By Bruce Rosenstein

When I tell people that I have written a self-development book (Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, recently publishedby Berrett-Koehler) based on Peter Drucker’s life and work, I get a number of reactions. But one common theme is how fortunate I was to have known Drucker and to have had personal interactions with him. I interviewed him several times for the book before his death in 2005 at 95, and several times before that when I was with USA TODAY. 

I had thought about writing a Drucker-related book for years, but the idea for one synthesizing his best ideas for individuals and personal growth came to me not long after I interviewed him in Los Angeles for a July 2002 feature story in USA TODAY.  I started work on the book a couple of months later. In my personal interactions with him (the interviews, plus details before and afterwards by phone and fax), he displayed patience, good humor and personal warmth. One of the interviews, conducted in Claremont, California on April 11, 2005, seven months to the day before his death, was videotaped. He displays the personal qualities mentioned above, along with words of wisdom delivered in a deep and measured voice. You can view a trailer here.

Drucker died well before the book was published. But now it is coming out in his centenary year, when even more attention will be trained on his contributions to the world. And I was further privileged to have Frances Hesselbein, who worked so many years with Drucker, write the foreword. In these uncertain times, Drucker’s message for personal growth built on integrity, knowledge, contemplation and action is needed more than ever. One constant during the nearly seven years of researching and writing was the awareness of how privileged I have been to apply my knowledge of Peter Drucker and his work to my firstbook. 

Read an excerpt from Living in More Than One World, from publisher Berrett-Koehler.

Read Bruce Rosenstein's blog

Recently, Neil Peterson head of Edge Foundation, blogged about Mrs. Frances Hesselbein — "with passion and focus rose through the ranks of Girl Scout leadership - from a temporary position as a group leader to CEO of the organization."

Read the Blog Entry.

Members from the staff and Board of the Leader to Leader Institute gathered in Pittsburgh to celebrate the 44 dynamic student leaders from the United States, Canada, and abroad who were selected from colleges and universities across theUnited States and Canada as Hesselbein Fellows in the first class of Universityof Pittsburgh's Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and CivicEngagement. 

From Saturday, July 11 until Tuesday, July 14, the Fellows were inspired by 11 talented mentors, including Ms. Tina Doerffer, Dr. Elizabeth Haas Edersheim, Major General RandalFullhart, Lieutenant Commander Carla Grantham, Ms. Toshiko Inoue, Mr. CharlesO’Connor, Mr. Gregory Roberts, Mr. Keith Schaefer, Dr. Betty Siegel, Ms. Tamara Woodbury and Mr. Sam Zacharias on presentation topics ranging from The Entrepreneurial and Innovative Spirit of a Leader to Multicultural Understanding in a Changing Global Environment.

At the Inaugural Ceremony Monday evening, Mrs. Frances Hesselbein spoke about the future — in 2019, 500 Hesselbein Fellows will convene in a Global Summit highlighting the impact they have made on society.

Jim Collins, author and management educator, was the keynote speaker, leaving the Fellows and those of us in the audience with a handful of advice on making choices and being disciplined.

He recalled the day he shadowed Peter Drucker. Mr. Drucker was about to get out of Jim’s car and he paused a moment and said, “You know, Jim, you worry about two things — survival and success. Forget about that. You must worry more about being useful.”