A Passion for Leadership; Lessons on Change and Reform from Fifty Years of Public Service
New York, N.Y. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. First Edition [stated]. presumed first printing. Hardcover. 239 pages. Signed by the author on the second front endpaper. Some sticker residue on back of DJ. Includes chapters on Why Bureaucracies so Often Fail Us; Where You Want to Go: "The Vision Thing'; Formulating a Strategy; Techniques for Implementing Change; It's Always About People; Stakeholders: Friends and Foes; The Agent of Change: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall'': Money, Money, Money: Reforming in Scarce times; Reform: The Never-Ending Story; and A Flaming Heart. Also includes Acknowledgments and Index. A characteristically direct and informed assessment of why big institutions are failing us and how smart, committed leadership can effect real improvement. Across the realms of civic and private enterprise alike, bureaucracies vitally impact our security, freedoms, and everyday life. With so much at stake, competence, efficiency, and fiscal prudence are essential, yet Americans know these institutions fall short. Robert Gates having led change successfully at three monumental organizations—the CIA, Texas A&M University, and the Department of Defense—offers the ultimate insider’s look at how major bureaus, organizations, and companies can be transformed, which is by turns heartening and inspiring and always instructive. With practical advice on tailoring reform to the culture; effecting change within committees; engaging the power of compromise; and listening and responding to your team, Gates brings the full weight of his wisdom, candor, and devotion to civic duty to inspire others to lead desperately needed change. More