Good Leaders Learn

Gerard Seijts is the Executive Director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership and holds the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Chair in Leadership at the Ivey Business School at Western University, Canada.

"I believe that what differentiates those who succeed in life from those who don't is the ability to learn. I have found that nowhere is this truer than in leadership. Leadership must be learned, studied and practiced. The most capable and successful leaders in business, or anywhere for that matter, have developed an insatiable passion to keep learning and honing their leadership skills. In Good Leaders Learn, Gerard Seijts aggregates in one useful and compelling source how some of the best leaders in our world today have harnessed their passion to learn to become and stay successful leaders with the ability to manage through good times and bad." – Bob McDonald, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Procter & Gamble Company"Good Leaders Learn provides readers with an honest personal account of the journey to the top from trailblazers around the globe. Their stories provide insight into the unique qualities that a good leader embodies. From the boardroom to the hockey rink, Gerard Seijts’ thoughtful compilation serves as a handbook for future and current leaders—dishing out page after page of thought-provoking and inspirational lessons." - Bill Thomas, CEO, KPMG Canada"I am often asked whether leaders are born or whether leadership can be learned. Leadership can absolutely be learned. In fact great leaders are constantly learning and adapting. Good Leaders Learn focuses on this point incredibly well. It confirms that true leadership is about being committed to life-long learning and development. This tireless commitment to learning is what distinguishes the truly great leaders from mere figureheads. It reminds us that the world’s best leaders take this responsibility seriously and serves as a great source of inspiration for the next generation to follow in their footsteps. I enjoyed this book very much!" - Peter Aceto, President and CEO, ING DIRECT Canada"One of the prevailing hallmarks of the leaders profiled in Good Leaders Learn is that they never give up. The word "impossible" does not exist in their vocabularies. They learn from each challenge, setback and failure and become more effective leaders because of it. It is their ability to extract positive insights out of the seemingly negative, and their commitment to continually develop as leaders from these learnings that inspires and influences others." - Patricia Russo, Former CEO, Lucent Technologies and Alcatel-Lucent; Board of Directors, HP, General Motors, Merck & Co., and ALCOA, Inc."Expert performance, regardless of the domain of that expertise, is an acquired skill. Good Leaders Learn provides insights from a wide variety of exceptional leaders about the lessons they've learned, the ways they learned them, and how they worked to become still better leaders. This book highlights the continuous need for performance review, analysis, and adjustment as the foundation of successful leadership. It is a "must read" for leaders across the continuum of experience." - Janice Deakin, Provost and Vice President Academic, Western University, Canada"Whether you’re interested in the theoretical concept of leadership development or just keen to learn more about some leaders’ life experiences, this book is definitely worth a read" - Maja Lucin, is Integrated Management Systems Department Director at Saga Doo Belgrade

• 1. Introduction 2. Leadership Character 3. Learning to Lead 4. The Interviews 5. John Furlong (President and CEO, Vancouver Olympic Committee; and Executive Chair of the Vancouver Whitecaps) 6. N. R. Narayana Murthy (Founder, CEO and Chairman Emeritus, Infosys) 7. Elyse Allan (President and CEO, General Electric Canada) 8. Daniel Akerson (Chairman and CEO, General Motors) 9. Cassie Campbell-Pascall (Captain, Canadian Women's Hockey Team) 10. Barbara Stymiest (Chairman, BlackBerry) 11. Rahul Bhardwaj (President and CEO, Toronto Community Foundation) 12. Carol Stephenson (Dean, Richard Ivey School of Business) 13. Michael Harris (22nd Premier of Ontario; Senior Business Advisor Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP) 14. Arkadi Kuhlman (President, CEO and Chairman ING Direct USA; Founder and CEO ZenBanx) 15. Linda Hasenfratz (President and CEO, Linamar Corporation) 16. Steve Snyder (President and CEO, TransAlta) 17. John Cheh (Vice-Chair and CEO, the Esquel Group) 18. Michael McCain (President and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods) 19. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited) 20. Michael Shindler (Executive Vice President Hotel and Casinos, Hard Rock Café) 21. Chaviva Hosek (President and CEO, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Professor at the School of Public Policy and Governance) 22. Lieutenant General (ret.) Russel L. Honoré (Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina) 23. Robert Bell (President and CEO, University Health Network) 24. Eileen Mercier (Chairman, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan) 25. Purdy Crawford (Counsel, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP) 26. Charles Brindamour (President and CEO, Intact Financial Corporation) 27. Amit Chakma (President and Vice-Chancellor, Western University) 28. Jody Wilson-Raybould (Regional Chief British Columbia Assembly of First Nations) 29. Gautam Thapar (CEO and Chairman, the Avantha Group) 30. Umran Beba (President, PepsiCo Asia Pacific) 31. Antoni Cimolino (Artistic Director, Stratford Festival of Canada) 32. Sukhinder Singh-Cassidy (Founder and Chairman, JOYUS) 33. Chip Wilson (Founder, Lululemon Athletica) 34. George Cope (President and CEO, Bell Canada Enterprises) 35. The Right Honourable Paul Martin (21st Prime Minister of Canada) 36. Reflections on the Interviews 37. Conclusions on Learning to Lead 38. Leadership Insights for the Next Generation of Leaders