What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School

Notes from a Street-smart Executive

By: Mark H. McCormack

Narrated by: John Chancer

This business classic features straight-talking advice you’ll never hear in school.

Featuring a new foreword by Ariel Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell

Mark H. McCormack, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in American business, is widely credited as the founder of the modern-day sports marketing industry. On a handshake with Arnold Palmer and less than a thousand dollars, he started International Management Group and, over a four-decade period, built the company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise with offices in more than forty countries.

To this day, McCormack’s business classic remains a must-read for executives and managers at every level. Relating his proven method of “applied people sense” in key chapters on sales, negotiation, reading others and yourself, and executive time management, McCormack presents powerful real-world guidance on

• the secret life of a deal
• management philosophies that don’t work (and one that does)
• the key to running a meeting—and how to attend one
• the positive use of negative reinforcement
• proven ways to observe aggressively and take the edge
• and much more

Praise for What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School

“Incisive, intelligent, and witty, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School is a sure winner—like the author himself. Reading it has taught me a lot.”—Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman, News Corp, chairman and CEO, 21st Century Fox

“Clear, concise, and informative . . . Like a good mentor, this book will be a valuable aid throughout your business career.”—Herbert J. Siegel, chairman, Chris-Craft Industries, Inc.

“Mark McCormack describes the approach I have personally seen him adopt, which has not only contributed to the growth of his business, but mine as well.”—Arnold Palmer

“There have been what we love to call dynasties in every sport. IMG has been different. What this one brilliant man, Mark McCormack, created is the only dynasty ever over all sport.”—Frank Deford, senior contributing writer, Sports Illustrated

Critic reviews

“Incisive, intelligent, and witty, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School is a sure winner—like the author himself. Reading it has taught me a lot.”—Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman, News Corp, chairman and CEO, 21st Century Fox

“Clear, concise, and informative . . . Like a good mentor, this book will be a valuable aid throughout your business career.”—Herbert J. Siegel, chairman, Chris-Craft Industries, Inc.

“Mark McCormack describes the approach I have personally seen him adopt, which has not only contributed to the growth of his business, but mine as well.”—Arnold Palmer

“There have been what we love to call dynasties in every sport. IMG has been different. What this one brilliant man, Mark McCormack, created is the only dynasty ever over all sport.”—Frank Deford, senior contributing writer, Sports Illustrated

Woww i wish i could highlight everything

Would highly recommend this book for the decades of learning crunched into 250ish pages over audio - priceless

Omg this is a game changer

After listening to the Audio book 📕 now I just purchased the hard cover to keep for review into 2025 what an early x-mas gift 🎁

Highly recommend it!

It’s an old book that I read over 30 years ago. Listening to it brings back so many lessons but misread important is the fact that this is full of street wise wisdom and insight that work in real life and since these are principles they worked then, they work still. So anyone wanting to do business will find it useful.

Top 5 All-Time Favorite

So many great nuggets in here. Comparable to “How to Win Friends and Influence People” in terms of its readability (or in this case, listenability) and the value in the quantity and quality of ideas shared.

This book should be mandated for anyone in business who wants to succeed in life.

I enjoyed the common sense life lessons. The author clearly lived in a manner that allowed for a wide variety of situations to learn from. Thankfully he also had the wisdom to learn from the situations and not just let them pass by.