William A. Cohen - Peter Druckers Way to the Top: Lessons for Reaching Your Lifes Goals

Dr. Bill Cohen has done it again! In his latest book, Peter Druckers Way to the Top , he managed to stomp on my complacency, grabbed my attention, and sat me down to learn some new lessons and to unlearn a few stale truths that were no longer working. Thanks for the new epiphanies and insights, and for reminding me of whats important.
Ariel Koropitzer , CEO, iSubTech Corp.

FROM OTHER DRUCKER BOOKS BY DR COHEN

Peter F. Drucker helped me found the Peter F. Drucker Academy in China. It was a pleasure to see his concepts and what he instructed me brought together in one place and explained so that they could be applied by any executive. This is a valuable and useful book.
Minglo Shao , Chairman and CEO of the Bright China Group, Founder of the Peter F. Drucker Academy

William Cohens new book has brought the genius of Drucker to life for all of us. Easy to read, easy to understand and easy to use. The book should be in everybodys leadership toolbox.
Howard Behar , President, retired, Starbucks International

Bill Cohen has done us a wonderful service by faithfully combing through Peter Druckers vast writings and weaving together Peters thoughts on marketing. This has never been done before. We owe it to Bill Cohen to have taken the various strands of Peters observations on all aspects of marketing and put them together in the 25 chapters of this fine book. I highly recommend his work to you.
Philip Kotler , Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

I am constantly amazed at how Bill Cohen is able to effectively and elegantly draw on his experience as Druckers student and then tie it together with his own research. If you want to apply Druckers theories and see how to do them in the real world, this book is definitely the place to start.
Jim Kouzes , Co-Author of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge , Deans Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

A Class with Drucker is more than a book it is a great gift, bringing Peter Drucker and his classroom alive for all of us who never had the privilege of a class with Drucker... Bill Cohens journey with Drucker adds a new dimension to our understanding and appreciation and keeps the Drucker legacy vibrant and alive for future generations.
Frances Hesselbein , Chairman and Founding President, Leader to Leader Institute

Of the thousands of testaments written about a giant of our times none can rival this. Only one person in the world could have written this book. Cohen has captured the essence of Drucker in every page of this marvelous book. Bravo, Bill Peter would be proud!
Bill Bartmann , Billionaire Business Coach and winner of the National Entrepreneur Award from NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation

Cohen has written with clarity and authority about the major challenges facing leaders today. And Cohen, like Drucker, emphasizes responsibility and integrity in leadership, qualities so desperately needed today. I strongly recommend this book to you.
Joseph A. Maciariello , Horton Professor of Management Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, Co-Author of The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker and Management by Peter F. Drucker

Peter F. Drucker helped me found the Peter F. Drucker Academy in China. It was a pleasure to see his concepts and what he instructed me brought together in one place and explained so that they could be applied by any executive. This is a valuable and useful book.
Minglo Shao , Chairman and CEO of the Bright China Group, Founder of the Peter F. Drucker Academy

Bill Cohen was a singularly stimulating and attractive student from whom my colleagues on the faculty and I learned at least as much as we could teach him.
Peter F. Drucker , 1983

W hen General William (Bill) Cohen asked me to write a foreword for his new book, Peter Druckers Way to the Top , I was somewhat reluctant. As Dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, I lead the Drucker School and protect the Drucker brand by making sure it remains well known and relevant to todays audiences, but I do not see myself as a Drucker scholar. Thats not to say I dont know Druckers work I do, but I do not spend long periods of time studying what Drucker wrote. There are many others who have deeper knowledge of Druckers work.

So, I sat down to read Bills manuscript, not sure what I could add or say about his latest book.

I must say, I enjoyed reading the manuscript. It ultimately focuses on self-development but the book also provides a great overview of Druckers work and includes many examples both old and new to illustrate the points being made. Personally, I enjoyed the summaries provided of Druckers life and thought Bill covered the numerous topics on Drucker well.

The finished product is a well thought out and well-written book an interesting read. Topics include entrepreneurship, leadership, ethics, integrity, and morality, and management by objectives, but Bill also provides an overview of the qualities of a leader and guidelines on how to develop these qualities.

I took many notes but I want to highlight two areas that caught my attention.

First, Drucker famously said: Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems. (Bill uses this quote to open As a manager, it is easy to allow the day to be filled with finding solutions to problems. Instead, and as Drucker advocated, a manager should switch his or her mindset to proactively identifying and exploiting opportunities. This simple shift of focus has a tremendous ripple down effect on organizational culture and employee engagement. I highly recommend it.

The second area that caught my attention was , Bill reminds us of the well-known Drucker position on character: Character is not something you can fool people about. The people with whom a person works, and especially subordinates, know in a few weeks whether he/she has integrity or not. They may forgive a person for a great deal: incompetence, ignorance, insecurity or bad manners, but they will not forgive a lack of integrity.

These quotes are powerful reminders that we find ourselves in an unusual environment today, one in which many world political and business leaders do, at times, demonstrate a lack of integrity.

As we look for guidance, Bill first offers definitions in : Ethics is a code of values. Integrity speaks to adherence to this code of values. Morality is the quality of this adherence. He then reminds us that Drucker saw Confuciuss principles as the most successful and most durable [code of values] of them all, partly because Confucius focused on interdependence and the importance of mutual obligations between, for example, employers and employees.

My takeaway is a reminder that we have an obligation to lead with integrity and a responsibility to lead well-run, sustainable organizations that flourish and allow those connected to the organizations to also flourish. I am also reminded that we operate in a global and highly interconnected world where we have much to learn from people who have come from different histories and operate in different contexts.

I want to close by congratulating General William Cohen on his latest book, Peter Druckers Way to the Top .