Power Plays: Shakespeare's Lessons in Leadership and Management

The issues fueling the intricate plots of Shakespeare's four-hundred-year-old plays are the same common, yet complex issues that business leaders contend with today. And, as John Whitney and Tina Packer so convincingly demonstrate, no one but the Bard himself can penetrate the secrets of leadership with such piercing brilliance. Let him instruct you on the issues that managers face every day: Power: Richard II's fall from power can enlighten us. Trust: Draw on the experiences of King Lear and Othello. Decision: Hamlet illustrates the dos and don'ts of decision making. Action: See why Henry IV was effective and Henry VI was not. Whitney and Packer do not simply compare Shakespeare's plays with management techniques, instead they draw on their own wealth of business experience to show us how these essential Shakespearean lessons can be applied to modern-day challenges. Power Plays infuses the world of business with new life -- and plenty of drama.

John O. Whitney, director of the W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality Management and a professor at Columbia Business School, has served as the CEO, COO, and director of several companies, and conducts popular executive seminars. He lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.