Leading When You’re Not the Boss: How to Get Th ings Done in Complex Corporate Cultures

Preface

“So, who are you, and who do you want to be?”

A friend asked me this question in 1996, after I had told him I was looking for work. I had just finished my Humanities Ph.D. at Stanford University when I decided to move back to Germany to find a job in business. I had come to Germany absolutely convinced that, with my doctorate degree from a world-famous university, it would not be difficult to find a job.

It took only a couple of weeks to learn the opposite was true. I wrote about 30 specific and well-researched applications to a variety of companies, from travel agencies to business consulting, and got 30 rejections. Every week my applications were returned to me in big envelopes, and with standard cover letters: “Thank you for your application. ...