Alex Gorsky

The next crisis might be here now, or it might be around the corner. In The Prepared Leader: Emerge from Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before, two history-making experts in crisis leadership―James, dean of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Wooten, president of Simmons University―forcefully argue that the time to prepare is always. In no other time in recent history have leaders in every industry and on every continent grappled with so many changes that have independently and simultaneously undermined their ability to lead. The Prepared Leader encapsulates more than two decades of the authors’ research to convey how it has positioned them to navigate through the distinct challenges of today and tomorrow. Their insights have implications for every leader in every industry and every worker at every level. In their fast-reading and actionable book, James and Wooten provide tools and frameworks for addressing and learning from crises, and they provide insight into what you need to know to become a Prepared Leader, including: The five phases of crisis management and the skills you need for each phase. They examine how the National Basketball Association and its commissioner, Adam Silver, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Making the right decisions under pressure and how to avoid common mistakes. They reveal how Burger King CEO Jose Cil began planning for the aftermath of a crisis right in the middle of one. Building a crisis leadership team and how to lead one that you’ve inherited. They detail how Wonya Lucas, CEO and President of the Crown Media Family Networks, aligned and mobilized an executive team during a time of crisis. James and Wooten argue that―in addition to people, profit, and the planet―prepared leadership should be the fourth “P” in a company’s bottom line. They bring decades of world-renowned research on crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, management strategy, and positive leadership to the table to help leaders better prepare themselves to lead through crises―and for whatever lies around the corner.

Named a Top 10 Business Strategy Book of 2018 by Inc. magazine In his pioneering book Seizing the White Space, Mark W. Johnson argued that business model innovation is the most proven path to transformational growth. Since then, Uber, Airbnb, and other startups have disrupted whole industries; incumbents such as Blockbuster, Sears, Toys "R" Us, and BlackBerry have fallen by the wayside; and digital transformation has become one of the business world's hottest (and least understood) slogans. Nearly a decade later, the art and science of business model innovation is more relevant than ever. In this revised, updated, and newly titled edition, Johnson provides an eminently practical framework for understanding how a business model actually works. Identifying its four fundamental building blocks, he lays out a structured and repeatable process for reinventing an existing business model or creating a new one and then incubating and scaling it into a profitable and thriving enterprise. In a new chapter on digital transformation, he shows how serial transformers like Amazon leverage business model innovation so successfully. With rich new case studies of companies that have achieved new success and postmortems of those that haven't, Reinvent Your Business Model will show you how to:Determine if and when your organization needs a new business modelIdentify powerful new opportunities to serve your existing customers in existing marketsReach entirely new customers and create new markets through disruptive business models and productsSeize opportunities for growth opened up by tectonic shifts in market demand, government policy, and technologiesMake business model innovation a more predictable discipline inside your organizationBusiness model innovation has the power to reshape whole industries--including retail, aviation, media, and technology--redistributing billions of dollars of value. This book gives you the tools to reshape your own company for enduring success. Reinvent Your Business Model is the strategic innovation playbook you need now and in the future.