Lideranca e Proposito. O Novo Lider e o Real Significado do Sucesso

by Fred Kofman

Em um livro revolucionário que revela os segredos de como envolver e manter as pessoas em uma organização, construindo times mais fortes e coesos, Fred Kofman explora o que é preciso para se tornar não apenas um bom líder, mas um líder transcendente. Liderança transcendente não tem muito a ver com educação ou treino, afirma Kofman. Apesar de ser PhD em economia e ter ensinado no MIT (Massachussets Institute of Technology), ele logo descobriu que as ferramentas da economia simplesmente não funcionavam quando se tratava de motivar os funcionários. Incentivos materiais formam talvez 15% da motivação de empregados. Os outros 85% derivam da nossa vontade de pertencer – pela convicção de que o que fazemos dia após dia tem alguma importância. Qualquer organização, ele diz, tem em seu cerne um “projeto de imortalidade”, uma missão com propósito enobrecedor. Líderes de verdade ajudam o resto da organização ou time a se conectar a essa missão, qualquer que seja seu lugar na hierarquia. Quando as pessoas se baseiam em legado ou propósito para criar significado em suas vidas profissionais, as empresas conseguem se desenvolver mais rápido e ter melhores resultados. Repleto de histórias de bastidores, filosofia e reflexões de líderes excepcionais com os quais trabalhou, como Sheryl Sandbeg e Satya Nadella, Kofman oferece um atraente novo guia sobre como liderar e ter sucesso – e deixar um legado.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Management, Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Entrepreneurship

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Alternate Names: Fredy Kofman

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was unable to finish this book. It was recommended to me by a coworker I respect, but this book is not worth reading for several reasons. There are a handful of good bits, but they're few and far between. In the introduction, Kofman refers to his own work as a paradigm shift (p 25) and later says things like that he thinks of himself as Morpheus--the arrogance is really hard to see past. Anyone whose written work exudes arrogance had better have something really good to say--but he doesn't. He has ~300 pages that, if the chaff were cut, would easily fit into 100 or less and are largely rehashings of other works.

The part that bothers me the most, is Kofman's description of Marissa Mayer (p34-35): "I met Marissa Mayer when she was at Google, before she went to Yahoo. I was consulting for Sheryl Sandberg, who was then Google's head of online sales and operations. Talking with Mayer was an eerie experience; in the hour-long conversation, she didn't make eye contact with me a single time. The interaction was so cold that I suffered from brain freeze. I do recall my thought at the end, though: I would never work for this lady.". So this is both name-dropping ("my friend Sheryl Sandberg" [paraphrase]) and really makes me wonder--what was he doing during that interview that caused Mayer to literally never make eye contact? I really don't believe that she *never* made eye contact during an hour-long interview unless he was interviewing her on behalf of HR about some discrimination case or something equally unpleasant--he doesn't say what the interview was about, so who knows--but based on the amount of hyperbole in this book I doubt that's actually true anyway.

He also (p33-34) blames Mayer for Yahoo's decline. Does he seriously believe that Yahoo could have been "saved" when Mayer took over as CEO? Saving Yahoo would have been an amazing feat at that point in the company's lifespan--I'm not sure it was even possible. The company was already in decline when she became CEO, which is probably why she was ever offered the position. His portrayal of Mayer is not only something I just don't believe but also seems deeply unfair.

Much of the book is like the section I described above. The rest of the chaff is things like:

* Many many anecdotes whose purpose seems to be to impress the reader (e.g. "I went on a safari and X happened" or "I met (insert name of important person here) and gave them this advice")
* Lots of "citation needed" moments. For instance "Study after study concludes that a caring manager is essential to employee engagement"--sure, I could believe that, but where are your sources? What studies?
* Lots of rehashing things that really should just be something like "negotiation is important and well-studied so I'm not going to cover how to negotiate here (I recommend these books on the topic ...)" but are instead multi-page extemporaneous thought with little credit to others.
* Far too much hyperbole. For example: "Monetary incentives can't inspire people to care, to work for a common goal, or to support intelligent decision making." In context, I think he really means "once basic needs are met", but he really needs to not present things as tautologies that are actually conditionals.
* There is an entire chapter of what has to be a made-up airplane conversation between Kofman and a salesman. Maybe parts of this conversation actually happened or maybe multiple conversations like this happened that are merged here. Regardless, Kofman could have written this entire chapter as useful prose instead of preaching to a random person who had the misfortune of sitting next to him on a long flight.

[Carolina Polanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every individual wanting to “become inmortal” or leave a permanent mark in the world. I’m a huge fan of Fred Kofman!
This book inspires, ignites and transforms. It gives very good methodologies one can leverage for the achievement of transcendent leadership.

[Ron Scheese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific leadership insights

Enjoyed Fred Kofman's "The Meaning Revolution" -terrific insight and research into leadership. Kofman has the unique experiences of thought leadership with both Google and LinkedIn, but his ability to personalize the lessons of transcendent leadership make "The Meaning Revolution " a must read for those who lead or who aspire to lead.

Transcendent leadership is servant leadership on steroids, challenging those who wish to pursue a high expectation for helping those being served to discover and live a noble, purpose-filled life.

An economist by training, Kofman also blends spirituality & psychology to substantiate his case.

Definitely a book I will read more than once and one I highly recommend.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kofman's "Conscious Business" was very meaningful to me - so I was looking forward to this book. There is much packed into this, but the idea of having a noble purpose, with a mission that is aligned to the personal goals of others, and ways for you to lead in that way was meaningful. Some was a reminder of what I read in "Conscious Business" - and overall many ideas that I will be using in my work.

[Anna Lucia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t settle for this book that pretends we don’t live in a capitalist society. Lots of corporate bullshit, especially after the pandemic and multiple layoffs… corporations treat us as numbers and we need to do the same with them. Leads roles should focus in make the trajectory within the company a bit more light to everyone, but the focus is personal gain and if someone says money is not everything, they are trying to indoctrinate you, so they can get more money on your expense.

Audiobook

[Hunter Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be reading this book again. Maybe once a year.

[Daniel Marques · Rating 5 out of 5]

O autor consegue trazer lições/exmplos maravilhosos sobre como ser um Líder transcedente, um líder com propósito, sem impor alguma ideia pessoal, apesar de apontar em vários momentos a sua opinião em vários âmbitos da vida, com base em suas experiências.

Se tiver aberto para realizar uma auto-avaliação criteriosa sobre seu perfil de liderança, não tenho dúvidas que irá tirar muitas aplicações práticas para sua própria conduta e a do time que gerencia. São detalhes que passam despercebidos e é essencial a mente aberta e a humildade para reconhecer os pontos de melhoria.

[Sambasivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read in a long time on the topic. What is the purpose of life ? Who are you ? What do you want to achieve in life?
The author avers that every human being is driven by the ambition to leave a legacy. He or she wants to leave something for posterity. The transcendent leadership can be achieved by following a specific set of actions towards a particular mission.
It is a pioneering and revolutionary thought. Very well articulated. Go for it.

[Camilog · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best I read in 2019

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

sorry not sorry: in short, management for boomers with a pinch of late stage capitalism. def doesn't suit me.

⭐️⭐️ I'm giving it two stars instead of one because of the local vs. global optimization discussion and notes on engagement and caring.

=================
extra: "the capitalist manifesto" disguised as a leadership book. how could someone explain the following quote if it's not it?

> For many, capitalism is the territory of greedy, exploitative businesspeople. Capitalists’ main occupation, as it appears to them, is to take advantage of the needy, trying to maximize their profits without any ethical scruples—and in the process destroying human beings and the environment.

[Vovka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read on the importance of helping people find purpose in work. I strongly disagreed with one section of this book (Fred's chapter in defense of capitalism was simplistic and shallow), but the other 80% of this material feels super-solid to me, and fits well with the philosophies espoused in Start with Why, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, and Sapiens.

[Ivan Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro increíble. Ahora estoy en busca del libro de la empresa consiente de Fred Kofman. Sin duda todos debemos ser conscientes de que podemos servir a los demás a traves del mercado. Teniendo un propósito y un sentido en nuestras vidas y hacer de este mundo un lugar mejor para vivir.

[Chandana Watagodakumbura]

In "The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership", the author, Dr Fred Kofman, highlights with vivid examples how defining meaningful shared goals towards higher purpose drives organisations and their employees to thrive and flourish. The positive ripple effects extend to benefit all stakeholders and associated communities. Transcendent leadership is identified to be an essential component of such an engagement.

The book presents four areas that lead organisations to function less optimally: disengagement, disorganisation, disinformation and disillusionment. Lack of meaningful work is one significant factor contributing to employee disengagement. It is a widely discussed problem by organisations around the globe. Competing expectations between organisational and employee goals mainly lead to disorganisation. When individual employees achieve key performance indicators (KPIs), it will lead to an overall deviation from organisational goals and purpose. Disinformation occurs when the right information is not available for decision-making at the right time at different hierarchical layers of an organisation. It will create tension between functional units and organisational values and goals. Deficiencies in integrity, trust and pursuing values cause disillusionment. Dr Kofman insightfully and justifiably identifies the above as hard problems of an organisation to pinpoint their very nature of complexity.

Somewhat surprisingly, the remedies for the above hard problems come as meaning and purpose-based soft solutions. They include motivation, integrity, response-ability/emotional intelligence, collaboration and culture. When meaning and higher purpose is present, employees are motivated to collaborate better with integrity, leading to a healthy organisational culture. They also function more autonomously and creatively, thus making unique contributions to innovations. Moreover, they respond to challenges faced by taking responsibility and demonstrating emotional intelligence rather than reacting impulsively. Everyone becomes an active player of the organisational game, and there are no victims. Escalating collaboration and appreciative listening are vital components of conflict resolution. Interestingly, proposed soft solutions to the hard problems deviate from the conventional hard solutions presented in the form of command and control.

The last section brings out the most revolutionary concept presented in the book on business and leadership: self-transcendence. It is a topic usually discussed in philosophy or spirituality related literature. In a bold and insightful step, the author, Dr Kofman, links its significance to general business operations within organisations. They need transcendent leadership to yield meaning and purpose-based soft solutions to hard problems. These solutions direct employees and leaders to move away from egoic and self-centred thought patterns and operations to ones that serve the greater good. Self-transcending requires committed conscious inner work from the part of the individual, and many engage in such work through mindfulness training programs. Moreover, personal and collective challenges were shown to act as catalysts for self-transcending experiences. Reflecting on the death of our own or close ones is presented as a practice commonly used to remind us to make meaningful contributions during our limited time span.

Extending our focus to the broader world help us to understand its interconnected nature, directing us to act with a loving and compassionate attitude. Dr Kofman has previously written a book titled "Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values". Now he promotes superconscious capitalism. It is broadly defined as entering and carrying out business in a manner that enables the thriving and flourishing of all sentient beings.

[Carla Parreira]

Nascido na Argentina em 1956, o autor é economista, filósofo e especialista em desenvolvimento organizacional. Com doutorado pela Universidade da Califórnia, Berkeley, e experiências como professor no MIT, Koffman também atuou na LinkedIn e na Google, influenciando líderes globais com suas ideias sobre liderança responsável e propósito. Ele fundou a consultoria Excellent, focada em cultura empresarial consciente, e é reconhecido internacionalmente por seu trabalho. O livro propõe uma visão profunda sobre o papel do líder no mundo contemporâneo. Koffman argumenta que o sucesso na liderança vai muito além de metas financeiras e desempenho, estando ligado à capacidade de inspirar pessoas através de um propósito maior e de uma conexão autêntica com valores e missão. Segundo o autor, liderança transcendente não é algo que se aprende apenas com educação ou treinamentos tradicionais. Ele observa que, mesmo com formação acadêmica sólida, as ferramentas tradicionais de economia e gestão muitas vezes não motivam adequadamente os funcionários. Para Koffman, a motivação verdadeira vem de um sentimento de pertencimento, de saber que o que se faz tem impacto e significado. Isso remete ao conceito de que toda organização tem um projeto de imortalidade ou uma missão nobre que deve ser comunicada e vivida por seus líderes. O livro defende que líderes efetivos devem alinhar seus valores pessoais à missão da organização, promovendo engajamento genuíno, comprometimento emocional e uma cultura de excelência sustentável. Além disso, enfatiza a importância da consciência no ambiente corporativo — líderes conscientes enxergam além dos indicadores de curto prazo e avaliam seu impacto social e humano. Koffman destaca valores como responsabilidade incondicional, integridade, humildade e empatia. Para ele, um líder que serve e guia, ao invés de simplesmente mandar, é aquele que consegue inspirar e transformar sua equipe. Ele também reforça a necessidade de lidar com conflitos de forma madura, transformando adversidades em oportunidades de crescimento. O livro apresenta ferramentas como o mapa da liderança consciente, que auxilia na tomada de decisões alinhadas aos valores. Koffman também discute a importância do autoconhecimento e da coragem para que o líder possa ser autêntico e influente. Ao fim, o autor reforça que o verdadeiro legado de um líder não está nas conquistas financeiras, mas no impacto positivo que tem na vida das pessoas, ajudando-as a se tornarem versões melhores de si mesmas. Liderar com propósito, portanto, é uma forma de criar um impacto duradouro e significativo. Fred Koffman propõe um modelo de liderança mais humano, que conquista respeito e confiança, indo além da autoridade formal. Seus ensinamentos são uma resposta contra a superficialidade das práticas corporativas tradicionais, propondo uma liderança que transforma vidas e inspira pelo exemplo.

[Allie Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her own life” -Viktor Frankl

While this book is based on cultivating ‘leadership’, I consider it an essential read for generally becoming a better person, living your best life, and helping others to do the same.

Reading it was like holding up a special mirror that highlights blemishes under the skin. Both liberating to get the visibility, and powerful in having the opportunity to embrace, address, and share.

Having spent a third of my life in the “corporate” world, at times I’ve experienced (and exhibited) a coldness in complete contradiction with my heart - like what the author, Fred Kofman, describes as ‘disillusion’.

As I was reading this I was reflecting pretty hard on the past....Once upon a time, I thought capitalism was broken, the system was out of my control, and the only way to survive was to become a jigsaw piece in a puzzle that was misaligned to my internal compass. Fortunately, over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work with a rare special few transcendent leaders, experienced the difference they make in the world, and the opportunity we each have to choose our destiny and ripples we create.

What is clear, is the commitment this requires. In addition to the importance of transcending our own ego, another quote that stuck with me from the book was that “Leadership is not fair. Exemplary behaviour is necessary but not sufficient to engage employees. This is because people perceive and interpret your behaviour through the filters of their mental models. Even if you do the right thing you may be found wanting.”

It’s so easy to take things personally, compare ourselves to others, chastise differences, and not take responsibility. But if we want to move forward and make the difference that lifts the world, it starts with us.

Books like this one shine light on what we are, what we’re capable of, and how we can use these capabilities for good, spreading love, meaning and fulfilment (in a practical way!).

Like an unfinished painting, now for the challenge of implementing these lessons, and continuing those brush strokes. Thankfully, the process itself is exciting and meaningful.

[Ryan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is much to praise about this book. Koffman does a great job showing why monetary rewards alone are Insufficient forms of motivation. Giving people a purpose and bringing people along towards the mission is vital to the success of an organization and for real employee engagement.

One of the better points he makes is the often detrimental piece of seemingly conflicting KPIs between departments. By putting departments at odds with each other you praise individual goals instead of organizational goals which means you could be a high performer based on your KPIs but then a terrible employee because the organization suffers and you did nothing outside your kpis to help.

I also appreciated his discussion on avoiding the trap of being a victim and taking ownership of your actions and decisions.

My only real issue with the book comes when he begins discussing his use of psychedelics to find alternative realities. And that somehow this gave him a mystical understanding of the universe and ego. Buried in the notes section he says he doesn’t recommend it unless of course you have a trained teacher or therapist. I found this whole section to be unhelpful and possibly dangerous as well. Definitely felt out of place in an otherwise decent book.

I will also say that there are many instances that he talks about choices that we are able to make as if the only thing that matters is if we choose something or not. While it is true that humans have a great capacity for being their own agent of change there are still many things that inhibit people from the ability to make choices of where to live and work. There are points where he comes across as out of touch with the ordinary person.

Again, overall the book is informative and helpful and would have been rated higher if it wasn’t for the chapter on psychedelics and the moments he just seems out of touch.

[Ingólfur Halldórsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Það hefur tekið mig tæp þrjú ár að lesa þessa bók frá byrjun til enda en ástæða þess var frekar sú að ég skilgreindi hana meira sem vinnubók heldur en yndislestur. Hvort heldur sem er þá er þetta algjörlega frábær lesning. Höfundur fer um víðan völl en í grunninn fjallar bókin um hvernig hvert og eitt okkar getur nálgast það sem höfundur kallar að vera upphafinn leiðtogi (transcendent leader). Þessi skrif eru aðallega miðuð að vinnu og rekstri en eiga líka við í persónulegu samhengi lífsins.
Hver eru markmið mín í lífinu? Hvernig getur vinnan hjálpað mér og öðrum að öðlast merkingu í lífi sínu, og gefa meira af sér til fólksins í kring? Hvað vil ég skilja eftir í heiminum er ég hverf á braut? Þessum spurningum er ekki auðsvarað en hér er leitast við að finna verkfærin sem hver og einn getur beitt í sinni leit að svörum.
Hér er of mikið af efni til að hægt sé að rekja í smáatriðum. Staðreyndin er sú að þessi bók er skyldulesning, klippt og skorið.

[Jason Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fred Kofman offers a wide-ranging exploration of what it means to demonstrate "transcendent" leadership... to call people away from transactional employment to a mutually beneficial relationship in pursuit of more than noble goals.

Kofman is clearly liberally educated. His anecdotes engage fluently with history, the arts, religion, and the sciences. He respects all of the cultures with which he interacts, and offers insights and wisdom from a wide variety of sources. I keep toggling between four and five stars for this review and ultimately landed on four because I can't shake the more interesting sections on shamans and psychedelic drugs, including implicit endorsement of the latter. To each his own, I guess, but this was weird.

Still, the book is excellent and full of insights as well as practical advice.

[Randy Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In short, if you want to be inspired by this book you probably will be, and it does have some good points along the way, just nothing ground-breaking.

Like most modern business books, this title borrows a lot of its meat from a plethora of other business books.

Overall it felt somewhat incoherent and the religious metaphors quickly fall flat for me. Kofman’s arrogance at times also felt off-putting. However, he did provide some good insights on accountability, negotiation, and creating a culture of winning. Yet, from the start he builds a case for that well-worn mantra, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Do we need another reminder?

If you regularly read business books, you will probably be rehashing a lot of ideas you’ve already heard. But, if you regularly readbusiness books like I do, you likely don’t expect anything earth-shattering going into them.

[Hasta Fu · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Meaning Revolution" is a book by Fred Kofman that argues that leadership is not just about the mind, but also about the spirit.

The book shows how setting goals that reflect our values as well as our interests can help us achieve more than success.

It provides practical wisdom on how we can live better lives and build better companies by drawing upon profound ideas about meaning, work, happiness, motivation, and even death. Although I would say that many of these qualities is the norm in Eastern society.

The book does not really give me new insights, nut some review has praised it for its unique insights and its ability to change the way people think about their jobs and leadership.

For those interested in business management, self-improvement, and economics may give it a try. Unfortunately I have found that parts of the book is rather repetitive and overblown.

[Neil Krikul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well put together book with deep insights and great examples of stories to remember by. It’s also helpful that the author demonstrates excellent coaching techniques embedded in the writing.

I couldn’t agree more with the main idea of this book. Human’s potential is unlimited, and it’s by tapping into our intrinsic motivation that we unlock unimaginable results for the people, and the business.

The company’s most precious resource and competitive advantage, after all, is having an engaged team of people.

[Jeroen Verbraak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fred started quite strongly, but must confess that the closure was a bit mediocre. I loved his piece about your 'real job', which is completely different than how most people would address it: winning as a team may imply that certain individuals/groups may need to lose to benefit the entire system. His description about victim vs player was also insightful, but I lost him once he started about superconsciousness and the superconsciousness of capitalism.

[Rodrigo Laddaga Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro

Excelente libro, comparte muy valiosas herramientas para mejorar uno de los retos más presentes en cualquier empresa y en cualquier organización incluyendo la familia, en reto de la comunicación efectiva. Adicionalmente el autor introduce de una manera sutil pero extraordinaria, conceptos sobre capitalismo consciente y principios de alta consciencia. El libro es muy ameno de leer.

Recomiendo ampliamente este libro.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely rate things this high, but this book is very well written and contains many great leadership traits that should be noted. The biggest takeaways for me was acknowledging and dealing with your ego, steps to help staff collaborate instead of jumping command to deal with disagreements, and a look at culture and integrity. Very good read.

[Rahul Unnikrishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has got some good insights into leadership. Kofman's experience as a consultant and as a VP is LinkedIn provides the readers with very good thoughts worth introspecting. I liked the part where he tries to distinguish between happiness and meaning.

Towards the end I found the book moving towards spirituality which in my opinion was slightly disengaging.

[Tiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read about leadership, about an employee's job really is, and how incentives can perversely prevent that job from being done, and about creating a culture of commitment and integrity with a very simple framework.

I didn't like much the last third of the book about self-transcendence, it became too non-practical for what I was looking for.

[Eugen Sfirlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve also read Conscious Business so I believe that The Meaning Revolution is a great addition, further explaining the concepts presented in the first book.

Although the book’s main topic is what the author calls “transcendent leadership”, the insights he presents can definitely bring value to everyone’s life, not only managers or leaders.

[Adriano Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author brings a great deal of behavioral practices to transcedent leadership.

The book talks about empathy, integrity, accountability, interactions with the team, conflict management and vision of whole company to work in integration with other departments of the company.

I think the book is a great resource for who is both formal and informal leadership roles.

[Denis Vasilev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Культура, ценности, лидерство. Душевная книга про важность нематериального в бизнесе от коуча и главы по корпкультуре Линкедина. На что обращать внимание, практические советы, истории. Можно и покороче, но в целом адекватно

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read

Well written, concise, full of great stories, interesting examples, and advice for being a great leader. I had so many take always that I will definitely read this book again