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The acclaimed novelist discusses his creative process, the appeal of social media, and the unique truths found in fiction.

As our political, social and institutional environment has become increasingly volatile, we have developed new expectations of how leaders should act. Today's most effective leaders do much more than get results: they also build the capabilities of the people around them and build effective teams and systems, so that unimagined results can be achieved. If this sounds like a job that requires a great deal of thought, that's because it does. The author presents a revised leadership model that reconciles the key theories about 'what leaders do' into an integrated model that includes the thinking of John Kotter, Daniel Kahneman and Roger Martin.

Two of the world's leading management thinkers and two global CEOs discuss the changing nature of leadership in this excerpt from the 6th annual Global Peter Drucker Forum. Despite their varied experience and backgrounds, they agree that idea of 'architectural thinking' for leaders is becoming very powerful: of leaders designing environments and cultures to enable innovation. They show how the leadership landscape is shifting, and that the young leaders coming along are converging around a new type of leadership. In order to 'act like a leader' today, you have to devote much of your time to four activities: bridging across diverse people and groups; envisioning new possibilities; engaging people in the change process; and embodying that change.

Most businesses now understand that their sustained global success depends upon the economic, social and ecological contexts in which they operate. The problem is, the stability of those contexts can no longer be taken for granted: the physical environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable; our interconnected global economy is altering social conditions; and technological innovation is transforming the nature of both consumption and production. As a result, corporate sustainability has evolved significantly, and now involves addressing critical business issues involving a complex network of strategic relationships and activities. The authors show how companies like Intel, BASF, Walmart and Stonyfield are partnering with other organizations-including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund-to find solutions to sustainability challenges in their communities.

Boards of directors represent the shareholders of publicly-traded companies, validating financial results, protecting their assets, and counseling the CEO. It's a demanding responsibility, requiring directors to learn as much as they can about a company so that their insights stand up alongside those of executives. That, at least, is the ideal; but is it anywhere close to being the reality? Sadly, no, argues veteran director and educator David R. Beatty. In a wide-ranging interview with two McKinsey authors, he describes where many boards are lacking; the importance of focusing on the 3Ts (talent, time and tone), and why adding the CFO to every board is an idea worth considering. In a sidebar, the merits of family-run firms' governance models are discussed.

The author introduces the concept of 'Total Leadership', an approach he developed that aims to improve a leader's performance in all aspects of life-work, home, community, and self-by finding mutual value among them. In this article, he focuses on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who exemplifies Total Leadership by embracing three elements of the approach: building networks that provide support, using personal stories to teach, and continually resolving tensions between the different parts of life. By sharing her personal story, he shows that Sheryl Sandberg is a new breed of executive: for her, it's not about yielding to either/or; instead, it's about searching for both/and. Along the way, he shows how she has struggled, adapted, and felt intense guilt, but continues to actively pursue four-way wins over the long run. No matter where you are on the arc of your life, Total Leadership offers a model for shaping your life for the better.

The systemic challenges we face are beyond the reach of existing institutions and their hierarchical authority structures. Problems like climate change, destruction of ecosystems, growing scarcity of water, youth unemployment, and embedded poverty and inequity require unprecedented collaboration between organizations, sectors-and even countries. As a result, the authors argue, we have never needed System Leaders more. They describe how system leaders share three core capabilities: they are profoundly committed to the health of the whole, which nurtures similar commitment in others; they build relationships based on deep listening, so that networks of trust and collaboration begin to flourish; and they are so convinced that something can be done that they don't wait for a fully developed plan, freeing others to step ahead and learn by doing. Providing examples including Nike and Unilever, they describe how the strategic use of the right tool at the right time-with a spirit of openness-can create collective success.

When we think of leadership, we often focus on external characteristics, practices, behaviour and actions that exemplary leaders demonstrate as they take on complex challenges. While this line of thinking is a great place to start, the authors-both from McKinsey-argue that we cannot reach our potential as leaders by looking at only what is visible: we need to see what lies underneath to understand how remarkable leaders lead, and that begins with mindsets. They provide four simple exercises can help you recognize-and begin to shift-the mindsets that are limiting your potential as a leader, including 'practicing the pause' and 'making time to recover'.

How might health insurance exchanges make health insurance more accessible and affordable for employers in the small group market (with 2-50 workers)? While the Massachusetts Health Connector-the state's first-in-the-nation health insurance exchange-successfully enrolled nearly a quarter of a million individuals in subsidized and non-subsidized individual coverage, small businesses remained elusive as customers. The Health Connector needed to increase its scale in the small group market to be able to improve the affordability and quality of health insurance products for this sector, but finding ways to create value had been challenging indeed. In 2017, the small group market would expand, when the ACA would permit SHOPs (Small Business Health Options Programs) to sell to employers with up to 100 employees. But deciding whether, and how, to enter this market, or even whether to stay in the existing small group market, was a major strategic question for the Connector and other SHOPs across the country. SHOPs everywhere could also soon face more competition in the small employer market, as brokers and consultants nationally began to create private exchanges to target small businesses. A state waiver request from the ACA could include deciding to eliminate its SHOP altogether. The Health Connector's leadership had long grappled with how to crack the small employer market, and now other states are facing the same challenge. What should they do next?

Event producer Dan Nelson is faced with a crisis involving a punctured sprinkler water line and a 1.5-ton forklift stuck in the resulting mud during set up for an event for 350 attendees taking place that evening. The event is to be held outdoors on the driving range of a Las Vegas resort's golf course on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Dealing with the resort's catering staff and various contractors, Nelson must now create alternatives on-the-fly for dealing with the crisis during the implementation phase of this event, make a quick decision, and implement an alternative under time pressure. The case provides opportunities for: (1) assessing potential risk and crisis management issues pertaining to a particular event and compiling suggestions for closing gaps; (2) using various decision tools (GANTT chart, project management software, EMBOK model) to aid in crisis management, and ultimately, decision making; (3) identifying event stakeholders and managing the relationship between the stakeholders and the event producer; and (4) reflecting on the crisis that happened and learning from it so as to avoid or prepare for it in the future.

An entrepreneur and co-founder of a private, non-deposit-taking, non-bank financial firm in Africa took his company public following a decade of phenomenal growth and strong performance. Established in an era when the traditional financial institutions would not grant credit to small and medium enterprises, the company successfully pioneered a wide variety of unique services in the non-bank financial services industry. Capitalizing on the failure of formal institutions to meet the needs of the informal sector, the entrepreneur had achieved organic growth by providing short-term loans and complementary services to customers in the neglected segment of the financial services market. The image of a high-performing company, coupled with the successful initial public offering surpassing all expectations, put tremendous pressure on the company to continue to grow the enterprise and deliver superior performance. To obtain substantial funds from the investing public, the onus is on the entrepreneur to select and pursue an appropriate strategy to keep the enterprise on a growth trajectory.

In 2012, Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company, was considering forming a joint venture with the American soft drinks giant Coca-Cola to develop and commercialize a new line of beauty drinks, “Beautific,” which would provide health and beauty benefits to consumers. Rumours about the partnership in the press had been met with anger from Sanofi’s employees and skepticism from market analysts. It was unclear whether the initiative made sense from a strategic point of view for Sanofi. How different was the initiative from similar past projects that had been met with reluctance by consumers? What were the implications of internal dissent within Sanofi? Venturing into the beauty drinks business might signal a shift by Sanofi away from research and development-driven drugs. Would association with Coca-Cola, a company often decried for contributing to poor health, help or damage the reputation of a pharmaceutical company like Sanofi?

To make sound business decisions, managers must be comfortable with the concepts of correlation and causation. This background note provides an overview of correlation and causation using examples and explains why the former does not imply the latter. It also describes several methods for gaining insights into causal relations, including randomized experiments, panel data, matching, and regression discontinuity. The note is intended for a general audience and does not require advanced statistics knowledge.

In 2012, Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company, was considering forming a joint venture with the American soft drinks giant Coca-Cola to develop and commercialize a new line of beauty drinks, "Beautific," which would provide health and beauty benefits to consumers. Rumours about the partnership in the press had been met with anger from Sanofi's employees and skepticism from market analysts. It was unclear whether the initiative made sense from a strategic point of view for Sanofi. How different was the initiative from similar past projects that had been met with reluctance by consumers? What were the implications of internal dissent within Sanofi? Venturing into the beauty drinks business might signal a shift by Sanofi away from research and development-driven drugs. Would association with Coca-Cola, a company often decried for contributing to poor health, help or damage the reputation of a pharmaceutical company like Sanofi?

After a 26 year partnership in the Indian two-wheeler industry, Hero and Honda parted ways. Honda had now become one of Hero's main competitors. The case covers the reasons for the split, the challenges faced by Hero and the strategic initiatives it had to use to overcome these challenges. After the split, rebranding and re-positioning itself as a stand-alone brand was of primary importance to Hero MotoCorp. To ensure that Hero MotoCorp continued its association with the Indian consumers, it underwent a series of transition phases. With ever rising competition, Hero was putting all of its efforts into ensuring that it overcame each roadblock and maintained its number one position in the Indian two-wheeler market, but were the strategies producing results?

After a 26 year partnership in the Indian two-wheeler industry, Hero and Honda parted ways. Honda had now become one of Hero’s main competitors. The case covers the reasons for the split, the challenges faced by Hero and the strategic initiatives it had to use to overcome these challenges. After the split, rebranding and re-positioning itself as a stand-alone brand was of primary importance to Hero MotoCorp. To ensure that Hero MotoCorp continued its association with the Indian consumers, it underwent a series of transition phases. With ever rising competition, Hero was putting all of its efforts into ensuring that it overcame each roadblock and maintained its number one position in the Indian two-wheeler market, but were the strategies producing results?

Brazilian retail markets had been a tempting arena for growth-minded companies since the country instituted democratic reforms in the 1980s. To raise capital for continued expansion, Abílio Diniz, the billionaire chairman of Brazil's number-one retailer, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição (CBD), entered a long-term agreement in 2005 to transfer control of the retail empire to the CEO of the French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA in 2012. As the date for the planned takeover drew near, Diniz tried to get around his agreement with Casino by engaging in secret negotiations to create a new, Brazil-based partnership with Carrefour SA, Casino's retailing archrival in France. Drawing on his network of influential advisors and investors and his close ties with government, Diniz secretly struck a plan to secure government-backed private funding to merge CBD with Carrefour's Brazilian operations and install himself at the helm of a new retailing giant with a commanding Brazilian market share. Once discovered, the proposal sparked a fierce counterattack by Casino's chairman, Jean-Charles Naouri. Marshaling an army of lawyers, Naouri filed a request for international arbitration, raised Casino's stake in CBD, and sought and won a French court order to raid Carrefour headquarters for documents. Naouri was able to enforce the 2005 agreement after persuading Brazilian officials to abandon their plans to support a CBD-Carrefour merger. The battle led to a permanent split between former partners Naouri and Diniz-and to Diniz's eventual exit from the Brazilian retailing empire he had built. Students will explore how weak corporate governance at CBD and in Brazil in general, as well as political and cultural differences between the two leaders and their respective nations, helped ignite one of the biggest intercontinental boardroom showdowns in history.