Leslie Pratch Good on Paper

Posted by Leslie Pratch

Good on Paper (formerly titled Discovering Leaders)

Discovering Leaders is a compelling study offering a fresh approach to the vital but complex role of leadership. This book manages to be both profound and readable.

Wishing you great success on your book.

And best from Williams.

James MacGregor Burns, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science and Leadership scholar, Williams College.

traits of great men and transactional management to focus on the interaction of leaders and led as collaborators working toward mutual benefit. He is best known for contributions to the Transformational, Aspirational and Visionary schools of leadership theory. Burns has advocated repeal of the 22nd amendment to allow effective presidents to have a third or fourth term of office.^[1]

Excerpts from his book Leadership:

Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain motives and purposes mobilize, in competition or conflict with others, institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so as to arouse, engage, and satisfy the motives of followers in order to realize goals mutually held by both leaders and followers.

Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.

That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret of transforming leadership and the moral and practical theme of this work.

Mr. Burns include:

Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945, published with Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich in 1970

Transforming Leadership: The Pursuit of Happiness, published with Atlantic Monthly Press in 2003

The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America, with Susan Dunn, published with Grove Press in 2001

Leadership, published with Harper Collins in 1978

Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox

John Kennedy: A Political Profile

Government by the People

Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court, published in 2009 by Penguin Books

Good on Paper (formerly Discovering Leaders)

“In this challenging economic environment, the assessment of executive leadership is more critical than ever. “Discovering Leaders” takes an all-encompassing approach to the process of hiring executives through a balance of hard facts and the psychological influences of personality and character. Leadership assessment is an essential factor to the success of our private equity investments and our work with you over the years has proven the merits of your approach. “Discovering Leaders” will be valuable resource for anyone focused on recruiting top performing leaders. Please accept my best wishes for success with the book.”

Brian P. Simmons, Co-Founder and Partner, Code Hennessy & Simmons.

Brian Simmons is a Partner and founder of Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC (“CHS”), a Chicago based private equity investment firm formed in 1988. CHS manages over $2.5 billion in private equity capital through five limited partnerships. Investors in CHS sponsored Funds include public and private pension funds, banks, insurance companies, university endowments, money management firms and high net worth individuals.
CHS makes controlling equity investments in manufacturing, service and distribution companies participating in a broad array of consumer and industrial markets. The primary investment focus is companies valued from $100 million to $1.0 billion. Today, CHS owns approximately 25 companies with combined revenues in excess of $5.0 billion. As a founder and member of the firm’s management committee, Brian is actively involved in all aspects of CHS’s business including investment origination, investment management and fundraising. He serves as Chairman of the Board or a director of numerous CHS portfolio companies.

Brian was employed by Citicorp from 1986 until 1988. In 1988 he left his position as Vice President in the Chicago office of Citicorp’s Leveraged Capital Group to form CHS. From 1982 until joining Citicorp, Brian was employed by Mellon Bank Corporation in both Pittsburgh and Chicago.

Brian is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Cornell University. He and his wife, Julie, have two children and reside in Chicago, Illinois. Brian is a member of the board of the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Chicago Public Education Fund and the Latin School of Chicago. He is a member of the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service. He is a member of the Emeritus Board of the Greater Chicago Food Depository where he served as Board Chair and Capital Campaign Chair. He belongs to the Economic club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago

Posted by Leslie Pratch; endorsement by E. David Coolidge III

Good on Paper

“Leslie Pratch has captured the employer’s dilemma in Good on Paper by exposing how conventional evaluative approaches often end up placing the wrong people in important leadership positions.  Her insightful analysis and focus on sizing up the candidate’s total personality will help anyone making a hiring decision identify people with integrity and the requisite coping skills to deal with the challenges of leadership.”

E. David Coolidge III, Executive V.P. William Blair & Company, Former CEO, William Blair & Company.

E. David Coolidge, III, vice chairman of William Blair & Company, joined the firm in 1969. Coolidge, who was CEO from 1995 until January 2004 and also manager of the firm’s Corporate Finance Department from 1977-1994, formerly was a director of the Securities Industry Association and served as governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers. After earning a B.A. from Williams College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate Business School of Administration, he served in the Peace Corps in Colombia, South America, from 1967-1969. He serves on the boards of Duluth Trading Co. and Shields Meneley Partners. Coolidge, a trustee of both Williams College and the University of Chicago, plays an active role in several organizations, including trusteeship at Rush University Medical Center, directorship at the Better Government Association and Youth Guidance, advisory board member at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. Coolidge has given several speeches around the country and is featured in three recently published business books, “Investment Leadership,” by James Ware; “This Isn’t the Company I Joined,” by Carol Kinsey Goman, and “Kellogg on Branding,” edited by Alice Tybout and Tim Calkins.

William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a Chicago-based investment firm offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. Since 1935, we have been committed to helping clients achieve their financial objectives. As an independent, employee-owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients’ interests first and foremost. We place a high value on the enduring nature of our client relationships, the quality of our products and services, and the continuity and integrity of our people. William Blair & Company’s offices include Chicago, Boston, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Zurich. For more information, please visit www.williamblair.com.

Posted by Leslie Pratch

Good on Paper

“This is the definitive book on the importance of psychological testing as a predictor of performance. I have worked with Leslie Pratch for over twelve years. Her ability to predict performance and identify characteristics that otherwise would go undetected, is profound. In today’s world, placing the wrong leader in a senior position can destroy the entire organization.”

James R. Lozelle, Retired Executive V. P., Tower Automotive; Consultant Organizational Development and Strategy, Entrepreneur

Good on Paper

“We all look for leaders that can execute AND produce a compelling bottom line; focused not only on doing things right, but doing the right things. Leaders that can motivate while at the same time hold people accountable for results. It’s a unique mix of visionary, cheerleader, mentor and enforcer. In my 30 years as a chain executive I have known many superstars that possess these characteristics, often described as having high self-esteem without being cocky, having a sense of humor without being naïve, generating top tier results with a dedicated following, all while developing the next generation of organizational leadership.

“I often pondered the common thread that these individuals had and how I could characterize it in an attempt to find like talent. Good on Paper provides the insight I have been searching for; the concepts of “active coping”, or the ability to correctly and intuitively respond to unanticipated situations, coupled with “core integrity” identified individuals who consistently do the “right things” – until now, two elusive characteristics that define the attributes of highly effective and successful executives. Leslie Pratch has unlocked these secrets of success in this provocative new book and shows us a path toward substantially improving our leadership success rate by “looking under the covers” of otherwise “successful looking” individuals. All that glitters is not gold!”

Fred Hipp, Current CEO, AMF Bowling; Former CEO, California Pizza Kitchen