Executive Intelligence

This work presents the final word on what traits make for highly successful managers and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers. “Executive Intelligence” is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker, who first identified the attributes of effective executives, and Jim Collins, who showed the paramount importance of getting the right management team together before finding the right strategy, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the ‘right’ people.

In a sense, Menkes work reveals an executive IQ, the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Contrary to our popular assumptions, star leaders have many different sorts of interpersonal styles, they are not all warm, empathetic, or overtly charismatic. But they do have one common, consistent trait, they are all sharp.

And they are sharp in the specific ways that constitute “Executive Intelligence”: they readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognize the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges. Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.