The Key: How Corporations Succeed by Solving the World's Toughest Problems

Climate change. Income inequality. World poverty.

Who can solve these global problems? Corporations.

Never before have corporations been so large, so wealthy, so powerful, and so rich in human creativity and endeavor. Organizational change expert Professor Lynda Gratton shows that it is now critical that these corporations step up to play a more positive role in the world by building inner resilience, actively anchoring themselves in their communities and supply chains, and leveraging their unique capabilities to address complex global challenges such as climate change and youth unemployment.

In The Key, Gratton maps out how bringing resilience to a fragile world starts with what happens inside a corporation—when intelligence and wisdom are amplified, emotional vitality enhanced, and social connections harnessed. She explains how corporations can leverage this inner resilience to help solve global problems and how a corporation’s unique innovative, scaling and mobilizing, and alliance building capabilities—are some of the tools for combating global ills.

Both realistic and optimistic, The Key is a practical guide that provides the rationale, strategies, and tools you need to not only spearhead resilience for your own company but also how to use this resilience to contribute to the betterment of the world. Building on her unique research base, Gratton provides insights from more than 20 companies from across the world including Vodafone, Unilever, Tata Consulting Services, and Natura to illustrate the very real benefits of aligning organizational interests with those of the world.

“To create a good future,” Gratton writes, “it is crucial that those who lead corporations become increasingly transparent about their actions and intentions and see themselves as part of the wider world they inhabit.”

The world’s business leaders must make a decision: Either connect your company’s interests with those of the world at large—or watch these separate interests crash into each other. You have the resources to save the world. Gratton provides The Key.

Praise for The Key

“The Key offers a novel perspective on the emerging role of corporations in society. Leadership expert Lynda Gratton offers practical insights for unlocking the hidden resources in organizations and using them to bring resilience to a fragile world.”
—Adam Grant, Wharton Professor and bestselling author of Give and Take

“Gratton has again given us a lens into a brighter future. With prescience and insight, she has offered a way to resolve some of the most serious challenges of our complex world. Her ideas are a call to arms and a commitment to action that will benefit individuals, organizations, and communities.”
—Dave Ulrich, Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and Partner, the RBL Group

“Contrary to Hollywood stereotypes, big corporations can be a force for good. The Key helps to explain why that is so and how business leaders can be part of the vanguard.”
—Gavin Patterson, CEO, BT Group

“In this important book, Gratton shows how companies can both build resilience for the future and make a positive difference in the world.”
—Martin Gilbert, CEO, Aberdeen Asset Management

“In order to achieve ongoing growth, executive leaders must not only reinvent themselves and their businesses but must also continually ask what role their corporation will play as a force for the common good. The Key shows, in a groundbreaking way, how the bridge between the two can be built.”
—Robert Kovach, PhD, Global Executive Talent, Cisco

“This inspiring book takes the discussion about corporate social responsibility to a new level by clearly describing what it takes for leaders and employees to collectively make the corporation a force for good in the world.”
—Diana C. Robertson, Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania