Enduring Management Wisdom for Today's Leaders From Peter F. Drucker. Peter Drucker's Five Most Important Questions provides insightful guidance and stirring inspiration for today's leaders and entrepreneurs. By applying Drucker's leadership framework in the present context of today's leaders and those who lead with them, this book is an essential resource for people leading, managing and working in all three sectors public, private and social. Readers will gain new perspectives and develop a solid foundation upon which to build a successful and bright future. They will learn how to focus on why they are doing what they're doing, how to do it better, and how to develop a realistic, motivational plan for achieving their goals. This brief, clear, and accessible guide peppered with commentary from distinguished management gurus, contemporary entrepreneurs and dynamic millennial leaders will challenge readers and stimulate spirited discussion and action within any organization, inspiring positive change and new levels of excellence. In addition to contributions from Jim Collins, Marshall Goldsmith, and Judith Rodin, the book features new insights from some of today's most influential leaders in business (GE and Salesforce.com), academia (Harvard Business School and Northwestern University), social enterprise (Levo League, Pencils of Promise and Why Millennials Matter) and the military (United States Military Academy), who have been directly influenced by Drucker's theory of management.

This transformational tool offers leaders a critical resource for better understanding their organizations and themselves, honing their skills to become accomplished long-range planners and strategic thinkers. By working through the Participant Workbook, leaders will gain the insight needed to plan for results, learn from customers and clients, and ascertain how to achieve extraordinary levels of performance. "The Participant Workbook" draws on Peter F. Drucker's "The Five Most Important Questions" and is grounded in his management philosophies that address the critical aspects that make organizations viable and valuable entities. When leaders answer these questions thoughtfully and address them with purpose, these questions take one down a path to organizational transformation and enlightenment.

By leveraging these essential questions, the "Participant Workbook" challenges leaders to take a close look at the very heart of their organization and what drives it, giving them a means to assess: how to be and how to develop quality, character, mind-set, values, and courage. Drucker's "The Five Most Important Questions" lead to spirited discussions and action, inspiring positive change and renewed focus.

Designed for today's busy professionals, this concise, clear, and accessible workbook for social sector, nonprofit, and socially minded business and government leaders can be used as preparation for a workshop, organizational self-assessment, or as a stand-alone leadership development tool for individuals looking to develop themselves and their organizations.

Praise for the "Participant Workbook Self-Assessment Tool"

"Time and again Drucker's "The Five Most Important Questions" have proven to be the most effective way for nonprofit organizations to conduct self-assessment and develop plans that will help them achieve real and lasting results."
--Cathey Brown, founder and CEO, Rainbow Days, Inc., and 2001 Frances Hesselbein Community Innovation Fellow

""The Five Most Important Questions Self-Assessment Tool" is a gift to the social leadership sector from the late management guru, Peter Drucker, and the Leader to Leader Institute. It makes incredible sense, it is easy to use, and lays the foundation for strategic planning."
--Irv Katz, president and CEO, National Human Services Assembly

"A must-read for social entrepreneurs who are seeking to dramatically grow their organization's impact without losing sight of the heart of their mission."
--Iris Y. Chen, president and CEO, "I Have A Dream" Foundation

"High-performing organizations and individuals know that self-assessment through Drucker's "The Five Most Important Questions" is the starting point for defining today and making tomorrow."
--Lee H. Igel, assistant professor, New York University, and president, Peter F. Drucker Society of New York City

"This nuts-and-bolts guide has become my compass for urging leaders and managers to ask the right questions, to look beyond what they thought they knew, and to focus on being relevant tomorrow rather than resting on yesterday's achievements."
--Lieutenant Commander Carla J. Grantham U.S. Coast Guard, Retired], Congressional Liaison for Diversity Recruitment and Talent Management, U.S. Coast Guard

Everything you ever wanted to know about growing grapes The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Nonprofit Organization presents a proven self-assessment tool for all nonprofit leaders. In answering simple questions about the mission, strategic vision, central values, and long-term plan, you'll uncover key insights that lead to more effective leadership and a greater organizational impact. These tools are versatile enough to apply to progress assessment, team building, planning and evaluation, and individual work, and are designed to help improve achievement and results.

"It is [a] belief in diversity and pluralism and the uniqueness of each person that underlies all my writings . . . " —from the Preface.

Regarded as the most influential and widely read thinker on modern organizations and their management, Peter Drucker has also established himself as an unorthodox and independent analyst of politics, the economy, and society. A man of impressive scope and expertise, he has paved significant inroads in a number of key areas, sharing his knowledge and keen insight on everything from the plight of the employee and the effects of technology to the vicissitudes of the markets and the future of the new world order. Adventures of a Bystander is Drucker's rich collection of autobiographical stories and vignettes, in which this legendary figure paints a portrait of his remarkable life, and of the larger historical realities of his time.

In a style that is both unique and engaging, Drucker conveys his life story —from his early teen years in Vienna through the interwar years in Europe, the New Deal era, World War II, and the postwar period in America—through intimate profiles of a host of fascinating people he's known through the years. Their personal histories are, as Drucker tells us, the beads for which his own life serves as the string. A colorful group, these diverse, often unpredictable, always multidimensional individuals were chosen "because each of them, in his or her own highly personal way, reflects and refracts the thirty crucial years from the end of World War I to the first post-World War II decade—the thirty years that largely formed the world in which we now live."

An amazing pageant of characters, both famous and otherwise, springs from these pages, illuminating and defining one of the most tumultuous periods in world history. Along with bankers and courtesans, artists, aristocrats, prophets, and empire-builders, we meet members of Drucker's own family and close circle of friends, among them such prominent figures as Sigmund Freud, Henry Luce, Alfred Sloan, John Lewis, and Buckminster Fuller. Playing to perfection their roles as those who "reflect and refract" the customs, beliefs, and attitudes of the times, these singular personalities lend Adventures of a Bystander a striking "you-are-there" feel.

A brief encounter with Freud becomes the catalyst for an absorbing, multidimensional description of the economics, politics, and social psychology of pre-World War II Europe. Drucker introduces us to Fritz Kraemer, a brilliant, monocle-wearing eccentric who became an influential mentor to the young Henry Kissinger. His personal memoir of Henry Luce documents the development of modern journalism, while in "The Indian Summer of Innocence," he rescues and preserves the very heart of the American experience during the last New Deal years before World War II.

Shedding light on a turbulent and important era, Adventures of a Bystander also reflects Peter Drucker himself as a man of imaginative sympathy and enormous interest in people, ideas, and history. These enthralling stories complement and complete the groundbreaking analytical writing for which he is so revered.

Luminous autobiographical stories by one of the greatest thinkers of our time

"The cast of characters among whom Drucker moves is superbly rich, and the informed glimpse he provides of a vanished social and political universe is an education in itself. Adventures of a Bystander is better than a novel, more lively than an essay, and as thoughtful as both at their best." —The Harvard Business Review.

"Adventures of a Bystander is a virtuoso performance in which Drucker displays a dazzling diversity of personal interests and knowledge, an awesome power of recall, and a crisp, highly readable writing style." —BusinessWeek.

"Adventures of a Bystander appears in a stroke to have restored the art of the memoir and of the essay. It will doubtless be a while before its like comes round again." —The Washington Post.

In his award-winning book The Collaboration Challenge, James E. Austin demonstrated how nonprofits and businesses can succeed through strategic alliances. Now, in Meeting the Collaboration Challenge, the Drucker Foundation provides specific guidance to help nonprofits of every size put collaboration into practice. This workbook, its companion videotape, and The Collaboration Challenge help your nonprofit organization further its mission through strategic alliances with businesses.

Sit at the table with the visionary leaders setting the agenda for organizational leadership and change!

The Drucker Foundation presents you with a conversation between Peter F. Drucker and Peter M. Senge, hosted by Frances Hesselbein. In this dynamic package--which includes a video and companion workbook--these two great minds of modern management share their wisdom on how leaders can prepare themselves and their organizations for the inevitable changes that lie ahead.

Watch the video and witness a remarkable discussion between Drucker and Senge as they talk about the importance of all organizations learning to lead change. Using the principles presented in this stimulating video, you can help transform yourself and your organization into a change leader.

In addition, the companion workbook will be an invaluable aid in making strategic decisions. It serves as a fundamental resource for planning and implementing changes within your organization. This extraordinary package is an ideal tool for executive retreats, management training, or personal leadership development.

Would you like to see clips from the video?

See what Peter Drucker has to say about change.

See what Peter Drucker has to say about planned abandonment.

See what Peter Senge has to say about the difference between creating and problem-solving.

See what Peter Drucker has to say about recognizing opportunity.

See what Peter Drucker has to say about surviving problems.

See what Peter Senge has to say about motivation.

"Wenn aber (meine) Ideen richtig sind \IIare es, \II ie ich voraussage, ein Fehler, zu bestreiten, dal3 sie im Verlauf einer ge\llissen Zeit Macht ge\llinnen \IIerden (Die) Gedanken der Oko- nomen und Staatsphilosophen, sO\llohl \IIenn sie im Recht, als \IIenn sie im Unrecht sind, (sind) einflul3reicher, als gemeinhin ange- nommen \IIird. Die Welt \IIird in der Tat durch nicht viel anderes beherrscht. Praktiker, die sich ganz frei von intellektuellen EinflUssen glauben, sind ge\llohnlich die Sklaven irgendeines ver- blichenen Okonomen. Wahnsinnige in hoher Stellung, die Stimmen in der Luft horen, zapfen ihren \IIilden Irrsinn aus dem, \lias irgendein akademischer Schreiber ein paar Jahre vorher verfal3te. Ich bin Uberzeugt, dal3 die Macht er\llorbener Rechte im Vergleich zum allmahlichen Durchdringen von Ideen stark Ubertrieben \IIird. Diese \IIirken z\llar nicht immer sofort, sondern nach einem ge\llis- sen Zeitraum; denn im Bereich der Wirtschaftslehre und der Staatsphilosophie gibt es nicht viele, die nach ihrem fUnfund- z\llanzigsten oder dreil3igsten Jahr durch neue Theorien beeinflul3t \IIerden, so dal3 Ideen, die Staatsbeamte und Politiker und selbst Agitatoren auf die laufenden Ereignisse an\llenden, \IIahrscheinlich nicht die neuesten sind. Aber frUher oder spater sind es Ideen, und nicht er\llorbene Rechte, von denen die Gefahr kommt, sei es zum Guten oder zum Bosen. " Diese haufig zitierten Worte von John Maynard Keynes - die Schlul3be- merkungen der Allgemeinen Theorie \IIirken heutzutage in doppelter Weise ironisch.