Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the Extraordinary - Hardcover

Kurtzman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470490098 ISBN 13: 9780470490099

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2010

Synopsis

From one of the most respected names in business and leadership, a rare look at the specifics of how great leaders achieve "common purpose" and success within their organizations.

What is common purpose? It is that rare, almost-palpable experience that happens when a leader coalesces a group, team or community into a creative, dynamic, brave and nearly invincible we. It happens the moment the organization's values, tools, objectives and hopes are internalized in a way that enables people to work tirelessly toward a goal. Common purpose is rarely achieved. But Kurtzman has observed that when a leader is able to bring it about, the results are outsized, measurable and inspiring.

• Based on Kurtzman's all-new interviews with more than 50 leaders, including Ron Sargent, Ilene Lang, Micky Arison, Simon Cooper, Joel Klein, Janet Field, Steve Wynn, Shivan Subramaniam, Michael Dell, Richard Boyatzis, Tom Kelley, Michael Milken, and Warren Bennis
• Contains research on leadership Kurtzman has conducted during his years at The New York Times, the Harvard Business Review, Booz & Company, as well as with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mercer, and Korn/Ferry

Based on all new interviews with some of the most dynamic, successful, and enduring leaders, Common Purpose sheds new light on the meaning of leadership, the crucial qualities of leaders, and most importantly, how to lead.

About this title

About the Author

JOEL KURTZMAN is chairman of the Kurtzman Group, a research and consulting firm focusing on issues relating to knowledge management, strategy, economic development, global risk, and thought leadership. He is a senior fellow at the Milken Institute and publisher of The Milken Institute Review, a member of the editorial board of MIT Sloan Management Review, and a senior fellow at Wharton's SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. He is also an advisor to the World Economic Forum and to the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. Previously, he was the editor of Harvard Business Review, founder and editor of strategy + business magazine, a columnist at Fortune, and an editor and columnist at The New York Times. For more than 30 years, Kurtzman has interviewed, worked with, and consulted to the CEOs of some of the world's largest companies.

From the Back Cover

COMMON PURPOSE

IN THIS GROUNDBREAKING BOOK, business and management expert Joel Kurtzman tackles the central question of leadership. What is common purpose? It is that rare, almost palpable experience that happens when a leader coalesces a group, team, or community into a creative, dynamic, brave, and nearly invincible we. It happens the moment the organization's values, tools, objectives, and hopes are internalized in a way that enables people to work tirelessly toward a goal. Common purpose is rarely achieved. But Kurtzman has observed that when a leader is able to bring it about, the results are outsized, measurable, and inspiring.

Based on Kurtzman's thirty years of experience working with global thought leaders and institutions, Common Purpose features personal interviews with some of the most dynamic, successful, and enduring leaders, including Joel Klein of New York City Schools, Simon Cooper of Ritz-Carlton, Ilene Lang of Catalyst, Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts, Shivan Subramaniam of FM Global, Mickey Arison of Carnival Cruise Lines, Michael Dell of Dell, Inc., Richard Boyatzis of Case Western Reserve University, Tom Kelley of IDEO, and distinguished professor and author Warren Bennis.

In a world besieged by failures of leadership, leaders who hope to last must understand how to create sustainable, healthy organizations. With new insights on how to approach a leadership mindset, as well as how to implement it, Common Purpose sheds new light on the meaning of leadership, the crucial qualities of leaders, and most importantly, how to lead.

For more information, please visit www.kurtzmangroup.com.

From the Inside Flap

COMMON PURPOSE

IN THIS GROUNDBREAKING BOOK, business and management expert Joel Kurtzman tackles the central question of leadership. What is common purpose? It is that rare, almost palpable experience that happens when a leader coalesces a group, team, or community into a creative, dynamic, brave, and nearly invincible we. It happens the moment the organization's values, tools, objectives, and hopes are internalized in a way that enables people to work tirelessly toward a goal. Common purpose is rarely achieved. But Kurtzman has observed that when a leader is able to bring it about, the results are outsized, measurable, and inspiring.

Based on Kurtzman's thirty years of experience working with global thought leaders and institutions, Common Purpose features personal interviews with some of the most dynamic, successful, and enduring leaders, including Joel Klein of New York City Schools, Simon Cooper of Ritz-Carlton, Ilene Lang of Catalyst, Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts, Shivan Subramaniam of FM Global, Mickey Arison of Carnival Cruise Lines, Michael Dell of Dell, Inc., Richard Boyatzis of Case Western Reserve University, Tom Kelley of IDEO, and distinguished professor and author Warren Bennis.

In a world besieged by failures of leadership, leaders who hope to last must understand how to create sustainable, healthy organizations. With new insights on how to approach a leadership mindset, as well as how to implement it, Common Purpose sheds new light on the meaning of leadership, the crucial qualities of leaders, and most importantly, how to lead.

For more information, please visit www.kurtzmangroup.com.

Reviews

A thoughtful—if somewhat long-winded—and ethics-based discussion of leadership in the modern age by lauded business consultant Kurtzman. The author takes an all-for-one-and-one-for-all view of management, stating that the heart and soul of leadership is the creation of common purpose. He advocates for flat organizations and the end of the traditional corporate hierarchy in the interests of forging a sense of identity and connection between leaders and led. He cites such successes as the long-lived Proctor & Gamble and the ever-lauded Apple, and failures like GM's former chairman taking the ill-advised private jet to ask Congress for a bailout as examples of how CEOs can save their companies by siding with employees—and fail by standing apart from them. A thought-provoking look at the behavior of young Gen X and Y leaders backs up his premise that leadership is evolving—for the better. He posits that in the years ahead, leaders will be kinder, more caring, and more empathic and are likely to create organizations superior to anything that has come before. While the material doesn't necessarily support an entire book's worth of encouragement, this is nonetheless a solid and readable look at New Leadership. (Mar.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470490098
• ISBN 13: 9780470490099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240