Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from The Leader Who Built an Empire

Citation

Ingram, H. (2002), "Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from The Leader Who Built an Empire", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 48-49. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2002.14.1.48.2

This is the first time that the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management has reviewed an audio book on management, and the concept touches on two intriguing ideas. The first of these ideas is to use “dead” time on long and boring car journeys more productively. The second appealing idea is to counterbalance the linearity of management literature with the richness of art, music and history to prompt indirect lessons for managers. These ideas come together in a recorded book in six audio cassettes that offers an interdisciplinary and biographical “case study” of effective leadership.

The aim of this book is to use the life and times of Queen Elizabeth I as a model for modern business managers and leaders. Axelrod notes that Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558 after the death of half‐sister “Bloody” Mary with the realm in political, religious and economic chaos. Yet at the end of her 45‐year reign, England was one of the world’s strongest nations under her Queen’s gentle but firm leadership. At first, Elizabeth was unprepared for queenship, having been declared illegitimate by her father and often fearing that she would meet the grisly fate of her mother, Anne Boleyn. Once crowned, Elizabeth’s approach was a cautious one before she gained confidence in her own abilities. Like many good leaders, she had intelligence but displayed humility, seeking the advice of good councillors but remaining independent. She avoided a diplomatic marriage with Phillip of Spain and kept England free to become a swashbuckling and entrepreneurial sea power. Perhaps the origins of England as an insular, non‐European island began with her. The “Virgin Queen” had an approachable way with people, but was not afraid to act decisively when the need arose. Elizabeth was a successful and popular leader whose “turnaround” strategies raised England plc to the status of a major world player.

Alan Axelrod is certainly a prolific author and polymath. He is unusual in that he has written on both historical and business topics, as well as astronomy and military biography. There are also books on such diverse topics as secret societies and fraternal orders, bartending and cocktails (the hospitality connection), jazz, American folklore and dealing with difficult people. Biographies include Benito Mussolini, Thomas Jefferson and General Patton (whose life also provides published lessons for corporate warfare).

Playing audiotapes in the car is an interesting experience. Of course, it is a passive medium that encourages listening to something new for which you may not have had time or that may not be your instinctive first choice. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the recorded book depends on how the pace and style of the narrator accords with the listener. Although the narrator of this recorded book, Nelson Runger, is described by the Literary Journal as having a “cheerful, sonorous voice”, I found that the “unfaltering, even pace of his delivery” did not match the speed of my own thoughts. Similarly, I could not go back very easily on the cassette to listen again to something I wanted to hear again. Perhaps the narrator was chosen for the more lucrative US market. Like many books of this type, the ideas are not clustered in any discernible order in the 135 chapters, so it is sometimes difficult to detect the theme, particularly when there is much contextual description.

Despite these shortcomings, audio books are worth trying for a change. Axelrod’s knowledge of both history and business is good and he teases out many fascinating insights from the letters and documents of the time. It is surprising how 400‐year‐old issues in England have relevance to modern business around the world. This may not be the most academic management book, but it can provide novel ways to exemplify leadership and to remind us that good management was not invented by our generation.