PATHS TO POWER EXAMINES ROLE OF RELIGION, RACE, GENDER, AND OTHER FACTORS IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN BUSINESS

Paths to Power

BOSTON - Who made it to the top of corporate America in the twentieth century and how did they get there? What do their experiences mean for the next generation of business leaders? In Paths to Power: How Insiders and Outsiders Shaped American Business Leadership (HBS Press), Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Anthony J. Mayo, Professor Nitin Nohria, and former Research Associate Laura G. Singleton explore the nature of access to business leadership opportunities during the last century, the factors affecting that access, and the obstacles that stood in the way of getting to the top.

Based on research the authors carried out as part of the Harvard Business School Leadership Initiative's Great Business Leaders Project - one of the largest academic studies of its kind - the book presents seven key factors that influenced the rise to power of U.S. business leaders over the past hundred years: birthplace, nationality, religion, education, social class, race, and gender.

Through statistical analysis and a wealth of stories about leaders from a wide array of industries and firms, Paths to Power explains how a group of "insiders" possessed advantages that facilitated their journey to the top, while "outsiders" faced disadvantages that made their climb to leadership positions much more difficult. The authors' research illuminates not only how insiders and outsiders have been defined, but how those critical barrier-breaking journeys of "outsiders," such as businesswoman and beautician Elizabeth Arden, occurred. In addition, Mayo, Nohria, and Singleton argue that throughout the history of American business, the composition of insiders and outsiders has shifted.

For example, while family ties and religious affiliation (predominantly Episcopalian and Presbyterian) used to facilitate the personal networks essential for business success, they have now lost their power to pave the way to executive success. In its place is a new differentiator: higher education. When it comes to promotions, professional degrees take precedence today over family trees and religious beliefs. Higher education will also continue to have an impact on women's access to leadership positions. While there is currently a dearth of women in top corporate roles, their increased enrollment in MBA programs suggests an increase in the number of women in the pipeline to coveted top positions in the twenty-first century.

"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," said David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. "This masterful study of changing leadership patterns is destined to be a landmark."

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Anthony J. Mayo
Anthony Mayo is a Lecturer in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He is also Director of the School's Leadership Initiative, where he oversees several comprehensive research projects on emerging, global, and legacy leadership and manages a number of executive education programs on leadership development. He was a co-creator of Harvard Business School's High Potentials Leadership and Leadership Best Practices programs and has been a principal contributor to the design of a variety of custom leadership development programs.

Nitin Nohria
Nitin Nohria is the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development at Harvard Business School. His research centers on leadership and corporate transformation, and he has served as an advisor and consultant to several large and small companies around the world. Co-author of more than ten books, Nohria has also written more than 75 journal articles, book chapters, cases, working papers, and notes.

Laura G. Singleton
Laura Singleton is currently a Ph.D. student in Organization Studies at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. She began co-authoring this book with Mayo and Nohria while serving as a Research Associate at Harvard Business School from 2002 to 2005.