Elites

Douglas Board was hot-housed from an early age to be a member of the elite: the tiny coterie of people who run organizations, professions, interest groups, communities, and, at the highest level, countries. The training worked, and he has been chair of a household-name charity, treasurer of another, and deputy chair of a board-level consultancy. Elites are also his specialist subject: he has a doctorate in selection for senior roles and, as a head-hunter and executive coach, he has spent three decades recruiting and mentoring new members of the top tier. In this revelatory book &; part how-to guide, part detective story of ideas &; he analyses 10 traps which hold back those on the upper rungs of the ladder from making it to the top and undermine their self-esteem. He also asks whether that final push to the top is worth it. Writing passionately from his own experience, Board argues that success in the fullest sense isn&;t about winning the most glittering material prizes. For him, true fulfillment demands an adventure into the unknown inside ourselves: why do we seek what we seek? The answers can be surprising.