Leadership Best Practices

Your Course of Study

Business Leadership: Shaping Industries & Individuals
Nitin Nohria is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at HBS and Cochair of the HBS Leadership Initiative. Nohria is the author of more than 10 books and over 100 articles and cases; his work centers on leadership and sustainable corporate performance. His most recent book (with Anthony Mayo and Mark Rennella), Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can Teach Us About Leadership, seeks to paint a fuller picture of the interdependent relationship between the actions of leaders, the context of their times, and the evolution of an industry. In this session, Nohria will explore the role that business leaders play in shaping industries and how the evolving context of industries shapes leaders in turn. This co-evolutionary process of leadership and industry development is particularly relevant for today's rapidly changing global marketplace: it is critical to understanding the types of leaders and the nature of leadership required for success.

The Coming of the SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good
At a time of global financial crisis and public mistrust of business, the companies that will endure and thrive will find profitable growth by tapping the power of social purpose. In this presentation, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at HBS, will provide examples and frameworks from a study of "vanguard companies" from every continent that are leading the way, based on 250 interviews in 20 countries, including IBM, Procter & Gamble, Digitas andPublicis Groupe, Banco Real in Brazil, and others. The implications for innovation, market entry, successful mergers and acquisitions, attracting and motivating the best talent, government connections, and community betterment will be highlighted. Leadership skills will also be discussed, including how leaders can use new technology tools such as social networking to facilitate effective action.

High Performance Organization
Eric Van den Steen, author of "Culture Clash: The Costs and Benefits of Homogeneity" and "Organizational Beliefs and Managerial Vision," will lead a discussion on organizational alignment with a particular focus on the role of culture and the important role that leaders have in shaping culture. Topics include:

  • Aligning culture and other organizational design factors
  • Culture's different dimensions and how they affect performance
  • How leaders can affect and shape culture

Leading in Turbulent Times—Past, Present, and Future
In this session, Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration at HBS, will offer a historian's perspective on globalization and on the current financial crisis. Drawing upon insights from his bestselling book, The Ascent of Money, and his inquisitive and interactive style, Ferguson will challenge you to consider the benefits of a long-term financial perspective. He will also offer fresh insights into the shifting economic balance of power from west to east.

The Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage
W. Earl Sasser, author or coauthor of numerous books and Harvard Business Review articles, including "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work," explores how world-class companies deliver superior value by consistently delighting their customers, employees, and shareholders. Topics include:

  • The ownership opportunity
  • Building ownership into your business strategy
  • Increasing your customer ownership quotient (OQ) by putting customers to work
  • Boosting your employee OQ
  • Shaping an ownership culture

Strategic Negotiations
Guhan Subramanian is the Joseph Flom Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and the H. Douglas Weaver Professor of Business Law at HBS. He is the faculty chair for the JD/MBA program at Harvard University and the faculty director for the Corporate Dealmaking project at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. His research explores topics in negotiations, corporate dealmaking, and corporate governance. He is the author of the forthcoming book Negotiauctions: New Dealmaking Strategies for a Competitive Marketplace, and the related article in the Harvard Business Review, "Negotiate or Auction? Finding the Right Way to Your Deal." Examining case studies as diverse as buying a house, haggling over the rights to the television show Frasier, and selling "toxic" assets into the U.S. government's bailout fund, this session will offer participants a practical and accessible guide to negotiating deals in today's increasingly competitive marketplace.

A Sense of Urgency
In his most recent work, A Sense of Urgency, best-selling author John P. Kotter discusses what a true sense of urgency is in an organization, why it is becoming an exceptionally important asset, and how you can create and sustain it within your organization. During this session, Kotter will walk through his fundamental eight-step framework for successful organizational change. He also will explore how to distinguish between constructive true urgency and destructive false urgency, and how to develop strategies for creating the right kind of urgency within your organization.

"Attending Leadership Best Practices at HBS was the fulfillment of a long-held ambition, and the impact has been profound. This program challenged my self-perceptions as a leader in a global corporation, delivered a broader perspective by pulling me out of my comfort zone, and prompted me to explore the challenges of leadership at a deeper level."
David Robertson [Sector Leader], IBM, Australia