Dr. Hawkins was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, Sanctuaried, for review a few weeks ago. The title, Sanctuaried, refers to those corporate executivies who have made it to the rarified level of CEO within their company, or an equivalent level of responsibility. He does make it clear in the preface that a) this is not a book on leadership and b) this is not a self-help book. It is instead a study of the skills, experience, personalities and other traits that led to success for these individuals.That said, it appears to be a very thorough study of what Hawkins calls SLEs, Significant Life Events, and how these events affected the individuals in the study throughout their lives, careers, and retirements, complete with charts, numerical analysis, and appendices. Unfortunately, from my point of view, it reads like a doctoral thesis (and probably was), and there wasn't much takeaway for the average joe out to improve his business and leadership skills.
Most of the SLEs that these executives said had affected them the most are the type of events that nearly all of us have had in our lives (if we live long enough), ranging from the death of a family member to marriages, having children, playing sports, having a mentor, serving in the military...you get the picture. I really didn't see any theme that tied it all together.
Ok if you're looking for a bare bones summary of how 30 men clawed their way to the top, stayed there or fell, and dealt with life after retirement.
