The Connecting Leader: In the Age of Hyper-Transparency, Interconnectivity and Media Anarchy, How Corporate Leaders Connect Business with Society

by Alberto Lopez Valenzuela

Over the last twenty-five years, we have seen a dramatic shift in the balance of power from institutions to civil society. Individuals have never been more demanding toward Big Business. This unstoppable change has been fueled by the New Normal—an interconnected, hyper-transparent, and media-anarchic world forcing companies to rethink their contribution to society. Not all businesses have found the answer to thrive in the New Normal beyond delivering short-term shareholder value. Alberto Lopez-Valenzuela has worked with leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies and has spent years analyzing how companies build authentic reputations that create tangible value. Using extensive research and in-depth interviews with some of the most forward-thinking leaders in Corporate Affairs, Alberto shares a new model, The Connecting Leader, to help companies establish an authentic relationship with key stakeholders that not only delivers greater economic value but also enables a positive social contract.

244 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2018

Reviews

[Julian Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly and precisely argued, this is one of those business books which completely nails the topic.

Well written, instantly engaging and coherent (not often the way with innovative business books) - I read it in one sitting on a long flight and did not drop my attention once.

A simple concept, but one from which may businesses could instantly benefit.

More from this author please.

[Silvano Paternoster · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and quick read to do in a couple of days

flows very well and it's pretty coherent
there is a very clear message throughout the book
that can be synthesized into "any company needs a chief commercial officer CCO" or whatever name you want to slap on it, and at the same time this person needs to be at the C-suite level and report both to the CEO and the board

4 stars as it still is a great book but to me 5 stars implies excellence and I think that here on good reads people tend to give a 5 to any book that "didn't have problems". Sure this book didn't have problems but that 5th star is that 10% beyond the 100% i would say.
this book reaches the 100%

ny critic would be that to reach that 110% it needed to expand more on real world example, there are some good ones already, but they don't really demonstrate much the point the author is making. E.g. profit focussed companies like apple which is being used an example is thriving. would be still interesting to get more insight into the thinking process of these CEOs and what are the career paths of these CCOs
what do CCOs and their subordinates need to do exactly? with case studies of good and bad situations?

not sure what is missing but I am left with hunger for more

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!