No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of How Leaders Deal with Risk and Change

What if you could have a conversation with the most successful person you can think of? Say, with the richest man in the world. Or the CEO of the most recognized brands on the planet. Or the best football coach of all time. What might that person tell you about getting to the top? About being a leader? What if you got to hear from all of them? No Fear of Failure relays a dozen such candid conversations the kind that shape how future leaders think. Based on one-on-one interviews with today's most dynamic leaders, this book take readers into the executive suites, boardrooms, battle fields and football fields all the places where great leadership is imperative. Gary Burnison, who is CEO of publicly-held Korn/Ferry International, the world's largest executive search firm, sits down one-on-one and leads these insightful conversations with this highly selective, elite corps. The book will explore common themes in a leadership framework; topics cover risk, change, and winning, such as why losing is not an option (Gen. Franklin Buster Hagenbeck, Superintendent of West Point); Achieving big goals, one win at a time (Coach John McKissick, the Winningest coach in football). An all-star lineup of leaders to be featured in the book include: Michael Bloomberg, mayor of NYC and founder of Bloomberg L.P. Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, one of best-known brands in the world Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico Eli Broad, the accountant turned billionaire philanthropist who founded two Fortune 500 companies Carlos Slim, owner of Telefonos de Mexico, Telcel and America Movil and 2010's world's richest person With access to the top echelon of leaders, this book delivers wisdom and perspective not found in other leadership volumes. In addition to being an engaging read, this book also provides practical takeaways about the hallmarks of leadership that surface during these interviews. Gary Burnison, as CEO of Korn/Ferry, examines what he has heard and seen from his time with these leaders, highlighting the leadership characteristics that make them tick, identifying the secret sauce that motivates them and setting the tone for how anyone reading the book can improve their leadership ability.