Becoming the Best
“Harry Kraemer is on to a fundamentally powerful concept in applying values-based leadership to building world-class organizations. Filled with rich insights drawn from his remarkable career as a business leader, university professor, and executive mentor, Becoming the Best is a unique guidebook on personal leadership and team-building that can help both emerging and seasoned leaders create new high-performance organizations and improve existing ones.”
W. James McNerney, Jr.
Chairman and CEO, The Boeing Company
What does it mean in practice to be a values-based leader?
When faced with real situations, how can you be your best self and create best teams while also being a best partner with customers and vendors, a best investment for your stakeholders, and a best citizen making a difference in the world?
It’s a tall order, but these are the expectations for world-class organizations today.
In Becoming the Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership, Harry Kraemer’s highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership, the author, professor, and former CEO shares how values-based leadership can help accomplish this.
ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!
As he did with his first book, Harry will donate his proceeds from Becoming the Best to the One Acre Fund, an organization that carries out its values-based leadership in support of farmers in Africa.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In From Values to Action Harry Kraemer showed how self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility are the traits of today’s most effective leaders. In Becoming the Best, his highly anticipated follow-up, Harry reveals how, in practical terms, anyone can apply these principles to become a values-based leader and to help create values-based organizations.
Drawing on his own experiences as the former CEO and chairman of Baxter International, as well as those of other notable leaders and organizations, Harry lays out a pathway for understanding the principles and putting them into practice, by striving for the five bests:
- Use self-reflection to become your best self as you lead yourself and others more effectively
- Create a best team that understands and appreciates what they’re doing, and why
- Forge best partnerships through win/win collaboration with vendors and customers
- Support the mission, vision, and values of the organization to generate best investment returns
- Make a difference in the world beyond the organization by becoming a best citizen
Harry Kraemer on Leadership 
I can’t wait to read both books. I always knew Harry to be highly respected by his peers! His traits of an effective leader are spot on and I’m sure the BESTS in his second book will be as well. Thank you for sharing.
Gwyn
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Thanks Gwyn, and please let me know if you find the books helpful. Regards, Harry
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Congratulations Professor Kraemer on your new book! I was so inspired by your class and cannot wait to apply your new principles and thoughts. Also just saw you are coming to Boston! Cannot wait to welcome you to my hometown!
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HI Aimee, Thanks for the kind thoughts! And feel free to call me any time!! Harry
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Looking forward to diving into your latest book, Harry!
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Thanks Cynthia! Great to hear from you! I would love to know what you think of the book! Regards, Harry
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Congratulations Harry! Looking forward to buying your book and hearing you speak on the 2nd! I love what you write and teach and how you live! Much admiration! Hema
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Thanks Hema! I appreciate your thoughts. I will call you this week.
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Existe versão em português ? Brazil ? thx
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Hi! I’m from India Specially from Andra Pradesh a newly divided state. I am teaching Leadership values from your two books as refereed by our university (S.V.University, Tirupati.). I feel pleasure to share you that your books are more useful to our students as there are doing their MBA. Thank you and waiting for next best from you sir.
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Things I love about Becoming the Best:
(Pg. 35) “…what matters most: the people.”
(Pg. 36) “…how many people on your team have been promoted…”
(Pg. 138) “…if you can find one extra minute to invest, then invest it in your people to generate the biggest return.”
(Pg. 141) “…without true alignment, mission statements remain only words on paper, and not ideas to put into action.”
Opportunities for improvement, truths told:
(Pg. 148) “…with quarterly financial targets to make in order to satisfy shareholders and Wall Street, there is a strong temptation to let the short term eclipse the long term.”
(Pg. 173) “…as many of us learned in finance classes, the role of a manager in a company is to generate shareholder value.”
Can we change what we teach and what students learn in finance classes to put more emphasis on the people, including employees?
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Greetings Professor. I am currently reading your book From Values To Action and I have found it to be a very insightful, yet thought provoking read. I am almost complete with reading it and it has challenged me to examine myself as a leader and to lead from a values-based perspective. I will be purchasing Becoming The Best and I am sure that it is spot on just as From Values To Action is. Keep up the great work sir. God Bless.
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