Terry Lundgren, chief executive officer of Macy's Inc., provided The Wall Street Journal with five books that have shaped his leadership style. While the first four were fairly well known business strategy books, the fifth, The Greatest Game Ever Played is about an underdog who prevails in the 1913 U.S. Open golf tournament.
In the first book, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Mr. Lundgren particularly related to the "culture of discipline" shared by many of the successful companies profiled in the book, a goal he has tried to foster at Macy's. He was particularly moved by the metaphor of a stone flywheel, a device that eventually rotates on its own after being pushed by a powerful energy source. Said Mr. Lundgren, "It's hard when you are trying to change the culture of a company, but once you get it going...it takes on positive momentum."
The second book, High Performance with High Integrity by Ben Heineman Jr., "reinforces what is a core value to me - integrity always," Mr. Lundgren told The Journal. The book "says you can make tough decisions, be a strong negotiator, be a strong leader and still operate at the highest level of integrity and ethical standards."
The third, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, helped re-affirm his conviction that creating a national department store brand would help Macy's garner critical mass and reach consumers in new ways. Said Mr. Lundgren, "We needed something to break us out of being a set of regional department stores that we owned, which were not able to benefit from the size and scale of one brand."
The fourth, Game Changer by A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan, is about how even large companies can create a culture of innovation to drive growth. At Macy's, an example of such out-the-box thinking is its recent decision to partner with F.A.O. Schwarz to open boutiques in several hundred Macy's locations. Mr. Lundgren said the book reminded him that "risk comes from standing still."
The fifth, The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost, is a story of an American golfer Francis Ouimet who "came from nothing" to stunningly upset a dominant British golf team. The book's "never give up" message applies to both his company and Mr. Lundren, who himself came from a humble background. Mr. Lundgren added, "Besides that I like golf."
Discussion Question: What would make your list of leadership books that have influenced you the most? Which do you think are the best among the better-known business books? Can you come up with any that aren't necessarily business books?