SwampFox

The 100 Mile Walk: A father and son on a quest to find the essence of leadership, by Sander A. Flaum and Jonathon A. Flaum, with opening remarks by Senator John Glenn, published by AMACOM, January 2006

Submitted by: Jim Roberts, Director, Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council & Blue Ridge Angel Investors Network

Special note: The author will be the keynote speaker at the Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council meeting - January 17th, 5:30 PM - Location: Mindspring Consulting in Asheville, NC - Directions: www.helpingyougrow.com

Overview: Each leader has his or her own beliefs, perspectives, experiences, and style. Perhaps nowhere are the differences more pronounced than between leaders of different generations. As they try to work together toward common goals, their divergent approaches often carry them miles away from one another and from desired outcomes. But there is more common ground than most leaders realize. Finding it may involve a bit of a journey -in Sander and Jonathon Flaum's case, it was a literal one. In search of the universal qualities of leadership, the father and son found themselves having their most enlightening discussions not in an office or boardroom, but while walking together. Over mountains and along beaches, up and down city streets and country roads they went, for six months, until they had covered 100 miles - and perhaps learned as much about each other and their relationship as they did about the essence of leadership. So, what sort of definition of leadership do you get when you meld the perspectives of a 65 year-old traditional CEO with those of his son, a 36 year-old entrepreneur who is a student of Zen? The 100 mile Walk recounts the authors' trek and sets out their newfound knowledge in the form of nine points on which every leader (and aspiring leader) must focus.www.100milewalk.com

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