No Straight Line: Why Where You Start Doesn't Define End

No Straight Line is the story of a man who was labeled a poor student in sixthgrade, steered away from college, and sent to work two years short of a high schooldiploma's worth of credits - and who went on to lead a company sold for $207million, rebuild a construction firm that banks now hold up as a model, and foundeda pharmaceutical startup for an international healthcare corporation.But this isn't a typical success story. Bob Albanese didn't get there by being thesmartest person in the room - he rarely was. He got there by recognizing somethingmost leaders miss: every business, no matter the industry, is just a system. Find thestructure underneath the chaos, and you can solve almost anything.More importantly, Albanese discovered his real talent wasn't solving problemshimself - it was clearing the path so the right people could solve them. This booktells the stories of people whose careers he changed by rebuilding the platformsunderneath them: a distribution associate who became a bank vice president, areceptionist who became an executive, an heir who had to earn what he could havebeen handed, and a company president positioned out of his own success.Honest about mistakes and generous in crediting others, No Straight Line is botha memoir and a leadership manual for anyone who has ever felt like they didn'tbelong in the room - and for anyone responsible for the people who do.