"Touchstones captures a lifetime of experience running successful businesses and is condensed into an extremely useful and easy to remember format. Joe has managed to replicate the way he successfully operated as a CEO, board member and chair of various companies into an extremely useful reference guide for managers and leaders at all levels. His use of a one liner (or touchstone) captures the concept as well as the attention of the reader and at the same time displays a little of Joe’s personality. This flows logically into an explanation of the thought process, which brings the subject to life. Throughout his book, Joe draws on the principles of many scholars of business such as Drucker, Porter and others, but what Touchstones accomplishes is based more on reality than theory and as such is likely more useful as day-to-day reference material by experienced and aspiring managers and leaders alike."

Nick Green

President and CEO, Avid Bioservices

"This book represents a great compilation of lifelong experiences and lessons learned. I really like the takeaways at the end of each section which provides a ‘go to’ reference for most situations and reminders of key leadership traits. A must read and reference for future and current leaders."

Dave Bender

President, AvtechTyee Corporation

"In business, just about every mistake has already been made by someone. Great leaders and executives figure out those mistakes and avoid making them. Joe has provided a superb tool to help you navigate away from those all too common professional and personal pitfalls. Read away."

Paul Manning

Chairman, President and CEO, Sensient Technologies Corp.

"The Touchstones of Leadership is a fabulous book―very readable, thoroughly researched. It reveals that great leadership requires both leading and managing skills, but first and foremost the foundation of good leadership is the ability to manage oneself. Joe has distilled great management and leadership wisdom from his extensive industry experience and has captured them as 'touchstones,' gems of leadership and management which are as timeless as they are necessary to any successful organization. Touchstones presents a comprehensive, yet concise, leadership model that brings together the essential softer, interpersonal skills with the strategic and execution skills so necessary to become an effective leader in the business world. It is easily digestible and summarized in 'index cards' for later review."

William Readdy

US Navy Test Pilot, NASA Astronaut, NASA Senior Executive

"Dr. Carleone, a proven industry leader with many years of experience in diverse industries, has summarized his learnings into a very simple, easy to read, guide for business leaders. Internalizing the concepts associated with the ‘45 Touchstones’ will allow leaders to navigate through the complexities of business and will make a lasting difference in their careers and personal lives. This book is a must-read for all current and future business leaders.”

Dr. Aslam Malik

CEO, SK Pharmteco and AMPAC Fine Chemicals

"Whilst most leadership books contain some new insights and ah-ha moments for the aspiring leader, this book brings together a cornucopia of leadership wisdom distilled from the author’s own experiences and from studying the work of others in the field to provide a guide for self-improvement and further study for any business leader."

Mark R. Bamforth

Entrepreneur, mentor, and investor in life science