Gary Burnison - No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of How Leaders Deal with Risk and Change

Praise for No Fear of Failure

No Fear of Failure whisks readers into the executive suites, boardrooms, battlefields, and football fieldsall the places where great leadership is imperative. It's a must-read for any executive, in a climate when leadership has never been needed more.

Ali Velshi, chief business correspondent and weekday host, CNN

With brilliance and clarity drawn from firsthand experience with some of the world's most celebrated leaders, Gary Burnison has written one of the most important and useful books for 21st century leaders. It will soon be referred to as The Global Guide to Successful Leadership.

Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California; author, Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership

No Fear of Failure offers riveting insight on leaders who lead by example, who recognize the importance of trust, and who understand that leadership is about earning the right to have others put their trust in you and then live up to that responsibility every day. It's a powerful book that provides insightful inspiration to any leader.

Tim Flynn, global chairman, KPMG

Gary Burnison has assembled an all-star cast to explore what it takes to be a leader today. As the profiled leaders attest, having no fear of failure allows leaders to move forward knowing that they will not always win, with the understanding that the real victory is in the lessons learned from all experiences, positive and negative.

Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr., former chairman and CEO, Baxter International; author, From Values to Action

Copyright 2011 by Korn/Ferry International. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burnison, Gary, 1961

No fear of failure : real stories of how leaders deal with risk and change / Gary Burnison.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-00078-6 (hardback), 978-1-118-02304-4 (ebk), 978-1-118-02305-1 (ebk), 978-1-118-02306-8 (ebk)

1. Leadership. 2. Risk management. 3. Organizational change. I. Title.

HD57.7.B867 2011

658.4 0092dc22

2010051336

To my wife, Leslie, who has had by far the biggest influence on my life, and who reminds me that it is not what you do, but who you are, that matters most

Acknowledgments

Bringing together a book of interviews with outstanding leaders on three continents was hardly a solo effort. There are people I would like to acknowledge for their contribution to our firm and for their impact on my life.

First and foremost to my immediate family: my wife, Leslie, and my children, Allison, Emily, Jack, Olivia, and Stephanie, for continually showing me true north. Thank you, Leslie, for continually reminding me to separate what I do from who I am. As CEO I am ultimately responsible for leading and guiding this team, this organization. But I ama person firsthusband, father, friend, colleagueand always.

To my extended family: my dedicated colleagues at Korn/Ferry for living every day our firm's mission of enhancing the lives of our clients, candidates, and colleagues. Success in any organization is only achieved through people; at Korn/Ferry, this is no exception. I will forever be indebted to the people of Korn/Ferry. Thank you for pushing our firm to the stars.

To the visionaries and founders of Korn/Ferry: Lester B. Korn and Richard M. Ferry, who created a firm that has changed thousands and thousands of lives. To the Korn/Ferryboard of directors for their stewardship. To former chairman Paul C. Reilly for showing me what leadership means.

To those who helped secure the interviews for this book: Scott Coleman, Al Delattre, Robert Eichinger, Michael Franzino, Yue Guo, Jack Lim, Sam Marks, Horacio McCoy, Tierney Remick, Michael Rottblatt, Don Spetner, Eduardo Taylor, Stephen Trachtenberg, and Charles Tseng.

To those who worked very hard to make this book happen: Michael Distefano, for going all nine innings as part of the interview team; Dan Gugler, for always taking the midnight train; Tricia Crisafulli, for her passion for the journey (and for her dedication to getting the words on the page); Dana Martin Polk, for his commitment; and Joel Kurtzman, for insight as this book came together.

To our publisher, Jossey-Bass: our editor, Karen Murphy, for skillful and thorough editing; and the team of Erin Moy, Gayle Mak, and Mark Karmendy.

Last, my heartfelt thanks to the leaders who graciously shared their wisdom and experience: Michael Bloomberg, Eli Broad, Drew Gilpin Faust, Vicente Fox, Franklin Buster Hagenbeck, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Liu Chuanzhi, John McKissick, AnneMulcahy, Indra Nooyi, Carlos Slim, and Daniel Vasella.

For these leaders, it was not just what they said, it was how they made you feel.

Introduction: Leading the Way

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams, sixth U.S. president

Leaders have always faced an array of challenges, opportunities, and decision points. Gone, however, are the old ways of thinking that centered on growth driven by an insatiable Western consumer. New ways require a higher level of innovation, creativity, and strategic thinking. How, then, can leaders succeed in this new normal?

To answer this question, I embarked on a journey in 2010 to engage in discussions about leadership that took me and my team literally around the world: talking with leaders in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Our search was for extraordinary leaders to share their thoughts and views about what it means to lead and what it takes to inspire others to follow. We spoke with leaders on three continents: several CEOs, a highly successful entrepreneur who is also the richest man in the world, a military general who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the mayor of New York, the former president of a sovereign nation, and America's most winning (by a mile) football coach. Virtually all are well known on the world stage with success stories that we've been privileged to witness over the years. Some we were meeting for the first time.