The Provocateur
How a New Generation of Leaders
are Building Communities, Not Just Companies
Larry Weber

Crown Business
Hardcover | 288 pages | January 2002 | $27.50 | 0-609-60826-6


What's the difference between CEOs like Lou Gerstner of IBM and Larry Ellison of Oracle? É Between basketball coaches Phil Jackson and Bobby Knight? É Or media entrepreneurs Oprah Winfrey and Rupert Murdoch?

Gerstner, Jackson and Winfrey are Provocateurs, leaders who are successful not just because they have built a company or an organization, but created a community. Provocateurs are changing both the form and content of leadership and are in synch with a world being turned upside down by technology, the global economy and the social landscape.

Success has traditionally been based on command and control and the model for many leaders was the general who marshaled people and resources to get the product out the door and on the shelf. They thought of business as a battle or zero-sum game: For me to win, you have to lose. But that way of thinking and taking action is the wrong model for today's world.

Early in his career, Larry Weber had the opportunity to meet or work with people like Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus, and Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. He saw that they were more like the leaders of rock bands (or directors of theatre groups or the ringmaster of the circus) who encourage innovation and individuality. A rock band still has a leader - think of Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones - but one who promotes the group and encourages individuality. And if a rival band comes to town, it's not head-to-head competition but an opportunity to increase the pie by creating more fans (customers) for their genre of music.

Provocateurs think differently and act differently because they put the customer at the center of everything. They are:

Educators like Patrick McGovern who built IDG into a publishing and research powerhouse by empowering his employees to think globally and act locally. Entertainers like Jeff Taylor who built a bond with Monster.com employees and customers through talent and charisma. Sherpas like Rick Wagoner who is guiding General Motors into new territories. Head concierges like Lou Gerstner of IBM who believe the product is important but so is customer service, delivery, financing and every other element and who keeps everything running smoothly from check-in to check-out.

So, if someone says, "Your company is like a circus," Larry Weber wants you to take it as a compliment. After all who wouldn't want to be compared with Cirque du Soleil, an organization that combines creativity, artistry, and caring for its people with success and profit. The people running organizations like this circus are provocateurs and at the cutting edge of business.