Peter Drucker On Leadership

November 16, 2005

Peter Drucker died Friday, November 11, 2005, at age 95. The linked Forbes article was written a year ago.

Peter Drucker On Leadership - Forbes.com

NEW YORK - Peter F. Drucker was born 95 years ago today–can it be possible?–in Vienna. The universally known writer, thinker and lecturer now is nearly deaf and doesn’t get around like he used to. He stopped giving media interviews about a year ago. But in late October, Drucker granted an exception to Forbes.com at the urging of Dr. Rick Warren, the founder and head of the Christian evangelical Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

Peter F. Drucker at his home in California.

The Drucker-Warren relationship may surprise many readers, but it goes back two decades, to when the young minister came to Drucker for advice. Under Drucker’s tutelage, Warren’s own success as a spiritual entrepreneur has been considerable. Saddleback has grown to 15,000 members and has helped start another 60 churches throughout the world. Warren’s 2001 book, The Purpose-Driven Life, is this decade’s best seller with 19.5 million copies sold so far and compiling at the rate of 500,000 per month.

Drucker’s official biography is posted in another article.

During the sixties and seventies I devoured many of Drucker’s books on business management, and his ideas influenced my business career in ways I can only guess at. He obviously had great influence on Rick Warren, which may help explain my ambivalence regarding Warren’s “purpose-driven church.” I am still undecided whether it is a good model for the church or not, but I’ll leave that discussion for another day.

One thing seems certain; Peter Drucker was read and quoted by a wide range of business and institutional leaders, and the impact of his ideas on our culture will remain for a long time. He was a man of the times.

Dave

Posted by Dave | Filed Under Economics, People