The Code of the Executive: Forty-Seven Ancient Samurai Principles Essential for Twenty-First Century Leadership Success

In this book, executive advisor Don Schmincke has interpreted The Code of the Samurai for today's corporate warriors. As managers rise up the corporate ladder, they seek answers and guidance in the latest management trends. They find suggestions for strategies without the groundwork for implementation. The ancient principles presented here provide a system of practical and moral training for effective leadership. But most importantly these principles are a much needed guide to the inner development that is vital for true leadership.

Management advisor Don Schmincke believes leaders can thrive in the third millennium by utilizing principles developed during the first. They originate in a moral code known as Bushido that was followed by samurai warriors in ninth-century Japan and formalized by Daidoji Yuzan as the Code of the Samurai some seven centuries later. Now updating them as The Code of the Executive, Schmincke points out parallels between past and present and suggests this connection is a natural. In those days, he writes, the shogun was regulatory government, feudal barons the hard-driving CEOs, real estate their business, and samurai the executives hired to oversee it all. These samurai relied upon their rigid ethical guide to discharge both professional and personal responsibilities favorably, Schmincke notes, and today's corporate leaders can succeed by similarly following its teachings. Dividing fundamentals into categories such as "Personal Principles," "Roles and Responsibilities, and "Education and Development," he shows how ancient wisdom on cooperation, integrity, accountability, sacrifice, power, and so on can apply to contemporary situations. On "Respecting Personnel," for example, he suggests "reasonable argument" be used to "gain agreement" on serious infractions--while "for trivial issues" it is better to be "indulgent and patient and not sweat the insignificant." --Howard Rothman