The Economic Crisis Will Shape New Leaders

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Passing the Reins

Some great leaders are already emerging from this crisis. Goldman Sachs' (GS) Lloyd Blankfein (on whose board of directors I serve) and JPMorgan's (JPM) Jamie Dimon have proven their leadership not only in guiding their firms through the crisis, but by showing the way toward sustainable capital markets.

In the corporate world, IBM's (IBM) Sam Palmisano, Avon's (AVP) Andrea Jung, Xerox's (XRX) Anne Mulcahy, Novartis' (NVS) Dan Vasella, PepsiCo's (PEP) Indra Nooyi, and Immelt are demonstrating the kind of visionary leadership that will reshape the U.S. economy. Behind them are young leaders stepping up to the top roles, like 43-year-olds Andrew Witte of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Kasper Rorstad of German chemical maker Henkel.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself. But each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation." Just as the "greatest generation" did in World War II, this new generation of leaders is learning leadership lessons they will use the rest of their lives. It's time to let them take over leadership and focus their organizations on pressing problems that have been festering for a decade. By concentrating on health care, education, energy, and the environment, and job creation through innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, they will build a sustainable global economy while making the world a better place for all its citizens.

As they do so, they will write the history of this generation.

Bill George, the former chair and CEO of Medtronic, is professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. His new book, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis will be published in September. He serves on the boards of Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil.

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