Not too long ago, I picked up Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today’s Leaders by Peter F. Drucker, Frances Hesselbein, and Joan Snyder Kuhl, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2015. Although Peter Drucker died in 2005, his thoughtful perspective on leadership lives on in this little book.

The content is contained in a slim 100-pages, but don’t let the low page count fool you – Five Most Important Questions is chalk full of valuable nuggets to help anyone become a better leader. For example, “We cannot continue to put people into little squares on a structure chart. Psychologically it boxes them in” (p. 84).

The book begins with the Foreword, written by Frances Hesselbein, the Founding President, President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. The Introduction is written by Joan Snyder Kuhn, the Founder of Why Millennials Matter and a member of the Board of Governors of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. Both women lend perspective on Peter Drucker and the need for this book. The main content of the book is then divided into five sections, one for each question, which is further broken down and analyzed via Drucker’s philosophy, as well as writings by contributors, such as Colonel Bernard Banks – head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership at the United States Military Academy and Judith Rodin – President of the Rockefeller Foundation (and previously the President of Penn) among others.

It is a short read, but one well worth it. This book is not just for those who run Fortune 500 companies. It is truly for anyone who wants to better him/herself and develop an honest and workable approach to leadership.

Best,

Anne Converse Willkomm
Director, Graduate Studies
Goodwin College
Drexel University

Source: Drucker, P. F., Hesselbein, F., and Kuhl, J. S. (2015). Five most important questions: enduring wisdom for today’s leaders. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.