In Search of Leadership

Two global executives put high-level leaders to the test Embrace Your Role as a Leader “Essential reading for all serious students and practitioners of leadership.”-Warren Bennis, bestselling author of On Becoming a Leader “An amazing set of stories about leaders of every stripe imaginable.A page-turner—-I learned and was surprised again and again.”—Tom Peters, bestselling author of In Search of Excellence “In Search of Leadership reveals the essential qualities and life lessons of those who have shown true leadership around the world. The authors have cleverly shown, through shared stories, fascinating commonalities between great leaders which we all can emulate. This book is truly inspirational and motivational and can help us to become better leaders in our own lives.”-Johann Koss, President and CEO, Right to Play “Harkins and Swift write on leadership with greater depth than commonly seen in popular business books. By adopting an authentic listening posture, they draw out thoughtful self-analysis from a wide range of people who have made a difference in the world. The result is an insightful exploration of why some people become leaders.”-Stephen J. Toope, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of British Columbia “By carefully examining the personal stories of some of the great leaders of our time--including political, business, and philanthropic champions--Harkins and Swift deftly examine what it is that differentiates the great leader from the rest.”-Mark Wiseman, Vice President, Private Investments, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board “In Search of Leadership effectively demonstrates how top leaders are able to transcend good and arrive at great.”—Gregory B. Jansen, Managing director, Commonfund Capital, inc. What truly drives a leader? The role of leadership is crucial to every occupation-whether you're in business, or government, whether you're a parent or a teacher, and whether you're at the early stages of your career, or are at a crossroads after decades of success. Linkage CEO Phil Harkins and ARC Financial Corp cofounder Phil Swift have enjoyed decades of experience in leading and working with other leaders. Along the way they became aware that many leaders find themselves in search of their personal purpose for leading. This search led them on a new journey--traveling around the world to interview corporate executives, presidents and prime ministers, educators, an important spiritual leader, and other leaders in a wide array of fields, including Mary Robinson, first female president of Ireland Henri Landwirth, holocaust survivor, hotel mogul, philanthropistMikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union and 1990 winner of the Nobel Peace PrizeRafiah Salim, International Center for Leadership in Finance, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, U.N. Rajaa Khuzai,former Member of the Iraqi Governing CouncilBenazir Bhutto, former prime minister of PakistanErin Gruwell, Freedom Writers founder and education innovator Harkins and Swift asked each of these leaders the fundamental question “Why Lead?” The answers were startling in their wide range and also the commonality of a recurring theme. Essentially, great leaders, at some point in time, all experience a transformational shift that motivates them to move to the next level by thinking and operating outside the box of personal power and material gain. In Search of Leadership reveals the essential qualities and life lessons of leaders who have made this shift. The authors found that all great leaders eventually realize the need to serve not only their organization but society and the world at large. By doing so, they give profound new meaning to what they do and why.