not enough. Effectiveness is the aim. Powerful tools and mindset within!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not exactly what a expected

The beginning was strong - Jim Collins has done a great job in foreword, but than it went from level 10 to level ...4. The narrator was very boring and made it really hard to focus on the boring topic to begin with.

The book itself reminds me a lecture from the old professor, who has a wealth of knowledge but has hard time delivering it. Some of the example provided were very good, but they were very rare and sporadic.

This book should be taken a pieces and rearranged and put together in different order with better organized examples.

Overall book provides very good knowledge and understanding of management and how to be an executive, but fails to do it in efficient manner and in order to get 100% out of this book you have to come back to it 2 or 3 times to get last pieces of the puzzle - something I am not thrilled to do after boring 8 hours of listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

First Drucker Book....fantastic

Great book, loved the forward by Jim Collins, entire book kept me going right to the end and I was left with more ideas on other books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

the narration could be better, very monotone almost felt like a computer was reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just OK - some good principles

Thought this book was OK. Overall had some good principles in them. Spoken about at a pretty high level.

Perhaps these were pretty novel for their time but the recommendations in this book are slim and generic.

“Make effective decisions by choosing what not to invest your time into.”

“Focus on one thing at a time.”

Perhaps these were revolutionary at the time but in 2023, these are overused cliches that lack meaning on their own - it takes an author of great skill to expand on them enough to make them meaningful again.

But Drucker hasn’t expanded on them at all, he’s simply stated them as facts, as if mentioning them was already revolution (which it may have been) and then told stories about how the principles were used in WW2.

However the book gets 3 stars because the principles are valuable and the book is worth a re-read. I’m sure you’d get more out of it after a second reading.

And perhaps it’s not meant to blow you away with the ingenuity of the ideas… and it’s more so a book you refer back to now again to see how well you’re adhering to the pillars of an effective executive: managing strengths, managing time, managing risk.

Nice performance by the narrator, no complaints there

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read

I try to read this every few years. This is my 3rd in the last five or so years. What is remarkable is that each time I'm reminded of better ways to improve my management skills, to be more effective in the current challenges I'm facing. Form innovation to communication Druker provides insight on how to achieve outcomes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!