• It has become something of a taboo in our society to say you don't want to be a leader — especially if you are one. Richard Hytner, a former CEO at the global advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, experienced it firsthand and is trying to break that stigma.- Lillian Cunningham, Editor, On Leadership, The Washington Post
  • Hytner notes that talent development, for example, is crucial to companies now, so the lack of a great track record for hiring, inspiring, and keeping star employees sometimes trips up aspiring CEOs.- Anne Fisher, Fortune Magazine
  • He argues convincingly that a great team of a chief executive and a number two is a more successful proposition than a solitary leader. Mr Hytner describes the various types of consiglieri – lodestones, educators, anchors and deliverers, according to his segmentation.- Luke Johnson, Financial Times
  • Richard Hytner, deputy chairman of London-based advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, thinks corporate understudies are too often overlooked. He’s set out to burnish the reputation of the second-in-command...- Adam Auriemma, the Wall Street Journal
  • It’s a trove of advice about how to be a great deputy and principal adviser, a calling that has brought out the best in people as varied and admirable as Warren Buffett’s Charlie Munger, Anna Wintour’s Grace Coddington, Abraham Lincoln’s William Seward, and Henry VIII’s Thomas Cromwell.- Frederick E. Allen, Forbes

Media Article

Second Place Could Be Best Choice – Richard Hytner

Second Place Could Be Best Choice – Richard Hytner

MEED Executive Guide – I have often wondered why management books and organisations focus solely on the firsts; why the role of the deputy, the adviser, the counsellor, the assistant, the ‘anybody-but-the-number one’ is not seen as worthwhile for an aspiring or talented leader. I have wondered why those who fulfil these roles get such little recognition and how best to create an alternative model of leadership that identifies, nurtures and celebrates these people and the profound influence they have on organizations.

In the world in which we operate, you are a number one or a number who, the supreme leader or a subordinate heeder. Even in the East, where one’s position in the hierarchy is accepted gracefully to enable organisational cohesion and mutual respect, there is a growing awareness that we have allowed uncertain times to fuel a greater sense of superiority in the few, at the expense of the potential contribution of the many…

Read the full article on www.meed.com [subscription]

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