ABOUT THE BOOK
Fiorina Education & Outreach
Carly Fiorina is in great demand globally as a speaker on the most pressing issues facing business leaders, society and policy makers. Her talks draw not only on her corporate experience, but also from her experience advising governments over the last few years. Her work with U.S. Departments of Defense and State has given her great insight into the power and challenges of bureaucracies and the difficulties policy-makers face. Her work with philanthropic organizations and not-for-profits has given her insight into the importance and impact of groups that are neither business nor government.
Limitless Possibilities - Creating Success in an Unpredictable Future
For all the complexities and challenges of this century, it is also a time of great promise. The twin change-drivers of globalization and technology create an environment where we can quite literally do anything we choose. But the world has fewer than 20 years of experience with globalization - its rapid evolution and impact continue to surprise us. Additionally, the power of technology, by becoming increasingly digital, mobile, virtual and personal, will make the improbable possible. In this environment, never has leadership counted more. Carly Fiorina looks ahead at how the drivers of change, globalization and technology will continue to affect us in unpredictable ways and what leaders can do to harness them.
Leadership Is About Change - It Starts with the People
Leadership is about changing the order of things and making a positive difference. Fear and resistance can derail those efforts, making change controversial, messy, difficult and perhaps even dangerous. Change, therefore, must be powered by collaboration and driven by leadership. Carly Fiorina came to the business world with a passion for unlocking people's potential. She believes that business is really the story of people, the things that motivate and drive people, and getting people to work together. We sometimes think that rules are going to take care of everything - things will be better if we just have the right policies. The truth is nothing substitutes for values, ethics and judgment. Fiorina offers lessons she's learned at Lucent, AT&T and H-P that will help leaders focus on what matters most when trying to effect change. She'll show how to set the tone in their organizations, get buy-in and execute on the strategy for change.
Leading Organizational Transformation
Carly Fiorina says, "If change is greeted with unanimity - if everyone sees what's obvious - it's probably already too late." And yet, pursuing change before all agree it is necessary has its own set of difficulties, as Fiorina can attest. Yet, in the end, her vision of a combined H-P/Compaq organization is now considered a stunningly gutsy and brilliant move. Rules-based bureaucracies aren't built to address 21st Century challenges of rapid change and unpredictability. A tolerance for risk-taking and a "learn as you go" approach is more important than ever and yet, some things are even more important: judgment, perspective and character. Leaders must look to see the possibilities and then inspire others to seize those possibilities. Speaking from experience, Fiorina shows leaders how to take risks to create innovation - how to bolster the core of any transformation effort, what she calls the "software" of business: culture, values and leadership development - and how to foster an organizational leadership that aspires to a culture where all the tough issues are put on the table and talked about. Herpoint: if you never debate or disagree, you create a poor decision-making process. Conversely, if you never find common ground, you never move forward, as common ground is essential to the transformation of any enterprise.
The Challenge of Globalization
The world has about 15 years of experience with a truly global economy and the path of the future is still not clear. As business leaders struggle to stay on a course of steady growth, so to are policy-makers now engaged in a crash-course to understand the implications of trade, currency complexities and other subtleties heretofore not previously dealt with. Carly Fiorina looks at the unique challenges faced by business leaders - from Main Street to Wall Street - and the policy-makers who create the infrastructure for international business. Carly also looks at how the global marketplace has created new opportunities to lift people out of poverty - creating a new standard of living that was previously unimaginable through microfinance and new applications of technology.
Keeping America Competitive in a Global Economy
In the global marketplace, nations compete just as businesses do. The countries with the most capable workforce and the most resources will be the most competitive. As we look to the future, what does America need to do to remain competitive? Based on experience leading a Fortune 20 firm with a worldwide workforce of over 150,000, Carly Fiorina provides a roadmap that business leaders, communities and policy-makers can use as they consider how to best support global commerce by American firms for whom competing and winning over the long haul is much more risky and much more difficult today. In particular, she looks at the challenges facing the U.S. education system, ways that public policy can jump-start innovation and the legal, ethical and moral conflicts that arise with the matter of immigration. The stakes are big - throughout all of history, political power has been based on economic power. Fiorina issues a call to action for public activism and involvement while urging stakeholders to focus on finding common ground and to stop arguing about their differences so real progress can be made.
Corporate Stewardship - Business and Citizenship
It is a time when more things are more possible for more people around the globe than ever before. If you look at the top 100 GDPs in the world today, 52 of them would be companies. Public companies can and, therefore, should make a positive difference in communities if only because it's in their enlightened self-interest to do so because communities can tolerate, support or threaten a company's activities. Carly Fiorina made great strides at H-P, establishing community-based initiatives in nearly every one of the 183 countries H-P operated in, showing citizens of the world the promise and possibility that free enterprise can bring. Her stories of the impact that can be made in communities - both domestically and around the globe - provide a roadmap for those looking to understand how to leverage their unique assets for the mutual benefit of shareholders and citizenry.
Corporate Governance - Balancing Conflicting Interests
The goal of board members should be to build great companies - companies that can compete and win and endure on the world stage. In the process, they must make judgments that balance the demands of customers, employees, communities and investors. Boards need to act with appropriate speed, take real risks and consider a complex, rapidly changing set of challenges which are driven both by technology and globalization - all while considering the leading indicators of firm's health: customer satisfaction, rate of innovation, diversity and ethics. Carly Fiorina has had extensive experience with boards in business, government and philanthropy. She looks at what the board should spend time on, how it should do its work and most important - who should be on the board? She cites examples of the dangers of "group think" and shows why boards need to deliberate and examine diverse points of view with rigor and always strive for unanimity.
For more information about Carly speaking to your group, please contact the Washington Speakers’ Bureau at www.washingtonspeakers.com