This is a bestseller that has become an indispensable guide for a whole galaxy of managers around the world. Why is a book written in the 1960s still carried in the pockets of future and established business leaders? Why does it top the lists of recommended business reading? Why did Robert Townsend become a role model for an entire generation and remains so today? You will learn about this by reading one of the wisest, most fascinating, funny and scandalous books written about the organization.

James O'Toole, professor at the University of Southern California; author of 15 books, including Leadership A to Z, which is a tribute to the life and work of Robert Townsend

Bob Davids, co-founder and former CEO of Radica Games, owner of Sea Smoke Cellars

Robert Gottlieb, former editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf Publishing House

The following is the text of an address to the National Industrial Conference Council published in Across the Board magazine in the late 1970s . Reprinted with permission of the magazine.

Robert Townsend Jr.