This bonus collection of 15 classic McKinsey Quarterly articles accompanies “The future of leadership,” the second of four issues celebrating the Quarterly’s 60th birthday. These timeless insights—previously only available in archival print issues—trace how leadership ideas and attitudes have evolved over the past six decades. A few highlights:
- “Activating people” (1966), an excerpt from Marvin Bower’s book, The will to manage, stresses that leadership is a skill that can be learned rather than the by-product of innate charisma.
- In “Western management through Japanese eyes” (1979), a partner from McKinsey’s Tokyo office—with experience in both Japanese and Western companies—offers Japanese managers lessons from their Western counterparts.
- “Managing people: Lessons from the excellent companies” (1982) is one of several articles from McKinsey’s multiyear “excellent companies” research, the most famous output of which was the international bestseller, In Search of Excellence.
- We return to the idea that leadership is a skill that “mere mortals” can develop in “Leadership actions” (1990).
