Book Review - "How We Lead Matters," by Marilyn Carlson Nelson
McGraw Hill In her book, How We Lead Matters, Marilyn Carlson Nelson offers wisdom and advice without opinionated platforms through brief, but deep cameos about her family, her life, and herself. Her tender reflections help readers gently discover new insights drawing by their own personal conclusions that awaken hearts and minds to new possibilities and ideas. How We Lead Matters, subtitled “reflecting on a life of leadership,” was written by Marilyn Carlson Nelson, named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report.
Marilyn is the CEO of Carlson, a global group of companies in the travel service industry. She has served as the chair of the National Women's Business Council and founded the Center for Integrative Leadership at the University of Minnesota. Her list of accomplishments and contributions to business and charitable works is long and impressive.
She penned the book so that her grandchildren could know her “more fully,” and in doing so, we, the readers get a rare and intimate glimpse inside the mind, ideology, and personal life of a business women frequently referred to by Forbes as one of the top 100 most powerful and influential women in the world. But readers are also introduced to a mother, wife, sister, daughter, and humanitarian of extraordinary caliber.
It is the gracious and successful person, Marilyn, not just the brilliant CEO Marilyn Carlson Nelson, that makes this book worth reading more than once. By presenting a broad-spectrum of philosophies to consider, we discover that how we approach personal happiness and life in general, should not be separated from how we approach business. That is, accountability, ethics, and human moral codes apply to individuals, societies, and businesses, and are not mutually exclusive of one or the other.
Comments
I worked for the Carlson Companies in Minneapolis once upon a time, so I experienced the Carlson family’s leadership first hand. Marilyn is definitely a good role model.
I had such a wonderful conversation with Marilyn (my interview with her will be posted on WIB next week) and can honestly say she is one of the nicest women I have ever met.
Her business advice obviously works – look at her mega-company,Carlson! But lots of business strategies work if all you care about is dollars.
Her recognition of employees and customers as people first, not as business “assets” is just one of the things that makes her such a great leader.