Drucker on Leadership: New Lessons from the Father of Modern Management

Chapter 13. Promotion and Staffing

Without the right people, no organization can be very effective. Good leaders are a multiplier of effectiveness and efficiency—and poor leaders have exactly the opposite effect. Therefore, a single leader affects the performance of many others and the promotion of the right people and the staffing of an organization, especially its leadership positions, is of particular importance. Drucker called these "life and death decisions" and wrote in depth about them.

The individual most to be emulated according to Drucker was General George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army during World War II and later secretary of state. He greatly admired Marshall's attention to detail, and his early identification (even ...