Passion and Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders

by John Coleman, Daniel Gulati, W. Oliver Segovia, Bill George (Foreword by)

Overview

Globalization. Sustainability. Technology. Diversity. Learning. Convergence of the public and private sectors. These are the big issues on the minds of young leaders today—the challenges they most want to, and must, pursue.

In Passion and Purpose, dozens of recent Harvard Business School MBAs share personal stories on assuming the mantle of leadership in ways unlike any previous generation. In candid accounts of their successes and setbacks—from launching start-ups to taking on the family business to helping kids in the Arabian Gulf to harnessing new technology and developing clean energy—they reveal how the next generation of ideas, aspirations, and practices are shaping business and redefining leadership around the world.

Drawing on insights from a survey of 500 students from top U.S. business schools, Passion and Purpose provides an overview of big, hot-button issues, followed by firsthand accounts from young leaders who are tackling these issues head-on. Their personal stories are rounded out with broader perspectives from established luminaries in business, academia, and the public sector, including Dominic Barton (Managing Director of McKinsey & Company), Nitin Nohria (dean of Harvard Business School), David Gergen (CNN analyst, presidential advisor and director of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership), Carter Roberts (CEO of World Wildlife Fund), and many others.

Passion and Purpose offers profound insight into the values and vision of tomorrow’s leaders, and inspiration and ideas for all aspiring leaders who hope to lead change in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781422162668
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	11/29/2011
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

John Coleman earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Dean’s Award winner, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Zuckerman Fellow and a George Fellow. Daniel Gulati holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Fellow and an Arthur Rock Fellow, and is the founding CEO of FashionStake, a venture-backed fashion company. W. Oliver Segovia received an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, and is an entrepreneur in the Philippines and Singapore, where he previously worked with Procter & Gamble Asia.

Table of Contents

Foreword Bill George ix

Introduction 1

1 Convergence: Creating Opportunities Across Sectors 11

Floating Above the Boxes: Business, Nonprofit, and the Age of Falling Boundaries Umaimah Mendhro 17

Learning from Kibera: Nonprofit Lessons for Business from East Africa's Largest Slum Rye Barcott 23

Commerce and Culture: Combining Business and the Arts Christina Wallace 28

Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Business of Peace Jake Cusack 34

Business in the World: How Corporations Can Be Change Agents Kelli Wolf Moles 41

Interview with David Gergen, adviser to four presidents, Director of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, and senior political analyst for CNN 47

2 Globalization: Embracing the Global Generation 55

Bridging Two Worlds: An India Story Sanyogita Aggarwal 61

QatarDebate: Education, Civic Engagement, and Leadership in the Arabian Gulf Andrew Goodman 67

Emerging Social Enterprise: Learning the Business of Agriculture in Tanzania Katie Laidlaw 74

Global Citizen Year: Learning from the World Abigail Falik 79

The Business of Reconciliation: How Cows and Co-ops Are Paving the Way for Genuine Reconciliation in Rwanda Chris Maloney 85

Interview with Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company 91

3 People: Leading in a Diverse World 99

Nonconforming Culture: How to Feel Comfortable in Who You Are No Matter Where You Are Kimberly Carter 104

Diversity Day: Whole People, Whole Organizations, and a Whole New Approach to Diversity Josh Bronstein 110

Women and the Workplace: Tasneem Dohadwala 118

Joyful on the Job: A Generation Pursuing Happiness at Work Benjamin Schumacher 124

People Leadership from Baghdad to Boston Seth Moulton 130

Interview with Deb Henretta, CEO, P&G Asia 134

4 Sustainability: Integrating Preservation and Profits 139

A Sustainable Career Annie Fishman 145

From Safety Nets to Trampolines Valerie Bockstette 151

The Value of Community Partnerships in Addressing Climate Change Charley Cummings 158

Interview with Carter Roberts, CEO, World Wildlife Fund 164

5 Technology: Competing by Connecting 171

Building an Online Marketplace James Reinhart 175

Technology and Social Good: Loans, Relays and the Power of Community Shelby Clark 181

Mobile Millennial Jason Gurwin 185

Interview with Joe Kennedy, CEO and President of Pandora 191

6 Learning: Educating Tomorrow's Leaders 197

The Leadership Boot Camp: Training the Next Generation of Corporate Leaders Kishan Madamala 203

The MBA of Hard Knocks: Why Fast Failure Is the Best Thing for Business Education Patrick Chun 210

The New Corporate Classrooms: Training's Tectonic Technological Shift Michael B. Horn 216

Tackling Financial Illiteracy Alexa Leigh Marie Von Tobel 223

The Education of a Millennial Leader Jonathan Doochin 228

Interview with Rich Lyons, Dean, Haas Business School University of California-Berkeley 235

Moving Forward 243

Capstone Interview with HBS Dean, Nitin Nohria 246

Appendix: About the Passion and Purpose MBA Student Survey 255

Notes 263

Acknowledgments 273

Index 275

About the Contributors 289

About the Authors 295

Editorial Reviews

“Leaders in each generation face several challenges that are quite different from those that confronted leaders in earlier generations and are also quite different from those that leaders in future generations will encounter. It was ever thus and always will be true. That is one of several reasons why I think so highly of this book.” — Blogging about Business (bobmorris.biz)

Featured on the J.P. Morgan Summer Reading List for 2012

"wholly infectious", and an "upbeat, enjoyable read—as well as a useful one.” – The Financial Times

“…the reader is rewarded with a richness of information and a great view of things to come in the business world, based on the stories of these young leaders. Summing Up: Recommended for students, upper-division undergraduate and up; faculty; practitioners.” — CHOICE

“Far from accounts of the stereotypical generation of entitled slackers, the stories in Passion and Purpose demonstrate the innovation, collaboration, efficiency, and independence of rising young leaders.” — Training + Development Magazine

“We’re introduced to a group of highly impressive MBAs who want to change the world for the better… The result is a surprisingly compelling array of vivid storytelling that reveals this generation’s ideas and aspirations.” “In the end, Coleman and his two buddies have pulled together a book that is less about mainstream MBA thinking than it is a clarion call to a less-traveled, yet potentially more impactful MBA path.” – John Byrne, Poets & Quants (PoetsandQuants.com)

From the Publisher