From one of the most respected names in business and leadership, a rare look at the specifics of how great leaders achieve "common purpose" and success within their organizations.

What is common purpose? It is that rare, almost-palpable experience that happens when a leader coalesces a group, team or community into a creative, dynamic, brave and nearly invincible "we." It happens the moment the organization's values, tools, objectives and hopes are internalized in a way that enables people to work tirelessly toward a goal. Common purpose is rarely achieved. But Kurtzman has observed that when a leader is able to bring it about, the results are outsized, measurable and inspiring. Based on Kurtzman's all-new interviews with more than 50 leaders, including Ron Sargent, Ilene Lang, Micky Arison, Simon Cooper, Joel Klein, Janet Field, Steve Wynn, Shivan Subramaniam, Michael Dell, Richard Boyatzis, Tom Kelley, Michael Milken, and Warren Bennis Contains research on leadership Kurtzman has conducted during his years at "The New York Times," the "Harvard Business Review," Booz & Company, as well as with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mercer, and Korn/Ferry

Based on all new interviews with some of the most dynamic, successful, and enduring leaders, "Common Purpose" sheds new light on the meaning of leadership, the crucial qualities of leaders, and most importantly, how to lead.

Political gridlock in Washington... the lingering effects of the financial crisis... structural problems such as unemployment and the skills gap of our work force... the mediocre K-12 educational system. Are our best days behind us?
Joel Kurtzman persuasively shows why all the talk about America's decline is not only baseless but dead wrong. Our best days, are, in fact, ahead of us.
Four transformational forces--unrivaled manufacturing depth, soaring levels of creativity, massive new energy sources, and gigantic amounts of capital waiting to be invested--have been gathering steam. When combined they will provide the foundation for a much stronger economy, robust growth, and broad-based prosperity that will propel the United States to new heights.
One endlessly repeated anxiety is that "we don't make anything here, anymore." The reality, though, is that the US is the world's dominant manufacturing power--and growing. American companies produce 20 percent of the world's goods in the US and perhaps another 15 to 20 percent outside our country. And much of what we make is recession-proof--such as software, jetliners, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and food.
Kurtzman reveals the stories of the unsung heroes who are the creative force leading the second American century, describing the payoff of the investment in our best minds. American companies have stunning levels of talent and creativity at work in the world's fastest growing economic sectors--biotech, pharmaceuticals, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, materials science, and aeronautical and space engineering. In these fields, Americans are without peer and consistently break new ground.
We are coming to the realization that America is no longer beholden to the despots of foreign energy. Thanks to advances in technology developed in the US, we now have among the world's largest energy reserves, and are richer in energy resources than Saudi Arabia and second only to Russia.
These three strengths--manufacturing, soaring levels of creativity, and energy independence--will be magnified and synergistically combined with the unprecedented amount of capital that now lies idle. US companies of all types are hoarding cash and securities worth more than $4 trillion--an amount larger than the world's fourth largest economy, Germany. When the money starts flowing and is invested, it will rapidly propel every part of the economy forward.

I call these problems the Decline and Crash of American economy because they are pulling down our standard of living, threatening our wealth, and weakening our standing in the world, not just in an overnight 508-point collapse of the stock market, but in a slow, steady, unrelenting decline of the economy as a whole. And there is little evidence that the correct steps are being taken-at any level-to end that decline. This book is not mean to scare, but is meant to wake people up. Our country is at risk, our investments are in jeopardy, and our future is uncertain. I will show where our problems lie and how they will affect us, and offer a plan to resurrect the United States from its decline. -from the Introduction

Practical ideas from the best brains in Business
A sharp, jargon-free guide to the core curriculum of an MBA program, "MBA in a Book" shows how to master the big ideas of business and use them in a practical way to build and enhance career success.
"In the world of business, ideas matter. . . . Some of the sharpest minds in the business world give perceptive looks into innovation, marketing, finance, strategy, and leadership, providing stimulating, useful perspectives on these core topics."
--Larry Bossidy, retired chairman and CEO of Honeywell International and coauthor of "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done"
Great business thinkers such as Michael Porter, Rosabeth Kanter, and Bill George of Harvard Business School; Paul Argenti of the Tuck School at Dartmouth; Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale; Peter Senge of MIT; the entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen; and the financial innovator Michael Milken are just a few of the best brains in business, providing the intellectual nourishment that will help you play the game of business at the highest level.