Building Leaders: How Successful Companies Are Creating Their Next Generation of Leaders Paperback - 1999

First line

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From the rear cover

Corporations are spAnding billions of dollars on leadership development initiatives. But are these programs paying off? Building Leaders takes a hard look at the successes and failures of more than a dozen organizations--including Ernst & Young, Motorola, the U.S. Army, and Federal Express. It identifies the three dominant approaches to leadership education and provides a blueprint for how organizations can use them to more effectively cultivate a continuous crop of talented leaders.

From the jacket flap

Companies everywhere are searching for ways to turn effective managers into dynamic leaders. In this book, Jay Conger, named one of the Top Ten Influential Figures in the World of Business, culls the wide variety of methods being developed by top corporations around the globe. Through insightful analysis and extensive case studies, he and co-author Beth Benjamin provide the proven techniques, and common pitfalls to avoid, for building leadership talent at all levels.Based on research conducted at more than a dozen organizations--including Ernst & Young, PepsiCo, Federal Express, the U.S. Army, and the National Australian Bank--the authors identify three principal approaches to leadership education: individual skill development, instilling organizational values that promote leadership, and strategic interventions. In separate chapters, they examine the strengths and shortcomings of each of these approaches and outline their most important elements, from organizational needs assessments to effective workshops and instruction to 360-degree feedback mechanisms. Individual case studies illustrate best practices in an array of business sectors and give readers an inside look at how world-class leadership development programs are created, organized, and conducted so they can benchmark their own efforts. A special chapter studies the popular educational technique of action learning and its potential as a new paradigm for training the leaders of the twenty-first century. How will technology, new leadership requirements, and the flatter, wired organization affect trAnds in the upcoming millennium? The final chapter profiles the future of leadership in corporate America and offers insights to help organizations anticipate and train for the characteristics that will be demanded in the next generation of corporate leaders.

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Citations

• Ingram PTR, 07/01/1999, Page 11