The Leadership Investment: How the World's Best Organizations Gain Strategic Advantage Through Leadership Development

by Robert M. Fulmer, Marshall Goldsmith

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 * 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.

Genres: Leadership

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2000

About the author

Bob Fulmer is author or co-author of over 150 published articles and almost 40 business books, monographs and editions. As an academic, he has held endowed chairs at Trinity, William & Mary, and Pepperdine, taught management and leadership at Columbia and Emory Universities and was a Visiting Scholar at MIT. He was responsible for worldwide management development at Allied-Signal, was president of two consulting firms and has conducted seminars in 25 countries on five continents. "

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though I was reading it from the perspective of an academic researcher, it has much of value to offer the practitioner, especially those in a position to improve the leadership development processes in their organizations. The Leadership Investment is a foray through the development programs and processes of a variety of large organizations, such as Royal Dutch Shell, Arthur Andersen, Johnson & Johnson, Saturn, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, and the World Bank. Of course, some of those firms have disappeared from the landscape, and others have undergone significant changes since this book was written. The lessons derived, though, are as timely today as in 2001. Indeed, perhaps more so, since many of the same problems and challenges are still endemic to organizational life.

In each chapter, Fulmer and Goldsmith describe and explore the leadership development practices and philosophies of one of the firms. They explain why they do things the way they do, the outcomes of their approaches, and (most importantly) the lessons learned. Along the way, the reader is treated to something of a graduate course in designing or implementing an effective leadership development process. Toward the end of the book, the authors then take a look at three growing institutions becoming involved in LD – corporate universities, academic universities, and private leadership development firms. The authors write in a crisp and engaging style, keeping the interest of the reader elevated from chapter to chapter, and drawing clear and compelling lessons from their exploration of these generally successful firms.