Selections from The Best in Us: People, Profit, and the Remaking of Modern Leadership

By Cleve W. Stevens

A transformative guide on how to achieve organizational growth.

In our hyper-connected world of instant information and democratic openness, companies that continue to neglect their community are poised for failure. Hope for a healthy economy can be found in the untapped talent of our people—and in a commitment to excellence as the means for awakening that talent.

In The Best in Us, leadership expert and social ethicist Dr. Cleve Stevens offers a daring and radical new take on leading that emphasizes the rigorous development of leaders and followers. The new approach, called transforming integrative leadership, or simply transformative leadership, is a compelling, highly effective step-by-step process. Dr. Stevens shows what the transformative organization looks like and how the intended growth for the individual, the organization, and the bottom line is achieved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beaufort Books
• Release date: May 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9780825306556

Book preview

[T]his book is both an instruction manual for the new age of doing business as well as a battle cry for a new standard of leadership…. The author has given the reader much to think about in this accessibly-written call to arms.

—JAMES SRODES,

The Washington Times

| PRAISE FOR THE BEST IN US |

This is not a book you read once and take away a few key points and then fit in a few small changes as you continue on with your busy life. It’s an owner’s manual that should be consulted often, if for no other reason than to constantly remind you that you are a leader, not a passenger or a guest, that you have the power to drive your own life, inspire others, and find fulfillment in what you do each and every day.

—PHIL KUMNICK,

Head of Global Acquirer Processing, Visa, Inc.

"The Best in Us is a breakthrough book that shows leaders how to build companies by believing in themselves and their people … [It] claims that the greatest treasure within organizations is the potential within its people … People can be inspired to tap into their very best, and when this happens, magic happens. The paradox is that when people give their all, profits soar—beyond anyone’s wildest dreams."

—RYAN C. MACK,

Financial Empowerment Advisor;

President, Optimum Capital Management;

Author, Living in the Village; TV Analyst—CNN, CNBC, BET

"The Best in Us is a creative and imaginative guide to a better understanding of the crucial potentials of leadership studies."

—JAMES MAC GREGOR BURNS,

Pulitzer–Prize-winning author of Roosevelt:

Soldier of Freedom, 1940–1945 and the seminal book, Leadership;

Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus, Williams

College; Distinguished Leadership Scholar, James MacGregor

Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland

"If there is a grand unification theory for modern leadership, Cleve Stevens has just delivered it. In the four days it took me to read The Best in Us cover to cover I felt remade, rewired, renewed, and reinvigorated … A must read for entrepreneurs, founders, and corporate and community leaders."

—DR. SAFWAN SHAH,

University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business;

Entrepreneur, Venture Finance Expert,

and Founder, Infonox, Inc.

"The Best in Us is a systematic and thoughtful approach toward a new model of leadership that has the power to make a fundamental change for both an individual leader and those they lead. Cleve skillfully combines history, mythology, psychology, current events, and modern leadership thinking to engage the reader in a process whereby they may re-consider their own leadership values."

—DR. ROBERT KOVACH,

Director, Cisco Center for Collaborative Leadership,

Cisco Systems, Inc.

As a business and political entrepreneur, I believe in putting people first for best results. Dr. Cleve Stevens is up to something important for our common future.

—JEFFREY B. PETERS,

Founder/President, The US-Mexican Development Corporation;

Co-Founder, We The People

THE BEST IN US

People, Profit, and the Remaking of Modern Leadership

Cleve W. Stevens, PhD

Copyright © 2012 by Cleveland W. Stevens, Jr.

FIRST EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stevens, Cleve W.

The best in us : people, profit, and the remaking of modern leadership /

Cleve W. Stevens.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8253-0684-6 (alk. paper)

1. Leadership. 2. Executive ability. I. Title.

HD57.7.S737 2012

658.4’092--dc23

2012002392

For inquiries about volume orders, please contact:

Beaufort Books

27 West 20th Street, Suite 1102

New York, NY 10011

[e-mail]

Published in the United States by Beaufort Books

www.beaufortbooks.com

Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books

www.midpointtrade.com

Printed in the United States of America

Interior design by Neuwirth & Associates, Inc.

Cover design by Michael Fusco Design

For La Verne Stevens, my intellectual and moral hero,

as well as my mother. Her effortless beauty, her towering

intellect, and her disarming sense of humor were exceeded

only by her fearless, ever-present love—for her family, for life,

and for the least of these. It is her indomitable, loving spirit

that informs every word on every page that follows.

And for Bill Stevens, my irrepressible, indefatigable,

charismatic father. His enthusiasm for life, his love of laughter,

and his passion for people (all people) have shaped my

deepest understanding of what it means to live, to love, and

to serve. Ultimately, though, it is his profound appreciation for

excellence and his life-long drive to realize greatness, nothing

less than the extraordinary, that is the very exemplar of the

transformative approach to living and leading.

CONTENTS

A Note to the Reader

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Modern Mess