Leading in a Time of Crisis

After losing two CEOs in rapid order, McDonald's revamped the way it does succession.

The financial crisis of 2008 unleashed intense public fury at the corporate world.

The story Warren Bennis tells his students as the new semester begins at the University of Southern California came from a New Yorker article published in January 2005.

Economists are rightly cautious about the recovery. Spain and Ireland have been devastated by the bursting of their construction bubbles.

Another explanation, however, is that leadership is not a static set of teachable skills.

Academia has not done any better at developing these capabilities in leaders.

In the summer of 2008, Herbert Henkel, the chairman, president and CEO of Ingersoll Rand, was alarmed when he noticed that European orders in the company’s refrigerated transport business had slumped.

Part of Harvard Business Publishing’s “Memo to the CEO” series, the book packs a good deal of insight into a highly readable, almost chatty package.

Just about anyone who reads this book will have read or been affected by the writings of Peter Drucker.