Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the Extraordinary

Summary

Over the years, thousands of books, articles, studies and theories have been developed on the topic of leadership. People are fascinated by the subject and with how they can become better leaders or rise to leadership-level positions. And yet, despite all this work, a consensus has not emerged with respect to what leadership is, how leaders develop, and perhaps most importantly how to become a more effective leader. The appetite for books that provide answers to these questions is almost insatiable. COMMON PURPOSE will answer these questions. But it will be different from all those leadership books already on the shelf because it will show that common purpose, is the heart and soul of great leadership. Common purpose is a new concept. What is common purpose? It is that rare, almost-palpable experience that happens when a leader coalesces a group, team or community into a creative, dynamic, brave and nearly invincible we.  It happens the moment the organizations values, tools, objectives and hopes are internalized in a way that enables people to work tirelessly toward a goal. Years ago, there was a book about the inner game of tennis which changed the way people think about and play sports. Common purpose is the inner game of leadership. Common purpose is rarely achieved. But Kurtzman has observed that when a leader is able to bring it about, the results are outsized, measurable and inspiring. COMMON PURPOSE is a book about leaders, leadership and how to lead. It is based on Kurtzmans recent interviews with more than 50 leaders. It is also based on research on leadership he has conducted over the years beginning at The New York Times, the Harvard Business Review, Booz & Company, during his career as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, his own consulting firm and for groups like Mercer HR, Korn/Ferry International and Heidrick & Struggles.