cover image The 100-Mile Walk: A Father and Son on a Quest to Find the Essence of Leadership

The 100-Mile Walk: A Father and Son on a Quest to Find the Essence of Leadership

Sander A. Flaum, Jonathon A. Flaum. AMACOM/American Management Association, $24.95 (255pp) ISBN 978-0-8144-0863-6

It might take more than walking 100 miles to discover the essence of leadership, but that's how far Sander A. Flaum, a 65-year-old ""corporate lifer,"" and his son, Jonathon, a 35-year-old philosopher/playwright/businessman walked while discovering ""the 9 P's of leadership"" (people, purpose, passion, performance, persistence, perspective, paranoia, principles and practice) and, along the way, each other. The book's claim to novelty is the difference between Sander's and Jon's respective generations' approaches to business: Jon quotes Zen koans like ""There are no rational answers to certain questions. Certain questions demand 'body and mind' answers-that is, the student does not 'know' the answer, but rather becomes it,"" While Sander quotes Benjamin Franklin or Calvin Coolidge. (""Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence."") In the end, old and new converge in a mutual recognition of universal truth. It's the kind of lukewarm emotion that flourishes in books, but quickly dissipates in the chill of actual business life. This syrupy blend of father and son self-discovery and management maxims offers vague leadership principles and inspiring business stories, but the reader may come away thinking the authors confused a good idea for a family reunion with a good idea for a business book.