San Diego, CA August 18, 2009 -- Leadership failure is
epidemic, claimed Will Marré, leadership expert and the author of a new
book, Save the World and Still Be Home For Dinner (Capitol Books, Sept.
2009), at the recent Excellence in Workplace Forum in San Diego. As
evidence, he pointed to the successive failures of corporate leaders
and the demise or bankruptcies of companies ranging from Enron to GM as
well as the bailouts of our global financial system. In his remarks,
however, Marré inspired senior executives and human resource leaders to
be apart from these leadership failures by embracing a new leadership
framework.
Marré proposed that leadership development has been dominated by business schools
over the past forty years which has led to a "dumbing down" of leadership to a set
of skills and attributes. He proposed that reducing leadership to abilities such as
decisiveness, discipline, vision and inspiration fail to distinguish the critical
difference between Hitler and Churchill or Stalin and Roosevelt. "The core
problem," stated Marré, "is that we've abandoned the first principle of
leadership which answers the question, what am I trying to accomplish? If we are
going to have a sustainable future leaders must have a noble intent, a purpose
beyond self-interest."
According to Marré, business leadership is not just about making a profit anymore;
it's about creating a sustaining business culture that energizes employees, creates
a unique profit edge and makes a positive impact on humanity and the environment. "Anything less is a waste of valuable time and resources we need for a sustainable
future," stated Marré.
Leaders want to make a change in how they do business. A recent global survey by McKinsey and Company reveals that over
70 percent of global leaders say they need to improve their performance in solving
social and environmental problems but are not sure what to do.
Research reported by Ashridge Business School reports that 76 percent of CEOs and senior executives believe that it is important
that senior executives have the necessary knowledge and skills to respond to trends
like climate change, resource scarcity and doing business in emerging markets marked
by poverty, corruption and human rights violations. Alarmingly, however, only 8
percent believe that these knowledge and skills are currently being developed very
effectively by either their own organizations or by business schools more broadly.
Marré has the answer for this leadership development dilemma, his new leadership
framework he calls REALeadership.
He stated, "If we are going to avoid the massive potholes in our future - resource
depletion, environmental collapse, trade wars, massive unemployment, market
disruptions and corporate extinction - we need leadership of a different kind,
now." Marré's REALeadership framework creates a new, three-dimensional business
model that "REALeaders" must take on in order to thrive in the coming decade. To
find out more about REALeadership, visit Marré's blog, CSR and the 4 Ideals of
Socially Responsible Leadership.
Marré truly believes that REALeadership is the only leadership for a thriving
future. In “The Future of Work: Engaging Employees to Drive Innovation” Marré discusses how leadership in the 21st
century workplace based on creating a sustainable future drives employee engagement
and innovation based on shared values where value is added to both the future and
the bottom line. Furthermore, in his leadership development workshops, Marré shows
organizations how a future of environmental sustainability, increased world health,
and educational and economic opportunity create the greatest business opportunity in
history.
Marré concluded his speech, "With the right leadership development, you can
transform your company into a company that knows its unique value, generates fierce
customer loyalty, redefines its industry, carves its own market, and creates
sustaining abundance." This is exactly what leaders need to transform leadership
development.
About Will Marré:
Will is an Emmy Award-winning writer, leadership speaker and coach. He is the
co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center (The 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People) and CEO of the REALeadership Alliance where he helps
leaders identify, communicate and implement new socially strategic business models.
Will has been a personal leadership coach and advisor to multi-billion dollar global
companies such as Disney and Johnson & Johnson. For the past 10 years he has focused
on making corporate social responsibility strategic. His book, Save the World and
Still Be Home for Dinner will be released in fall 2009.
For more information on opportunities to have Will speak, please visit
www.WillMarre.com, or for more information on Will's consulting practice, please
visit www.Realeadership.com. You can also follow Will on Twitter (@WillMarre) and
Facebook.
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