5 New Books for Business Leaders
HBS Working Knowledge
Distilling and translating the latest Harvard Business School research for a global audience of business leaders.
The Digital Mindset: What It Really Takes to Thrive in the Age of Data, Algorithms, and AI, by Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley
You don't have to be a machine learning expert to manage a successful digital transformation. In fact, you only need 30 percent fluency in a handful of technical topics. “Thriving in the digital age requires more than simply acquiring skills to work with digital technologies. To be successful, it is necessary to think differently,” write the authors.
For example, business leaders must understand:
“We need to see through the lens of data,” says Neeley. “We need to see through the lens of technology. We need to see through the lens of organizational design and change. It's to begin to see through the prism of all that digital brings when it comes to your own work. With that, you need a whole new approach and a set of skills and tools.”
Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices, by Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman?
When football player Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the American national anthem before a 2016 game to protest racism and police brutality, the National Football League effectively blacklisted him. Yet by taking that one defiant action, Kaepernick also became a leader.
“There's no doubt that Colin Kaepernick has affected the decisions of an enormous number of people in a dramatic way,” says Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.
Kaepernick is among the influential leaders who Don Moore, professor and academic dean at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and Bazerman explore in their new book. The authors contend that a leader’s success depends not just on making good decisions but on helping other people do so as well. By encouraging others to make wiser, more ethical choices, the impact of solid decision-making ripples out in an organization.
Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies, by Ranjay Gulati?
To be successful, companies must build trust with their employees and consumers. But how can companies do so in these turbulent times when they are being pulled in many directions all at once?
First, businesses must realize that trust is fragile and must be continuously nurtured. And that means leaders must clearly articulate what it is they stand for and then take decisive actions around those beliefs. Not just when it’s easy or convenient, but even when it’s difficult.
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In this book, Gulati explores how some leaders embrace “deep purpose” as a way to build trust and in so doing achieve both impressive economic results and positive social impact. This purpose serves as a compass to guide all decisions, but also as an operating system that shapes all facets of the business, including its strategy, culture, and its public relations.
Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know, by J.S. Nelson?and Lynn A. Stout
Company managers have likely heard the old quip: Business ethics is a contradiction in terms. That’s because too often, business is viewed as a hard-hearted enterprise, driven by getting ahead at all costs, even if that means cutting ethical corners.
But that attitude is seriously outdated, says Harvard Business School visiting professor J. S. Nelson. Today, strong ethics are a central issue for business leaders, knowing consumers are drawn to companies that do the right thing while steering clear of businesses that break ethical boundaries, Nelson says. As business leaders navigate a fluid marketplace, a solid ethical practice is the best compass, she advises.
“The world is changing around businesses,” Nelson says. “There is more pressure to make profits, and at the same time to respond to environmental, social, and governance issues.”
And, she says, good workplace and customer ethics aren’t just trendy promotional talking points for companies. Rather, they’ve become crucial for a corporation’s success. As the authors write, “Organizations and societies with high ethical standards tend to flourish, while those with weak ethics often fail.”
Leadership to Last: How Great Leaders Leave Legacies Behind, by Geoffrey Jones?and?Tarun Khanna
How do companies survive not just for years, but for decades? For centuries even?
During a pandemic, researchers are studying anew what makes companies resilient, agile, and enduring. After all, Japanese construction firm Kongō Gumi, which builds temples, has been in business for 1,444 years. That’s a lot of war, natural disaster, and political turmoil to survive.
The new book?looks at the ingredients of long-lasting businesses in South Asia, focusing specifically on companies in India. The book includes interviews with dozens of business and social leaders culled around the topic of lasting leadership principles.?
The book explores tactics used by several long-time entrepreneurs: Ratan Tata, former chairperson of Tata Group; Anu Aga, former head of Thermax; Adi Godrej, chairperson of the Godrej Group; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited; Devi Shetty, founder and chairperson of Narayana Health; and Rahul Bajaj, the late chairperson of the Bajaj Group.
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