Co-Leaders: The Power of Great Partnerships - Softcover

Heenan, David A.; Bennis, Warren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471361208 ISBN 13: 9780471361206

Publisher: Wiley, 2000

Synopsis

"Co-leadership...is a tough-minded strategy that will unleash the hidden talent in any enterprise. Above all, co-leadership is inclusive, not exclusive. It celebrates those who do the real work, not just a few charismatic often isolated leaders who are regally compensated for articulating the organization's vision." -David A. Heenan and Warren Bennis

Today's heads of big companies are as recognizable to us as the most popular entertainers or sports stars, but the heart and soul of every organization are those leaders below the CEO. Today's celebrity CEO has become either a figure head or an egomaniac, and often too public a personality to get the real work done. That work is done instead by teams of leaders-exceptional deputies who forge great partnerships to maximize both organizational and personal success.

Heenan and Bennis believe we must look beyond the Bill Gateses of the world to understand what makes an organization excel. Written for CEOs, managers, and anyone else interested in modern organizations, this is the first comprehensive study of co-leaders and their often quiet power. Exhaustively researched and illustrated with memorable anecdotes and lively stories, Co-Leaders examines a dozen great partners such as Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Bob Lutz of Chrysler, Bill Guthridge, coach of the University of North Carolina basketball team, and Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller's teacher.

The changing nature of corporate leadership has seen the emergence of a new Silicon Valley model of success, where boss and subordinate seem more like peers with the spotlight on great partnerships. Talent, not title, is the source of power at a growing number of hot high-tech companies. In these collegial, non-hierarchical organizations, today's deputy can become tomorrow's CEO simply by taking his or her breakthrough idea and walking out the door. Good ideas belong, initially at least, to the people who have them, not to the company and not to the boss which is why this new egalitarianism isn't just a matter of style-it's a question of survival. Co-leaders know both the executive and subordinate experience, making them better adapted to the needs of the new millennium where men and women who can command and follow will prove to be the greatest assets of any organization.

Co-Leaders is intended for everyone who aspires to make his or her organization great. By showing the enterprise through the eyes of inspired deputies, this book reveals how both organizations and individuals can benefit from a more inclusive, less celebrity-oriented definition of leadership. This groundbreaking book argues for a new paradigm: gifted leaders and their talented co-leaders working together to make their organizations stronger, more nimble, more equitable...and ultimately more successful.

David A. Heenan is a trustee of the Estate of James Campbell, one of the nation's largest landowners with assets valued at over $2 billion. A former senior executive with Citicorp and Jardine Matheson, Heenan has served on the faculties of the Wharton School and the Columbia Graduate School of Business. A Wharton Ph.D., he is the author of The New Corporate Frontier and The Re-United States of America, and his articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Warren Bennis is Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and a consultant to multinational companies and governments throughout the world. Often referred to as "the guru of modern management," he is one of the preeminent authorities on leadership. Author of over a dozen books, including the best-sellers Leaders and On Becoming a Leader, Bennis's insights have fundamentally shaped the way we think about leaders today.

About this title

Review:

Behind each good CEO, head coach, and general, there's a number-two person who is supremely capable and yet either shuns the spotlight or is willing to wait patiently for his or her turn. Heenan and Bennis take a thorough look at the contributions of these number twos, finding brilliance and dogged determination--qualities the financial press traditionally finds only in bosses--but also the humility and loyalty necessary to remain second banana.

Although the authors refer to almost every professional marriage you can think of--from Abbott and Costello to the short-lived duo of Ovitz and Eisner--the heart of the book focuses on 11 genuine successes in the annals of number-twodom.

The chapter on Al Gore contains an interesting dissection of the role of the VP in American politics. A chapter called "Cyberstars" talks about how Intel's Craig Barrett and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer have contributed to the spectacular success of those companies. (Interesting tidbit: Ballmer once beat Bill Gates in a math competition when both were undergraduates at Harvard.) Bill Guthridge, an assistant basketball coach at the University of North Carolina who served under Dean Smith for 30 years before succeeding him, gets his due in a chapter that ably explains what an assistant coach actually does: it's a tough gig.

The point of the book is that all these fascinating lieutenants represent an argument for a newish type of power-sharing management. It's a strong argument, but it seems dependent on brilliant adjutants, and one senses there may not really be enough of those to go around. --Lou Schuler

About the Author:

DAVID A. HEENAN is a trustee of the Estate of James Campbell, one of the nation's largest landowners, with assets valued at over $2 billion. A former senior executive with Citicorp and Jardine Matheson, Heenan has served on the faculties of the Wharton School and the Columbia Graduate School of Business. He is the author of The New Corporate Frontier and The Reunited States of America.

WARREN BENNIS is Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California and a consultant to multinational companies and governments throughout the world. Author of over a dozen books, including the bestsellers Leaders and On Becoming a Leader, Bennis's insights have fundamentally shaped the way we think about leaders today.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0471361208
• ISBN 13: 9780471361206
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312