A revealing portrait of one of the world’s finest, yet most opaque, companies—and the quiet genius who made it thrive Ken Auletta set out to locate one of the world’s most prosperous businesses and explain its formula for success. He searched for an enterprise with a vivid chief executive and found that company in Schlumberger Limited, a multinational oilfield services firm with skyrocketing profits and a reputation as one of the best-managed global corporations. Auletta also found his fascinating CEO in Jean Riboud, a man who had eluded media attention even though he had guided Schlumberger for 2 decades. In this compelling portrait, Auletta brings the notoriously low-profile executive to life, detailing his unique style of management and the unusual corporate culture he nurtured. A self-proclaimed socialist from France, Riboud fought in the resistance during World War II, was captured by the Nazis, and was held prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He joined Schlumberger as an assistant and quickly rose through the company’s ranks. Although he was admired for his fierce drive for perfection and eye for long-term planning and expansion, Riboud distanced himself from his corporate cohorts and instead socialized with a diverse group of artists, writers, and politicians. Brilliant and paradoxical, Riboud makes for a fascinating subject in Auletta’s comprehensive and illuminating book.

A revealing portrait of one of the world's finest, yet most opaque, companies-and the quiet genius who made it thrive Ken Auletta set out to locate one of the world's most prosperous businesses and explain its formula for success. He searched for an enterprise with a vivid chief executive and found that company in Schlumberger Limited, a multinational oilfield services firm with skyrocketing profits and a reputation as one of the best-managed global corporations. Auletta also found his fascinating CEO in Jean Riboud, a man who had eluded media attention even though he had guided Schlumberger for 2 decades. In this compelling portrait, Auletta brings the notoriously low-profile executive to life, detailing his unique style of management and the unusual corporate culture he nurtured. A self-proclaimed socialist from France, Riboud fought in the resistance during World War II, was captured by the Nazis, and was held prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp. He joined Schlumberger as an assistant and quickly rose through the company's ranks. Although he was admired for his fierce drive for perfection and eye for long-term planning and expansion, Riboud distanced himself from his corporate cohorts and instead socialized with a diverse group of artists, writers, and politicians. Brilliant and paradoxical, Riboud makes for a fascinating subject in Auletta's comprehensive and illuminating book. "Ken Auletta's extraordinary portrait of Jean Riboud is business reporting on a higher level." -Richard Reeves "A highly readable, enjoyable book." -Robert H. Waterman Jr., coauthor of In Search of Excellence Praise for Ken Auletta "A riveting chronicle of the lust for money, power and reputation . . . Invaluable." - The New York Times on Greed and Glory on Wall Street "Fascinating . . . Delivers the goods . . . A towering reportorial achievement." - The Wall Street Journal on Greed and Glory on Wall Street "As comfortable interrogating a network executive as he is interviewing a software genius or bottling a human tornado like Ted Turner, Auletta builds his . . . books the way a mason builds a wall-upon a firm foundation, one brick at a time and as level as the horizon." - The Washington Post on Googled: The End of the World as We Know It Ken Auletta (b.1942) has written for the New Yorker since 1977, where he has been the "Annals of Communications" columnist since 1992. He is the author of eleven books, five of which are national bestsellers. Early ...

Finally make a living doing what you love. A compete and easy-to-follow system for the artist who wasn't born with a business mind. Learn how to find buyers, get paid fairly, negotiate nicely, deal with copycats and sell more art.

An effective framework for professional and personal success Everyone wants to succeed in life, but not everyone knows how. Success isn't just a result of luck and hard work; you also need to know how to define success for yourself and put yourself in the right frame of mind to achieve it. Based on a powerful ten-part framework, The Art of Deliberate Success presents ten chapters that help you identify strengths and weaknesses so you can focus your attention and effort where it matters most. The book includes an online self-assessment tool that helps you pinpoint the areas you need to focus on, followed by chapters dedicated to helping you focus on what matters, using language more effectively, mastering your behaviour, getting things done, and ultimately reach your goals. Based on the author's 24 years of professional experience and research Presents a flexible and effective system that allows you to achieve goals that are professional or personal in nature Features a special online self-assessment tool for identifying strengths and weaknesses and personalising your self-development Informal, easy-to-read, and highly effective, The Art of Deliberate Success is the ideal guide for professionals who want to reach new heights and stay there.

People forget facts, but they never forget a good story. Let the Story Do the Work shows how the art of storytelling is key for any business to achieve success. For most, there’s nothing easy about crafting a memorable story, let alone linking it to professional goals. However, material for stories and anecdotes that can be used for your professional success already surround you. To get people interested in and convinced by what you are saying, you need to tell an interesting story. As the Founder and Chief Story Facilitator at Leadership Story Lab, a company that helps executives unlock the persuasive power of storytelling, Esther Choy teaches you how to mine your experience for simple narratives that will achieve your goals. In Let the Story Do the Work, you can learn to: Capture attention Engage your audience Change minds Inspire action Pitch persuasively When you find the perfect hook, structure your story according to its strengths, and deliver it at the right time in the right way, you’ll see firsthand how easy it is to turn everyday communications into opportunities to connect, gain buy-in, and build lasting relationships.

From the author of Ahead of the Curve, a revelatory look at successful selling and how it can impact everything we do The first book of its kind, The Art of the Sale is the result of a pilgrimage to learn the secrets of the world's foremost sales gurus. Bestselling author Philip Delves Broughton tracked down anyone who could help him understand what it took to achieve greatness in sales, from technology billionaires to the most successful saleswoman in Japan to a cannily observant rug merchant in Morocco. The wisdom and experience Broughton acquired, revealed in this outstanding book, demonstrates as never before the complex alchemy of effective selling and the power it has to overcome challenges we face every day.

What would you rather have-conventional success or a high level beyond success? Dan Clark, one of the world's leading inspirational speakers and leadership trainers, vehemently opposes the conventional wisdom about success. He believes it's tragic and superficial to build our careers and personal lives around getting more money, bigger houses, cooler toys, and fancier job titles. What's it all worth in the end? How many outwardly successful people still feel empty inside? Clark has spent decades traveling around the world, interviewing the famous and powerful; consulting with presidents and generals and sheikhs and corporate leaders; creating a multimillion-dollar business; and (before any of the above) overcoming a paralyzing injury