NO STRAIGHT LINE

About the Book

No Straight Line is the story of a man who was labeled a poor student in sixth grade, steered away from college, and sent to work two years short of a high school diploma’s worth of credits — and who went on to lead a company sold for $207 million, rebuild a construction firm that banks now hold up as a model, and founded a pharmaceutical startup for an international healthcare corporation. But this isn’t a typical success story. Bob Albanese didn’t get there by being the smartest person in the room — he rarely was. He got there by recognizing something most leaders miss: every business, no matter the industry, is just a system. Find the structure underneath the chaos, and you can solve almost anything. More importantly, Albanese discovered his real talent wasn’t solving problems himself — it was clearing the path so the right people could solve them. This book tells the stories of people whose careers he changed by rebuilding the platforms underneath them: a distribution associate who became a bank vice president, a receptionist who became an executive, an heir who had to earn what he could have been handed, and a company president positioned out of his own success. Honest about mistakes and generous in crediting others, No Straight Line is both a memoir and a leadership manual for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t belong in the room — and for anyone responsible for the people who do.

About the Author

Bob Albanese began his career on the back of a garbage truck in 1978. He went on to lead a clinical packaging company sold for $207 million, turn around a failing construction firm now used as an industry model, and founded a pharmaceutical startup backed by an international healthcare corporation.