• It has become something of a taboo in our society to say you don't want to be a leader — especially if you are one. Richard Hytner, a former CEO at the global advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, experienced it firsthand and is trying to break that stigma.- Lillian Cunningham, Editor, On Leadership, The Washington Post
  • Hytner notes that talent development, for example, is crucial to companies now, so the lack of a great track record for hiring, inspiring, and keeping star employees sometimes trips up aspiring CEOs.- Anne Fisher, Fortune Magazine
  • He argues convincingly that a great team of a chief executive and a number two is a more successful proposition than a solitary leader. Mr Hytner describes the various types of consiglieri – lodestones, educators, anchors and deliverers, according to his segmentation.- Luke Johnson, Financial Times
  • Richard Hytner, deputy chairman of London-based advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, thinks corporate understudies are too often overlooked. He’s set out to burnish the reputation of the second-in-command...- Adam Auriemma, the Wall Street Journal
  • It’s a trove of advice about how to be a great deputy and principal adviser, a calling that has brought out the best in people as varied and admirable as Warren Buffett’s Charlie Munger, Anna Wintour’s Grace Coddington, Abraham Lincoln’s William Seward, and Henry VIII’s Thomas Cromwell.- Frederick E. Allen, Forbes

Media Article

BBC Free Thinking: Second in Command

BBC Free Thinking: Second in Command

BBC Free Thinking – Interview starts at 16:02. Looking at stress in business and the nature of leadership: Richard Hytner, Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, joins Arianna Huffington and Kerrie Fleming in discussing modalities of management against today’s market demands and how these challenges are even more opaque for #2’s, who often show the symptoms of work-stress without proper acknowledgment. While there is only one person at the top, it’s critical for the second-in-commands to take notice of their strengths and then match them with suitable roles – without the demands of unnecessary expectations or stress. From Richard’s own experience, as he had been groomed for the top slot very early in his career, he describes the metaphorical and literal act of stepping back, and what it means to be a consigliere.

Also listen to the Start of The Week interview “The Myth of The Strong Leader” at BBC.co.uk

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