Tough Calls

We all make decisions every day. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but every so often there are some really tough calls. In business the choices that executives are sometimes faced with can make the difference between acclaimed success and ongoing prosperity, and failure and financial disaster.

InTough Calls, leading businessman Allan Leighton focuses on specific decisions he has made in the course of his career - at ASDA, Royal Mail and elsewhere - and describes the thought processes behind them. He also talks to many others in the know, from Sir Stuart Rose and Sir Terry Leahy to Adam Crozier at ITV and Stephen Hester at RBS. Taking into account facts that were known to them at the time, as well as other interrelated factors and potentially high-risk consequences, this line-up of top executives outline their approaches to breaking down often highly complex problems into achievable solutions.

All Allan Leightons royalties from this book will be donated to Breast Cancer Care (Registered charity: England and Wales 1017658, Scotland SC038104)

Allan Leightonbegan his career at Mars confectionery, where he rose to become Group Marketing Director before leaving to join the loss-making ASDA supermarket chain. There he was credited with turning what he once described as a 'basket case' into a highly successful company that was sold to US retail giant Wal-Mart for £6.7 billion in 1999.

When he left his position as President and Chief Executive of Wal-Mart Europe he famously coined the phrase 'going plural' as he took on non-executive positions at a string of companies, including lastminute.com, BHS, BSkyB and Selfridges. He was the longest serving chairman of Royal Mail Group until 2009, and is currently non-executive director of a number of companies. His first book,On Leadership, was a bestseller when it appeared in 2007.