By Mr. Minglo Shao, Founder and Chairman of Bright China Group, a member of the Drucker Institute Board of Advisors and student of Peter Drucker at Claremont Graduate University

Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen, my respected Organizing Committee of the 2009Drucker Centennial Conference, and friends of the Peter F. Drucker Society ofKorea.

I would like to first give my thanks to Mr. Seung-Woo Nan, Young-Chul Chang, MoonKook Hyun, Lee Eun Wook and my friends in the Drucker Society of Korea whoinvited my colleagues and myself to this great conference. I am both happy and honored to attend this event. On behalf of the Peter F. Drucker Academy in China and Hong Kong I bring my best wishes to the opening of this grand event and wish you every success in the next two days of activities.

Although this is the first time I visited your beautiful country, your culture andpeople has always captured my admiration and respect. This is not only due to your economic success and the creation of world-renowned brands like Samsung and Hyundai, nor just the meteoric success of your soccer team or the famous television drama series, Dae Jang Geum, that took the international TV scene bystorm.

More than 10 years ago when the Asian Financial storm hit, I saw in the media Korea’s women voluntarily line up in front of banks to donate or sell their lifelong savings of gold jewelry at low prices to support Korea’s financial institutions. I was very shocked and moved when I saw this. Later, living in Los Angeles my friends there told me there are a lot of Koreans opening restaurants there, but unlike other ethnic restaurants each Korean restaurantis opened in a location that does not compete with other Korean restaurants. It resulted in an optimal distribution of Korean restaurants in the city and as awhole; make Korean restaurants more competitive than other ethnic restaurants in the city.

These two seemingly unrelated examples illustrated the fact that your people have a strong sense of community, which give rise to a strong cohesive force.Therefore, when I witness your delegate’s strong team spirit in 2006’s Drucker Symposium held in Claremont and, through their introduction, learned about the Korean Drucker Society’s outstanding work, I was not the surprised. This is are flection of the sense of community that is rooted deeply in your traditional culture. Furthermore, it is consistent with the basic principles of Drucker’s knowledge, and this sense of community has helped the promotion of the Drucker Legacy. In turn, the promotion work itself also benefits and reinforces thesense of community, enabling it to gain and develop a new vitality.

From the successful planting of the Drucker Forest lead by Mr. Moon to the founding of you CEO Reading Club, all the way to the design of lifetime learning for your professionals and executives, your actions have renewed my colleagues andmy outlook and have given us encouragement and profound inspiration. If someone said that the Korean Drucker Society had played the role of a pioneer 3 yearsago in Claremont in promoting the creation of a worldwide Drucker Society network by showing their work to the world, I would agree that this is a fair and appropriate statement. For this, we would like to thank the Korean DruckerSociety for their contribution to the promotion of the Drucker Legacy.

In the 3 years after 2006 many changes have taken place in Korea, Asia and the world. Some of them are major events such as the worldwide financial tsunami, which has far reaching consequences. Its impact and destructive power haselicited extensive reflection and contemplation in its wake. Some in Western countries have started to question the current financial system and even the viability of the free market system and capitalism. Some in China and Russia have advocated reverting to Marxism to counteract individualism that is based upon private ownership, requesting to re-enact fully, or in a large part, aplanned economy that is directed by the government.

At about the same time, Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladesh economist who has receivedthe Nobel Peace Prize, published his book, A World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism. In this book, he demonstrated to the world how to builda new kind of organization through his success in creating a bank that make microloans to the poor and a series of experiments on models of socialenterprises. He gave a strict definition to the term “Social Enterprise” and further created the daring notion of a “Social Enterprise Capital Market” to supplement the shortcomings of the existing free market and capitalistic system.

From the West to the East, from developed countries to developing ones, and fromdiscussions and explorations amongst practitioners to academics, all these willultimately touch upon man’s quest in his basic values. As Drucker said, anyobjects created by man, be it structures, models, system or concepts, are boundto be imperfect by birth. It will fail or become an obstacle through time,which is precisely the reason for innovation and entrepreneurship. However, throughout history there will be something that stands the challenge of time.It is human’s quest for his own basic value, which is the foundation of thecontinued existence of the human society. The following are a few questions I would like to pose that relate to these values: What is the success pursued by individuals, organizations, and society? Are they the right kind of success? What is real innovation? Do you or your organization create value for others? As a professional, management, or leader who exerts influence on your enterprise or organization, what is your responsibility in coming up with the right answers to the above questions? In other words, what is your contribution to creating the value that you have defined?

When Wall Street investment bankers and fund managers introduced fascinating financial products and trading models and successfully attracted large amountsof capital from clients, many people have followed and praised this as a “financial innovation”. Now, these people and their followers have demonstrated through the consequences of their actions what a financial innovation is not about, nor have they created any value. Similar situations have taken place in other businesses, social sector, government, universities, and our business schools. Although the consequences are not as apparent as in Wall Street, the Financial Tsunami and problems in the financial system is but the tip of an iceberg that contains a host of problems in environment, society, politics, and people’s belief. These are proof of the many diseases of our world and represent a severe challenge for us to revert to men’s own basic value.

I think you will all agree that Drucker would ask us to answer this most important question and face up to this huge challenge. This is where his knowledge can help us. Also, this is precisely the reason and significance forour gathering today. In the coming two days I look forward to learning from myfriends in the Korean Drucker Society again, their sharing of practices and thoughts with me and my colleagues, and all who attend this conference, so wecan all learn from your practical application and experience based on Drucker’sknowledge, just like what happened in Claremont three years ago.

Thank you again to you, my Korean friends. Thank you all.

By Theresa Berenato

In this age of change and discontinuity, America faces challenges that are unprecedented, and the need “to build a new foundation for economic growth” is imperative. This summer, President Obama calls on all of us to participate in community service.

A new platform — United We Serve — will engage Americans in addressing community needs in education, health, energy and the environment, and community renewal. United We Serve aims to expand the impact of existing organizations by engaging new volunteers and also encourages volunteers to develop their own "do-it-yourself"projects with friends, family, and neighbors.

With the help ofAmerica, the hope is that United We Serve will grow into a "sustained, collaborative and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans."

Serve.gov is the online resource President Obama recommends to Americans interested in volunteer opportunities and includes ideas for the "do-it-yourself" projects like creating a community garden or reading to children at the local library.

Watch President Obama’s address to the country here: Serve.gov

This is a step to move America "from success to significance," as Peter Drucker says. 

An excerpt from MBE Magazine

Coach Commandos: Whether here or there, stay in touch.

Susan Phillips Bari and Leslie Saunders discuss the most critical thing you can do for your business, your employees, your community and your customers: stabilize your business. 

Tip #1: Use high-tech tools to avoid non-critical trips

Today's communication technology provides many options to make your remote meetings effective, while supporting the image of your brand by showing that you are concerned about cost and will pass those savings on to the client.  

Tip #2: Be Prepared 

Agendas, PowerPoint presentation, spreadsheets and electronic brochures should be emailed to participants with sufficient time to review and request additional information. 

Tip #3:  Travel Smart

When you do travel, travel smart. Where can you get the most bang for your buck? A trade show. 

Tip #4: Build a social network for your business

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn enable what we like to call "accidental success scenarios."

Subscribe to Minority Business Entrepreneur (MBE) Magazine, visit: www.mbemag.com

 A blog entry by Vince Reardon.

When Frances Hesselbein was approached by a neighbor to be a scout leader of a failing troop, she thought the idea was ridiculous. Not only had she never been a Girl Scout, she didn’t even have a daughter. 

Read the entry here: http://tinyurl.com/nda9ba 

In the June 2009 Issue of Training and Development (T&D) magazine, Frances Hesselbein speaks candidly in a Q&A session.

Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/lp4lu7

by Lori Sokol, Ph.D.

Rumors about the death of work/life balance are greatly exaggerated. Despite newspaper headlines blaming the recession for cuts to employee work/life arrangements as recently reported in the Los Angeles Times, ‘Work-Life Benefits Fall Victim to Slow Economy,’ and in The Washington Post, ‘As Cuts Loom, Will Working From Home Lead to a Layoff?’, more creative yet less costly work/life options are actually on the upswing amongst the most clever of companies.

These innovative companies are offsetting employees’ emerging economic woes by providing more pertinent perks like free lunches, free financial advice and, yes, even free Wii. Consider, for example, GotVMail, a Boston-based tech company that provides phone services reminiscent of the dotcom age. The company spends $1,000 a month having fresh fruit and healthy snacks delivered to the office, and also provides employees with free financialand legal advice. Further, the company continues to pick up 75 percent of the cost of health benefits, despite its steady increase over the past few years. But the most popular perk among its 48 employees is the Nintendo Wii, which is playedon a flat-screen TV in a room adjacent to the office kitchen. "For a small investment, it’s a lot of fun and really gets people moving," says David Hauser, company co-founder. It has become such an appealing benefit, in fact, that some employees even come to the office on the weekends to play the game. 

But affording opportunities for free lunches or playing video games during working hours provides benefits that go far beyond fun.  At public-relations firm Weber Shandwick, Ken Luce, president of the firm’s California and Southwest offices, says that when free food is brought in, employees tend to eat as a group, encouraging collaboration and boosting morale. While it may cost more to provide lunch at the firm’s offices, which ranges from $7 to $12 per person, it makes employees happy which, he says, also offsets "the cost of turnover," since it's much cheaper to buy lunch and retain valued employees than it is to hire and train new workers.

It should be no surprise that providing workers with opportunities to ‘kick back’ and ‘relax’ whether through in-house diningor video game play is becoming increasingly important as the country undergoes a recession. For the very root of the word, recession, is recess – defined as atime for pause, reflection and adjustment.  Although the idea of change can initially feel unsettling, it is important to keep in mind that according to ‘change management theory, ’the first response to any adjustment, economic or otherwise, is fear andresistance, followed by the second more productive response of acceptance and exploration. This is as true for an organization as it is for an individual.  The longer the period of fear and resistance, however, the more difficult it is to move on to the next phase of examining new options. A recession can therefore present an ideal opportunity for a business to re-think its situation, and ultimately explore more creative opportunities, if it doesn’t wait too long.

Previous economic downturns provide a testament to the timely and long-term benefits of undergoing change. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Kellogg's instituted a six-hour workday in its plants to take up the slack of too many people and not enough jobs. Within two years, workers were accomplishing as much in six hours as they had in eight because they were less tired and more efficient. The policy was so popular that remnants of it continued for the next 50 years.  This concept of ‘flexicurity’, offering workers a combination of fewer work hours but more job security, has also proven to be highly effective in France, a country viewed as a global leader in this area after instituting shorter workweeks in the mid-90s. It is true that shorter work days also result in smaller paychecks, but as Benjamin Hunnicutt, a professor of leisure studies at the University of Iowa says, “We have been selling off our leisure over thelast 30 years. Workers can lose some wages,” he continues, “…(but) the adjustments…are for the most part positive.”

Companies like GotVMail and Weber Shandwick, however, are successfully blending work and relaxation in one location, at the office, and the importance of this cannot be underestimated. Work life balance is currently cited as one of the most important labor issues, second only to compensation, according to the Corporate Executive Board which concluded in a recent study that employees who feel they  have better work-life balance tend to work 21% harder than those that don’t.  And this is something all companies can benefit from, regardless of economic times.

Lori Sokol, Ph.D., is the Founder and Publisher of Work Life Matters magazine. She can be reached by emailing lori@sokolmediaonline.com

*Correction to May Leading Today: You can visit Lori Sokol's website via www.sokolmediaonline.com

By Melinda Phelps 

Executive Assistant to the President and CEO

On Thursday, April 30^th, I had the pleasure of attending “Celebrating Brownie Points – A Tribute to Leadership,” the 34th Annual Tribute Dinner of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York. Our Chairman and Founding President, Mrs. Frances Hesselbein was duly honored with a Lifetime Award for her exceptional work as a former CEO of the Girl Scouts and her continued commitment to developing leaders of all ages as demonstrated in her work withthe Leader to Leader Institute.

The evening provided an opportunity to mingle with New Yorkers dedicated to “building girls of courage, confidence, and character.” Girl Scouts of all ages were in attendance, gracefully welcoming guests and describing the accomplishments that led to the badges on their sashes. I have to say that the uniforms have improved! From the brown knee socks with orange tassels of my day, the girls now sport khakis, vests, sashes, and even adorable hats. 

During dinner, we were treated to short videos highlighting the impact of the Girl Scouts on the lives and dreams of young women. One told the story of a young woman whose Gold Award project was writing a curriculum to educate young women about domestic violence. She spoke of the pride that she felt when her high school integrated her ideas into thecurriculum, and her hope for the future, which now included plans for college. Deborah Norville, from InsideEdition, was a lovely emcee and introduced all of the honored guests: Jessica Bibliowicz of National Financial Partners; Jane Randel of Liz Claiborne, Inc., Michelle R. Clayman of New Amsterdam Partners, LLC; Deirdre Stanley of Thomson Reuters; Jill Granoff of Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc.; and Commissioner Marjorie B. Tiven of the NYC Commission for the United Nations Consular Corps and Protocol. Many of the women spoke directly to the Girl Scouts in attendance, recognizing their commitment and courage, and inspiring them with stories of how hard work and leadership skills can lead to success. 

Of course, a highlight ofthe evening was listening to Mrs. Frances Hesselbein share her years of wisdom with us. In an especially touching moment, she recited the Girl Scout Promise. The young girls held up their three fingers and joined her, “On my honor I will try…” After anauction to support the Council, the audience “earned” their own badge for their generosity. These badges were passed out by the Girl Scouts during a dessert of Thin Mints. Mayor Bloomberg commended the work of the Girl Scouts and the young girls confidently shook his hand on stage.  The spirit of hope and optimism that filled the room was lifted to the rafters when Roberta Flack led us in singing “God Bless America” to end the evening. 

The event was even highlighted in the New York Times Sunday Style section – Photograph 7.

Leader to Leader guest blogger, Danny Stern, who manages business development and provides corporate and marketing strategy to Stern & Associates clients, shares his insights on Marshall Goldsmith's latest book, "Succession - Are You Ready?"

We’d like to congratulate Marshall Goldsmith on another achievement in his career as a bestselling author and executive coach. Yesterday, his latest book, “Succession: Are You Ready?” was the #1 seller on Amazon.com, and has remained there today.

The book, part of the Harvard Business Press’ “Memo to the CEO” series, couldn’t have reached bookshelves at a better time as the economic downturn has created an almost unprecedented amount of turnover in the C-suites of U.S. corporations. Marshall uses his experience to describe the human drama of executive succession and the steps incumbent CEOs and their successors should take to ensure a smooth transition of corporate power.
 
Marshall notes that the intimate connection between CEOs and their jobs is one of the challenges in every executive succession. “For a CEO,” he writes, “a job is not just what you do – it’s who you are. The transition process is therefore extremely personal and knowing when to step aside is your greatest challenge. It’s important to prepare for transition by slowing down yourself while simultaneously coaching your successor to speed up.” One important piece of advice he has for CEOs preparing to step down is to help their successors form the key stakeholder relationships that will carry the company into the future while also preserving their own legacy.
 
We’re very proud of Marshall’s accomplishments and the important role he plays guiding executives through these tumultuous times and helping all of us understand the importance of leadership and cultural change in corporate America.

By Theresa Berenato
Communications and Marketing Manager

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend an American Management Association (AMA) 3-day ‘Train the Trainer’ seminar at the AMA Center on 48th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.  

I was one of seven participants in the seminar and was impressed with the content and facilitation of the program. Dr. Geri McArdle, who presently works for the AmeriCorps-Red Cross on disaster operations and training, was the facilitator. She was excellent – adapting the curriculum to each of our training focus areas – which ranged from Corporate Claims to Sales & Marketing.  

Throughout the three days, I learned about adult learning objectives, assessment tools and method concepts. The facilitation activities and lecture alternatives were especially helpful in developing Leader to Leader’s training for Drucker's "Five Most Important Questions" Facilitator Network Training Program which will be on April 25-26. Each program participant will learn the knowledge and skills required to become a member of the cohort of the "Five Most Important Questions" facilitators working in and with organizations across the sectors around the globe. There are still seats open for this training, and if interested, please contact Claire Walden: claire@leadertoleader.org.

Not only was the AMA training beneficial in immediate application of training tools, I have already been in contact with the other course participants – leveraging the relationships we formed over the three days into an ongoing networking opportunity.  

There are 75 AMA Scholarships available to social sector leaders this year, provided by AMA and Leader to Leader, which includes among other things, one management professional development seminar offered by AMA.  Scholarship Information