The 100-Mile Walk: A Father and Son on a Quest to Find the Essence of Leadership

The formula sounds immediately intriguing: a 65-year-old, hard-charging executive with old-fashioned values conducts a dialogue with his 35-year-old, Zen-influenced son about what qualities define great leadership. One’s a Republican, the other independent. One drives an Audi, the other a Subaru. One likes his vacations best when they involve golf in Scottsdale, while the other prefers backcountry roams in Yellowstone. Yet together, they aim to develop a common picture of the essence of leadership–agreement on what characterizes those special people that others follow–and in this engagingly written, disarmingly personal book, they do.

Co-authors Sander Flaum and his son, Jonathon Flaum, are products of different eras, and the inter-generational tension that runs through their book gives it its unique flavor. Father and son’s voices alternate in The 100-Mile Walk, with the elder, Sander, typically writing first, and Jonathon presenting his own opinions next. Each shows the different influences of his generation in their exchanges about various aspects of leadership.

Sander grew up in Brooklyn, heavily influenced by the surrounding Jewish community. Inspired by a demanding, determined mother, he worked his way up a conventional career ladder, beginning at a large pharmaceutical company and then moving onto an ad agency. He displays and extols traditional virtues like hard work, determination, ambition, and the like. His son Jonathon, meanwhile, has a markedly more new-fashioned orientation, having gotten an MFA degree rather than an MBA, and referring repeatedly in the book to teachings of Zen masters. After a brief career in the arts, primarily as a playwright, Jonathon has become an executive coach with surprisingly starchy, button-downed clients.

As their backgrounds suggest, where father and son come together makes for interesting reading. The "walk" to which the book’s title refers is actually a series of strolls, adding up to 100 miles, that father and son take together. In their jaunts through Manhattan; Asheville, North Carolina; New Orleans; and Columbus, Ohio, Sander and Jonathon discuss what eventually become 9 key qualities that they believe most good leaders exhibit. The 9 P’s, as they refer to them, are: people, purpose, passion, performance, persistence, perspective, paranoia, principles, and practice.

The book’s structure revolves around these 9 qualities, as Sander and Jonathon discuss each in turn, weave in anecdotal examples from real-life organizational leaders. The chapters then close with checklist summaries of key things for readers to remember. The lessons themselves aren’t revolutionary; what’s different is the thoughtful, at times intimate dialogue between a father and son, and what others might draw from it. Former astronaut and Senator John Glenn, lauds the Flaums’ open, questioning tone, and their lack of dogmatism, in his Foreword: "this book does not presume answers; it asks probing questions." Those questions are indeed provocative ones, and readers ready to take an unusual walk with the Flaums will be well rewarded. –Peter Han

Each generation leads in its own way. But to progress together, they must find ways to bridge the divide between their perspectives. Recognizing that truth, a 65-year-old traditional CEO and his 35-year-old Zen entrepreneur son embark on a six-month-long, 100-mile walk.

As they stroll the streets of New York and New Orleans, trek through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and hike along the Long Island coast, they talk about their experiences, their outlook on life and work, the achievements of leaders they have known, and how each views the nature and purpose of leadership.

Ultimately, the two men agree on nine key traits and practices essential to all leaders – from principles and passion to performance and even paranoia – and on how leaders and aspiring leaders can follow them consistently. Father and son also discover a lot about each other, their relationship, and the way two generations set apart by so many differences can respect and learn from each other.
Book Description

Each generation leads in its own way. But to progress together, they must find ways to bridge the divide between their perspectives. Recognizing that truth, a 65-year-old traditional CEO and his 35-year-old Zen entrepreneur son embark on a six-month-long, 100-mile walk.


As they stroll the streets of New York and New Orleans, trek through the Blue Ridge Mountains, and hike along the Long Island coast, they talk about their experiences, their outlook on life and work, the achievements of leaders they have known, and how each views the nature and purpose of leadership.


Ultimately, the two men agree on nine key traits and practices essential to all leaders – from principles and passion to performance and even paranoia – and on how leaders and aspiring leaders can follow them consistently. Father and son also discover a lot about each other, their relationship, and the way two generations set apart by so many differences can respect and learn from each other.