Paths to Power

Introduction

•  Startling conclusions: The authors trace changes in the demographic composition of American business leadership.
• Solid research: Paths to Power is the second book to come from the HBS Leadership Initiative's 'Great Business Leaders' project'one of the largest academic studies of its kind on leadership and how leadership has evolved during the 20th century.
• Authoritative sources: Anthony J. Mayo is Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Leadership Initiative program. Nitin Nohria is Richard P. Chapman Professor Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Mayo and Nohria authored In Their Time: The Greatest Leaders of the Twentieth Century - the first book from the 'Great Business Leaders' project.
• Long-awaited resource: The world hasn't seen a book on the formation of the American business elite since the 1950s'before the full emergence of the MBA, the Civil Rights Act, Title IX legislation, and other forces that have powerfully molded the country's business-leadership pipeline.
• Intense interest: The breadth and depth of the authors' research has already attracted interest from scholars, practitioners, and journals.
• The photos visually describe some of the key elements of access to power. The layout is meant to echo the first book by these authors, In Their Time.

About the book

Who made it to the top of Corporate America in the twentieth century' And what do their experiences mean for the next generation of business leaders' In Paths to Power, Anthony J. Mayo, Nitin Nohria, and Laura G. Singleton answer these questions.

The authors explore access to business leadership opportunities'showing how a small group of 'insiders' possesses advantages that facilitate a smooth journey to the top while a larger group of 'outsiders' faces disadvantages that make their path to leadership positions more difficult. Yet throughout the history of American business, the composition of insiders and outsiders has shifted. Examining data on leader birthplaces, religious

affiliation, education, socioeconomic status, race, and gender, Paths to Power explains how the demographics of leadership have changed over the 20th century and how they're changing now. Further, they discuss the mechanisms of advancement for insiders and outsiders, and show how these mechanisms have also evolved.

Though white men still hold most power positions in business, the authors assert that the gates of access aren't as static as they seem.