Stewardship entails a profound understanding and acceptance of the challenges that result from the organization's interdependence with the societal and ecological contexts in which it operates-and of what it takes to embrace the challenges to be a force for building a viable future. This book dares to ask `why' business leaders should embrace stewardship in the current market where profit reigns supreme. A shift in approach represents fundamental change for the corporate world, and even the most advanced corporations consider themselves to be in the starting block of this transition. The book sets out the practical ways in which corporate stewardship can be achieved through embedding new approaches across the different functions of a business. This book, written by the leading thinkers in sustainability research, provides practical guidance on how companies can resolve the paradoxical challenges they face. How can they be at the same time profitable and responsible, effective and ethical, sustainable and adaptable? It explores what businesses are doing, what they can and should do to effectively respond to external challenges, and focuses on how leaders can create cultures, strategies, and designs far beyond "business as usual". Stewards must not only make proper current use of that which they hold in trust, they also must leave it in better condition for use by future generations. Corporate Stewardship challenges managers, executives, and directors of global corporations to think and act as stewards of both their organizations and the physical and social environments in which they operate.

This illuminating and practical collection of essays addresses the increasingly important topics of corporate ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability in the context of effective global business strategies. Instead of condemning business, or exhorting corporate leaders to "do good," the authors deal with the "hot button" issues of our time in a cool and rational manner, seeing them as opportunities rather than as problems. As the authors illustrate, there is no necessary trade-off between business leaders doing the right thing, on one hand, and the profitable thing, on the other. They demonstrate that ethics is not peripheral, or in addition to, the central concerns of business. To the contrary, ethics and good citizenship are at the heart of all good business strategies, decisions, and organizational cultures. These essays offer useful examples of how executives can create strategies and cultures that are, both and at the same time, ethical and effective--the essence of GOOD BUSINESS. A PUBLICATION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR ENTERPRISE ETHICS Daniels College of Business, University of Denver

In Transparency, the authors a powerhouse trio in the field of leadership look at what conspires against "a culture of candor" in organizations to create disastrous results, and suggest ways that leaders can achieve healthy and honest openness. They explore the lightning-rod concept of "transparency" which has fast become the buzzword not only in business and corporate settings but in government and the social sector as well. Together Bennis, Goleman, and O'Toole explore why the containment of truth is the dearest held value of far too many organizations and suggest practical ways that organizations, their leaders, their members, and their boards can achieve openness. After years of dedicating themselves to research and theory, at first separately, and now jointly, these three leadership giants reveal the multifaceted importance of candor and show what promotes transparency and what hinders it. They describe how leaders often stymie the flow of information and the structural impediments that keep information from getting where it needs to go. This vital resource is written for any organization business, government, and nonprofit that must achieve a culture of candor, truth, and transparency.

An expert on ethical leadership analyzes the complicated history of business people who tried to marry the pursuit of profits with virtuous organizational practices-from British industrialist Robert Owen to American retailer John Cash Penney and jeans maker Levi Strauss to such modern-day entrepreneurs Anita Roddick and Tom Chappell. Today's business leaders are increasingly pressured by citizens, consumers, and government officials to address urgent social and environmental issues. Although some corporate executives remain deaf to such calls, over the last two centuries, a handful of business leaders in America and Britain have attempted to create business organizations that were both profitable and socially responsible. In The Enlightened Capitalists, James O'Toole tells the largely forgotten stories of men and women who adopted forward-thinking business practices designed to serve the needs of their employees, customers, communities, and the natural environment. They wanted to prove that executives didn't have to make trade-offs between profit and virtue. Combining a wealth of research and vivid storytelling, O'Toole brings life to historical figures like William Lever, the inventor of bar soap who created the most profitable company in Britain and used his money to greatly improve the lives of his workers and their families. Eventually, he lost control of the company to creditors who promptly terminated the enlightened practices he had initiated-the fate of many idealistic capitalists. As a new generation attempts to address social problems through enlightened organizational leadership, O'Toole explores a major question being posed today in Britain and America: Are virtuous corporate practices compatible with shareholder capitalism?

Thirty years ago, the bestselling "letter to the government" "Work in America" published to national acclaim, including front-page coverage in "The New York Times, Wall Street Journal," and "Washington Post." It sounded an alarm about worker dissatisfaction and the effects on the nation as a whole. Now, based on thirty years of research, this new book sheds light on what has changed--and what hasn't. This groundbreaking work will illuminate the new critical issues--from worker demands to the new ethical rules to the revolution in culture at work.

This illuminating and practical collection of essays addresses the increasingly important topics of corporate ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability in the context of effective global business strategies. Instead of condemning business, or exhorting corporate leaders to "do good," the authors deal with the "hot button" issues of our time in a cool and rational manner, seeing them as opportunities rather than as problems. As the authors illustrate, there is no necessary trade-off between business leaders doing the right thing, on one hand, and the profitable thing, on the other. They demonstrate that ethics is not peripheral, or in addition to, the central concerns of business. To the contrary, ethics and good citizenship are at the heart of all good business strategies, decisions, and organizational cultures. These essays offer useful examples of how executives can create strategies and cultures that are, both and at the same time, ethical and effective--the essence of GOOD BUSINESS. A PUBLICATION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR ENTERPRISE ETHICS Daniels College of Business, University of Denver

"[An] important new book . . .Mr. O'Toole puts soul and values squarely back into a vital topic, leadership."
--Tom Peters
The New York Times Book Review

"A deeply philosophical and eminently practical study of leadership as change."
--James MacGregor Burns
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, and author of Leadership
Current management philosophy advocates an outmoded Machiavellian approach to running organizations: Leaders are told in countless books that they can only accomplish their goals by being tough, manipulative, dictatorial, or paternalistic as the situation requires.
In Leading Change, noted management theorist James O'Toole proposes a provocative new vision of leadership in the business world--a vision of leadership rooted in moral values and a consistent display of respect for all followers. As O'Toole brilliantly demonstrates, values-based leadership is not only fair and just, it is also highly effective in today's complex organizations.
When leaders truly believe that their prime goal is the welfare of their followers, they get results. The finest leaders--from political giants like Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln to contemporary CEOs like Max De Pree and James Houghton--have always shared leadership with their followers. They create organizations that encourage change and self-reevaluation; they foster an atmosphere of open-mindedness and fresh thinking, in which assumptions can be challenged and goals reassessed.
Grounded in the ideas of moral philosophy, Leading Change powerfully transcends the standard how-to management primer to define a challenging new approach to leadership. As O'Toole so persuasively argues, growth and change are possible, indeed necessary, and they will be effected by individuals who have the stature and the courage to lead morally. This important book, at once thought-provoking and totally practical, is bound to take its place as one of the landmark business volumes of our times.
"Jim O'Toole has written the essential work for organizations to survive and thrive in today's changing world. His intellectually penetrating thinking shows us how the sometimes conflicting problems we wrestle with--often in piecemeal fashion--fit together to form a complete picture, even as the picture itself continues to change. His message is so critical to the very existence of every organization that any leader who fails to heed his advice condemns his or her company to mediocrity and/or early death. It's that basic."
--Warren Bennis
Professor and founding chairman of the Leadership Institute
at the University of Southern California
Author of An Invented Life and Why Leaders Can't Lead