Power Plays: Shakespeare's Lessons in Leadership and Management

Whitney, professor of management at Columbia and Packer, founder, president and artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, should be applauded for both the ingenuity of the central premise behind Power Plays and the execution of their idea. The combination of Whitney's expertise in management education and the real world of business, and Packer's extensive knowledge and experience directing the works of Shakespeare, makes their collaboration powerfully insightful. Artfully connecting situations from Shakespeare's dramas to modern scenarios of leadership in corporate management, they examine crucial elements of leadership including power, communication, trust, decision, action, hierarchy, and women in management. Jack Welch's ability to make decisions and take action is contrasted to the failure of Richard II; Jeff Bezos' willingness to take risks to Hamlet's vacillating in the face of uncertainty. Thought provoking and inspiring, Power Plays brings relevancy and accessibility to the poetry and wisdom instilled in the magnificence of Shakespeare.