Lynda Gratton - The Key

We in corporations have enormous resources at our disposal. In this groundbreaking book Lynda shows how these resources can be used both inside to bolster resilience; and outside to address global issues. The examples she brings offer important signals to how the role of corporations could develop over the coming decades. A must read for practicing managers and leaders.

N. Chandrasekaran

Chief Executive Officer

Tata Consultancy Services

When researching a company it is obviously important to analyze the balance sheet but much more important are the intangible assets such as the quality of the people. In this important book, Professor Gratton shows what to look for in a company that can both build resilience for the future, and also make a positive difference in the world. The wealth of corporate examples from across the world is incredibly useful in showing what is possible and the impact these first mover companies can have.

Martin Gilbert

Chief Operating Officer

Aberdeen Asset Management

Reflecting thoughtfully on her years of studying and working with corporate leaders, Gratton makes an impassioned plea for corporations to play their proper role in making the world a better placetoday and for future generations.

Jasmine Whitbread

Chief Executive Officer

Save the Children

The word over-ambitious does not exist when you look at the challenges we have to solve. There is a fundamental readjustment going in our economic system, from a rules-based society back to a principles-based society. This requires a new form of shared leadership

Paul Polman

Chief Executive Officer

Unilever

Contrary to Hollywood stereotypes, big corporations can be a force for good. The Key helps to explain why that is so and how business leaders can be part of the vanguard.

Gavin E. Patterson

Chief Executive Officer

BT Group

Lynda has again demonstrated her unique skill at sensing the next global challengein her book The Key she challenges in a provocative but thoughtful way all current and future leaders to step up to create a better future and build their legacy. Her insights around human potential and the increasing need for us all to find our moral compass is compelling.

This book is a must read for leaders who want to understand the new role for business, it gets to the heart of what the world needsa sense of purpose with a new level of ownership and more importantly action!

Dennis J. Finn

Vice Chairman and Global Human Capital Leader

PwC

The company of the future is not the company of the past. Never before have corporations, their customers and the communities they operate in been so intertwined and interdependent. The fast-moving and dynamic forces global leaders must contend with is mind-boggling. In order to achieve the outcomes necessary for ongoing growth, executive leaders must not only reinvent themselves and their businesses every 2-3 years but must also continually ask what role their corporation will play as a force for the common good. What The Key does is to show, in a ground-breaking way, how the bridge between the two can be built.

Robert Kovach, PhD,

Global Executive Talent

Cisco

The Key will become one of the classics of workplace leadership and management. With fascinating research, engaging style and practical wisdom, this is a real manifesto for taking action, sustainably.

Yoshito Hori

President, GLOBIS University

Managing Partner, GLOBIS Capital Partners

We at the Aspen Institute believe passionately in the positive role leaders can play in society. What is really exciting about The Key is that Lynda addresses head on the question of the role of leadership and also of how leaders can build their capability to both support resilient corporations and make a difference in the world. This is an inspiring read for anyone who wants to move their eyes from beyond the present to make a significant contribution to the future.

Judith Samuelson

Executive Director,

Biz+Society Program at the Aspen Institute

Lynda Grattons book The Key is an important and inspirational call to action for leaders in corporations (and beyond) to build a future that is positive for employees, investors and communities. Grounded in real examples and propelled by solid research, this book focuses on how leaders and corporations create a future where wisdom is fostered and inner resilience strengthened. The Key is both optimistic and realistic, igniting our imagination and commitment to a more prosperous future where corporations actualize their potential to make a positive difference

Jane E. Dutton

Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration and Psychology

Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Lynda has again given us a lens into a brighter future. With prescience and insight, she has offered a way to resolve some of the most serious challenges of complex world. When large, global organizations become communities endowed with resilience and committed to service, they have the capacity to do enormous good. She offers specific prescriptions for how to use organizations to rekindle the hope that shared communities can offer. Her ideas are a call to arms and a commitment to action that will benefit individuals, organizations, and communities.

Dave Ulrich

Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Partner, the RBL Group

Perhaps more than at any other time, corporations have it in their power to make a significant positive impact in the world. The challenge many leaders face is how best to use this power. In this inspiring book, Professor Gratton shows how corporations can build an inner core of resilience to address global challenges in supply chains and beyond. This book takes the discussion about corporate social responsibility to a new level by clearly describing what it takes for leaders and employees to collectively make the corporation a force for good in the world.

Diana C. Robertson

Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

The Key offers a novel perspective on the emerging role of corporations in society. Leadership expert Lynda Gratton offers practical insights for unlocking the hidden resources in organizations and using them to bring resilience to a fragile world.

Adam Grant

Professor of Organizational Behavior

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Major Corporations think deeply about the future, what opportunities it presents and what challenges have to be overcome. Many have demonstrated great resilience through their innovation, adaptation, and sustained relevance to the needs of people today and tomorrow. As a consequence Corporations need to be seen and behave as part of the solution. The Key advocates for a stronger role for corporations and provides compelling arguments based on real life examples. Something for those inside and outside the corporate world to think about!

Hugh S. Mitchell

Chief Human Resources and Corporate Officer

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Copyright 2014 by Lynda Gratton. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.