The Legacy of Peter Drucker: The Father of Modern Management

Peter F. Drucker, hailed by Business Week, as “the man who invented management,” influenced countless leaders through his writing, teaching and consulting. The author of 39 books, Drucker’s work inspired leaders and managers across all industries in both the public and private sector. Drucker was driven by an insatiable curiosity of the world around him and a deep desire to make the world a better place. In 2002, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

The organization and practice of management today is derived largely from the thinking of Peter Drucker. “He taught generations of managers the importance of picking the best people, of focusing on opportunities and not problems, of getting on the same side of the desk as your customer, of the need to understand your competitive advantages, and to continue to refine them. He believed that talented people were the essential ingredient of every successful enterprise”. – Business Week

Peter Drucker was also one of Corporate America’s most important critics. He became disenchanted with capitalism and its rewarding greed rather than solid performance, and he increasingly turned toward work and writing for the nonprofit sector.

“My job,” he once lectured a consulting client, “is to ask questions. It’s your job to provide answers.” And question he did, which is partly why he influenced so many.

Joining McCuistion are guests who knew him well, hired him as their consultant, and highly respected and admired him as a friend and colleague:

• Zachary First, PhD: Senior Managing Director, The Drucker Institute
• Bob Buford: Founding chair of the Drucker Institute, author of Drucker & Me, and Halftime, and
• Myron E. (Mike) Ullman III: CEO of J.C. Penney, (Chair of Federal Reserve Dallas and on the board of Starbucks).

Each talk about the influence Peter Drucker had on their work and life…

Bob Buford offers personal insights from when he first met Peter Drucker, who became his consultant, mentor and friend. He says, “He’s the person that I most admired on earth”. Drucker taught him, “go big or go home”. In his book, Drucker & Me, a testimony to a long and heartfelt friendship, Buford inspires us to remember that “when we respond to our own calling in work, family and friendship, we leave a legacy that changes lives forever”.

Zachary First reminds us of a Harvard Business Review article by Drucker, now a classic, What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits. Drucker’s point, he says, “is that nonprofits have figured out how talented individuals give their time, talent and treasure to a cause, for no monetary reward… The future of business belongs to organizations who can learn from that”.

Mike Ullman says, “People want to be part of something bigger than them. Peter was all about understanding the customer and understanding people. My career has been invested in managing what the customer’s expectation is and what kind of trust can you build so that people want to be part of what you want to accomplish”.

This inspiring episode is one you don’t want to miss.

Visit the Drucker Institute’s website (www.druckerinstitute.com) and your favorite book store for copies of Drucker & Me by Bob Buford and Drucker classics, Management Challenges for the 21st Century; Managing the Nonprofit Organization and The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization -at the very least.

As you can tell Peter Drucker was one of my heroes and role models. So please join us, as we continue talking about things that matter with people who care.

In case you’re out of town, here’s the link to the McCuistion TV episode, The Legacy of Peter Drucker: The Father of Modern Management.

Niki

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2126 – 07.20.14