Book description
Although it was first published more than thirty-five years ago, Up the Organization continues to top the lists of best business books by groups as diverse as the American Management Association, Strategy + Business (Booz Allen Hamilton), and The Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. 1-800-CEO-READ ranks Townsend's bestseller…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Up the Organization as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
He was the CEO who famously coined the slogan “We Try Harder” in the ‘60s, signaling Avis's transition from obscurity to Hertz’s top rental car competitor.
The book is irreverent, witty, wise, and brutally honest about the perils of executive egotism and corporate board indolence. Published in the late ‘60s, the book has withstood the test of time.
I was working as a consultant for McKinsey and Company when I read it. What I learned was that we were giving our business clients all the wrong advice. I submitted my resignation and changed careers.
From James' list on no BS leadership.
This is the most impertinent yet constructive book on leadership I’ve ever read (and I've read many with one of these qualities, but none with both).
It’s written by the former CEO of AVIS, who led a radical transformation of its organizational culture, resulting in unmatched performance. First published in 1970, it quickly became the NY Times N°1 bestseller. Its commemorative 2007 edition is adorned with even more gems, including a nine-page segment that earns you a PhD in Leadership.
It starts with, “To hell with centralized strategic planning. If you don’t have a good leader, it’s all nothing; just…
From Isaac's list on transformational leadership books that will help you to practice it.
If you love Up the Organization...
Aggressor
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Want books like Up the Organization?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Up the Organization.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,210
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Up the Organization, you might also like...
Old Man Country
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
Lane and the Inventor
A grumpy-sunshine, slow-burn, sweet-and-steamy romance set in wild and beautiful small-town Colorado. Lane Gravers is a wanderer, adventurer, yoga instructor, and social butterfly when she meets reserved, quiet, pensive Logan Hickory, a loner inventor with a painful past.
Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…
