This book is a collection of management essays written by Dr. William A. Cohen, Major General, USAF (Ret.), in the final years of his life. Drawing on his military background, professional experience, and education under Peter F. Drucker at Claremont Graduate School, Dr. Cohen provides practical insights into leadership and management.
William A. Cohen, Ph.D., was a widely respected authority on leadership and business strategy, and a retired Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. During his career, he lectured and taught seminars to numerous academic and military institutions, as well as corporations, including Boeing, The Cheesecake Factory, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Air War College, among many others. He also authored many books, including A Class with Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World's Greatest Management Teacher, The New Art of the Leader, and The Wisdom of the Generals.
Introduction
William A. Cohen, Ph.D., Major General USAF, Retired, was the first graduate of Claremont Graduate School’s Ph.D. program in Executive Management in the 1970s. In that program, Bill experienced first-hand the wisdom and insight of Peter Drucker, sitting in the classroom during Drucker’s legendary seminars. Bill went on to publish over 60 books on business management and leadership, drawing not only on his Drucker education but also his extensive military and professional experience.
Dr. Cohen was the co-founder of the California Institute of Advanced Management (CIAM) and its first president. As such, he was dedicated to supporting a school that would advance the ideas of Peter Drucker to create effective leaders for modern organizations. That training would not just be academic, but, in the spirit of Drucker, a training in “management as a liberal art” – involving practice as well as theory.
After he retired, Bill continued to write monthly newsletters. He wrote until the very last month of his life. CIAM would regularly post these newsletters as part of the research output of the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute. CIAM President Geofrey Mills suggested that we compile these newsletters into a book. This volume is the result of that suggestion.
I hope you enjoy the collection. Bill and I were working on it up to his passing, so I feel it is an accurate reflection of his wishes. I cannot thank his wife, Nurit, enough for her dedication in reviewing my edits. Many thanks to Len Kwiatkowski, Minglo Shao, and Ron Fogleman for providing tributes.
I leave you with Bill’s signature:
The stuff of heroes. May we all learn some lessons that help us to step up as leaders and be heroes.
Karen Linkletter
Director, MLARI
Foreword by Minglo Shao
Foreword by Len Kwiatkowski
Tribute to A Friend and Mentor by Ron Fogleman
Introduction
Research
- What Everybody Knows Is Usually Wrong (February 2022)
- How Drucker, Einstein, and Freud Did Analytical Research (June 2022)
- Doing Research Like Drucker and Einstein (September 2023)
- Peter Drucker’s Most Frequent Comment (November 2023)
Decision Making
- Quantitative Data Is Not the Primary Factor in Decision Making
- Make Your Mind Faster Than a Speeding Bullet (September 2021)
- Drucker’s Gold: Management as a Liberal Art for Optimal Decision Making (October 2021)
- Drucker’s Fundamental Business Decision (January 2023)
Practice of Management
- Lessons From Those in Uniform (July 2022)
- How Drucker Can Make You a More Effective Manager (August 2022)
- How to Handle Risk (November 2022)
- Pricing for the Highest Profitability Can Cost You a Bundle (February 2023)
- How to Apply Management as a Liberal Art (July 2023)
- Drucker’s Way of Turning Failure into Success (March 2024)
Teacher and Consultant
- The Drucker Difference (November 2021)
- Drucker in the Classroom (December 2021)
- Peter Drucker’s Strange Discovery (May 2022)
Strategy
- Creating the Future (March 2023)
- Developing Strategies Based on Drucker (April 2023)
Leadership
- Drucker and Personal Integrity (January 2022)
- Drucker on Battlefield Leadership in Civilian Occupations (October 2022)
- You can Become a Recognized Leader in your Organization (Maybe Even Today)! (May 2023)
- How to Lead Change (October 2023) 193
- Drucker on Integrity, Ethics, Honor, and Doing the Right Thing (February 2024)
Achievement/Lifelong Learning
- There Is No Barrier You Cannot Overcome (March 2022)
- How to Negotiate Anything (April 2022)
- Drucker’s Way to Success Revealed (September 2022)
- Action Outweighs Reaction (December 2022)
- If You Don’t Know, Ask Your Brain (August 2023)
- With Heart You Can Lift a 1,000 Pound Cow or Defeat 61 Enemy Planes in Combat Even if Blind in One Eye (October/November 2023)
