Decide and Conquer

44 Decisions that will Make or Break All Leaders

De: David Siegel

Narrado por: John Behrens

Success boils down to one thing: making good decisions. That’s easy to say, but what do we do when we are faced with terrible options, deep anxiety, and fear of failure? Learning the right framework now can make all the difference later.

Turn to Decide and Conquer to access the decision framework David Siegel used when he took over as CEO of Meetup, the world’s leading platform for making connections and finding your community. Let David’s success during one of the most tumultuous times in his company’s history help guide you on your own path.

Decide and Conquer helps all leaders navigate the big decisions that will impact their future and make their organizations a success. David outlines the 44 challenges leaders face when starting a new position. He then shows you the decision framework he applied to overcome these challenges as CEO of Meetup. David takes you on an epic journey of corporate and personal survival that includes industry titans like Adam Neumann, Barry Diller, Jack Welch, Bill Ackman, and other leaders. Learn to:

• Apply principles like open communication, transparency, and kindness to inform great decision-making.
• Set yourself up to succeed, even before you start, by removing potential roadblocks before they become a problem.
• Be a bold and decisive leader and not succumb to fear.

When David took over as CEO of Meetup, the road was fraught with obstacles that could have destroyed Meetup and his reputation. By applying the principles he had learned in previous leadership positions, David was able to make the many critical decisions that would mean life or death for Meetup when WeWork decided to sell the company. From deciding to accept the position and negotiating terms to the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job and managing a seemingly endless series of crises during the sale and global pandemic, Decide and Conquer walks you through the key decisions you will face with invaluable advice for each one.

A sample layoff speech and sample succession email are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

A great read for business leaders!

I work in tech and aspire to get promoted to a C level position or start my own company someday. There was a good amount of practical leadership advice while telling the story of Meetup from the WeWork era to post pandemic. The two themes that resonated with me the most were resiliency and transparency, and David provided many examples where these values were instrumental to his success navigating the waters as CEO. There are many great parables as well that illustrate the values applied to other situations. I liked the story about the artist siblings - one invested in a studio, the other invested in an RV and scaled their connections nationwide. I’ll probably listen to this again would love to chat with David sometime about the lessons here and other stories in business!

Fantastic leadership insights

This book is great for any leader, not just CEOs. The insights and decision-making advice in this book are essential for anyone looking to optimize the performance of any team or business. David's examples, stories, and experiences pull you into the learning and growth opportunities that are essential for any successful leader. Amazing to see how a good leader can step into an insane situation with a company that is on an unsustainable path and turn it around by making hard decisions and focusing on the customers, employees, and core business goals.

Good book wrong narrator

The guy reading the book sounds like a young 20 something kid. Hard to imagine his voice being anywhere close to a seasoned CEO. Other than that there are some well thought out points and storytelling.

The METAVERSE of Leadership

This book was not what I had expected coming from a CEO. It’s like a CEO and a leader from another world. If you are taking on or considering a position as a decision-maker, whether it’s for a start-up, as a CEO, or in any leadership role, you need to read this book. There are several lessons in this book I have never seen in any other book written by a CEO. There were some common things for sure, but some were of another dimension. Sometimes you'll find yourself saying, "What the ...." but you'll be impressed in a way you've never been before. When you have to make tough decisions, you are likely to find a solution here in this book. I gained valuable insight and priceless wisdom to carry me on my journey as I launch my new company and help it evolve. Read this book, and you’ll find many priceless gems and golden nuggets that will guide you through your journey.

Great company bookclub

Our team read this title and discussed the key takeaways as a group. Wonderful discussion. Some points that stood out to me:
1. What you choose not to do can be just as important as what your company invests resources in to do.
2. Competition is a motivator, not the reason to make a decision
3. Amazing and inspiring stories shared about really picking the companies you work for based on the people and creating your own roles, you don’t have to e limited to the job descriptions written. Write your own.

The WeWork “drama” was pretty interesting too!