Embracing Serendipity: A General Counsel's Perspective on Leadership (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798317849030)

Beginning with an introduction that describes a leadership retreat that Jeff and his legal department's leadership team experienced on Cape Cod and a first chapter summarizing what many leadership experts have opined are leadership principles and the attributes of great leaders, Jeff proposes three main elements of effective leadership: vision, collaboration, and motivation, stating, "Those aspiring to improve their leadership ability should:
-Give paramount importance to a shared vision for the organization's culture and objectives.
-Collaborate effectively with all whose support is required to achieve alignment on the strategies, long-term goals, and interim targets required for achieving this vision.
-Motivate people to take the steps needed to achieve the vision by modeling integrity and other best-in-class leadership qualities, creating a superb team, and supporting the personal and professional objectives of team members."
He goes on to provide details, with examples from his personal experience, of creating visions, achieving effective collaboration, and motivating others. He also propose four guiding principles for those who aspire to lead effectively, whether in a formal leadership position or otherwise; provides examples of how serendipitous events can contribute to one's leadership opportunities; describes how in each of the companies where he worked executives and colleagues applied the foregoing principles to improving their ethics and compliance programs and implemented engaging and memorable live training. In the final chapters, Jeff cites some of the individuals outside of work who have been important influences on him and concludes with insights he shared at retirement events at Novartis and Avon, including one based on a childhood experience on a playing field that he entered through a hole in a chain-link fence. Throughout, he often refers to the roles he played as a leader in several companies' Legal and Ethics and Compliance departments, underscoring that the principles and the vast majority of the examples provided are applicable to anyone who wishes to lead effectively, without regard to his or her position in an organization.

Author: Jeff Benjamin
ISBN-13: 9798317849030
Publisher: Bookbaby
Language: English
Published: 11/20/2026
Pages: 260
Format: Hardcover