Top Business Gurus – do you have a favourite?
The top 5 most influential business thinkers, according to a recent Wall Street Journal ranking , are as follows:
1. Gary Hamel – Strategy Guru
2. Thomas L. Friedman – New York Times Columnist
3. Bill Gates – Microsoft Chairman
4. Malcolm Gladwell – Author “Tipping Point”
    5. Howard Gardner- Harvard Professor
No surprises there.
The remaining 15 are as follows:
6. Philip Kotler – Northwestern professor
7. Robert B. Reich – Ex-labor secretary
8. Daniel Goleman – Psychologist
9. Henry Mitzberg – McGill professor
10. Steven R. Covey – Author,’7 Habits of Highly Effective People’
11. Jeffrey Pfeffer – Stanford professor
12. Peter M. Senge – Author,’The Fifth Discipine’
13. Richard Branson – Virgin founder
14. Michael E. Porter – Harvard professor
15. Michael S. Dell – Dell founder
16. Geert Hofstede – Author, ‘Culture’s Consequences’
17. Clayton M. Christiansen – Harvard professor
18. Jack Welch – Former GE CEO
19. Tom Peters – Author, ‘In Search of Excellence’
20. Myron S. Scholes – Nobel laureate
After reading the full list, I began to wonder who has made the most impact on my personal development as a business strategist/marketer. I have read books or articles by all the authors listed. I use formulas and principles developed by Michael Porter (Porter’s 5-forces) , Geert Hofstede (Cultural Dimensions) and Philip Kotler (Social Marketing) in almost every strategy I develop (where applicable). I have even been inspired enough to take immediate action just by watching interviews with Richard Branson and listening to success stories like that of Michael S. Dell. However, all this thinking made me realize that I don’t have one single guru. Everybody has played their part, not to mention a whole slew of existing experts (and perhaps potential future Top-20 gurus) like Don Tapscott, Jim Collins, Chris Anderson, Mitch Joel, Seth Godin, Joseph Jaffe, or even my bosses Bernie Colterman and Jim Mintz.
I then (out of curiosity) looked at the methodology for this list and noticed that for the first time Google search results were incorporated as determinant factors, and rightfully so. For too long business guru influence was measured solely by amount of publications or scholarly journal articles (which is important, but only measures the influence on a niche segment). Nowadays, if you want to establish yourself as a guru, or sustain your existing position as a guru, you absolutely must have a strong digital presence. The existing gurus are lucky that their publishers, agents, communities of readers, etc… actively talk about them and create digital content mentioning them online. They don’t have to get personally involved (although it would be great if they did).
The new, up and coming gurus on the other hand, absolutely should (and are) all personally involved in creating, sharing, responding and listing to digital content using social media (blogging, podcasting, etc…) to boost their reputations and carfeully manage their own personal brands. They understand that the rules have changed. It will be interesting to see how many gurus on the Top 20 list a decade from now, will have gotten there thanks to social media.
The potential impact a single individual can have on others has always amazed me. My own personal goal is to find that ideal balance of absorbing a bit of everything around me (kind of like a sponge) while at the same time trying hard to push my field further ahead with new ideas.
Who are your favourite gurus and what are your thoughts on the list compiled by the Wall Street Journal?
