This November 11, a day of remembrance for many in the United States, marked the passing of Peter Drucker. At the time of his death, Drucker was nearly 96 years old and had a career that spanned more than a half-century. Undoubtedly, Drucker was one of the most influential leadership and organizational thinkers of the last 100 years. He consulted, taught, and wrote convincingly and eloquently on the subject that matters most -- people. It is uncanny that our November teleseminar considered the creation of leadership legacies; much of the material from that seminar owes a debt to Drucker's pioneering work in culture, leadership, and organizational behavior.

Our tribute to Drucker condenses to three key insights. Many remember Drucker not for the answers that he provided to the complex issues of management and leadership but for the questions he asked. In some measure, I am hopeful that our insights honor Drucker's legacy to bring out the best in people and in so doing, promote organizational success.

Engage in the practice of leadership. If we want to honor Drucker, we need to seek opportunities to exercise leadership. Leadership is not some science experiment that develops in a Petri dish. Leaders are experimental, both in their approaches and in their focused development. They share a deep understanding with other leaders that every person matters.

Move from heroism to legacy. In comparison to other gurus, Drucker was modest in his approach. As a doctoral student, I called Peter Drucker and was so surprised to discover that he answered his own telephone! The Austrian accent confirmed my delight that I was speaking directly to the legend. A best path for creating legacy is to develop others; it is about figuring out and understanding that leadership is truly a social event and experience. Role model what you expect. The Wall Street Journal quotes Center for Creative Leadership President, John Alexander, "He [Drucker] saw management as an activity rather than a heroic venture."

Accept your results and build a plan. Know your personal story and history. Understand how your story influences your shortcomings and successes. Know the rules and norms of your organization and leverage them for growth. Capitalize on your strengths and build a bias for disciplined life-long learning. Drucker himself had a broad range of interests, spanning fields as diverse as Japanese gardening and music.

At one level, employee departures contribute to feelings of happiness or sadness. When certain employees leave an organization, we cannot wait to throw a party and to jump for joy. On the other hand, some employee departures -- or defections -- cause us to be sad. If we were to celebrate these departures, the tributes would be similar to endearing toasts we hear at special events. As you consider your organization, what is going on with turnover?

Some analysts predict that an improved economy in 2006 will create a seller's market in employment. The Bureau of Labor statistics forecasts a 15.2 percent increase in available jobs this decade; in raw numbers, this translates to 22 million new jobs. However, this good new comes a time when there will be 5 million fewer entrants to the workforce. What is going on and what does this mean for leadership, culture, and organization development?

About 40 percent of the US workforce, according to the Conference Board, will reach traditional retirement age by the end of this decade. Additionally, the fastest-growing segment of the US workforce will be among those workers aged 55 to 64. The number of employees between 35 and 44, according to this same research, will decline by 7 percent. In short, there will be less skilled labor and more employee retirement; the impact on organizational effectiveness may be enormous.

What information is essential to succession planning? Does your organization measure education, skill, tenure, and job experience? What other factors are important to succession?

In most organizations, the path to increasing job responsibility and management is technical success. Organizations promote people because they are successful technicians. This is unfortunate because this entrenched promotion pattern underlies leadership failure. Decades of research confirm little correlation between technical success and leadership success. When engineers and technicians design succession management, the results often overlook characteristics and qualities for leadership success.

Robust succession systems will present slates and pools of candidates for development and decision-making. However, decision-makers need to exercise caution that data does not overwhelm or inhibit decision-making. If information excess or need precludes decision-making, it can contribute to cookie-cutter leadership development. Best practice succession plans include employee self-assessment and development of individual value propositions.

Organizational leadership is a wondrous and challenging experience; selecting candidates should not a burdensome process. Success in succession management requires an informed approach to leadership development. Effective approaches to succession will reduce costs associated with leadership failure. Inform these approaches by establishing focus on leadership outcomes and results that fit with the experience and horizons of the organization. Gains in employee satisfaction may occur with articulated succession management practices.

We admire organizations that go beyond self-limiting boundaries and accepted beliefs of practice. Companies benefit financially when consumers perceive tha an organization acts in socially responsible ways. The capitalization of this economic benefit requires leaders who can align employee efforts with broad mission and vision. Additionally, it requires leaders who are able to foster pride and to recruit top individuals.

Too often, the exercise of corporate social responsibility is an under-developed resource in leadership development. We expect developing leaders to get the connection between performance and social responsibility without action or reflection. We can develop appreciation of socially responsible leadership by creating focus on enterprise stakeholder groups, including customers, employees, and financial goals. A bottom-line orientation to social responsibility may fuel the interests of developing leaders to create responsible organizations.

Developing leaders can learn that corporate responsibility contributes to innovation, effective governance, and long-term economic growth. To paraphrase leadership guru Warren Bennis, we can shift leaders from doing things right to doing the right things. Organizations work in enlightened self-interest by blending financial goals with social concerns. The effectiveness of this blend diminishes when it remains in the exclusive provinces of philanthropy or ethics offices. Increasing socially-responsible leadership demands comprehensive executive support.

As you consider leadership development practices in your organization, develop a scorecard to measure success in developing socially responsible leaders. The results of your investigation may identify gaps between theory and practice. Additionally, this exercise may serve to reinforce organizational values and thus strengthen the leadership cadre and pool. Our world needs leaders who are successful with their families, their organizations, and their communities.