What Would Peter Drucker Have to Say?

HBR Briefs (November 2009) This month’s HBR issue honors legendary leadership guru Peter Drucker, who would have been 100 this month. “What Would Peter Say?” by Harvard professor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter (one of my favs) says that Drucker warned us about the outrage of executive pay and the future challenge of global competition. He always taught executives to establish a long-term vision and to steer toward it, especially in tough times. Their job is the long-term health of the company, not their own personal wealth. His caution would be self regulate or the government will step in and do it for you. On personnel, he said, “If I put a person into a job and he or she does not perform, I have made a mistake. I have no business blaming that person.”(Wow--there's a new concept in an old bottle!) There’s also a an republication of an 1980 article by Alan Kantrow—that still rings true and five essays by strong leaders influenced by Drucker, including Frances Hesselbein (legendary former leader of The Girl Scouts of America), A.G. Lafley formerly of Proctor and Gamble, and others.