Paths to Power: How Insiders and Outsiders Shaped American Business Leadership - Hardcover

Singleton, Laura G

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1422101983 ISBN 13: 9781422101988

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 2007

Synopsis

Who made it to the top of Corporate America in the twentieth century? And what do their experiences mean for the next generation of business leaders? In Paths to Power, Anthony J. Mayo, Nitin Nohria, and Laura G. Singleton answer these questions.

The authors explore access to business leadership opportunities—showing how a small group of “insiders” possesses advantages that facilitate a smooth journey to the top while a larger group of “outsiders” faces disadvantages that make their path to leadership positions more difficult. Yet throughout the history of American business, the composition of insiders and outsiders has shifted. Examining data on leader birthplaces, religious affiliation, education, socioeconomic status, race, and gender, Paths to Power explains how the demographics of leadership have changed over the 20th century and how they’re changing now. Further, they discuss the mechanisms of advancement for insiders and outsiders, and show how these mechanisms have also evolved.

Though white men still hold most power positions in business, the authors assert that the gates of access aren’t as static as they seem.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“In the early decades of the twentieth century, an invisible sign hung on the office doors of major American CEOs: “Reserved for White Males.” In small type, it added, “Strong preference for right blood type, religion, region, and connections.” Fortunately, the small type has now been erased and the big type is fading. This masterful study of changing leadership patterns is destined to be a landmark.”

—David Gergen, Director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and author, Eyewitness to Power

“Paths to Power is a major study, both penetrating and wide-ranging, of the forces that create effective leadership in the business world today. It is especially impressive in its analysis of the central roles of religion, race, and gender, and other factors in producing top leadership in the twentieth century.”

—James MacGregor Burns, Woodrow Wilson Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, Williams College

“Paths to Power makes fascinating reading for all who have been to the top, those who are aspiring to reach the top, and all MBA students who are about to begin their careers to reach the top.”

--Thomas Phillips, former Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Company

About the Author:

Anthony J. Mayo is the executive director of the Harvard Business School Leadership Initiative program.

Nitin Nohria is Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-author of several books, as well as over 75 journal articles, book chapters, cases, and working papers. In addition to teaching courses at Harvard, Professor Nohria has also served as a visiting faculty member at the London Business School. Mayo and Nohria are the authors of In Their Time: The Greatest Leaders of the Twentieth Century (HBS Press, 2005).

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1422101983
• ISBN 13: 9781422101988
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320