October/08: Linkage CEO Phil Harkins and ARC Financial Corp cofounder Phil Swift have enjoyed decades of experience leading and working with other leaders. Along the way, they became aware that many leaders find themselves in search of their personal purpose for leading. This search led the two CEOs on a new journey – traveling around the world to interview corporate executives, presidents, prime ministers, educators, an important spiritual leader, and other leaders in a wide array of fields to ask the question: “Why Lead?”
IN SEARCH OF LEADERSHIP: How Great Leaders Answer the Question “Why Lead?” reveals what truly drives a leader straight from the mouths of the world’s most successful industry executives, national statesmen, and self-made entrepreneurs. Included are original contributions and exclusive interviews with:
Mikhail Gorbachev: former president of the Soviet Union and 1990 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Benazir Bhutto: former prime minister of Pakistan
Mary Robinson: first female president of Ireland
Henri Landwirth: holocaust survivor, hotel mogul, and philanthropist
Rafiah Salim: International Center for Leadership in Finance, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management, U.N.
Rajaa Khuzai: former Member of the Iraqi Governing Council
Erin Gruwell: Freedom Writers founder and education innovator
The answer to the question, “Why Lead?”, is startling in the commonality of a recurring theme – that great leaders at some point in time experience a transformational shift that motivates them to move to a level of thinking that operates outside the box of personal power and material gain.
IN SEARCH OF LEADERSHIP reveals the qualities and life lessons of leaders who have made this shift. As the authors find, all great leaders eventually realize the need to serve not only their organization, but society and the world at large.