This was easy to see in Drucker’s personal life. Drucker was wealthy, but he did not attempt to make a public display of it or make the mere accumulation of wealth a life goal. He lived in a modest home in a regular neighbourhood. He did not wear expensive jewellery or thousand-dollar suits. He did not drive an overly expensive car. He did not seek the lifestyle of the rich and famous. His power came from who he was, and though he had accumulated wealth, he did not display it unnecessarily. He was straightforward and honest with all who knew him, including his students.
MAINTAINING YOUR PERSONAL POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Like much else, your personal attitude, once achieved, is addictive. Once you have an image of yourself, you will automatically and routinely attempt to live up to it. If your self-image is one of personal courage, physical or intellectual, or both, you will always attempt to live up to it and it will be much harder to violate these feelings. Moreover, others that you associate with, as well as those that may have contact with you more distantly, will easily recognize your attitude and will recognize and respect you accordingly. It will greatly assist you in continuing your self-development and in reaching your goals in life. This is an important fact which is true of organizations that you may work in and have a rising level of responsibility for as well.
ATTITUDE CAN BE PRIMARY
In watching the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, both what the athletes accomplish and their attitudes as revealed during pre- and post-performance interviews, I cannot escape the conclusion that ability, performance, and other important factors are still significantly affected by personal attitude. As Drucker demonstrated, these are all very much under our control and very important as we seek to reach our goals, whether recovering from a stroke or during our way to the top.
THE MOST IMPORTANT BEHAVIOURS DRUCKER USED TO REACH THE TOP:
• Personal values and integrity
• Unrelenting innovation
• Goal setting
• Professional competency
• Commitment
• Self-confidence
• Planning
• Risk management.
No one is going to live forever, and despite my success in meeting my own challenges to date, I – or any of us – can still get hit by a truck unexpectedly or could have a setback. There are no guarantees. But as I write these words and were this to happen, consider, would I have been better off giving up a year and not taking action despite my challenges? I think not. That was Drucker’s way to the top and it has been mine as well. I hope that it will be yours, too.
1. Drucker, Peter F. Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), 325.
2. Lincoln, Abraham. Brainy Quotes, https://bit.ly/2APdqdQ, accessed 28 July 2018.
3. Lombardi, Michael, “New Orleans Saints Never Stood a Chance Without Sean Payton”. NFL Front Office View, November 30, 2012, https://bit.ly/2AVgNjE, accessed 28 July 2018.
4. Hart, Hornell. Autoconditioning: The New Way to a Successful Life (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1956).
5. Cohen, William A. Peter Drucker on Consulting: How to Apply Drucker’s Principles for Business Success (London: LID Publishing, 2016).
INDEX
A
Aaron, Marcus, 158
Abandonment, 97
Abilene Christian University, 80
Action, going where the action is, 164–165, 169–171
Air Force Times, 65
Air War College, 263
Airbnb, 2
Albrecht, Paul, 61, 228
Alcas, 143
All Nippon Airlines, 71
All Nippon Airways, 69
All You Can Do Is All You Can Do, but All You Can Do is Enough (Williams), 130
AMACOM, 15
American War of Independence, 253
Anabasis (Xenophon), 35
AON Corporation, 116
Apple, 24, 25
Application of lessons from one field to another, 229
The Apprentice television show, 247
Apprenticeship, 10
The Art of the Deal (Trump), 247
The Art of the Strategist (Cohen), 196
Artaxerxes, 121–123
Ash, Mary Kay, 29–30, 44
Asimov, Isaac, 152, 154
Atlas, Charles, 97
Attitude, positive, 269–280
attitude can be primary, 280
Cohen’s life experience, 273–278
corporate managers, 270
Drucker’s careers, 269–270
happiness research, 271–273
personal attitude change not recommended, 278–279
personal positive attitude, 279
Aurelius, Marcus, 164
Autoconditioning (Hart), 271
Avis Rent-a-Car, 101
B
Bank, 145, 210
Bartmann, Bill, 53, 55
Bath & Body Works, 168–169
Battle of Cunaxa, 121
Battlefield leadership, 49–51
Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way (Shinseki), 9
Bell Labs, 25
Benjamin Landsman Advertising Agency, 98
Bennington College, 106, 226, 259
Berkeley, 42
Bethune, Gordon M., 80
Bible, 93–94
Billboard, 152
Blake, Robert, 154
Blockbuster Video, 209
Bloomberg, Michael, 157–158
Bloomberg LP, 157
Bloomberg News, 157
Bloomingdale’s, 159
Blue Ocean Strategy, 229
Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne), 26, 229
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 106
Borders Books, 209
Borman, Frank, 53, 172–174
Boston Consulting Group, 213
Boston University, 218
Bouncing Back (Bartmann), 53
Bribery, 69–72
Briggs, Katherine C., 81
Bright idea, 210–211
British Trading Company, 248
Brooks, Herb, 39, 40
Brown, Jr., John Y., 83
Buntrock, Dean, 171
Business ethics, 62, 69, 71, 72, 163
Business Week, 80
C
Caesar, Julius, 164–165
Cal State College Long Beach, 83
California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM), 277
California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), 40–42, 131
Campbell Soup Company, 236
Canfield, Jack, 99
Career application of marketing and sales, 230
Caring for people, 135–147
advice to follow, 136
avoiding layoffs, 137–138, 140–143
keeping promises, 136
leadership traits, 54
others needs priority over your own, 139–143
personal responsibility, 144–145
training, 146–147
treat people as they should be treated, 143–144
treating people fairly, honestly, and respectfully, 135–136
when things go wrong, 137–139
Carnegie, Andrew, 185
Carter, Marshall, 145
Castro, Fidel, 170
Caterpillars, 93–94
“Cat’s in the Cradle” song, 152, 153
CEO, being your own, 229
Chandler, Mark, 165–166
Chapin, Harry, 152, 153
Chapin, Sandra, 152, 153
Charles VII, 167
Chevette, 232
Chevrolet, 232
“Chicken Soup” books, 99
Chrysler Corporation, 53
Churchill, Winston, 12, 84, 112
Cialdini, Robert, 250
Circuit City, 209
City College of New York, 126
Civil Aeronautics Board, 174
Claremont Graduate School, 11, 14, 61, 106, 130, 228
Claremont Graduate University, 11, 106
A C
lass with Drucker (Cohen), 61
Clavell, James, 248
Clearchus, 121
Clinton, Bill, 35, 43, 125
Clinton, Hillary, 181
Clorox, 96–97
Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie, 82
Cohen, Barak, 93
Cohen, Nurit, 274
Cohen, William A.
The Art of the Strategist, 196
A Class with Drucker, 61
Drucker on Leadership, 53
life experiences, 273–278
Peter Drucker on Consulting, 277
The Practical Drucker, 15
Cold War, 64
The Color Purple movie, 82
Combat Leadership Study, 49
Combined Insurance Company of America, 116
Commercial Casualty Company, 115
Commitment, 105–117
Dionne and PrimalScream, 106–108
goal, importance of, 111–112
leadership traits, 54
no quitting, 113
to objective, 196
Patterson example, 109–111
risk taking, 115–117
uncommon, 109
Communication
direction, strategy of, 245–247
enlistment, strategy of, 250–251
indirection, strategy of, 247–248
preferences, 244–251
redirection, strategy of, 249
repudiation, strategy of, 249–250
Concept of the Corporation (Drucker), 22, 106, 163, 270
Confidence. See Self-confidence Confucian ethics, 67, 72
Confucius, 3, 67
Continental Airlines, 80
Conway, Francis, 203–204
Coover, Jr., Harry, 212
Cornwallis, Lord, 253
Corporate managers, 270
Cossman, Joe, 185–186
Couric, Katie, 213
Creative imitation, 24–26
Crisco, 202–204
Customer
social and economic reality, 29–30
true value, 30–31
Cutco Corporation, 143, 144
Cyrus the Great of persia, 121
Cyrus the Younger, 121–122
D
Daring the impossible for extraordinary achievements, 35–45
achieving the impossible, 36
CSULA, 40–42
decisions to make, 43–45
leadership, 43
Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, 39–40
Olympic hockey team, 39
performance slipping, 36–38
traits, 44–45
Welch and GE, 35
Darkest Hour movie, 84, 112
Darroch, Jenny, 3
Das Boot movie, 78
Davis, Gray, 198
Dawkins, Pete, 272–273
Decentralization, 163
Declaration of Independence, 69
Declarations and expectations, 93
Deming, 89
Demographics as source of innovation opportunity, 217–218
Denke, Reinhard, 107
Dependence on others, 193–194
Depression, 204
Dewey, John, 216
Dionne, Nicole, 106–108, 109
Direction influence strategy, 245–247
Disadvantages turned into advantages, 185–186
Disney, Roy, 92
Disney, Walt, 92
Disney World, 173
Döbling Gymnasium, 259
Doc Martin, 77
Doolittle, James, 259–260, 262
Doolittle, Jimmy, 168
Downsizing, 138
Dramatization for promoting expectations, 101
Dred Scott Decision, 68–69
Drucker, Adolph, 14
Drucker, Doris, 9, 15, 61, 185, 226
Drucker, Peter F.
background, 7–16
careers, 269–270
caring for people, 135–147
commitment, 105–117
Concept of the Corporation, 22, 106, 163, 270
duty before self, 151–159
The Effective Executive, 23
The End of Economic Man, 12, 163, 226
entrepreneurship strategies, 21–31
essence of leadership, 49–56
expectations, 89–101
expecting positive results, 121–131
extraordinary achievements, 35–45
fleeing Germany, 105, 192, 259
get out in front, 163–175
goals, 191–205
as a guru, 7
influence on others, 241–255
innovation, 209–221
Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 21, 228
integrity, ethics and honour, 61–73
The Jewish Question in Germany, 105
knowledge, 77–85
man of application, not theorist, 241–242
Management Challenges for the 21st Century, 229
marketing, 225–237
military, admiration for, 8–10
positive attitude, 269–280
The Practice of Management, 23, 121, 191
risk, 259–265
rules for way to the top, 228–230
self-confidence and overcoming fear, 179–187
Drucker on Leadership (Cohen), 53
Drucker Societies, 61
Dunlap, Al, 138
Duty before self, 151–159
concern for mission and people, 154–155, 158–159
consider yourself last, 155–156
duty, defined, 153
duty in work above personal duty to succeed, 153–156
implicit or explicit duties, 151
leadership traits, 54–55
no private office, 157–159
personal responsibilities and needs, 152–153
rejoice in success of others, 155
share the pain, 156
Starbucks example, 156–157
Dynamic tension, 97
E
Eastern Air Lines, 172–174
Eastman Kodak Company, 212
Ecological niche, 26–27
Economic reality of customers, 29–30
Education online, 218
The Education of Cyrus the Great (Xenophon), 121
The Effective Executive (Drucker), 23
Eisenhower, President, 64, 246
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 131
The End of Economic Man (Drucker), 12, 163, 226
English Army, 84
English skills training, 146–147
Enlistment influence strategy, 250–251
Enthusiasm, 131
Entrepreneurship strategies, 21–31
dominance of a new market or industry, 22–23
financial characteristics of the situation, 27
market currently unserved, 23–26
specialized niche, 26–27
EPCOT Center, 92
ET movie, 82
Ethics
business, 62, 69, 71, 72, 163
Confucian, 67, 72
defined, 62, 72
doing the right thing, 68
law and, 68–69
personal philosophy, 72–73
profit, 66–67
prudence, 65–66
situational, 63–64
social responsibility, 63–64
Expectations, 89–101
clear expectations, 95–98
compelling, 97–99
declarations, 93
declare and achieve, 94–95
dramatization, 101
feedback and adjust strategies, 101
implementation, 100–101
leadership traits, 54
perishing without vision, 93–94
plan development, 99–100
promoting, 100–101
set the stage, 89–90
Smith and Federal Express, 90–91
vision, 91–92
Expecting positive results, 121–131
be who you are, 129
–131
developing quality of, 123
enthusiasm, 131
Greek general example, 121–123
leadership traits, 54
learning to expect, 123
positive thinkers, 124–125
qualities of expecting, 123
self-confidence, 124
succeeding despite the odds, 125–127
visualization, 127–129
Experience, learning from, 83–84
Experts, 82–83
Extortion, 69–72
Extraordinary achievements. See Daring the impossible for extraordinary achievements
F
Fabre, Jean-Henri Casimir, 93–94
Fear
False Evidence Appearing Real (FEAR), 262
“Fear into Power” seminar, 183
overcoming, 179–187
risk and, 262–263
Federal Express, 90–91
Federal Reserve Board, 210
Feedback, 101
Feuerstein, Aaron, 137–139
Financial characteristics, changing, 27
Fire walking, 183, 272
Fleming, Alexander, 220
Fogleman, Ronald, 53, 175
Follett, Mary Parker, 191
Forbes, 53, 158, 166
Ford, Henry, 26, 216
Ford Motor Company, 216–217
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (1977), 69
Fortune 500, 91, 142, 158
Fortune Magazine, 8, 24, 80, 197
Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, 43
Frankenstein, 277
G
Gallipoli Campaign, 84
Garfield, Charles, 96, 128
Gates, Bill, 123, 197
General Electric (GE), 8, 22, 24, 35, 212, 259
General Motors (GM), 26, 216, 225, 236, 259
General-Anzeiger, 10, 11
George III, 187
German colonels, 243–244
Get out in front, 163–175
be in front to lead, 166
biochemical product company, 165–166
Eastern Air Lines example, 172–174
go where the action is, 164–165, 169–171
positioning for success, 163
setting the example, 171–172
steps, 164
women out in front, 166–169
Getting out in front, 55
Girl Scouts, 35, 43
Goals, 191–205. See also Plan
clear expectations, 95
defined, 194
defining, 192
dependence on others, 193–194
implementation and control, 195–196
importance of, 111–112
juggling, 95–96
Lever Brothers example, 201–205
management by objectives (MBO), 191
objectives and, 194
obstacles, 192–193
opportunity and strategy, 202–203
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