New Thinking Is Our Greatest Challenge

 
Thomas L. Brown

Tom Brown


Click above to learn more about Thomas Brown.
Or, click now for:

E-BOOKS

[ The Anatomy Of Fire ] [ Fiscal Fairy Tales ] [ Stretch! ] [ Labor Saving Devices ]


SHORT INTERNET VIDEO

[ New Thinking For A New Century! ]


ESSAYS AND COLUMNS

[ Business: The Ultimate Resource ] [ Modern Management Hits Oz — Hard! ]

[ A Manager? A Leader? ] [ Other Popular Columns ]


SPECIAL AFFILIATIONS

[ Global Coaching ] [ Pepperdine University ]


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[ Thomas L. Brown ]


[ Note: All cited writings are posted using Adobe Acrobat®. ]








The Anatomy Of Fire








Tom Brown's Fire Poems

















Fiscal Fairy Tales



Fiscal Fairy Tales In Japanese




















STRETCH! 21 Events That Will Rock The Next Century





















Labor Saving Devices

Who else would go to Yellowstone Park and leave with a new way to look at leadership? A compelling and cogent author, Tom writes books that are imaginative, bold, and perceptive.

Thomas L. Brown and his unique books have drawn interest from a diverse and global audience. His vanguard ideas appeal to a wide variety of readers because he links his transformative insights to people and events in the corporate, political, scientific, and artistic worlds. Tom's writings are stimulating, enlightening, and provocative.

  • The Anatomy Of Fire:
    Sparking A New Spirit Of Enterprise


    (Foreword by Jim Collins, Good To Great author)

    Tom defines 21st Century leadership in this book. He talks about the importance of leaders embracing five key traits: discovery, enthusiasm, resourcefulness, resolve, and contributing to society. The leader's art, he asserts, is in the leader's heart.

    As Jim Collins (of Built To Last and Good To Great fame) says in his Foreword to Tom's book: "Above all else, Tom pushes us to not be a mere placeholder in the world.... He challenges us to make our lives, our work, our influence, our impact on others a unique contribution that cannot be duplicated. And the most compelling argument he gives is his own personal example as exemplified by this work."

    [High-speed access is suggested. Please refer, also, to the anatomyoffire.com website, where is a free on-screen version is also available.]

    THE "FIRE" POEMS

    As a change of pace for those reading The Anatomy Of Fire, Tom started each of the last three chapters of the popular book with a short, inspirational poem. Many readers have asked for copies of the poems — so many that this standalone document was created. Enjoy, now: Tom Brown's Fire Poems [.pdf].

    ALSO: THE QUOTABLE "FIRE"

    The most quotable passages from The Anatomy Of Fire are now provided in The Quotable "Fire": Memorable Quotations Based On The Book [.pdf]. With 40 quotes, this document is a quick and easy way to reprise the book — or to preview it! It includes Tom's classic definition of a leader: "Leaders are society's vessels for progressive ideas; they are the unrelenting, unyielding, unremitting force for a new idea with the promise of positive change."



  • Fiscal Fairy Tales:
    12 Classics Updated With A Humorous Twist


    These are traditional folk tales re-written with a humorous spin to stimulate discussion about today's work world. The Ugly Cash Cow, Little Tim Soldier, Cindrella, Snowed White, The Three Little Pugs, Rumplsheepskin, Piety Piper, Gingerman, and the others from Tom's short tales are all realistic characters who shed light on the wildly changing nature of the workplace in today's society. Read about them, laugh, then ask: What's really going on here?

    Says Beverly Goldberg of The Century Foundation in her Foreword to the set: "There have always been 'Jacks' fighting mythic 'Giants.' At least, there have been as long as fairy tales have been told and re-told at home and at work. Today's 'Giant' is, for many of us, a chaotic world of work that is simultaneously fascinating and frustrating."

    [High-speed access is suggested. Please refer, also, to the fiscalfairytales.com website, where is a free on-screen version is also available.]

    NEW! INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATIONS / Q&A

    Tom's unique set of tales has been translated into Japanese. Soon, they will appear in a Korean version. In a revealing Question & Answer PDF, Fairy Tales — For The Modern Workplace? REALLY?, Tom talks about the importance of fairy tales throughout history — and why they are "just right" to capture what's happening in today's hard-to-understand work world.



  • STRETCH! 21 Events That Will Rock The Next Century

    (Foreword by Joel Barker, Noted Futurist)

    This is an unusual book. Mixing futurism, science fiction, and leadership, Tom wrote a work that projects the possible kinds of challenges that society might face 100 years out. That we live in the 21st Century is a fact, but...

    Will the Big Three automakers merge and move to Ireland? When will the U.S. elect the first woman president? Will all terrorists unite to form one deadly organization? Will a baby be conceived and born — in space? Will PolluPlague break out near India? Will ZipTrains solve our transportation mess? Will people in France and Israel marry, online, without ever meeting one another?

    These are some of the challenges that could confront the leaders of tomorrow. And Tom wrote these scenarios to give us a head start on facing the challenges with imagination and courage. Sure, he sees problems; but he also sees many exciting prospects! Tour the 21st Century — the next 100 years — now.

    [High-speed access is suggested. Please refer, also, to the stretch21.com website, where is a free on-screen version is also available.]




  • Labor Saving Devices:
    Three 10-Minute Dramas For Reading Or Staging


    I Have No Comfort To Give, A Stitch In Time,
    and Tech Support — Tom has written three plays that bring today's workplace to life. Do you like what you see? How would you manage in these situations? There's a very thin line here between the theater and the real world. Consider this line from the first play in the trio:

    MS. PHANT  [spoken with growing impatience, then forced respect]: Sir, I do not mean to belabor this issue, but many will take this as a sign that you don't care the least about the people who work here... who have worked here... for so long....

    [from I Have No Comfort To Give]


    [High-speed access is suggested. Please refer, also, to the laborsavingdevices.us website, where is a free on-screen version is also available.]




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Thomas Brown

Tom's most popular
columns are freely
available. Click here.


A Manager? A Leader?





Another short
writing that's popular
first appeared in
The Financial Times
Handbook Of
Management.


Mutiny On The Leadership

"Mutiny On The
Leadership" [.pdf]
makes
the case for
leaders who
make society
better.







Tom Brown

Contact Tom



































Business Minds

Tom is an informed journalist whose extensive interactions with thought-leaders have made him an authoritative writer respected as a knowledgeable resource.

His 400+ articles and other writings have appeared in many influential publications, including The Drucker Foundation's Leader To Leader, Harvard's Management Update, and The Wall Street Journal. He was also a founding columnist for Marketplace on Public Radio. In June 2004, Tom was chosen to generate the first weblog on 21st Century leadership. In short, Thomas Brown has distinguished himself in both the print and e-publishing worlds.

  • Member, Advisory Board; Best Practice Editor; and Author of Keynote Essay [.pdf] for Business: The Ultimate Resource (Perseus Publishing [U.S.] / Bloomsbury Publishing [U.K.])

    Tom spent over two years as part of the team that created the largest handbook on management and leadership — ever! Bruce Rosenstein of USAToday says Business "might be the closest we have to a business bible." The book is 2,200 pages, with a growing online database to keep it current.

    Moreover, along with thought leaders Warren Bennis, James Champy, Daniel Goleman, and others, Tom serves as a member of the international Business Editorial Advisory Board.


    SPECIAL: You may read or download Management In The 21st Century [.p, Tom's keynote essay from Business — now! — courtesy of Perseus and Bloomsbury Publishers.

  • Editor, Management General - The New Ideas Webzine, online between 1997-2000

    For years, MG was the premier website for managerial leadership. It featured hundreds of leading-edge thinkers and served readers in 109 countries. The site is now being converted into a specialized service for research on major social and business policy issues.

  • Co-Editor, Business Minds (Financial Times/Prentice Hall)

    Tom helped bring to life stimulating interviews with Sumantra Ghoshal, Charles Handy, John Kotter, Edward Lawler, Geoffrey Moore, Kenichi Ohmae, C. K. Prahalad, Jonas Ridderstråle, Peter Senge, Adrian Slywotzky, Don Tapscott, Meg Wheatley, Danah Zohar... and more!

  • Publisher and co-founder, BrownHerron Publishing

    Founded in 2001, BrownHerron is owned by Tom and eight other veteran authors and journalists. It has rapidly grown to become the e-publisher for 50+ authors and is pioneering the business model for publishing in the 21st Century. BH publishes electronic documents, or e-Docs, that are sold in 190 countries, exclusively by Amazon.com.



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BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource


Business: The
Ultimate Resource

begins with a
keynote essay.

Tom wrote it [.pdf].


Management In The 21st Century

Read it now, courtesy
of Perseus and
and Bloomsbury
Publishers.

 

Tom is an engaging personality, whether one-on-one, in front of groups, or in the media. He is an experienced and energetic communicator who is also enthusiastic and lively.

As a public voice, Tom Brown is spontaneous and entertaining. His style is both candid and collaborative. He challenges everyone to act on their new ideas, to strive for higher levels of leadership. He believes that learning can also be exciting. Hearing Tom speak, one member of the audience said, "Tom provided insightful and valuable information about corporations in America and hit upon the problems pervasive in today's businesses." Another called his presentation "thought provoking." Yet another said that Tom gave an "innovative view of corporations in the present versus the future." Tom's presentations focus on:

  • New Thinking For A New Century

    Tom Brown On Video
    The appetite for new leadership is enormous. But how do we lead in new ways?How do we help ordinary people perform in extraordinary ways?

    Are you a 21st Century leader?

    Watch Tom's short video now:


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  • Vision, Values, Action!

    Maybe it's your corporate vision? Or your division's mission statement? Or the strategic plan for your business? Too many lofty goals never turn into concrete actions. It's important to know why. It's more important to start making things happen!

  • Leading Change

    Every executive knows how organizations are supposed to operate. Yet too many leadership plans are afflicted by disconnects and roadblocks, usually traced to people embracing a comfortable but losing status quo. It's time to lead change.




  • In every area on which Tom presents, he has captured precisely the kinds of issues that contemporary leaders need to address. You can find all of Tom's shorter writings in the library on the licensetolead.com website.

  • Over three decades he has presented briefings and seminars to thousands of managers, orchestrated team buildings, and consulted with top executives in scores of organizations including:

    • ADP
    • Baxter Healthcare
    • Blue Cross Blue Shield
    • General Dynamics
    • General Motors
    • GTE
    • IDS / American Express
    • KPMG
    • Kraft - General Foods
    • McKesson
    • Pfizer
    • Pitney-Bowes
    • Sears
    • Schneider North America/Square D
    • Texas Instruments
    • 3M
    • U. S. Steel

  • Tom has also presented special programs at numerous universities, such as Vanderbilt and Boston University. Tom is a member of the advisory board for the doctoral programs in organizational leadership and change at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles.

  • Tom is also a principal in Global Coaching. For some time, and only by special arrangement, Tom has worked with top executives on their approach, attitude, and performance as a leader. Learn more about Tom's background and point-of-view as an executive coach by reading The Case For Coaching — What A Coach Can Do For You [.pdf].




"Modern
Management
Hits Oz —
Hard!" [.pdf]

is one of
Tom's most
asked-for
writings
!

Modern Management Hits Oz





ARE YOU...


interested in
21st Century
Leadership?


The 21st Century Leader


Read or download a quick biography of
Thomas Brown (1950- )...



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Thomas Lewis Brown

P. O. Box 23680  |   Louisville, Kentucky 40223  |  502 / 566 - 6652

tom@thomaslbrown.com