Leadership: A Master Class
Daniel Goleman, Host
More Than Sound

A “must have” wealth of resources

Years ago, I began to recommend books that I thought should be added to what is, in effect, an in-house business library that almost any organization would have, whatever its size and nature would be. In recent years, with the rapid and extensive emergence of electronic devices as well as CDs and then DVDs that feature business thought leaders, I am especially alert to additions to be re commended to the aforementioned in-house business library. Leadership: A Master Class is what I would characterize as a “must have” wealth of resources. It consists of interviews conducted by Daniel Goleman of Daniel Siegel, (“The Leader’s Mind”), Warren Bennis (“The Socially Intelligent Leader”), Erica Ariel Fox (Getting Beyond Yes”), Claudio Fernández-Aráoz (“Talent Strategy”), Bill George (“Authentic Leadership”), Teresa Amabile (“Create to Innovate”), Howard Gardner (“Today’s Leadership Imperative”), and George Kohlrieser (“High Performance Leadership”). A bonus interview of Peter Senge is included.

Each of the interviews is in fact a lively as well as thoughtful and thought-provoking conversation, about an hour in length and co-produced by Mobius Executive Leadership and More Than Sound. As I watched each, I felt as if I were in a home and observing two brilliant people share their thoughts and feelings about important subjects of mutual interest. Goleman explains, “I developed Leadership: A Master Class to provide cutting edge insights into today’s management best practices and EI [emotional intelligence] research from world-class thought leaders. The masters in this series have decades of experience and proven track records of success in leadership, organizational research, psychology, negotiation, senior hiring, and more. This ground breaking series allows individuals and organizations alike access to top-level training from some of the brightest minds in the business world.”

Goleman makes an especially important point: This set of DVDs offers a wealth of information, insights, and counsel that individual executives (both leaders and those who aspire to be) cannot obtain from another single source. In the ideal business school, these ten (including Goleman and Senge) would be members of its faculty. Think of the set as a source for nine lengthy informal but rigorous discussions of leadership issues that are most relevant to a current and imminent global business world within which turbulent change is the only constant. So I urge both individuals and organizations to purchase and then make frequent and effective use of the material.

Briefly:

o Daniel Goleman is the author of the international bestsellers Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, and Social Intelligence, and the co-author of the acclaimed business bestseller Primal Leadership. He was a science reporter for the New York Times, was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and received the American Psychological Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his media writing. His latest book is The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights. He lives in the Berkshires.

o Daniel J. Siegel is clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.

o Warren Bennis is a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies, university professor and founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.

o Erica Ariel Fox is lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, and part of the internationally acclaimed Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON).

o Claudio Fernández-Aráoz is a top global expert on hiring and promotion decisions, and senior adviser of the leading executive search firm Egon Zehnder International.

o Bill George is a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, and former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic.

o Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and was named one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world.

o Teresa Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and director of research in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School.

o George Kohlrieser is professor of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at IMD, and author of the internationally bestselling book, Hostage At The Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance.

o Peter Senge is Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Sustainability at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

They await the opportunity to share with you their thoughts and feelings about major subjects that will become even more important in months and years to come.