Stanford GSB: Stanford Business May 2001

May 2001, Volume 69, Number 3

Quenching a Thirst
Our desire to lead others or find better leaders to follow seems to periodically erupt into a thirst. The people who put this magazine together didn’t plan a package of articles on leadership—the thirst tracked us down.

It began last fall when we overheard students talking about Genius and Folly, an experimental leadership class. Then Mel Connet, MBA ’85, stepped forward with an essay on an emerging shortage of business leaders. When writer Mike McNamee finished his profile of Richard Fairbank, MBA ’81, we were fascinated by how Fairbank had charted his course to leadership in the credit industry. Chip Conley, MBA ’84, checked in next with a book about the current generation’s “rebel” leaders. Sir John Browne, Sloan ’81, came to campus to receive the Arbuckle Award in March and spoke about leadership skills he learned at the Business School.

Roughly 4.3 million Internet pages also discuss leadership, according to the search engine Google. Plowing through some, I was reminded of the 48,400 Web pages on the “West Coast offense.” They may be useful to new football fans or players, but a would-be head coach might be better off attending Stanford games to steal ideas from the next Bill Walsh. So read this magazine while it’s fresh. If the ideas on leadership expressed here are any good, you can bet they will be in the hands of copycats next season.

Editor

Contributors

Simplicity and concept are the hallmarks of CRAIG FRAZIER’s (front cover) style of illustration. His work is commissioned by national design firms, advertising agencies, and corporate and editorial publications. A former graphic designer, Frazier lives in Mill Valley, Calif., with his wife and two children.

It was second-year MBA student JESSICA RODRIGUEZ’ interest in socio-economic equality that led her to help organize the student study trip to Cuba she reports on in the departments section. A New York native, she worked in Harlem in economic development before coming to the GSB. She is currently managing editor of the Reporter.

Illustrating the story on Cuba is artist, teacher, and actor CHRISTIAN CLAYTON. Clayton lives in Los Angeles, Calif., and teaches at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. His work has been exhibited in shows in New York, Seattle, and Santa Fe.

MIKE McNAMEE (feature profile on Richard Fairbank) covers personal finance, financial markets, and financial regulation from Business Week’s Washington bureau. A political science graduate of MIT, McNamee previously worked for the Dallas Morning News, USA Today, and the Indianapolis Star.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, BRIAN CAIRNS (Genius and Folly illustration) receives commissions from a wide range of clients internationally and has won numerous awards for his work on both sides of the Atlantic. His work is both graphic and painterly, employing intelligent conceptual solutions.

SARAH WILKINS (Research section illustrations) began illustrating in Australia and now lives in New Zealand. In 1993, she moved to Paris, where she was based for eight years. Her illustrations can be seen in magazines and annuals throughout the world, as well as on the exteriors of buildings in Paris and buses in Finland.