Centro de Documentacion de Fundación MAPFRE - Your company's history as a leadership tool

MAP20120051836

Your company's history as a leadership tool / John T. Seaman Jr., George David Smith

Sumario: When the history of an organization comes up, its usually in connection with an anniversaryjust part of the balloons and fireworks (as one business leader characterized his companys bicentennial celebration, knowing that the investment of time and money would have little staying power). A fast-changing world leaves little time for nostalgia and irrelevant detailsor, worse, strategies for winning the last war. But the authors, business historians at the Winthrop Group, assert that leaders with no patience for history are missing a vital truth: A sophisticated understanding of the past is one of the most powerful tools they have for shaping the future. The job of leaders, most would agree, is to inspire collective efforts and devise smart strategies for the future. History can be profitably employed on both fronts. As a leader strives to get people working together productively, communicating the history of the enterprise can instill a sense of identity and purpose and suggest the goals that will resonate. In its most familiar form, as a narrative about the past, history is a rich explanatory tool with which executives can make a case for change and motivate people to overcome challenges. Taken to a higher level, it also serves as a potent problem-solving tool, one that offers pragmatic insights, valid generalizations, and meaningful perspectivesa way to cut through management fads and the noise of the moment to what really matters.

En: Harvard business review. - Boston : Impact Media Comercial S.A., 1988-. - 03/12/2012 Tomo 90 Número 12 - diciembre 2012 , p. 45-52

1. Liderazgo . 2. Historia profesional . 3. Empresas . 4. Directivos de empresas . 5. Estrategia corporativa . I. Smith , George David . II. Título.