Be Chief: It’s a Choice, Not a Title

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Gavin Barwell has written a candid, valuable and insightful account of two hugely consequential years of history. Read it if you want to fully understand why we are where we are today. This may be a chronicle of failure, but it is all the more absorbing for that.

Her election disaster was critical to what followed. It made the parliamentary arithmetic fiendish, sapped her authority over both cabinet and party while diminishing her credibility with the EU. European leaders became increasingly sceptical about whether she would be able to get any kind of Brexit deal through parliament and that reduced their appetite for compromise. Ambitious members of the cabinet, not least Boris Johnson, had more incentive to position themselves to supplant her than help sell an agreement to the Tory party and the public. That further weakened her hand in Brussels. Michel Barnier, the EU’s point man in the negotiations, spelled it out to May’s face: “We trust you, Theresa, but we are not sure how long you will be prime minister and we don’t trust what we think is coming next.” Those misgivings would turn out to be very well placed. Then the king said for Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal seed and of the nobles,New leaders may be unable to read the political situation clearly or achieve the cultural changes their strategic and operational agendas require. Boards and key executives may not grasp the complex nature of CEO succession or consider the likely political and cultural challenges the new leader will face. A CEO transition is not the same as onboarding, which is a formal, short-term, agenda-driven orientation program of briefings and meetings. It is a longer process of interactions both formal and informal, planned and impromptu; it should begin when the board’s choice accepts the position and last for months after he or she arrives. The outgoing CEO, the chief human resources officer, and the board all have key roles to play in the process, writes the author, who describes best practices for each. The characterisation is absolutely perfect, with multiple POV, ensuring the reader is kept in the loop and illustrating the individual personalities that allow you to form a connection with the characters. He highlighted that a concerted effort is being made maliciously by inimical elements to target the armed forces.

Another fantastic installment of The Kings of Guardian series. I have been waiting patiently for Chief's story since he went undercover and Kris Michaels did not disappoint. Barwell nevertheless paints a sympathetic portrait of the May years. He argues that had she not been dealt an impossible hand, her political epitaph would be much more positive than simply “another Tory prime minister destroyed by Europe”. This book is about everything we humans share – that this is the planet we live on, this the universe, these our fellow travellers, and death our destination. That much of our past is underneath us and we find our remotest ancestors by descending. That humanity is brief and yet, here in the Anthropocene, dangerously consequential. This nonfiction book worked on me like poetry, taking me somewhere beyond (or below) words – stretching me outwards and inwards, downwards and upwards, and into the future as far as it’s possible for mere humans to imagine. Profoundly philosophical, but vividly imagistic. One image that has lingered is of an infant buried centuries ago in the cradle of a swan’s wing. Javier Cercas: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati The king commanded Ashpenaz, who was in charge of his court officials, to choose some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent-- Newcomers misread the political situation or overestimate the organization’s willingness to abandon old behaviors. Meanwhile, boards and key executives fail to grasp the complex nature of CEO succession or set one-dimensional expectations of the new leader. What Can Be Done

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Taty has no idea that David/ Mike is undercover but she worms his way into his heart much to his consternation. He is certain that she is a coldhearted criminal that he will have to take down, and that weighs on both his conscience and his heart more and more each day. The angst level continually ramps up as he has no idea she is actually MI6 (as noted in the blurb) and they both struggle with their conscience and hearts fighting against the need to eliminate the evil and threat that is the Bravata. A startling percentage of new CEOs fail within their first 18 months, according to many estimates—whether they come from outside or are promoted from within. Sometimes the new leader makes poor strategic moves, and sometimes the board makes an imperfect choice, overestimating a candidate’s abilities or hiring someone whose skill set doesn’t fit the context. But when succession fails, the responsibility is almost always shared. There are those who maintain that the EU commission ought to have offered more concessions. One of Barwell’s interesting observations is that the commission “far from taking the most hardline position… was the closest thing we had to a friend, particularly towards the end of the negotiations”. The toughest lines were taken by the leaders of the member states. Contrary to the widespread and completely wrong perception that they would “come to our rescue”, it was Emmanuel Macron and his counterparts who repeatedly intervened to harden up the EU’s position. Their understandable priority was to protect the integrity of the EU and safeguard themselves from Eurosceptic parties in their own countries. At one summit, Merkel’s first question to May is: “What’s the price?” In other words, in what ways would the UK be worse off for leaving as a deterrent to anyone else doing the same.

And the [Babylonian] king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some from the royal family and from the nobles,The king told Ashpenaz, the chief-of-staff, to bring some of the Israelites, the royal family, and the nobility. We shall continue with our endeavours of peace and stability and there will be no room for spoilers of the process,” the COAS was quoted as saying.