Why Should the Boss Listen to You? -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Introduction Leaders and Their Advisors -- Professional Potholes -- Five Imperatives for the Trusted Strategic Advisor -- It Takes a Disciplined Approach -- Are You Ready? -- Part One THE REALITIES OF ADVISING TOP EXECUTIVES -- Chapter 1 HOW LEADERS THINK AND OPERATE -- Pressures Leaders Are Under -- What Leaders Do -- Why Leaders Fail -- How Leaders Succeed -- Study Leadership -- Chapter 2 WHAT LEADERS EXPECT -- The Boss's Special Perspective -- The Counselor's Prime Directive -- How the Boss Measures Advice -- What Bosses Expect from Strategic Advisors -- Talents Advisors Need -- Do You Fit in the CEO Environment? -- Resources -- Chapter 3 ACHIEVING MAXIMUM IMPACT -- Gain and Keep the Confidence of Senior People -- Speak Management's Language -- Work Against the Patterns That Bother Bosses -- Talk and Write to Time -- Give Useful Feedback -- What Your Leader Expects -- Do You Have the Discipline? -- Part Two THE SEVEN DISCIPLINES -- Chapter 4 BE TRUSTWORTHY -- Trust Matters -- Trust and Influence -- Trust and Loyalty -- Loyalty Has Limits -- Set Personal Loyalty Limits -- Trust-Appreciation Confusion -- The Ingredients of Trust -- Establishing Trust -- Busting Trust -- Questions to Consider -- Chapter 5 BECOME A VERBAL VISIONARY -- Advice on the Spot -- The Advisor's Verbal Toolbox -- Assess Your Verbal Skill -- Get Coaching -- Being Visionary -- What Does a Verbal Visionary Do? -- How Do You Become a Verbal Visionary? -- How Will You Know If You Have Become a Verbal Visionary? -- Chapter 6 DEVELOP A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE -- Admission to the Inner Circle -- Commit Yourself to Management's Team -- Ask Managerially Relevant Questions First -- Be Ready with Answers -- Why Bosses Sometimes Bypass Staff -- Whining Turns Bosses Off.

Say Things That Matter -- Questions to Consider -- Chapter 7 THINK STRATEGICALLY -- The Strategic Perspective -- Strategy Is Always Positive -- The Virtues of a Strategist -- Thinking Strategically -- Why Some Strategies Are Flawed from the Start -- Can You Develop a Strategic Mind-Set? -- Chapter 8 BE A WINDOW TO TOMORROW -- Study the Patterns That Past Scenarios Yield -- The Strategic Value of Pattern-Related Thinking -- Pattern Examples -- Exposure Management and Surveillance -- War Stories -- The Lessons of Pattern and Scenario Awareness -- Can You Recognize What's Coming Next? -- Chapter 9 ADVISE CONSTRUCTIVELY -- The Three-Minute Drill -- Learn and Use This Management Decision-Making Structure -- More Strategic Advice-Giving Tools -- Chapter 10 SHOW THE BOSS HOW TO USE YOUR ADVICE -- Giving Constructive Advice -- Giving Advice Effectively -- Advice Givers and Advice Takers -- Be a Strategic Force -- Conclusion -- Index.