Executive Points of View: Understanding the Leadership Game by Grant Shih and Joe Marroquin examines leadership through the lens of lived executive experience.
Developed during the COVID-19 period, the book builds on discussions first shared through blogs and videos. It organizes recurring patterns observed in senior roles across corporate and military settings into a defined set of ideas.
The authors argue that common leadership teachings often fail to match how organizations operate in reality. They present an alternative framework focused on how decisions are made, how authority is exercised, and how outcomes affect different groups within an organization.
A central contribution of the book is the introduction of consistent terminology for situations that leaders encounter but rarely define with precision.
Key sections address topics such as the distinction between character and competence when evaluating performance, and the concept of “organizational wake,” which explains the downstream effects of leadership actions.
Other chapters explore how internal requests create hidden costs and how senior executives assess proposals, with attention to timing, trust, and context.
Executive Points of View serves as a structured guide for interpreting leadership behavior and organizational dynamics.
Trusted insights for technology leaders
Our readers are CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT executives who rely on The National CIO Review for smart, curated takes on the trends shaping the enterprise, from GenAI to cybersecurity and beyond.
Subscribe to our 4x a week newsletter to keep up with the insights that matter.




