Rick Williams '55 Releases New Book for Business Leaders

9/3/2024

Corporate leader, business consultant, and author Rick Williams ‘55 will release a new book on September 10 titled CREATE THE FUTURE: Powerful Decision-Making Tools for Your Company and Yourself.

“CREATE THE FUTURE is about making decisions,” says Rick. “Deciding is choosing; leaders create the future by the choices they make.”

An experienced leader himself, Rick’s journey took him from Harvard Business School to a position as a management consultant with Arthur D. Little, Inc. He went on to found a real estate investment and development firm called The Equity Company in addition to serving on numerous boards, most recently for technology companies.

Aspiring and established leaders can benefit from the knowledge Rick shares in CREATE THE FUTURE as he walks readers through his finely tuned process of identifying a challenge to making a strategic decision. At the foundation of the process are Rick’s three Convictions for successful leadership:

I can create the future.
I can learn from others.
My decisions can express my goals, risk preferences, and values.

Based on these Convictions, and further supporting the decision-making process, are Rick’s three Leadership Principles:

I will create the future by the choices I make.
I will decide.
I am not the company.

The result is what Rick describes as a “deceptively simple” five step decision-making process:

Step 1: Define the Challenge

Step 2: Imagine Success

Step 3: Create Options

Step 4: Evaluate Barriers

Step 5: Choose The Future

“Why do I say the process is ‘deceptively’ simple?'” asks Rick. “Because performing each of the five steps pulls on the complex network of strings connected to your company’s organization, finances, leadership, culture, market position, technology, and ownership.”

CREATE THE FUTURE has received rave reviews from business leaders such as Demos Parneros, former president, Staples North America, and former CEO, Barnes & Noble and former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly.

“Rick Williams brilliantly delivers a leadership compass for high-performing companies. With his wealth of experience, veteran consultant Williams provides a clear playbook that’s indispensable for leaders...”

- Hubert Joly, Former CEO, Best Buy; Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School; and Author of The Heart of Business

The book is available for pre-sale through retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Congratulations, Rick!

Back