The Systems Leader Is Almost Here

While my book The Systems Leader is about to be released, Systems Leaders have been out in the world leading great teams. As Michael Guthrie, the CFO of Roblox, said:

“Having worked for a Systems Leader at Roblox, I can vouch for the power of [this] approach as companies navigate short- and long-term challenges in a highly competitive global economy.”

My goal with The Systems Leader is to provide a framework that helps leaders understand and master five key dimensions — priorities, people, sphere of influence, geography, and purpose — where they’re likely to feel contradictory pressures.

In our rapidly changing world, leaders need to succeed at both execution and innovation. They need to project both strength and empathy to their teams. They need to focus on how their influence plays out both internally and externally. They need to think both locally and globally. And they need to pursue both ambition and statesmanship to communicate the purpose that drives them and their organization to their teams and the world.

I understand the appeal of books that claim to offer simple answers to complex challenges. But in my decades in business and academia, I’ve never seen any specific strategies or tactics that are guaranteed to elevate a company or career. Systems Leadership begins with embracing how much you don’t know at any given moment, and moving forward with reasonable confidence but not delusional overconfidence. 

After all, it’s only human to crave certainty, but true leaders accept that much of business (and life) depends on both contingencies and luck. You can make great decisions that factor in all the relevant probabilities but still get terrible results. (Even clueless leaders can look like geniuses when times are good.)

This need for humility is especially true with respect to the five primary cross-pressures I mentioned above. For instance, it’s easy for me to say that you need to focus on both executing your current business plan and innovating for the future, but what does that mean in practice? 

Your time and energy are extremely limited, so how much of them should you devote to product development or other forms of innovation? 

I wouldn’t presume to tell you whether it’s 20% or 80% or anywhere in between. Nor will I make up some formula to make that decision for you. Instead, in The Systems Leader I offer a framework for you to do some well-informed wrestling with such tradeoffs yourself, along with lessons of how some of the best leaders I know have wrestled with them.

Many of the mindsets and practices in this practice in this book may seem daunting, even a little scary. Many will leave you vulnerable to criticism, especially if you work in a field where the default approach to leadership is the exact opposite. Whether you lead five direct reports, a business unit of fifty, or a corporation of fifty thousand, you may be hesitant to break the mold of “how we do things around here” or your own tried-and-true way of doing things. Such fears are common and understandable. But if you want to successfully lead your team through these volatile times, you have no choice but to molt your shell from time to time and take your chances during a risky transition.

Beyond the tested frameworks, this book contains lessons from inside the business world, including from the CEOs of Accenture, Mubadala, Kering, Wells Fargo, and Box—many of which are drawn from my personal interviews.

Sagar Sanghvi, CFO at Abridge and former partner, Accel and CFO, Instacart, said:

“The Systems Leader . . . provides inspiration in the form of a framework for young and old leaders to thrive in this environment, drawing lessons from real-life examples observed throughout the many hats Robert has worn in his career. It’s a must-read for anyone aspiring to lead their organizations into the future.”

Pekka Ala-Pietilä, chairperson of the supervisory board, SAP; former president, Nokia Corporation, said:

“Robert Siegel’s new book, The Systems Leader, opens up the dimensions of our complex world with the infinite possibilities and networks of dynamic impact. This book provides inspiring insights for anyone interested in the future of leadership.”

Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture, wrote:

“In this dynamic era of reinvention, the AI revolution, and nonstop change, every business leader can benefit from the experience and insights of a trusted advisor. The Systems Leader is Robert Siegel at his best—a wise, perceptive, and always practical guide to increasing resilience and agility, driving innovation, and creating value.”

Katherine Boyle, general partner, Andreessen Horowitz stated:

“In The Systems Leader, Siegel outlines profound technological and cultural change all leaders must now contend with, and how to preempt and respond to dramatic shifts that affect their daily actions. . . . Leaders of all kinds can benefit from his wisdom and stories of how to thrive in times of immense uncertainty."

Bill Winters, group chief executive, Standard Chartered, said: 

“Robert Siegel has an ability to break through the corporate facades we all present and deliver real insights into the challenges and learnings of a range of leaders.”

Shigeki Yamaguchi, CEO, NTT DATA Institute of Management Consulting and QUNIE, said: 

“The Systems Leader is an essential read for leaders seeking to thoughtfully explore and address the multifaceted demands of leadership today.”

It's a playbook designed to help leaders like you ride and survive the turbulent waves created by the demands of our rapidly changing business landscape.

The Systems Leader comes out June 3rd. It is a journey well worth going on, and I hope you’ll join me.

About The Systems Leader:

A groundbreaking blueprint for mastering “cross-pressures” in a rapidly changing world, teaching leaders to execute and innovate, think locally and globally, and project ambition and statesmanship alike—from a Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer and consultant to some of the biggest and most innovative CEOs.

Actionable and powerful, The Systems Leader is a playbook for riding turbulent waves instead of drowning in them—and for taking readers from chaos to clarity.

About Robert:

Robert Siegel is a Lecturer in Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a venture investor, and an operator.

At the Stanford Graduate School of Business he has taught nine different courses, authored over 115 business cases, and led research on companies including Google, Charles Schwab, Daimler, AB InBev, Box, Stripe, Target, AngelList, 23andMe, Majid Al Futtaim, Tableau, PayPal, Medium, Autodesk, Minted, Axel Springer and Michelin, amongst others.

Robert is a Venture Partner at Piva and a General Partner at XSeed Capital. He sits on the Board of Directors of Avochato and FindMine, and led investments in Zooz (acquired by PayU of Naspers), Hive, Lex Machina (acquired by LexisNexis of RELX Group ), CirroSecure (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Nova Credit, The League (acquired by Match Group), Teapot (acquired by Stripe), Pixlee (acquired by Emplifi), and SIPX (acquired by ProQuest).

He is the author of The Systems Leader: Mastering the Cross-Pressures That Make or Break Today's Companies, and The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical.

He is the co-inventor of four patents and served as lead researcher for Andy Grove’s best-selling book, Only the Paranoid Survive.

Robert holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford University. He is married with three grown children.