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Outstanding professional service firms are consistently able to identify, attract, and retain star performers. This chapter outlines some of the book's key concepts and introduces the central question of why some professional service firms succeed through the ups and downs of the business cycle whil... More

Professionals and their companies may be the most powerful and unexplored source of value (both direct and indirect) in modern business. This chapter examines professional service firms in depth and discusses the business turmoil that surrounds them in today's world, from market growth and new entra... More

Winning is tough in the dynamic professional services marketplace, where stars drive a firm's strategic decisions as well as the implementation of those decisions. How do outstanding firms achieve their strategic goals given the inherent tensions, complexities, and risks they face in this environmen... More

The key to your firm's continuing success is building star talent--the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. In this chapter, the authors explain that "star making"--an organization's competency at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating star talent--is an important core compet... More

Partner level stars are a professional service firm's scarcest and most valuable resource. Whether the firm succeeds or fails depends on their performance and leadership, and ultimately on the alignment of their goals with the firm's goals. This chapter discusses how great firms guide and motivate t... More

In professional service firms, where power and influence are more widely distributed than in traditional corporate hierarchies, decisions about organization and strategy go hand in hand. This chapter suggests that firms are more successful in aligning their stars and strategies when their leaders ap... More

The firms that endure manage their culture to minimize the stress of change, turn to it as a reminder of their course in the face of new challenges, and work to change it to adapt to new circumstances. This chapter focuses on culture as central to shaping behavior and attracting and retaining stars,... More

Without strong leadership, the necessary diffusion of power throughout a professional service firm can paralyze decision making and undermine alignment. If leadership is too forceful, however, partners will reject its imposition on their autonomy. This chapter focuses on the role of the senior leade... More

Because professional service firms depend on outstanding professionals, the personal needs, motivation, and careers of individuals are of the utmost importance. This chapter turns the spotlight on the reader, looking at why--and how--the concept of alignment can be as powerful on a personal level as... More

Most businesses rely on talent to succeed, but none so much as professional service firms. Within this rapidly expanding, trillion-dollar industry, professionals--and how they're managed--are the primary source of competitive advantage. In fact, success in this sector is determined more by the peopl... More

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