| Economies rise and fall. Technologies come and go. But companies that develop outstanding leadership within their ranks can weather any business storm. "Leadership," say authors Fulmer and Goldsmith, "is the future's only source of sustainable competitive advantage."
Their new book presents a sweeping overview of the best practices in leadership development today. Rich with the distilled experiences of the world's most advanced programs, THE LEADERSHIP INVESTMENT focuses on six exemplary organizations and their varied approaches to leadership development:
* Arthur Andersen--its unparalleled use of quantifiable data in assessing the impact of its extensive educational efforts * General Electric--known for its Crotonville "campus," often called "a staging ground for corporate revolutions * Hewlett-Packard--how it made the transition to the computer industry through geographic, ethnic, and gender diversity * Johnson & Johnson--its use of "Executive Conferences" to wipe out complacency and short-term thinking * Royal Dutch Shell--how it developed "scenarios" as a tool for future-focused learning * The World Bank--its one-week "poverty modules," when participants live in environments like those they exist to serve.
With additional examples from business schools, corporate universities, and consultancies, THE LEADERSHIP INVESTMENT reveals many intriguing approaches for creating tomorrow's leaders.
From Booklist
Fulmer is a professor of management at the College of William and Mary and the co-author of Leadership by Design. Goldsmith is a leadership consultant and writer. Their book is based on the authors' work with corporate executives, business academics, and people in consulting firms that specialize in leadership development. It draws from data from a 1998-1999 research study involving Arthur Andersen, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Royal Dutch Shell, and the World Bank. Thirty-five other businesses participated in the study by attending a planning session, completing data-gathering surveys, and attending or hosting on-site interviews. They included the AARP, Allstate Insurance, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, the Lutheran Brotherhood, Sprint, the U.S. Treasury, and the U.S. Postal Service. The book offers an overview of the optimum practices in leadership development, citing a number of approaches. George Cohen
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From the Author
The Leadership Investment
Robert Fulmer and I have based The Leadership Investment on our work with senior corporate executives, business academics, and principals in consulting firms that specialize in leadership development. We are certain that this book will be of value to anyone interested in gaining the ultimate source of competitive advantage--“an ability to learn faster than the competition.”
As a founding director of Keilty, Goldsmith & Company, I’ve been actively involved as a consultant to many of the best practice partners included in this book. The Leadership Investment includes the conclusions of more than a decade of my focus on the characteristics that will be required for leadership in the future.
The Leadership Investment incorporates ten years of invaluable research conducted by my co-author with such organizations as Columbia University, the MIT Center for Organizational learning, The College of William and Mary, America Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and America Productivity and Quality Center (APQC). The book emphasizes the findings of two studies: a global best-practices study sponsored by APQC and ASTD; and a subsequent study concerning the organizational development of leaders at all levels.
In this book, we explore how some of the world’s best corporations have invested time, money, and energy to the development of leaders within their organizations, because in today’s rapidly changing world the key determinant of any company’s long-term success is effective leadership.
--Marshall Goldsmith |
