Rating: 
Summary: "
Review: "Topgrading is based on the author's experience assessing and coaching over 4,000 managers. Although half of the book talks about corporate topgrading programs, that's not for me. I was interested in the half of the book devoted to managers. I'm a newly promoted manager, and I learned how to hire the best people. Topgrading also showed me how to develop myself to be an 'A player'. The author helped me identify my developmental needs. Topgrading gives 3 or 4 suggestions for improving each of 50 different competencies. AWESOME!"Chris Mursau
Rating:
Summary: "Selecting A players and removing C players"
Review: "After studying literally thousands of successful and failed careers, and over one hundred successful and failed companies, one overriding factor emerges: talent. Human capital. The single most important driver of organizational performance and individual managerial success is talent. The ability to actually do what every company and every manager professes to do-hire the best-is what distinguishes premier companies from mediocre firms, successful versus ordinary careers. The vast majority of organizations and managers simply can't figure out how to overcome the many obstacles to packing their team with A players...Topgrading shows you how premier companies such as General Electric gain a talent advantage, how every manager can benefit from learning leading-edge techniques. Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of GE, said, 'The reality is, we simply cannot afford to field anything but teams of A players.'" In this context, Bradford D. Smart; * defines topgrading in simple terms and then presents short examples of companies that topgrade, * presents (i)the major pyschological and organizational obstacles to topgrading, and (ii)the best practices to overcome them, * presents a groundbreaking quantification of the costs associated with making hiring mistakes, * discusses the moral issues in firing people, * examines recruitment approaches and offers improvements, * presents you with nine keys to becoming an A player at the highest level, * helps you fix your weaknesses, which is more important than spending additional time developing your strengths, * explains the Chronological In-Depth Structured (CIDS)-based coaching and interview principles, and presents three case studies to apply these principles with finesse and ease, * presents the CIDS interview model in its entirety-what it is, advanced interviewing tactics, and how to avoid employement-related legal problems. Finally, he writes, "Everyone wants to know the key to individual and corporate success. I think I know. Forty-thousand case studies devoted to scrutinizing 50 competencies provide some clues. Jack Welch of GE asked me which, of all those competencies, was the single most important for helping someone become an A player. Larry Bossidy of AlliedSignal asked the same question. So did Ted Waitt, CEO and largest shareholder of Gateway. After the CIDS interview, managers frequently say, 'Wow, Doc, since you've been studying careers in such detail for so many years, can you give me the secret to success?' Yup. Topgrading. Selecting A players and removing C players. Because talent wins." Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "
Review: "Topgrading is based on the author's experience assessing and coaching over 4,000 managers. Although half of the book talks about corporate topgrading programs, that's not for me. I was interested in the half of the book devoted to managers. I'm a newly promoted manager, and I learned how to hire the best people. Topgrading also showed me how to develop myself to be an 'A player'. The author helped me identify my developmental needs. Topgrading gives 3 or 4 suggestions for improving each of 50 different competencies. AWESOME!" Chris Mursau
Rating:
Summary: Manage an Organization as Nature Would ...
Review: ... with the neither malice nor pity. That's the gist of this excellent book, and it's not offensive to the concept of human dignity. To the contrary, Dr. Smart notes that "A players" can (and should) exist at every level. Every CEO, every acountant, every sales rep, and every Wal-Mart greeter should be best in class -- and they should be required to stay competitive in their skills. That's not ruthless. That's natural. But this book goes one step farther, making the compelling case that -- left to their own devices -- the "C players" in any organization will destroy value over time, whether they intend to or not. Accordingly, Topgrading is essential.
Rating:
Summary: Manage an Organization as Nature Would ...
Review: ... with the neither malice nor pity. That's the gist of this excellent book, and it's not offensive to the concept of human dignity. To the contrary, Dr. Smart notes that "A players" can (and should) exist at every level. Every CEO, every acountant, every sales rep, and every Wal-Mart greeter should be best in class -- and they should be required to stay competitive in their skills. That's not ruthless. That's natural. But this book goes one step farther, making the compelling case that -- left to their own devices -- the "C players" in any organization will destroy value over time, whether they intend to or not. Accordingly, Topgrading is essential.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete waste of money.
Review: A help-yourself book that doesn't supply what it promised. The author uses patronizing language. Presents some 'magic formulas' to recruit people. Lifted from reality. Has some very good forms useful for interviewers. Has a very clean and clear format that ease reading. To sum it: an overpriced junk book.
Rating:
Summary: Topgrading is all about commitment to excellence
Review: After personally going through the CIDS interview process, I could not wait to apply it from a best pratices methodology to subsequent organizations I would in the future be building. In a word...wow ! It immediately supported the right vision and culture, the sustainable leadership required to achieve speed to revenue and the best platform for scalability in building an organization. Topgrading should be the fundamental recipe for optimal operational performance for any business that aspires to achieve excellence... like the Telecom industry for instance, as well as the Venture Capital community. Brad Smart is incredibly right on not only with the CIDS process but his in depth analysis on mis-hires should provide a wake up call to any poorly performing company as well as any substantive HR professional as it relates to their accountabiltiy for bringing the very best talent. I think that any reviews written positively or negatively are direct reflection on that persons' station in life...as an A, B, or C player. This is excellent book and resource. You either get it or you don't... run but you cannot hide
Rating: 
Summary: Very interested, until...
Review: After reading the reviews of this book, I wanted it...but there's one hesitation. One company the marketers of the book hold up as an example of why the author's work is effective is GE. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many I've spoken with in my world, GE's products are not superior...so this makes me wonder
Rating:
Summary: The #1 source for world-class hiring and coaching processes
Review: As an HR consultant and executive coach, Topgrading is my bible. It's taught me skills that have really worked to help clients hire nothing but A players and coach their B players to become As. I agree with the review in Recruiting Magazine Online that says, for those that hire people, this is the "most important book ever written." Needless to say, I give the book 5 stars!
Rating:
Summary: The #1 source for world-class hiring and coaching processes
Review: As an HR consultant and executive coach, Topgrading is my bible. It's taught me skills that have really worked to help clients hire nothing but A players and to coach their Bs to become As. I agree with the review in Recruiting Magazine Online that says for those who hire people, this is the "most important book ever written." Needless to say - I give the book 5 stars!
| 
