Giraffes of Technology: The Making of the Twenty-First-Century Leader

by John Curry, Hubert Glover

Overview

For leaders looking to instigate lasting change, Giraffes of Technology is the must-read leadership book of the decade.

Kirkus Reviews called Giraffes of Technology, "A serious business book with a light touch, a clear message and much wisdom."

Endorsed by designer Tommy Hilfiger, the Strategic Finance Review, and former CBS correspondent Jacqueline Adams, Giraffes of Technology is the book for leaders who wish to create a supportive and authentic work environment that propagates genuine loyalty from employees and staff.In six compact chapters, authors Dr. Hubert D. Glover and Professor John Curry describe how technology and changing cultural norms have come to favor leadership traits reminiscent of the giraffe.

Giraffes of Technology uses metaphors and anecdotes to show how a giraffe's 'leadership' style is integral to a company's survival in today's cluttered and busy corporate climate. Drawing on real-world examples of successful companies who implement this leadership style, as well as Glover's own compelling upbringing, the authors sketch a picture of how leaders can succeed and thrive in a predator's world using servant leadership.

"Why did they title it Giraffes of Technology? In 21st Century business...organizations and their leaders often embrace a top-down, autocratic style in the quest to achieve short-term gains (e.g., quarterly profits for shareholders). Yet many studies in the area of servant leadership show that a nurturing, empathetic, and values-oriented approach creates greater business value in the long run." (Strategic Finance Review)

"A compelling read using the giraffe as a metaphor to better understand what makes people successful." (Tommy Hilfiger, fashion founder of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation)

"The author's understanding of both how the giraffe functions and how human leaders operate enables him to draw comparisons that are intriguing and relevant." (Clarion Review Business and Economics)

"These lessons and more will delight and inform anyone who wants to thrive in the next five thousand days of our digital revolution." (Jacqueline Adams, former CBS News Correspondent)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499320923
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	05/30/2014
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Dr. Hubert Glover is an experienced CEO and academician who teaches at Drexel University. He has more than 30 years leading major enterprises, including subsidiaries of PricewaterhouseCoopers and his own company REDE, Inc. (which has won numerous awards for their services to federal agencies and Fortune 500 companies). He has written more than 50 articles in academic and professional journals about corporate governance, auditing, international accounting, and emerging managerial issues.

Co-author Professor John Curry is an award-winning writer and professor, who lectures at American University, University of Maryland, Occidental College, and has taught literature and creative writing at Santa Monica College. His novella "The Medina Wall" was awarded honorable mention in Paris Belletric's "The Archer Prize." In 2014 he was awarded the National Society of Collegiate Scholars Distinguished Professor.

Editorial Reviews

A CEO-turned-professor's debut business book advocates a leadership style for the social media age. Many business books have been centered on animal motifs, from cats to dogs to sharks, chameleons and penguins. Arguably, the metaphor is overdone, but readers may want to make room for one more in the menagerie, as Glover's (Accounting/Drexel Univ.) giraffe allegory holds up well. Unlike many business-book peers who hire ghostwriters, Glover openly shares authorship with Curry, whose writing credits range from documentary projects to short fiction. It's fitting, as Glover's message is all about increasing transparency, flattening hierarchies and replacing top-down management with true dialogue in order to achieve shared goals. Glover rose from humble beginnings--his great-grandmother was a slave; his father, a school janitor. Nurtured by parents and church members who emphasized education, hard work, humility and patience, he overcame racism and tradition to become CEO of an Atlanta PricewaterhouseCoopers subsidiary in 2000, and he later started his own consulting company, Rede, Inc. After a foreword by Bill Cosby, Glover explores, in six compact chapters, how technology and changing cultural norms have come to favor leadership traits reminiscent of the giraffe, a nonpredatory herbivore and gentle giant known for farsightedness. A giraffe also rises up after dramatically falling at birth, skillfully avoids lions while constantly moving forward to feed and peacefully interacts with diverse herds (an analogy for social media strategy). Glover assembles trends and transformational concepts that aren't new--and, in fact, are well-sourced--but his book's organization and presentation are entirely original. Some readers may find that his praise for multinational giants such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, PepsiCo and Wal-Mart lacks critical balance, but he doesn't aim to comprehensively analyze any one company; he presents examples of the leadership style he favors. It works best when he uses anecdotes from his personal life and professional career, which he does often; he also draws from poetry, Scripture, music, sports and popular media to cast additional light on his argument and on his own life. A serious business book with a light touch, a clear message and much wisdom.

Kirkus Reviews