Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out - Hardcover

by Robert Gandossy (Editor), Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (Editor)

At last, there's a business leadership book that really tackles the tough issues of integrity and governance. Taking a unique approach to leadership, this book gathers the path-breaking perspectives of influential shareholder activists; opinion-leading CEOs of major firms; trailblazing, distinguished academics; and courageous regulators. The all-star roster of contributors from the corporate world and academia includes Vanguard's John Bogle, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, and Harvard Business School's Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower and Time Person of the Year, shares an inside look at Enron, and Barbara Ley Toffler, former head of Arthur Andersen's Ethics Practice, paints a picture of Anderson Consulting before their fall.

Front Jacket

Another governance publication? In the aftermath of the many recent failed models of leadership provided by rogue CEOs and negligent boards, the public has been treated to a smorgasbord of governance critiques ranging from corporate scolds to corporate apologists. Nonetheless, the growing stack of writing created by the cottage industry of governance professionals has become so focused on legal compliance and financial audits that the larger leadership implications of good governance are neglected.

Unlike the common reliance on tedious recipes, simplistic admonitions, finger-pointing vilification, and self-interested dogma, Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out gathers a priceless portfolio of expertise across fields and ideologies. Among the disparate voices collected here are the candid insights of both successful and failed CEOs, the passions of pioneering shareholder activists, the tradeoffs of courageous whistleblowers, the research inferences of renowned management scholars, the recommendations of insightful accountants, the wisdom of experienced attorneys, and the dreams of trailblazing regulators.

This book avoids a simplistic synthesis of the contrasting perspectives. Never before have such varied opinion leaders appeared in print together to address shared governance concerns. The distinguished contributors include current and past SEC chairmen William Donaldson and Arthur Levitt; governance advocates like Vanguard founder Jack Bogle; the Corporate Library's Nell Minow; Enron's Sherron Watkins; past and current CEOs such as Norman Augustine of Lockheed Martin, Robert Lane of John Deere, and Bill George of Medtronic; prominent scholars such as Yale's Rick Antle, USC's Warren Bennis, Harvard's Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Rakesh Khurana, INSEAD's Manfred Kets de Vries, and Wharton's Michael Useem.

Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out transcends the hand-wringing over current crises to help resolve the problems with fresh ideas about reform. Some boards continue as rubber stamps for management while others have become needlessly adversarial. This book is a vital resource for those business leaders who choose to restore or fortify the trust of shareholders and employees while safeguarding their own priceless reputations.

Back Jacket

LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

"Gandossy and Sonnenfeld have assembled a thoughtful framework for rebuilding trust in business. It is important that business leaders of the future are comfortable around this subject. Reading this book is a start."
--Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, General Electric

"The subject of corporate governance is daunting, covering a sometimes bewildering array of complex legal, ethical, and financial issues. Gandossy and Sonnenfeld deserve immense credit for bringing together distinguished contributors from the worlds of academia and business to address these critical subjects in a single comprehensive volume."
--Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Chairman and CEO, Goldman, Sachs & Co.

"Gandossy and Sonnenfeld offer us many viewpoints on corporate governance and shed new light on the dysfunctions of seemingly functional organizations. I don't agree with all the remedies, but I clearly understand the anger of the betrayed employee and investor. Corporate crooks should face swift justice. Everyone else should read this book."
--Hank McKinnell, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.

"A superbly crafted, thought-provoking, and compelling contribution to the dialogue of the day on corporate leadership and governance."
--Doug Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup

"I have dreaded most 'required readings' since college. Then along comes this fantastic book filled with great essays about what the somewhat ethereal notion of good corporate governance means, not in the abstract but in practice. I didn't think that any one text could assemble so many heavyweights on the issue. That's why this required reading breaks the mold on a topic that most of us wish we didn't have to focus on but we must because the consequences of ignorance are decidedly non-blissful."
--James Cramer, founder of The Street.com and co-host, CNBC's Kudlow & Cramer

Author Biography

ROBERT GANDOSSY is Global Leader for Hewitt Associates' Talent and Organization Consulting Practice. The coauthor of Leading the Way: Three Truths from the Top Companies for Leaders (Wiley), and co-editor of Human Resources in the 21st Century, he holds a PhD from Yale University, where he specialized in organizational behavior with an emphasis on understanding the origins of white-collar crime.

JEFFREY SONNENFELD is the Associate Dean for Executive Programs at the Yale School of Management, as well as Professor of Management Practice and the founder of Yale's Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Author of the bestselling The Hero's Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire, he earned his MBA and doctorate at the Harvard Business School, where he served as a professor for a decade.