The Will To Lead : Running a Business With a Network of Leaders

Marvin Bower

Retail Price: $35.00 LS Price: $0.00 Availability: Out-of-Print Format: Hardcover, 208pp. ISBN: 9780875847580 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: July 1997 Average Customer Review:

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The Will to Lead draws on Bower's years of experience to present his highly personal vision of what it takes to lead people to work together effectively. Rejecting the command-and-control style of managing that has built so many great companies, Bower argues that in today's intensely competitive global marketplace, it is no longer the best way to run most businesses. Instead, he urges senior executives to turn their firms into true leadership companies by replacing bosses with a network of leaders and leadership teams placed strategically throughout the company.

Bower describes how such a flexible leadership network will help companies improve performance dramatically by enabling people to learn leadership on the job; develop greater self-confidence and self-esteem; work together more effectively, efficiently, and creatively; and speak freely and candidly with their leaders without fear of sanction even when they openly disagree. Weaving in stories and lessons from his own journey as advisor, mentor, and colleague, Bower outlines steps for creating a leadership company and addresses one of the most pressing problems that today's corporate leaders face: attracting talented people.

Marvin Bower, one of McKinsey & Company's founders, reflects on the importance of leadership in working relationships and teamwork. Drawing on his extensive work with top executives during his career at McKinsey, he rejects the command-and-control style of managing that has built so many great companies. Instead, Bower provides sets of leadership guidelines so that readers can use their own judgments in dealing with the facts of particular companies and leaders in today's intensely competitive global marketplace. Bower weaves into his commentary stories and lessons from his role as advisor, mentor, and colleague.


Reviews

At least since World War II, "command and control" has been the dominant model for running organizations, but this concept is being seriously reconsidered today. Bower sums up over 60 years of experience with McKinsey & Co.an international management consulting firmwith personal advice on how to run a business built on a network of leaders. His background qualifies him to comment on such business strategies as leading vs. commanding, developing leaders and leadership teams, and leading governing boards. The author is a straight shooter, offering a legitimate alternative to the massive leadership hype that fills the shelves these days. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.Dale F. Farris, Groves, Tex.

—From Library Journal:

Marvin Bower's goal was to build an enduring institution, and for more than 60 years he dedicated himself to that proposition. Widely credited with being the founder of professional management consulting, Bower was a member of McKinsey and its guiding influence from 1933, when he joined, through his retirement in 1992 and until his death in 2003 at the age of 99. He served as managing director from 1950 to 1967.

	Prologue: The Will to Lead: Running a Business with a Network of Leaders
	Acknowledgments
1	Why Change to Leading?	1
2	A Personal Learning Journey	9
3	Developing Leaders in a Business	20
4	Four Fundamental Responsibilities of Company Leaders	48
5	Leadership Design: Replacing Structure	54
6	Leadership Design: The Roles of Teams	72
7	Custom-Designing the Network	83
8	Leading People to Like Their Work and to Adjust to the New Workplace	106
9	Corporate Governance for a Leadership Company	132
	Epilogue: Starting the Conversion Process	156
Appendix A	Interview of John Whitehead	160
Appendix B	GM Board of Directors Corporate Governance Guidelines	168
	Notes	178
	Worthwhile Reading	184
	Index	187
	About the Author	197

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