For any C-level executive reading this review, it's imperative to take a moment at the outset and consider two questions: Who is going to replace you when you eventually step down and why? Many leaders have readymade answers to the first question, but the second can be somewhat troubling. It's also the reason that author Ram Charan, co-author of the 2002 bestseller Execution, is gravely concerned about the state of executive succession in business. Charan's upcoming release Leaders at all Levels attempts to help companies ensure that their standing in the marketplace doesn't follow the exiting CEO out the door.

The succession plans of many companies are suffering from a formulaic malady and are in dire need of the remedy that Charan dispenses. One established method of replacing exiting C-Level talent, particularly CEOs, is to promote internally from a pool of long-standing leaders (i.e. the seniority system). The other main method of succession is to attempt to lure top talent away from another organization by offering lucrative financial and personal incentive-laden packages (i.e. the free-agent system). According to Charan, neither method will result in a company creating a stable culture of leadership. In fact, companies that follow one of the above methods should learn to get used to enacting their succession plan, because the likelihood is that they'll have to exercise it again and again.

Leaders at all Levels contrasts the norm with Charan's "Apprenticeship Model." While the notion of apprenticeship may cause some executives to scoff and proclaim that they didn't get an MBA to follow the path of a tradesman, the author is quick to point out that an apprentice is merely someone who learns by doing. Over the course of the book's chapters, he maps out a tight, realistic strategy to help companies change their leadership culture. However, it should be stated up front that the Apprenticeship Model is not for conservative or cowardly. It requires not only an aptitude for rapid skill development but the need to be fearless in the face of mistakes that will inevitably be made along the path.

Part of the reason Leaders at all Levels requires a lionhearted executive is Charan's desire to break the conventional method of linear skill building. Talent development, which is the building block of creating a better leadership culture, depends on the aggressive increasing of the responsibilities and management skills of young leaders. Companies generally let a young worker with executive aspirations follow a staid path from specialist to manager to director to vice president. Charan counters with a concept called "concentric learning" that requires a leader to make considerable leaps in "scale, scope and complexity" as he or she rises through the ranks. The X factor in the author's method is that companies are required to follow this practice with rapidity, not over a 20-year stretch.

Doubters will point out the fact that many people would crack under such a system, particularly if they are thrown into jobs that require a global, rather than domestic scope. Charan answers with a brutality that would make Charles Darwin proud. If a leader placed in such a position cannot handle it, then he or she is not meant for the job. The position of CEO is unforgiving and requires an amalgamation of military discipline, Olympian endurance and mach-speed decision-making. Leaders at all Levels is at times ruthless but Charan points to no less of an authority than GE's Jack Welch as a proponent of weeding out the weak on the way up the ladder.

Charan, like many authors, has a soft spot for Welch. The author gives the impression that his mission in writing Leaders at all Levels was to extract Welch's DNA and attempt to discern what unique combination of amino acids were the building blocks of such a legendary leader. Charan even uses terms such as "DNA," "nucleus" and "double-helix" in the course of describing the Apprenticeship Model. Executives should pay special attention to the double-helix that forms the core of someone with leadership potential. It is here where Charan is at his best. He strips away traditional thinking about what makes a good leader and replaces it with a new formula, one that makes it easier to separate short-term silo talent from individuals who are truly special. It is task that requires a great deal of effort, humility and daring on the part of existing leaders, but the payoff is knowing that the company one helped achieve new heights will continue on its climb.

Leaders at all Levels by Ram Charan is scheduled to be published in December 2007 by Jossey-Bass. It is under consideration by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. If you'd like to subscribe to Soundview Executive Book Summaries, please click here.

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