Leader to Leader Reflections
November 5, 2008
The Leader of the Future Celebration (2008)
Remarks by Frances Hesselbein, Chairman, Board of Governors
The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute
Good evening,
You honor us as we all gather together to honor a great leader of the future. As you leave, there will be a gift bag for each of our guests and in it will be A.G. Lafley's new book, The Game Changer, a handbook on leadership and innovation for leaders every where. The first line in his book is, "my job at Procter and Gamble is focused on integrating innovation into everything we do." Then "the CEO in fact must be the CIO, Chief Innovator."
A.G. Lafley was named #1 CEO of the year in 2006 by Chief Executive magazine. In the same magazine, December 2007, the headline read: "Best Companies for Leaders" with a full page photograph of A.G. Lafley, Procter and Gamble, with Jeff Immelt, General Electric, "the two best companies for leaders." In the magazine, here is A.G. Lafley speaking about Procter & Gamble. "We are a pure meritocracy. We don't care where you went to school, whether you have an MBA, or what your country of origin is. We have more than 100 different countries represented in our management team." Lafley continues, "all we care about is that with character and integrity you deliver outstanding business results and that you build a strong organization. Do that and you move ahead."
Tonight, Peter Drucker is smiling. He was a great friend, colleague and admirer of A.G. Lafley. And Ira Jackson, Dean of the Drucker graduate school at Claremont is here tonight to celebrate Peter Drucker's friend A.G. Lafley. Long ago, Peter Drucker defined innovation as "change that creates a new dimension of performance." In 1990 when the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, now Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, was launched, with Peter Drucker our honorary chairman attending every board meeting, speaking at every conference, we delivered some powerful messages that drive our work today.
"We manage for the mission, we manage for innovation, we manage for diversity. We are mission focused, values based and demographics driven. We are part of the past. Innovate or die."
Three years ago with 25 books published, an award winning journal?Leader to Leader, conferences, webinars, 1800 pages on our website, we felt a need to shine a light on the most successful, inspiring, ethical leaders of our times. So, in 2006, we selected the President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Alan Mulally, who by the time of the October 25 dinner was the new President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company, Alan?a true Leader of the Future?affirmed almost daily in newspaper articles. It was an evening to be remembered. Alan enthusiastically took a table for tonight and said, "I'll be there." Unfortunately for us, Ford Motor Company called a board meeting today, but Alan Mulally is with us in spirit.
The next year in 2007, Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO of Avon was our honoree ? again with an exuberant celebration.
Tonight, we are honoring the 2008 leader of the future, A.G. Lafley?a global leader, who lives Peter Drucker's message of the power of innovation. It is not an accident that A.G. Lafley and Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute celebrate innovation. Both of us sat at the feet of "the father of modern management" and still do. A.G. Lafley served his country in the U.S. Navy, went on to Harvard business school and joined Procter & Gamble following graduation.
He was the son of a distinguished corporate leader who always had a shelf of Peter Drucker's books in his offices at GE, then at Chase Manhattan Bank, and A.G.'s father introduced him to Peter Drucker's philosophy, his books. In 1999 when A.G. returned from Japan, where he had been managing the entire Procter & Gamble Asia business and in June 2000, when he became president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, one significant step along the way was flying to Claremont where he met Peter Drucker in person for the first time and their mutually appreciative partnership continued until Peter left us in 2005.
Peter Drucker shared widely his appreciation of A.G.'s leadership, and the appreciation was circular. There are seven pages of Drucker references in A.G.'s The Game Changer. Once, Peter wrote a long letter to A.G. in which he noted "people rather than strategies produce results."
So today we find a distinguished corporate leader, teaching leaders in all three sectors, in our own country and around the world, his real, live, on the ground lessons on purpose, values, innovation, transformation, respect for all people, and success in this remarkable handbook for the leaders of the future.
Ad it is to this inspiring leader we have the honor of presenting the 2008 Leader of the Future award. Mr. Lafley, will you please come forward and Mr. Altstadt come forward.
We will all remember this moment, November 5, 2008 when we could say ? A.G. Lafley, you are our "Leader of the Future." Developing other leader's of the future. We celebrate your brilliant past, we cheer your tough and demanding present and we look to the day, when in your own way, you will define the leader of the future for our own country, for the world.
It is a great honor to present to you the 2008 the Leader of the Future award, in a country, a world hungry for examples of the principled, effective, ethical leader. In the darkness of our times, A.G. Lafley, you shine a light.
Mr. Lafley, will you share your thoughts with us?
