American Turnaround

Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA

Contributors

By Edward Whitacre

With Leslie Cauley

Formats and Prices

Price

$28.99

Price

$31.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around February 5, 2013. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Ed Whitacre is credited with taking over the corporate reins at General Motors (GM) when the automotive manufacturer was on the brink of bankruptcy during 2009 and turned the company around in magnificent fashion. In this business memoir, the native Texan explores his unique management style, business acumen and patriotism.

It was President Obama who reached out to Ed Whitacre to come out of retirement and take over GM in 2009. A down-to-earth, no-nonsense Texas native with a distinctive Texas twang in his voice, Whitacre was reluctant to come out of retirement to work at GM.

But Whitacre is that rare CEO with great charisma and extraordinary management instincts. And when he got to Detroit, he started to whittle down the corporate bureaucracy right away – and got GM back on track in record time.

Before being pulled out of retirement to run GM by Obama, Ed Whitacre had spent his entire corporate career in the telecom business, where he ultimately ended up running AT&T.

Genre:

  • This straight-talking Texan and former CEO of two of America's best known corporations provides a candid, insider's view of how a committed business leader can make a difference. More importantly, his book offers a prescription for the kind of leadership that can turn America around and get the country moving again.

    --Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

  • Ed is a strong leader with intelligence, a big heart, common sense and without fear. He is also an exceptional human being-always concerned about people. His mind is clear with a long-term vision and mission.

    --Carlos Slim Helú, Industrialist and Philanthropist

  • Among CEOs, Ed is one-of-a-kind. Not only did he successfully run AT&T and fix GM, but he is also a classic Texan -- complete with a straight-speaking manner and common touch that truly sets him apart. Here is his uniquely American story. Everyone who starts this book will finish it.

    -- Roger Altman, Founder and Chairman, Evercore Partners; former Deputy Treasury Secretary
  • Very inspiring, down to earth leadership lessons and very consistent with our experience with Ed during his time at GM. He always respected our members and never blamed them for what he strongly viewed as poor management.

    --Bob King, UAW President
  • A CEO memoir worth reading.

    -- The Economist

On Sale
Feb 5, 2013
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Business Plus
ISBN-13
9781455513017

Edward Whitacre

About the Author

Edward Whitacre is the former CEO of General Motors. He has a background in telecommunications, running AT&T, but came out of retirement to save GM.

Learn more about this author