Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life

Rosabeth Moss Kanter; Rakesh  Khurana; James  Honan; Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, James Honan and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Abstract

The Still Leading case series includes an introductory note, “Still Leading (A): Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life” and 10 supplementary cases that cover the transition of highly accomplished and prolific leaders (Hon. Robert McDonald, Hon. Mike Bloomberg, Gerry House, Lee Iacocca, General Claudia Kennedy, Sherry Lansing, Dr. Evelyn Murphy, Paul Newman, Hon. Colin Powell, and Louis Gossett Jr.). The Still Leading cases are part of an opening series of cases used in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. The cases document a number of individual’s lifetime personal and professional trajectories. They focus on the nature of career processes and transitions. The materials offer an opportunity for readers to inductively reason about the structure of significant career transitions and the developmental patterns across different arenas. The cases also create a context for participants to engage in introspection by asking them to reflect on patterns of development in their own career histories.

Keywords: Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Transition;

Language: English

Format: Print

25 pages

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Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, Rakesh Khurana, James Honan, and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone. "Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 318-101, February 2018.

In the middle of a crisis, everything looks like a failure. But it’s possible to come out the other end with a strong company—and often with a plan for growth. Companies with a people-first culture can succeed by paying attention to three things: establishing clear accountability in the leadership ranks; developing a nuts-and-bolts, collaborative plan for getting through the crisis; and putting a separate group in charge of defining the “new normal,” when the worst is over.

The CEO of an international bank has raised the bank's performance by emphasizing a new culture of leadership that empowers people at all levels. Managers are rated both on their business results and their leadership—how they model new behaviors—but 12 senior managers with good business results have yet to embrace the new culture. The CEO is concerned that their inertia will undermine the culture change, especially as the bank is about to consummate a major merger and a new strategic alliance. He solicits proposals from three consultancies with different approaches to change to determine which might help him solve the problem presented by the 12 laggards. A fictional case based on real situations.

Gun violence was a significant problem in America. Three Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellows Christy Wood, Russell Sternlicht, and Gareth Glaser each decided to do something about gun safety. They each used their professional and leadership experience to identify their own solutions to the issue. Wood created a set of principles for investments funds to pressure gun manufacturers and gun sellers within their portfolios to adopt safety standards. Sternlicht designed a membership-based lobbying and advocacy group in order to harness the power of mass movements to create positive change. And Glaser founded a smart-gun company whose product could help reduce certain types of deaths and injuries. Would any of these three innovations move beyond the historical gridlock on gun safety?

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Still Leading Series—Issues in Transitioning to New Forms of Service Later in Life

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