Winning Now, Winning Later: How Companies Can Succeed in the Short Term While Investing for the Long Term

Business leaders often take actions that prop up earnings in the short term, but compromise their companies’ long-term health. David Cote, the much-respected former leader of Honeywell International and one of the most successful CEOs of his generation, shares a simple, paradigm-shifting method of achieving both short- and long-term goals.

Short-termism is rampant among executives and managers today, causing many companies to underperform and even go out of business. With competition intense and investors demanding strong quarterly gains now, leaders all too often feel obliged to sacrifice the investments so necessary for long-term growth.

Dave Cote is intimately familiar with this problem. Upon becoming Honeywell’s CEO in 2002, he encountered an organization on the verge of failure, thanks to years of untrammeled short-termism. To turn the company around, he and his team adopted a series of bold operational reforms and counterintuitive leadership practices that enabled them to “do two conflicting things at the same time”--pursue strong short- and long-term results. The outcome was phenomenal. Under Cote’s leadership, Honeywell’s market cap grew from $20 billion to $120 billion, delivering returns of about 800%, two and a half times greater than the S&P 500.

Offering ten essential principles for winning both today and tomorrow, this book will help readers to

• Spot practices that seem attractive in the short term but will cost the company in the future
• Determine where and how to invest in growth for maximum impact
• Sustain both short-term performance and long-term investments even in challenging times, such as during recessions and leadership transitions
• Feel inspired to stand up to investors and other managers who are solely focused on either short- or long-term objectives
• Step back, think independently, and foster independent thinking among others around them

Presenting a comprehensive solution to a perennial problem, Winning Now, Winning Later is a go-to guide for leaders everywhere who seek to finally transcend short-termism’s daily grind and leave an enduring legacy of success.

About the Author

When David M. Cote became CEO of Honeywell in 2002, the company was a “train wreck.” But by pursuing both short and long-term results under Cote’s leadership over 16 years, Honeywell’s market cap grew from 20 to 120 billion dollars, delivering returns of 800 percent and beating the S&P by nearly two and a half times.

Cote is one of the most successful CEOs of his generation and is highly praised for how he skillfully navigated the Great Recession at Honeywell, providing today’s leaders with strong advice for navigating the fluctuating economy.