Published by AMACOM 2008
This book set sales records with foreign rights sales — the highest in AMACOM’s 45-year old history by better than 100%!
Translated into Japanese, Chinese for mainland China, China for Taiwan, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish for South America, Spanish for Spain, Indonesian
Long considered the world’s greatest thinker and writer on management, Peter Drucker’s teachings continue to inspire leaders everywhere. From 1975 to 1979, author William Cohen studied under the Great Man and became the first graduate of his doctoral program. What Drucker taught him literally changed his life. In a matter of a few years, he was recommissioned in the Air Force and rose to the rank of major general. Eventually, he became a full professor, management consultant, multibook author, and university president – as well as maintaining a nearly lifelong friendship with the master.
In A Class with Drucker, Cohen shares many of Drucker’s teachings that never made it into his countless books and articles, ideas that were offered to his students in classroom or informal settings. Cohen expands on Drucker’s lessons with personal anecdotes about his teacher’s personality, lack of pretension, and interactions with students and others. He also shows how Drucker’s ideas can be applied to the real-world challenges managers face today. Now every reader can benefit from Drucker’s thoughts on such topics as:
- What everybody knows is frequently wrong
- Why everyone should approach problems with their ignorance
- Top executives should stay no longer than six years
- Some so-called menial tasks can only be done by the boss
- What everyone needs to be an effective manager
- Why self-confidence is a necessity
Enlightening and intriguing, A Class with Drucker will enable anyone to gain from the timeless wisdom of the inspiring man himself.
PRAISE FOR A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
- “A fresh look at the timeless wisdom of Peter Drucker. This riveting book reveals previously unpublished ideas that Drucker shared with his students and offers a glimpse into what it was like to know the man himself.”
- – Edward T. Reilly, President and CEO, American Management Association
- “A Class with Drucker is more than a book – it is a great gift, bringing Peter Drucker and his classroom alive for all of us who never had the privilege of a class with Drucker . . . Bill Cohen’s journey with Drucker adds a new dimension to our understanding and appreciation and keeps the Drucker legacy vibrant and alive for future generations.”
- – Frances Hesselbein, Chairman and Founding President Leader to Leader Institute
- “Bill Cohen brings that laboratory of learning alive to those of us who didn’t have the pleasure, privilege or opportunity to sit at the feet of the master in Peter’s classroom. One can feel the energy, the humor, the discipline, the interaction, the edge, the energy, the simplicity and the relevance of Peter’s practice of teaching. This is a gift Bill has produced as a way of returning the favor and blessing of Peter’s friendship and caring for Bill over more 30 years.”
- – Ira Jackson, Dean Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University
- “Of the thousands of testaments written about a giant of our times – none can rival this. Only one person in the world could have written this book. Bill Cohen spent years at the “feet of the master” and has learned well the lessons only Drucker could have taught. Cohen has captured the essence of Drucker in every page of this marvelous book. Bravo, Bill – Peter would be proud!”
- – Bill Bartmann, Billionaire Business Coach and winner of the National Entrepreneur Award from NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation
- “Entertaining and thought provoking, Bill Cohen combines Peter Drucker’s teaching methods and classroom stories with personal vignettes and insights. An excellent read for all interested in awakening their managerial thinking.”
- – Len Kwiatkowski, Brigadier General, USAF, Ret., Vice President and General Manager Military Space Programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co
- “Bill Cohen has given us a practical guide to some of Peter Drucker’s most essential teachings, but he has done so in a style that you don’t often find in a volume on management. This is a book marked by cherished memories, deep affection and a sense of joy—a student’s tender tribute to a master teacher.”
- – Rick Wartzman, director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University and co-author of The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire.
- “Bill Cohen was a singularly stimulating and attractive student from whom my colleagues on the faculty and I learned at least as much as we could teach him.”
- – Peter F. Drucker, 1983