PUT THE MOOSE ON THE TABLE: Lessons in Leadership from a CEO's Journey Through Business and Life

Tobias spent decades climbing the ladder at Ma Bell, served as vice chairman at AT&T and in 1993 became CEO of the prestigious pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. One of his book's few interesting anecdotes is his recollection of an exchange he had with Charles Brown (AT&T's then-CEO), when Tobias was a mere underling at the company in the early 1980s. Tobias was preparing a presentation, which Brown canceled, since he was finalizing the monumental splitup of AT&T. Although Brown was busy planning the company's reorganization, he found time to send Tobias a gracious note, apologizing for any inconvenience he may have caused Tobias. Tobias was moved by Brown's thoughtfulness and, as he progressed in his career, made attempts to be as forthcoming with his own subordinates. It's a valuable lesson about the importance of treating your workers well. Unfortunately, the rest of the book, which ostensibly offers lessons on how to communicate effectively and always deal with the problems at hand (keeping "the moose on the table," as it were), is an uninformative mishmash of autobiography and unimaginative "Lessons on Leadership" (e.g., "Leaders almost always think out of the box"; "Keep learning"; "In business as in life, one thing is absolutely inevitable—continuous change"). Tobias has had an esteemed career and has undoubtedly been a good boss (Lilly is justifiably well-known for its benevolent attitude toward employees), but his book fails to engage. Photos. (May 5)